Private home sales grew 37% to 522 units in January

But total units sold were lower than the average monthly figure.

Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) reported that a total of 522 private homes excluding executive condominiums (EC) were bought in January, increasing by 37% YoY from 382 units.

Contributing to 60% of the total sales, units in outside central region (OCR) had the highest sales, whilst rest of central (RCR) and core central region (CCR) contributed to 35% and 5%, respectively.

For the OCR units, the top projects were Symphony Suites with 65 units sold at a median price of $1,085psf, whilst Parc Botannia and Kingsford Waterbay came next with 43 and 31 units sold at a median price of $1,265psf and $1,424psf, respectively.

Meanwhile, for the RCR units, Highline Residences and Gem Residences topped the list, with 42 units and 44 units sold at a median price of $1,962psf and 1,508psf, respectively.

However, total units were lower than the average monthly figure since majority of the developers are waiting for the right timing to launch their projects, URA said.

“Usually the months of December and January are the slower months with lesser property activities. However, a closer look at the figures comparing with the past few years, it seems to depict that January 2018 is gaining momentum with home buyers and upgraders making their move to purchase existing stocks of private homes available which are rightly priced, before prices are predicted go up in the later part of this year,” CEO of PropNex Realty Ismail Gafoor said.