Private home sales in April surged 29% month-on-month

Excluding executive condominiums, a total of 1,788 residential units were sold buoyed by steady buyer confidence seen since February.

“It is clear that homeowners and investors alike have assimilated the last cooling measures announced on 13 January,” according to PropNex Corporate Communications Manager Mr Adam Tan.

Once again, as in March, Mr Tan expressed some surprise at the high figure, as only two projects sold over 100 units: Eight Courtyards sold 340 units at a median price of $789psf, while Hedges Park sold 224 units at a median price of $889psf.

He concedes that these two projects were certainly instrumental in the robust sales figure of April, accounting for 564 units, or 29.7% of all the units sold.

“This point is more noteworthy when we consider that fact that 56.2% of all the units sold were in the mass market, or under $1,200psf,” Mr Tan highlights, explaining that it is the affordable price of the two best-selling projects in April that facilitated such a high volume of transactions.

“The strong showing in the mass market indicates the sustained interest in private property by HDB upgraders,” he says. “Meanwhile, investors have obviously taken the 13 January cooling measures in their stride, with a sustained high volume of purchases in the mid- and high-end markets.”

He points out that despite the relatively small percentage of units transacted in the mid- and high-end markets, the actual figure remains high, with the number of transactions in the mid-end market actually increasing by 96 units, or 14.3% M-on-M.

“This would be mainly due to a strengthening investor confidence from both local and international players,” he says.

Mr Tan expects May’s sales to hold steady, with over 1,500 units sold, given that investor confidence and buying interest will be upheld after the hubbub of the General Elections and return to power of the ruling party.

“Furthermore, given the fact that developers are expected to launch more projects in the coming months and the economic growth is at an unexpectedly strong 8.5% for 1Q11, the volume of sales should continue to maintain levels above 1,500 units per month for the next few months.”

However, he cautions that this forecast is not withstanding further cooling measures by the Government, and any unforeseen disaster or economic downturn.

“Developers must also remain sensitive to the pricing of their projects,” he concludes.