While the property market is sending mixed signals, analysts believe the signs point to a potential recovery, reported The Straits Times.
Notably, buyers snapped up over 5,700 new private homes over the first five months of this year, a significant increase from the 3,278 sold in the same period last year.
“The perception that the market is bottoming out is leading more buyers back and hastening developers in securing sites to capitalise on an expected price upturn,” said JLL national director of research and consultancy Ong Teck Hui.
In fact, the fervent land grabbing has resulted to eye-popping bids from developers over the last few months, with entities connected to Singapore Press Holdings and Kajima Development paying $1.132 billion or $1,181 psf ppr for a Bidadari mixed-use site.
The collective sale market also gained momentum this year, with four deals done so far compared to last year’s three.
Meanwhile, prices continued to be on the downtrend, slipping by 0.4 percent in Q1 2017 from Q4 2016, while the rental market remain soft, falling by more than 12 percent as at 31 March from a peak in Q3 2013.
Despite this, KF Property Network managing director Tan Tee Khoon expect prices to hover beyond $1,900 next year, based on recent tender bids as well as collective sale deals.
And with condominium vacancy falling to 9.1 percent in March, market experts also expect the rental market to improve over the next two years.
“Once the bulk of the supply passes in the rest of 2017, we should be starting to see the market recover in perhaps 2019,” said Eugene Lim, key executive officer of ERA.
This article was edited by Denise Djong.