OCR Condos Led the Pick Up in November’s Private Home Sales - By 99.co

Photo by Aleksejs Bergmanis from Pexels

Private home sales rose between October and November, led by transactions in the Outside of Central Region (OCR) market. That’s pretty unusual for the year-end period; but then again, we’ve had some unusually good launches of late:

The pick up in November private home sales

Transaction volumes picked up between October and November, but are still down 4.5 per cent from the same time in 2018

In total, November saw 1,147 private home sales (excluding Executive Condominiums).

OCR condos accounted for 608 sales, while the Rest of Central Region (RCR) saw 351 sales, and the Core Central Region (CCR) saw 188 sales. Overall, this is still 4.5 per cent below the number of transactions from a year ago; but it is a significant rise of about 23 per cent since October.

This is unusual in that the year-end period is typically more muted. The supply glut, however, remains an ongoing worry despite November’s pick-up. The total number of units unsold from launches was 4,375 as of last month; and there were 31,948 unsold units in total as of 30th September.

A lot of strong offerings in the market for home buyers today

2019 stands out for the large number of very well priced, well-located condos in the market. Sengkang Grand Residences, which led sales, is an integrated development that includes a mall, a bus interchange, a community centre, a childcare centre, and is next to Buangkok MRT station; a pretty good deal at a $1,700+ psf price tag.

Parc Komo, in the Changi area, is also an integrated development. It includes Komo shoppes, which includes enrichment schools and cafes among other retail options. It’s the most affordable freehold condo we’ve seen to date, at just around $1,450+ psf.

There were 51 new projects in 2019, the highest number in five years; and many are outstanding in terms of location or price

Closer to town, Midtown Bay is still a hot topic (it’s mostly split into two camps right now – those who like the recently launched Midtown Bay, and those who insist the older Duo Residences is a better alternative). This is, again, part of a integrated development, and it’s situated close to Bugis Junction and the soon-to-be-developed Tan Quee Lan Street plot. While it’s a hefty $3,000+ psf, the development has units that go as low as $1.38 million. A lot of buyers also see this as a chance to jump on the developing Rochor – Ophir corridor.

Also closer to town, the already iconic One Pearl Bank sold 80 per cent of its units at launch in July, at $2,400 psf. That’s actually not a high price, given its location close to Chinatown (and three minutes away from Outram MRT).

You get the idea – there are a ton of good options out there right now, with solid locations and price points. We should also note the sheer number of new projects in 2019 (51 new projects in total), which is the highest number in five years.

We may see a pick-up in volume next year, given the potential number of upgraders

It’s unlikely that prices will rise, given the current supply glut. But some 50,000 flats are reaching their Minimum Occupancy Period (MOP) between 2020 and 2021. This could be a large potential source of upgraders, assuming they’re not too spooked by the economic uncertainty.

As we’ve previously pointed out however, it might be tough for prices to go down as well – many developments right now are coming out of the en-bloc fever in 2017 to 2018, when developers purchased land at a premium. There just isn’t much room for lower prices, so buyers shouldn’t be overly-optimistic about that.

4 days ago · 4 min read · by Ryan Ong

Source: 99.co (21 Dec 2019)