WHO SAID THERE ARE NO AFFORDABLE PRIVATE HOMES IN
SINGAPORE?
Prices of several private property projects launched
recently in the Outside Central Region (OCR )
have been higher than average, with many such units being sold for more than
S$1,000 psf - a new record. Amidst this growing trend, more home buyers are now
on the lookout for affordable mass market units in Singapore ’s
suburbs.
With this in mind, The PropertyGuru decided to undertake a
detailed study of the most affordable private homes on the market for the month
of March 2012, using data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).
Launched last month, Ripple
Bay Flora Drive
saw attractive prices and good take-up of units. Joining them as the top 5 most
affordable private homes currently are Parc Vera, Riversound Residence and Parc
Rosewood, all located in the OCR .
Comprising of 679 units, Ripple
Bay
Over at Palm Isles, 102 of the total 297 units released were
snapped up by buyers at a median price of S$860 psf, but the lowest price for a
unit sold was S$672 psf while the highest was S$1,035 psf.
In addition, Parc Rosewood at Rosewood Drive which offers a
total of 689 dwelling units saw 626 homes released and a 97 percent take-up
rate thanks to prices that went down to a low of S$707 psf. On the other hand,
the priciest unit was sold for S$1,115 psf while the median price was at
S$1,038 psf.
Meanwhile, the 590-unit Riversound Residence at Sengkang
released all its units and recorded a median sale price of S$880 psf, but the
lowest price was S$650 psf while unit prices peaked at S$1,144 psf. So far, 310
homes have been sold.
Parc Vera in Hougang also released all its 452 units, of
which 287 were sold at a median price of S$834 psf. The lowest price came to
S$618 psf against the highest at S$924 psf.
Other projects that also recorded attractive prices were The
Minton, Terrasse, Eight Courtyards, Suites
28
According to Mohamed Ismail, Chief Executive Officer of
PropNex Realty, the trend of projects with median prices of below S$900 psf may
be attributed to the fact that they are “occupying land sites that were bidded
much lower last year by the developer and thus these can be transacted at a
lower breakeven price”.
Despite the lower pricing, developers can still earn “a
reasonable profit of 20 percent or thereabouts,” he noted.
While many of these launches are prime developments,
developers apply “their own marketing strategies, either to price their
development attractively, dispose most of the units and move on to another
project or price their project relatively higher and carry the stock over a
period of time. Of course, the second is less favoured in an uncertain market,”
reckons Ismail.
However, he highlighted that developers are not pushing down
prices of new launches because of subdued demand and suggested that “it is more
likely due to greater options that are available to the consumers and many
projects being launched at the same time”.
Ismail said that the trend does not show a new drop in
property prices, as the land bids last year were healthy at around S$500 psf
ppr and predicted that “mass market property will be priced at S$950 to S$1,000
psf”.
At the same time, he does not expect any new cooling
measures in the near future, “as the surge in recent transactions are mainly
from HDB upgraders and investors with mid and long term perspectives”.
He believes that the current measures are sufficient “as
speculators and short-term investors are entirely eradicated with the
introduction of Seller’s Stamp Duty and the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty.
Moving ahead, the private property market will stabilise especially in the mass
market segment”.
Info courtesy -
PropertyGuru.com.sg
