In July, there will be several launches such as Pasir Ris 8 (integrated development), The Watergardens at Canberra (3 minutes’ walk to Canberra MRT station) and Klimt Cairnhill (an ultra-luxury project in prime D9 offering large floor plates which is now a rarity than the norm. Ultra-luxury launches recently such as Les Maisons Nassim and Park Nova were snapped up by Ultra High Net Worth Individuals (UHNWI) at record prices.

At the time of writing this June 2021 Developer’s Sales report, we went into Phase 2 (HA) from 22 July to 18 August to contain the growing C19 clusters affected by the Jurong Fishery Port cases. However, an early good news reported that as of 10 August 2021, the Phase 2 HA will be eased and individuals will be able to dine out in groups of 2 at open coffee shops while for those who are fully vaccinated, they can dine in groups of 5.

815 units were launched by Developer for sale and 872 units were sold. June sales was 2.6% lower than May 2021 but 12.6% lower than last year June 2020.

The drop in June sales was attributed to the viewing restrictions during heightened alert (HA). From 1 – 14 June 2021, sales was at 40.2% as compared to the easing of the HA from 15 – 30 June 2021 which saw sales of 59.8%.

CCR sales in June 2021 was mostly from Hyll On Holland which ran a limited-time promotion leading to its overwhelming sales. CCR Sales was 23.6%, followed by RCR Sales of 37.7% and OCR Sales of 38.6% in June 2021.

Source: Huttons Research, URA as of 15 July 2021

Purchases made under $1.5 million amounted to 42.0% of the June transactions, 30.8% are within the $1.5 million to $2 million range, 27.2% are above $2 million. Average price made for a unit is $1.82 million in June 2021 transaction. A whopping 81.7% of the transactions are by Singaporeans while PRs and Foreigners did 12.4% and 5.7% respectively.

There is an increase in the number of Singaporeans buying properties in the range of $1.5 million to $2 million in June 2021. This could be due to more cashing out on their HDB flats to jump on the private housing wagon which in part could be because they saw a reducing supply in the private property stocks leading to a bull run. We also witnessed more Foreigners buying in June in comparison to May as they saw Singapore’s quick and ready response to the C19 situation on getting the majority of people in the country to be vaccinated.

514 units were launched by Developer for sale and 891 units were sold. May sales was 29.7% lower than April 2021 but 83% higher than May 2020. The drop in May sales compared to month-on-month is to be expected as Singapore went into Phase 2 Heightened Alert on 16 May 2021. However, this is definitely much better compared to last year’s April circuit breaker where sales fell a huge 60%.

Core Central Region (CCR) sales in May was lower than April by 24.4%. Although volume was lower in CCR, Park Nova (an ultra-luxury project) sold 12 units between $6.8 mil to more than $34 mil. The largest Penthouse unit in Park Nova was bought by an ultra-high net worth individual (UHNWI) at $5,838 psf. This price out did the recent high of $5,125 psf of a new launch unit along Orchard Boulevard area. Singapore has managed the pandemic outbreak tremendously well and this has raised its appeal to UHNWIs during this uncertain time. It is expected to draw in more UHNWIs once the border opens up and with it will be the increase in purchases of private properties.

There is no new launch in June 2021 as Singapore comes out of the Heightened Alert Phase 2. June 2021 sales may match May 2021’s sales volume due to the relaxed C19 measures of 5 per group showflat viewing.

July 2021 will see some upcoming highly-anticipated new launches ie. Pasir Ris 8 , The Watergardens At Canberra, Parc Greenwich and Klimt Cairnhill. Pasir Ris 8 is an integrated development with residential, commercial, polyclinic, child care centre linked to the Pasir Ris MRT station and bus interchange. Pasir Ris 8 is an OCR project. The Watergardens At Canberra should be the most attractively priced new condo launch in Outside Central Region (OCR). Parc Greenwich Executive Condominium (EC) will be situated in Fernvale area. It is the first EC launch in this area in 8 years. Last but not least, Klimt Cairnhill, a CCR project, is a luxury project in prime District 9. With the CCR sales doing well in the initial 5 months of 2021, Klimt Cairnhill (clad in gold façade) will certainly add to the figures.

1038 units were launched by Developer for sale and 1262 units were sold. April sales was 2.6% lower than March 2021 but 355.6% higher than April 2020. This is quite obvious as 7 April 2020 was the start of the Circuit Breaker due to Covid-19.

With the lifting of the circuit breaker since June 2020 last year, our monthly sales have exceeded 1,000 units for the 7th time. April 2021 sales is also the highest since 2017. This time round, the focus is on the Rest of Central Region (RCR) when One North Eden was over 85% sold during its weekend launch. This accounted for 41.2% of April’s sale. One North Eden splendid showing was because of its plump site in a sub-regional centre and that it is the first project to be launched in 13 years since the last launch. In the Core Central Region (CCR), the sales of 34.2% was attributed to Irwell Hill Residences successful weekend launch with over 50% sold.

In April, 40.4% of the sales are priced below $1.5M, 36% are $1.5M to <$2M and 23.6% are $2M and above.

Singaporeans made up 81.5% of the purchasers while SPRs and Foreigners made up 13.5% and 5% respectively. Comparatively, there was an increase in the transactions in April vs March with the sales figures being 36% vs 32.9% respectively. This could be due to the financial markets doing well on the back of a recovering economy and so people are shifting back to a more stable asset class which is properties.

Phase Two Heightened Alert Impact:

The market seems to be taking a breather now after 8 successful launches (not including Executive Condominiums) and 4 ½ months into 2021. No new launches will be expected in 2nd Half of May and the entire June.

The current phase 2 heightened alert from 16 May to 13 June 2021 has limited the number of showflat viewership. Capacity is lowered to 1 person per 16 sqm and 2 persons per group in showflats. Decision making process will inevitably be longer for buyers and thus sales figures for May and June are expected to be lower than April’s 1262 units.

It is quite unlikely that sales figures will drop to a low of 277 units as in April 2020 (last year) during the circuit breaker since transactions figures for the first 2 weeks of May 2021 showed 400 units sold. In a way, this heightened alert cools the market without any change in policy guidelines.

New Launches In July 2021

July: Possibly up to 5 new launches namely Pasir Ris 8, Klimt Cairnhill, Perfect Ten, The Watergardens at Canberra and Parc Greenwich (Executive Condominium).

959 units were launched by Developer for sale and 1296 units were sold. March sales was 100.9% higher than February 2021 & was 96.4% higher than the same time a year back.

March 2021 sales is the highest since 2017. A whooping 42.1% or 546 units of March 2021 sales are sold in the Core Central Region (CCR) and projects such as Midtown Modern, RV Altitude and The M contributed to the figure. This CCR figure in March is an eight year high. The last high in CCR sales figure was in Nov 2013 with some 668 units sold.

In March, 44% of the sales are below $1.5M, 32.9% are $1.5M to <$2M and 23.1% are $2M and above.

Singaporeans made up 82.2% of the purchasers while SPRs and Foreigners made up 13.4% and 4.3% respectively. Pleasant surprise is that 10 purchases made by Singaporeans are above $5M as against only 2 purchases by Foreigners. This points to the fact that there is good amount of liquidity among Singaporeans in recent times.

167 units were launched by Developer for sale and 645 units were sold. February sales was 60.5% lower than January 2021 & was 33.9% lower than the same time a year back.

The drop was due to 2 reasons: 1) Developers held back launches due to the Chinese New Year period. 2) It is the least number of units launched for sale in February. The last low was in Feb 2018 when it was also the Chinese New Year period.

2600 units were launched by Developer for sale and 1,609 units were sold. January sales was 32.2% higher than December 2020 & was 159.5% higher than the same time a year back. This January 2021 sales is the highest January sales since 2013

January 2021 is the highest units launched for sale since URA commenced sales in 2007.

The excellent sales were contributed by Normanton Park in RCR which saw more than 600 units sold on the opening day of sales; and The Reef at King’s Dock which sold more than 200 units in the month of January.

The phenomenal sales at Normanton Park is attributed to the affordable good quantum, large number of HDB upgraders, low bank interest rate, good amount of liquidity, recovering property market, low supply and pent-up demand for the long awaited Normanton project. In addition, talks of possible fresh cooling measures edged buyers to rush into the property market.

The rare waterfront lifestyle concept of The Reef at King’s Dock, its first in Singapore floating platform, the upcoming transformation of the Greater Southern Waterfront (GSW) and a very good entry price make for a strong sale at this project.

¬¬¬