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Singapore: New launches transaction hit new low with 680 units transacted in March, a fall of 32.4% month on month or 37.4 year on year. This figure exclude executive condos (EC) is the lowest in 5 years since March 2015.
This drop in sales in due to the Covid-19 pandemic that dampen market sentiment. Stock market has also plunge worldwide from this Covid-19 outbreak as businesses close shop and various countries go into lockdown mode to fight the outbreak. New project transactions in new launch likely hit another new low in April 2020 as Singapore goes into “Circuit Breaker” mode from 7th April to 4th May where all the showflat are closed too during this period.
Top 10 Best Selling Project
| Project | Location | Units Sold in the Month | Average Price (psf) | % Sold To Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OLA (EC) | Anchorvale Crescent | 170 | 1,139 | 31% |
| Jadescape | Shunfu Road | 76 | 1,719 | 61% |
| Treasure at Tampines | Tampines Lane | 69 | 1,355 | 49% |
| Parc Esta | Sims Avenue | 63 | 1,657 | 83% |
| Parc Canberra (EC) | Canberra Walk | 43 | 1,102 | 72% |
| Florence Residences | Hougang Avenue 2 | 37 | 1,492 | 43% |
| Riverfront Residences | Hougang Avenue 7 | 29 | 1,365 | 85% |
| Piermont Grand (EC) | Sumang Walk | 28 | 1,108 | 62% |
| Parc Clematis (EC) | Jalan Lempeng | 26 | 1,592 | 42% |
| Affinity at Serangoon | Serangoon North Avenue 1 | 23 | 1,565 | 66% |
March to May often, is the peak period for developer sales as developers often line their projects to launch after Chinese New year. Transactions usually account to about 30% during this period for the full year. But for this year, weak sales are being reported for projects that launched in March namely 19 Nassim, Tedge and 77 East Coast.
Adopting of Technology
With all showflats close as part of circuit breaker measures, some developers and realtors like Property Review have adopted technology by launching virtual showflats that home buyers can “view” the showflat virtually at home whenever convenience. Some of the virtual tours can be seen at Rezi 24, Marina One Residences, Tedge, etc.
This new concept of virtual tour however has not taken effect as most local buyers prefer to adopt a wait and see approach and also most prefer to view the actual showflat with finishes, actual size and the layout etc.
Crisis or Opportunity?
Will this be a crisis or opportunity for real estate market? Development that price their project right with right attributes will still continue to sell, especially once after circuit breaker ends. Warren Buffet favourite quote “Buy when people are fearful, sell when people are greedy” seems applicable in this situation.
Those who buy during SARS period in 2003 make hefty profit within the next few years. Will this trend continue?
