Transaction volume was tepid in August due to the Hungry Ghost Festival. With current housing policies remaining unchanged together with the 'inauspicious' Festival, many prospective buyers stayed away from the market. Developers sold 495 new private homes in August, down 69 per cent from the 1,594 units sold in July. The lacklustre sales came as developers launched just 598 new units for sale (all excluding ECs), or down 59 per cent from the 1,468 units launched in July.

"There are two broad reasons for the subdued buying sentiments; firstly, it coincided with the Hungry Ghost Month ? which is typically seen by many to be an inauspicious time to make home purchases. Secondly, there was a lack of mass market launches with developers holding back their launches to a later date. Lastly, there is also an inertia to commit as buyers remain on the sidelines due to ongoing measures and/or an anticipation of further price declines," commented Mr Ismail Gafoor, CEO of PropNex Realty.

Source: URA, PropNex research

OCR region most active

Outside Central Region (OCR) accounted for the bulk of private home sales in August with 356 units sold (or 71.9 per cent) with the balance attributed to Rest of Central Region ? which sold 95 units (RCR) (or 19.1 per cent) and Core Central Region which sold 44 units (CCR) (or 9 per cent).

Source: URA, PropNex research

Sol Acres - the chart-topping project in August

The 5 top-selling projects were:

Source: URA, PropNex research

Homebuyers expected to continue exercising heightened prudence

With the presence of price resistance, prices for upcoming new projects will remain competitive as there will be added pressure for developers to price their projects reasonably.

While selected projects which are reasonably priced and well located will continue to attract homebuyers, prices are expected to come under some pressure as the potential pool of buyers shrink and developers face stronger competition. Against this backdrop, attractive pricing and location remain key drivers in helping developers move units

With no changes to the government curbs on the horizon in 2015, the private residential market is expected to remain soft. We expect new private home sales volume to be about 8,000 to 9,000 units. Transaction volume will continue to be launch-driven; largely dependent on the price and location of the project.

August's weak sales is within expectations, however PropNex expects relatively better transaction volume in September due to the upcoming launch of Principal Garden. We will still see a mix of good and poor take-up rates in upcoming projects. However, we could see healthy monthly sales in the future if more projects are priced realistically at levels that would draw in buyers.

For media enquiries, please contact:

Carolyn Goh
Senior Manager
Corporate Communications and Marketing
P & N Holdings Pte Ltd (holding company of PropNex Realty)
480 Lorong 6 Toa Payoh #10-01 HDB Hub East Wing Singapore 310480
DID : (65) 6829 6748 / 98287834 | Main : (65) 6820 8000 | Fax : (65) 6829 6600
www.PropNex.com

Algene Hong
Senior Executive
Corporate Communications
PropNex Realty
480 Lorong 6 Toa Payoh #10-01 HDB Hub East Wing Singapore 310480
DID : (65) 6829 6746 | Main : (65) 6820 8000
Fax : (65) 6829 6600
www.PropNex.com