Singapore Private Home Sales hit 4-year High for April
<span style="font-weight: 400;">New private home sales dipped in April from a month ago, but they have surged more than four times since April 2020, when the Covid-19 circuit breaker shut down all show flats. An estimated 1,262 new homes were sold last month - the highest April take up since 2017 -
Published -
May 19, 2021 4:10 AM
New private home sales dipped in April from a month ago, but they have surged more than four times since April 2020, when the Covid-19 circuit breaker shut down all show flats. An estimated 1,262 new homes were sold last month - the highest April take up since 2017 - but were down 2.6 per cent from March. Year on year, sales skyrocketed 356 per cent from last year. An estimated 4,755 new private homes were sold in the first four months of this year, nearly double the 2,426 units sold in the same period last year, according to JLL. But analysts warned that it is uncertain if this strong momentum will continue as some buyers are likely to be cautious following the jump in unlinked Covid-19 community cases. "An early containment of the infections would restore confidence and sustain sales take-up, but a prolonged spread could moderate market activity," Ong Teck Hui, senior director of research & consultancy at JLL, said. Catherine He, director of research, Southeast Asia, CBRE, warned that with expected construction delays following an entry ban on long-term pass holders from India and Bangladesh, more home buyers may turn to the resale market, which could affect new home sales. Also, in a potential dampener for May and June sales, there are no new home launches slated for the second half of May and all of June, following eight launches (excluding ECs) in the first 4.5 months this year, noted Mark Yip, chief executive of Huttons Asia. The new restrictions under phase two (heightened alert) from May 16 to June 13 introduced in response to increased unlinked community infections could cool the market, he said.