Sluggish start to 2024 ends in decade-high home sales at year’s end
The 348-unit Norwood Grand in Woodlands also achieved numerous turning points. Over the weekend of October 19-20, it saw a take-up rate of 84%, making it the very popular venture in terms of percentage of sales as of October. The average cost of units marketed was $2,067 psf, marking the very first time a venture in Woodlands exceeded the $2,000 psf limit.
Chia claims this crucial change from attention to response was prompted by the approaching year-end cheery lull and enhanced market sentiment from the third quarter of 2024. “The upsurge in activity has transformed November into an uncommonly dynamic period for real estate launches, resisting the regular seasonal downturn and creating a dynamic industry setting.”
According to Chia Siew Chuin, JLL’s head of residential research, the sluggish functionality of the private residential market in the very first three quarters of 2024 created an atypical year-end scenario. “Property developers, that had continuously held off launches due to financial uncertainties and expectations for enhanced conditions, ultimately turned out ventures in November.”
” Market view was tentative and cautious,” mentions Mark Yip, CEO of Huttons Asia. “Perhaps as a result of unpredictabilities in the job market and constantly high rate of interest. Buyers were most likely holding back, waiting on the highly anticipated plan launches later in the year, such as Chuan Park and Emerald of Katong.”
In 3Q2024, brand-new home sales jumped 60% q-o-q, according to Huttons, that regarded a shift in view, which some credit to the 50-basis factor interest rate reduced by the United States Federal Reserve in September.
Yip sees that the dispatch of the 276-unit estate Kassia on Flora Drive around late July, which attained a 52% take-up price, set the setting for solid deals energy following the Lunar Seventh Month.
The property industry in 2024 unfolded in 2 starkly different halves. The initial half was sluggish, with boutique developments getting centre stage and the lowest variety of units introduced sold since 1H1996, according to Huttons Data Analytics. Sales amount mirrored this fad, with simply 1,889 units sold– the most affordable from 1996.
With cumulative brand-new home sales in 2024 likely to stay on a par with that in 2023, Chia considers regulatory treatment “unlikely”. Any intervention, she states, will depend upon two factors: sustained sales force into the very first quarter of 2025 and a concurrent sharp rise in property costs surpassing GDP growth.
Norwood Grand was the very first brand-new exclusive residence plan released in Woodlands in 12 years. Its solid performance was also an obvious signal of increasing customer trust and demand, according to Huttons’ Yip. It set off a tidal surge of action in November with a record-breaking 6 brand-new projects making up 3,551 units released over 10 days.
Further evidence of boosted sales momentum emerged on Oct 5, the moment more than 50% of the 226 units at Meyer Blue were gotten in private sales. Units were transacted at an average cost of $3,260 psf, setting a new standard for the prime District 15 enclave on the East Coast.
“Despite close tracking by authorities, new measures are most likely to continue to be on hold unless clear indications of consistent market overheating arise,” Chia adds.
Developer sales in November soared to 2,557 units– the strongest number since March 2013, when 3,489 units were introduced and 2,793 were offered, according to Huttons Data Analytics.
It began on Nov 6 with the open of the 367-unit The Collective at One Sophia, followed by the 366-unit Union Square Residences at Havelock Roadway on Nov 9. Momentum built up with the launch of the 916-unit Chuan Park on Nov 10, and it surged over the weekend break of Nov 15-16 with 3 projects introduced jointly: the 846-unit Emerald of Katong, the 552-unit Nava Grove, and the 504-unit Novo Place exec condo (EC).
The first assignment introduced after the Lunar Seventh Month was the 158-unit 8@BT at Bukit Timah Web Link. Over the weekend of Sept 21– 22, 53% of its units were purchased at an average cost of $2,719 psf.
The exception was the 533-unit Lentor Mansion, that attained a 75% take-up price throughout its launch weekend in March. Many various other work launches in 1H2024 viewed reasonably lacklustre revenues contrasted to 2023.
The solid November productivity pressed complete developer sales for the first 11 months of 2024 to 6,344 units. Year-end figures are anticipated to surpass 6,500 units, surpassing the 6,421 units marketed in 2023. “This shows the durability and strength of the property market,” states Huttons’ Yip. “It emphasizes the enduring demand of property as an asset for wealth production and security.”
Speculation is now rampant about the option of further property cooling procedures, provided the uncharacteristically high November sales. “While November’s sales numbers are excellent, they give an insufficient picture for predicting lessening procedures,” Chia notes. “The market exuberance was largely generated by a year-end rush to introduce projects.”
