RESIDENTIAL MARKET
Fall in Q3 private home sales 'due to lunar seventh month'
The lunar seventh month is being blamed for a huge drop in the number of private home sales in the third quarter, compared with the previous three months.
5,934 deals were closed in the quarter, sharply down on the 10,780 transactions recorded in the three months to June 30.
Superstitious home seekers are said to avoid buying homes during the inauspicious lunar seventh month period, which cuts across half of August and September.
New home sales were down more than 50 per cent - from 6,007 in the second quarter to 2,659 in the following three months.
However, some new residential projects managed to buck the trend.
Units at One Dusun Residences in Jalan Dusun were almost sold out within two weeks despite launching towards the end of August.
Several projects were also well received after launching late last month - after the lunar seventh month.
Kovan Regency in Kovan Road has sold more than 90 per cent of its 393 units, while Riversails in Upper Serangoon Crescent moved more than 200 flats last month.
Sales involving permanent residents (PRs) were less badly affected in the quarter than other buyer groups such as Singaporeans and foreigners.
Transactions involving PRs fell about 37 per cent compared with the previous quarter, while other groups registered declines of more than 45 per cent.
Sales of new executive condominiums (EC) slowed in the third quarter, possibly because of the increased number of Build-to-Order flats and EC launches.
About 27,000 flats are expected to be launched this year.
As dual ownership of new EC units and Housing Board flats is not allowed, buyers and HDB upgraders might choose to buy a private residential unit instead.
Private property owners cannot own an HDB flat at the same time. This removes ECs, a hybrid between private and public housing, as an option for private property owners.
Source: The Straits Times – 19 October 2012
INDUSTRIAL MARKET
Industrial property prices set for moderate growth
Prices of industrial properties are likely to moderate in the coming quarters as manufacturing activity loses steam.
Price growth for new sale and resale industrial properties could come off in the next two to three quarters as a result of cautious market sentiment and global economic uncertainties.
The average transacted prices for new strata industrial units recorded marginal decreases in Q3, compared with increased prices in the previous quarter.
The price decline was mainly registered in developments located in various industrial clusters, such as Paya Lebar, Woodlands-Sembawang-Admiralty, Macpherson and Kaki Bukit-Ubi.
Resale strata industrial properties with 30-year leases witnessed a quarterly increase of 3.8 per cent to $249 per square foot (psf). But the increase in prices has slowed significantly compared with the 28 per cent jump from Q1 to Q2.
Sixty-year and 99-year leasehold and freehold industrial properties have been transacted in line with market expectations, with strong quarterly price increases of 12 per cent, 3 per cent and 8 per cent in Q3 respectively.
The average capital values of ground and upper floor prime freehold factory space in Q3 hit $699 psf and $636 psf respectively. This was a 5.1 per cent and 6 per cent quarter-on-quarter increase, compared with a 5.1 per cent and 7.1 per cent quarterly gain in Q2.
Source: Business Times – 19 October 2012
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