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Not bothered by cooling measuresThe private residential property market took a short breather in February for the Lunar New Year, followed by the anti-speculation measures announced by the government on the 19th of the month. However, homebuyers did not appear to be deterred by the curbs and were still packing show-fl ats of newly launched developments.

However, the sales fi gures in the private primary residential property market slipped by 19.0% to 1,196 homes in February 2010 compared to the previous month. This corresponds with the 18.5% fall in the number of private homes launched in February. The decline was partly due to the temporary winding down of sales activities in view of the Lunar New Year holidays.

In the fi rst two months of 2010, most of the private residential launch and sales activities were in the mass market and high-end segments. The region with the sharpest fall in February sales was the mid-tier RCR (Rest of Central Region). In January 2010, a total of 350 units in the RCR were sold by developers. This fell to 112 units in the following month. This was the result of the decrease in the number of units launched in this area in February. Only three developments released new units for sale in February, namely Floridian (100 units), Tembeling Residence (15 units) and Meier Suites (4 units).

The launch and sales volume in the high-end Core Central Region (CCR) and mass market OCR (Outside Central Region) were still healthy. The CCR and OCR made up 43.7% and 46.1% of the total number of units launched in February respectively. In terms of the total number of units sold, the CCR and OCR occupy 43.6% and 47.1% of the market share respectively.

Some of the bigger new developments, such as Urban Suites and The Shore Residences managed to raise their median transacted prices in February to $2,594 per square foot (psf) and $1,262 psf respectively. But the price performance of some of the other new launches was mixed. A few developments, such as Cube 8 and Holland Residences reported lower transacted prices in February, as the last few remaining units in these developments were sold off.

Some of the new residential projects that enjoyed strong buying interests in March 2010 were The Laurels at Cairnhill Road, The Vision at West Coast and Coralis, which is near Marine Parade. The Vision at West Coast, a 99-year leasehold condominium located in a suburban area, was launched at $1,000 to $1,200 psf. Such price range for a mass market project was last achieved by Centro Residences, which was located near the Ang Mo Kio MRT station and shopping mall. It is quite unlikely that the average price of the other suburban mass market 99-year leasehold projects that are not located near MRT stations or major shopping centres would exceed the $1,000 psf level due to the limited purchasing power of most HDB upgraders. In addition, the steady supply of new development sites for private homes from the government would also moderate price growth.

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March 2010

Update on Singapore Property Market

This research report has been prepared by Mr Nicholas Mak, specially for distribution to clients of:

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About the ContributorMr Nicholas Mak is a veteran in the real estate market with experience of more than 10 years in the areas of

research, consultancy and business development. He had headed the Consultancy & Research Departments

in Knight Frank and Chesterton International. Mr Mak is currently a real estate lecturer in the Building and

Environment Division of Ngee Ann Polytechnic. Besides conducting research, he provides real estate advisory

services to government statutory boards, real estate funds, developers and fi nancial institutions.

OutlookA total of about 2,700 private homes in Singapore were sold by developers in January and February 2010. If the sales momentum continues unabated, a new record of 16,000 private homes could be sold in the primary market in 2010, which is higher than the 14,800 private homes sold during the height of the property market boom in 2007.

However, the risk of further government interventions in response to the potential growth of a property market bubble would likely prevent a new sales record this year. This does not mean that property speculators, who contributed to previous sales record, would be totally deterred from dabbling in the real estate market. This is because the lure of a quick profi t due to the present robust buying interest may be too strong an attraction for some short-term investors.

Furthermore, the government’s move to remove short-term investors from the public housing market would also drive some of these investors to the private property market. These investors would likely target the smaller apartment units as their budgets are usually less than $700,000 per apartment.

Although there are still uncertainties regarding the investment climate beyond the fi rst half of 2010, the macro-economic factors still favour a price and rental expansion in the private residential property market. The high-end and mass market would likely enjoy proportionally higher sales compared to the mid-tier segment because there are more properties in these areas waiting to be launched. Certain projects in these two market segments would also have the potential to experience relatively higher price growth.

Residential Projects Launched in the period of December 2009 to February 2010

Project Name LocationTotal number

of unitsLaunch date

Median Transacted Price ($psf)

Dec 2009 Jan 2010 Feb 2010

High–end (Core Central Region)

Urban Suites Hullet Road 165 Dec 2009 $2,520 $2,510 $2,590

Fifty-Two Stevens Stevens Road 20 Dec 2009 $1,870 $1,940 $1,810

Cube 8 Thomson Road 177 Jan 2010 – $1,290 $1,250

RV Edge River Valley Road 108 Jan 2010 – $1,700 $1,680

Holland Residences Taman Warna 83 Jan 2010 – $1,690 $1,570

Altez Enggor Street 280 Feb 2010 – – $1,820

L’VIV Newton Road 147 Feb 2010 – – $1,980

The Laurels Cairnhill Road 229 Feb 2010 – – $2,740

Centennia Suites Kim Seng Road 97 Feb 2010 – – $2,000

Mid-tier (Rest of Central Region)

The Shore Residences Amber Road 408 Dec 2009 $1,140 $1,200 $1,260

Moda East Coast Road 56 Dec 2009 $1,220 $1,220 – *

Ceylon Residences Ceylon Road 22 Dec 2009 $840 $910 $820

Mass market (Outside Central Region)

Residences Botanique Sirat Road 81 Dec 2009 $960 $1,020 $1,060

Siglap V East Coast Road 114 Jan 2010 – $1,510 – *

Cerelia Vista Lorong Ah Soo 21 Jan 2010 – $390 $450

The EstuaryYishun Avenue 1 / Avenue 2

608 Feb 2010 – – $760

The Ebony Lorong Marican 32 Feb 2010 – – $1,270

* According to the developer, no unit was sold in that month.

Printed on 03/2010

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