Decline in private home prices draws more buyers
With private home prices in Singapore sliding down by 10.8% since the last peak in 3Q2013, the property market is starting to see a boost in buying activity – especially during new launch projects.
According the reports and surveys done, buyers at the recent Forest Woods condo launch have been sourcing around for the right property for as long as 4 years, before deciding that this is the right time to enter the market.
Despite a gloomy economic outlook and rising concerns on job security & stability, the on-going demand for private residential homes have surpassed what was experienced last year in 2015.
Statistics from URA have shown that a total of 11,254 transactions (resale and new sales) have been concluded in the first 9 months of 2016 – a 6.8% increase as compared to 10,533 transactions within the same period in 2015.
Market watchers have mentioned that property buyers are mostly starting to step up their search in good deals as interest rates are relatively low at this point of time and it doesn’t seem that the property cooling measures will be relaxed anytime soon.
Due to the challenging conditions faced in the property marketing, property owners and developers have been pricing their units more competitively, in order to suit the majority of property buyers who are price-sensitive.
Some of the attractively priced properties in the resale which made the headlines were the likes of The Makena along Meyer Road (at S$1,245psf), Helios Residences at Cairnhill Circle (at S$2,088 psf) and Valley Park at River Valley (at S$1,357 psf).
Then again, there are still home buyers who are willing to wait out for deals which are even more attractive, as some predicted that prices may fall even further based on the economy’s performance now.
Property consultants have also advised property investors to wait out or be more selective with their options as private home rental market continues to weaken. However, if the property is for own-use, there’s no harm entering the market now as prices are relatively lower than past years.