Sluggish start to 2024 ends in decade-high home sales at year’s end
The 348-unit Norwood Grand in Woodlands additionally attained multiple breakthroughs. Over the weekend of October 19-20, it saw a take-up rate of 84%, reaching the best-selling venture in regards to percentage of sales as of October. The common price of units sold was $2,067 psf, noting the very first time a property in Woodlands went beyond the $2,000 psf threshold.
“Despite close monitoring by authorities, new actions are likely to continue to be on hold unless clear indications of persistent market overheating emerge,” Chia adds.
The initial assignment introduced after the Lunar Seventh Month was the 158-unit 8@BT at Bukit Timah Web Link. Over the weekend break of Sept 21– 22, 53% of its units were purchased at an average cost of $2,719 psf.
Developer profits in November skyrocketed to 2,557 units– the strongest amount since March 2013, when 3,489 units were introduced and 2,793 were sold, according to Huttons Data Analytics.
The real estate market in 2024 unravelled in 2 starkly contrasting parts. The very first half was slow, with boutique developments taking centre stage and the smallest number of units released up for sale ever since 1H1996, according to Huttons Data Analytics. Sales volume represented this fad, with simply 1,889 units sold– the most affordable since 1996.
The exception was the 533-unit Lentor Mansion, that accomplished a 75% take-up price throughout its launch weekend in March. Many other project launches in 1H2024 saw fairly lacklustre sales compared to 2023.
In 3Q2024, new home sales jumped 60% q-o-q, according to Huttons, which noted a change in belief, which some attribute to the 50-basis factor rate of interest cut by the US Federal Reserve in September.
The solid November efficiency drove complete property developer transactions for the very first 11 months of 2024 to 6,344 units. Year-end figures are expected to go beyond 6,500 units, going beyond the 6,421 units sold in 2023. “This mirrors the strength and flexibility of the real property market,” says Huttons’ Yip. “It emphasizes the lasting appeal of property as an asset for wealth production and preservation.”
Norwood Grand was the 1st new nonpublic residential project released in Woodlands in 12 years. Its good performance was in addition a clear signal of expanding purchaser confidence and demand, according to Huttons’ Yip. It triggered a tidal upsurge of action in November with a record-breaking six new ventures making up 3,551 units unleashed over 10 days.
With cumulative brand-new home sales in 2024 likely to stay on a par with that in 2023, Chia considers regulatory intervention “unlikely”. Any treatment, she claims, will depend on two factors: sustained sales force right into the initial quarter of 2025 and a simultaneous sharp rise in property rates surpassing GDP growth.
Yip observes that the launch of the 276-unit estate Kassia on Flora Drive in late July, that accomplished a 52% take-up fee, set the setting for strong business energy following the Lunar Seventh Month.
” Market sentiment was tentative and careful,” mentions Mark Yip, Chief Executive Officer of Huttons Asia. “Maybe as a result of unpredictabilities in the occupation market and persistently high rates of interest. Purchasers were most likely holding back, awaiting the extremely anticipated project launches later on in the year, such as Chuan Park and Emerald of Katong.”
The Continuum Thiam Siew Avenue
Further proof of increased sales energy surfaced on Oct 5, when more than 50% of the 226 units at Meyer Blue were bought in private sales. Units were settled at a common cost of $3,260 psf, setting a brand-new measure for the prime District 15 enclave on the East Coast.
Speculation is now rampant about the possibility of further real estate cooling procedures, provided the uncharacteristically high November sales. “While November’s sales figures are outstanding, they supply an insufficient picture for anticipating lessening measures,” Chia notes. “The market excitement was largely steered by a year-end rush to release projects.”
According to Chia Siew Chuin, JLL’s head of residential research, the sluggish functionality of the private residence industry in the very first three quarters of 2024 created an atypical year-end circumstance. “Developers, who had repetitively held off kick off as a result of financial uncertainties and expectations for improved conditions, lastly presented projects in November.”
It started 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 Road on Nov 9. Momentum built up with the launch of the 916-unit Chuan Park on Nov 10, and it rose over the weekend break of Nov 15-16 with 3 plans released jointly: the 846-unit Emerald of Katong, the 552-unit Nava Grove, and the 504-unit Novo Place executive condo (EC).
Chia claims this absolute switch from attention to response was triggered by the approaching year-end festive lull and enhanced market belief from the 3rd quarter of 2024. “The surge in event has changed November right into an unusually vivid period for real property release, resisting the regular seasonal downturn and developing a vibrant market atmosphere.”
