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Singapore Apartment Sales Dip 4.8% in August

Private home sales in Singapore slipped 4.8% in August even as developers launched more units than the previous month.

Singapore Apartment Sales Dip 4.8% in August
A worker rides a suspended platform as he performs construction work at a residential building in Singapore. (Photographer: Nicky Loh/Bloomberg)

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Private home sales in Singapore slipped 4.8% in August even as developers launched more units than the previous month.

Developers in the city-state sold 1,122 apartments last month versus 1,179 in July, according to data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority released Monday. July’s level was the highest since November as a broader economic slowdown spurred investors to park their money in a property market known as a safe haven.

Colliers International Group Inc. had said last month that sales would probably dip in August before picking up in September and October as new projects come to market. Colliers expects private home prices will rise just 1% this year given Singapore’s economic growth forecast of 0% to 1%.

Singapore last month slightly lowered, on average, the charges that developers must pay to enhance the use of certain property sites, or build bigger projects on them. That could have the effect of spurring activity as home builders are incentivized to rejuvenate certain areas.

In other highlights from the URA figures:

  • Developers launched 979 units for sale in August versus 911 apartments in July
  • Developments with the biggest number of apartment launches in the month included Parc Clematis, Treasure at Tampines and The Florence Residences
  • SingHaiyi Group Ltd.’s Parc Clematis, close to the National University of Singapore, was also among the highest selling developments, offloading 316 of the 440 units it launched in August. Parc Clematis alone sold 28.2% of the total monthly sales

“Interest in the residential property market and demand from buyers have remained resilient in spite of the economic slowdown,” said Ong Teck Hui, the senior director of research and consultancy at JLL. “Adverse news on the 0.1% GDP growth in the second quarter and the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s downgrading of 2019’s GDP forecast to 0% to 1% do not seem to have an appreciable impact on the private home market thus far.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Katrina Nicholas in Singapore at knicholas2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Katrina Nicholas at knicholas2@bloomberg.net, Peter Vercoe

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.