Investment Sales Improves in Q1 2019

Total Singapore investment sales in Q1 2019 rose by nearly 34% quarter-on- quarter (q-o-q) to $6.3 billion

Despite the slowdown in en bloc market, total investment sales went up by nearly 34% to S$6.3 billion in Q1 2019 from S$4.7 billion in Q4 2018. The increase in sales was partly attributed to the closing of State tenders in Q1, with public sales surging to S$ 3.1 billion in Q1 2019 from S$110 million in Q4 2018.

Although the outlook for private residential market was more subdued after the announcement of the eighth round of cooling measures in July 2018, developers were still actively seeking sites that have great connectivity and potential for future growth. For example, the Government Land Sale (GLS) site at Middle Road drew 10 bids from developers.

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Singapore residential property sales is expected to remain moderate for the rest of the year, on the back of the growing mismatch of price expectations among buyers and sellers.

Sellers in the secondary market were placed under greater pressure to reduce their asking prices as the URA Private Property Price Index fell during the first quarter of 2019.

The decline in URA price indices was more reactive of the prices of completed homes transacted in the secondary market, given that prices of new projects were holding up during the first quarter.
In fact, the NUS Singapore Residential Price Index, which tracks prices of completed non-landed private homes and a proxy for the secondary market, eased 0.5 percent month-to-month after registering a 0.2 percent dip in January.

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