Strong Take-Up Of New Homes Last Month

Source : The Straits Times, 16 Aug 2007

Sales and prices of new homes continued to climb last month, with 1,378 properties sold, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) reported yesterday.

The number of properties sold last month was almost 20 per cent more than the 1,150 new homes sold in June, URA figures showed.

Projects with the highest sales last month included The Rochester at North Buona Vista and Reflections at Keppel Bay.

The data also revealed that the number of new homes sold continued to outpace new launches, according to property firm Knight Frank, indicating that the stock of unsold new homes is dwindling.

The number of units sold last month at above $4,000 per sq ft (psf) jumped more than four times from the June figure, thanks mainly to the launch of Scotts Square along Scotts Road.

There were 72 units that crossed this mark last month, compared with 16 in June.

But most homes sold last month were much cheaper. About 30 per cent, or 406 properties, went for $1,000 psf or less, according to the URA.

Another 601 homes were sold at between $1,000 psf and $2,000 psf, while 154 homes fetched between $2,000 psf and $3,000 psf.

There were 145 homes that sold for $3,000 psf to $4,000 psf.

Some excitement stirred the market yesterday when the URA’s data turned up what appeared to be a record home price. It showed that a unit at Leonie Parc View along Leonie Hill Road had reached $5,236 psf, an all-time high for a home in Singapore.

But a Straits Times check with the project’s developer, Soilbuild, revealed that human error had been behind the ‘record price’. In fact, the highest price achieved at Leonie Parc View was $3,489 psf.