Sales of private residences in Singapore soar slightly in May

The URA report revealed minor improvements for the property segment compared to a year before 

According to the May 2020 data published by the Urban Redevelopment Authority, developers in Singapore sold 486 units of new private residences, a hefty 75.5 percent boost from only selling 277 units in April, reported JLL Singapore.

But when compared to the 952 units sold in May 2019, the sales figures only slightly increased.

“It indicates that the primary market is far from dead despite the circuit breaker, although it is also not back to pre-COVID levels,” said the report.

Buyers’ confidence is said to be the reason behind the improved sales performance in May in contrast to April, despite the anticipated recession at the end of the year.

More: Private residential market in Singapore to strongly recover from economic downturn

The report clarified that the confidence might have stemmed from the local government’s efforts in controlling the rate of infections, along with the swift introduction of budget measures costing around SGD100 billion (USD71.6 billion) to support businesses and employment.

For the first five months of 2020, the developers have sold around 2,912 new private homes, which dropped 17.4 percent from the same period in 2019. Once the circuit breaker was introduced, the sales volumes in April and May also declined by 54.8 percent compared to the same months in 2019.

Analysts forecasted that in the next half of the year, once the authorities start to ease restrictions and allow the reopening of show flats, the sales figures would be 20 to 30 percent less than in 2019 because of the impact of recession.

“Based on this analysis, sales of new private homes by developers in 2020 could range between 7,000 and 8,000 units. If this materializes, it will be indicative of a highly resilient market supported by firm underlying demand.”