Private property transactions here saw a very encouraging 1,668 transactions for May 2009, according to URA’s release. This outstanding figure comes to within a whisker of the all-time record of 1,731 transactions during August 2007.
PropNex CEO Mohamed Ismail explains the reasons behind such promising numbers, which represented a 40% increase over last month’s figures and saw the number of transactions exceed the number of launches for the fourth straight month.
“There has been greater activity on the ground,” he observes, “with the recent rallying of the stock markets and continued launches by developers at very attractive prices. This has encouraged many speculators who were waiting on the fence to take action and strike while the iron is hot, taking advantage of the low prices in the property market across all levels.” He makes reference to the fact that there is still a very strong mass-market showing, with 1,031 (or 61.8% of all) transactions priced below $1,000psf.
“The price gap between the HDB resale price index and the price index for private property is still narrow enough to entice HDB upgraders to make the leap and get their own private home,” says Mr Ismail.
The mid-range private property market is also improving, with 37.3% of all transactions, or 622 units, going for $1,000 to $1,999psf, the highest percentage this year. In fact, the two most-transacted properties in May were both in this range: Martin Place Residences saw 186 transactions at a median price of $1,423psf, while The Wharf Residence saw 140 transactions with a media price of $1,186psf.
Besides the strong showing overall, another interesting highlight is the high-end property market ($2,000psf or more) which saw 15 transactions in total, overshadowing April’s three such transactions. Notably, two of these, both at The Orchard Residences, even nosed above $3,000psf.
Mr Ismail remains conservative about the unexpectedly strong trend continuing: “While I do not expect June 2009 to have as many transactions as May, we should see the number of transactions well exceed 1,000.”
