In terms of the downward trend of high-end private homes, analysts interviewed said that sales of new high-end private homes are expected to remain stable due to the characteristics of buyers in the high-end private home market and the limited supply in the market.
With the majority of upscale private home buyers being high net worth individuals who have access to funds for home ownership through reallocation of their investment portfolios, and the limited supply in the upscale private home market, the cooling measures are not expected to have a significant impact.
Pullman Residences, a high-end private residential development in Newton, still sold 13 units in the first week after the cooling measures were introduced on 30 September, with total sales of $35.69 million, indicating that the cooling measures did not affect the popularity of the development. Local buyers accounted for the majority of the sales, with 10 units sold.
Sales at Koparat Newton and Leedon Green, for example, have both recently increased by varying degrees year-on-year, with Hyllon Holland more than doubling its sales in the third quarter.
The narrowing of the price differential between upmarket private homes and mass-market and mid-market private homes has shown buyers the value and buying opportunities of upmarket private homes.
The median price difference between high-end private homes and mass-market private homes narrowed from 61.3% in the first quarter of the year to 34.3% in the third quarter.
The median price differential between high-end and mid-range private homes also narrowed to 15.9% in the third quarter, from 39.1% in the first quarter of the year.
The median price per square foot for high-end private homes rose by 2.2% year-on-year to $2,812 in the third quarter, with sales largely unchanged from the second quarter.
Stable sales have given developers a boost, prompting them to launch more high-end private properties.
More than eight high-end private residential projects with a total of nearly 2,500 units are expected to be launched next.
Among them, Malaysian developer IOI Group will launch a mixed-use project at MarinaView, a hotel and residential development next to Sandton Road MRT station, which is expected to have up to 748 high-end private residential units.
The FuiiXerox Towers site on On Shun Road will also be redeveloped into the Newport Residences, a 484-unit redevelopment of the Watten Estate, which was sold en masse in October last year, and will be located on ShelfordRd, close to Nanyang Primary School and Raffles Girls' Primary School. It is expected to have 286 units.
The outlook for the future sales of these high-end private residential projects is that sales of new high-end private residential units are expected to remain stable and prices are likely to increase, based on the steady sales of high-end private residential units over the past few months and the continued increase in overall private residential prices.
Sales prices for new projects are expected to remain stable as developers are unlikely to reduce prices due to rising land acquisition and construction costs.
Many of the buyers of high-end private residential properties are foreign talent at the cutting edge of various industries, high net worth individuals with stable assets and a desire to live in our country. As a result, demand for high-end private homes remains.
New private residential projects are being built using a phased payment approach, and the first stage of payment is usually a year away, meaning that the current high interest rate loans will have little impact on buyers.
However, if loan rates rise above 4%, this will still put pressure on some buyers.
