Take-up in new condo launches slow as buyers stay on sidelines

OCR projects drive sales.

This year’s new condo launches were off to a slow start as homebuyers continued to stay on the sidelines, according to Savills. 

Savills said new private homes launched across the city-state rose 23% QoQ in the first quarter driven by a higher volume of new condos in Outside Central Region (OCR) and Rest of Central Region (RCR).

Despite the uptick, Savills noted that take-up rate for these new releases has softened with only the Lentor Mansion recording a strong take-up of 76%, while take-up in other projects ranging from 3% to 30%.

In the fourth quarter, two of the three projects that hit the market had more than half of their available units snapped up during the quarter of launch.

Savills traced the decline to buyers’ cautious approach to making big-ticket purchases amid challenging macroeconomic conditions.

This large discrepancy in numbers could imply that buyers were adopting a ‘wait-and-see’ approach and being more discerning and cautious in their purchasing decisions as uncertain economic conditions persist.

“This year is likely to be one where we see how challenging business conditions may affect home buyers’ sentiments or whether it is a case where demand still holds strong arising from the store of wealth held by those who are unaffected by fluctuations in the job market,” said Alan Cheong, Executive Director, Research & Consultancy, Savills Singapore.

Data from URA showed home sales dropped 58.1% QoQ in April.