Singapore, 15 Mar 2022 New private home sales declined in February under a "quadruple whammy" from the Chinese New Year lull period, a declining supply of housing, cooling measures and global uncertainties from the Russia-Ukraine war.
According to OrangeTee & Tie senior vice-president of research and analytics Christine Sun, demand has outstripped supply over the past year, and new home sales exceeded units launched each month. This led to a steady decline in the number of launched but unsold units.
“The launched but unsold units excluding EC dipped 47.0 per cent from 6,819 units in February 2021 to 3,611 units in February 2022,” she noted. She also expects the supply to worsen this year as the number of new homes slated for launch is expected to drop further by about 20 per cent to around 9,000 units (including EC) for the whole year 2022.
She also said, “While more land parcels would be released from the Government Land Sales (GLS) programme in the first half of this year, the new homes will only enter the market next year.”
Ms Chiristine Sun also added that as housing demand is often driven by market sentiment, some buyers may have taken a backseat in the light of the growing global uncertainties. The Russian-Ukraine conflict has impacted businesses worldwide, affecting oil, natural gas and stock prices. That said, she also noted that escalating tension could lead to a revival in demand for “safe-haven purchases”.
“Looming uncertainties may instead benefit our real estate market as investors shift their focus back to defensive asset classes like properties.”