Hot off the 9.30 News: February home sales dropped to 4-month low

Private residential home sales in February continued to fall, reaching a four-month low.

Data released on Tuesday by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) showed that about 1,100 private homes were sold last month.

That is a 9% drop from the 1,209 units sold in January. Including Executive Condominiums, the total sales would have reached a total of 1,228.

The suburban region continues to see the most sales, with about 737 units sold while the city fringe areas sold about 223 units. The central region saw the least sales with 141 units sold.

Analysts attributed the low February sales figure to the typical Lunar New year lull and the Government property cooling measures.

And according to Channel News Asia, chalking up the best sales was Waterfront Isle at Bedok Reservoir Road, which sold 282 units at a median price of $997psf.

The best selling EC was the Austville Residences at Sengkang East Avenue, which sold 63 units at a median price of $721psf.

Executive condo Esparina Residences sold the cheapest unit at $503psf.

Meanwhile, the most expensive property sold in February was Tomlinson Heights at Tomlinson Road, where one unit was sold at $3,277psf.

1,710 units were launched in February, an increase of 500 units from the previous month. Analysts said the spike is due to more launches by property developers after the Lunar New Year.

Analysts also expect a month-to-month drop in private home sales of  about 10% for the next 2 months, which may be further exacerbated by the Earthquake/Tsunami aftermath in Japan. Full year sales forecast is expected to reach 14,000 units.

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Enbloc news: Pearl Bank Apartment – Take 3!

According to a ST report today, owners of units at the distinctive Pearl Bank Apartments near Chinatown are making their third attempt to pull off a collective sale.

The 280-unit development has an estimated price of $750 million. That was the price the owners rejected as too low when they tried to sell enbloc in 2007. Another deal launched in 2008 also fell through.

If the $750 million sale is achieved this time, owners of each 1,324sqft two-bedroom apartment would reap about $1.81 million – or $1,367psf – for their units, while the 3,993sqft penthouses would fetch up to $4.8 million each. That is a price of about $1,202psf.

Market rates are much lower. A 2,185sqft apartment in the 38-storey estate sold for $2.1 million, or $952psf, in January, while a 463sqft flat in nearby People’s Park sold recently for $488,000 or $1,054sqft.

The ageing 99-year leasehold project has 65years of its lease left. It has a built-up plot ratio of 7.4, with a maximum gross floor area of 613,000sqft. This plot ratio could yield more than 500 apartments of 1,200sqft.

The building has been hailed as one of Singapore’s architectural landmarks, and the URA said members of the public have asked for the horse-shaped building to be conserved.

While searching for a downloadable photo of Pearl Bank Apartment for this post, the wife and I have discovered that there are some very negative sentiments amongst owners about the collective sale process. Take a look for yourself…
http://www.pearlbankapartments.com/

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