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Private property makes strong recovery

Latest Property Real Estate News - Published on 23/10/2009

After plunging 44.2 points in just four quarters, the private property index, as released today by URA, made a huge comeback by jumping 21 points up to 154.3. This represents a 15.8% recovery, the first positive change since 2Q08’s results.
“This figure clearly reflects the sustained market confidence of late,” says PropNex CEO Mohamed Ismail, referring to the 11,518 units sold in 3Q09, which was 14% more than the 10,120 sold in 2Q09. Interestingly, this figure is second only to the peak of 14,797 recorded during the previous peak in 2Q07.
Mr Ismail attributes the recent brisk sales to the many investors and HDB upgraders who did not want to miss out on a good investment opportunity. “I’m not surprised to see that the market has rebounded so strongly,” he adds.
Moving forward, Mr Ismail looks to the removal of the Interest Absorption Scheme to lead to more sensible pricing by developers, which will in turn help to sustain demand from genuine buyers.
He also expects the Government’s intention to release more land for development to translate to more sustainable growth in the long term, preventing a bubble from forming.”
He defines sustainable growth as between 2–3%, and expects the price index to maintain those levels over the next four quarters, with about 1,000 newly launched units transacting per month for November and December 2009.