Property News & Market Trends

If you're selling or buying, be precise, be prepared.

The report book for 2007 is out - private residential prices in Singapore rose 31%.

As of the 3rd quarter, URA reports that there were 65,400 private residential units under construction, 41,600 expected to be completed between 2008 and 2010. Of the current supply, there are still 38,000 units not sold by developers yet, it said.

The worrisome part would be in 2009/10, when Singapore will have its highest number of private residential units getting TOP since independence. If the expected expatriates didn't decide to come to Singapore despite the 2 gigantic IR projects, investors will have to compete fiercely for limited high-end tenants. High expectations on rental yields will diminish & those who can't hold will suffer. Let's hope it will not happen and the foreigners will invade Singapore by the tens of thousands and decide to stay.

My belief is 2008 will see lots of price consolidations. Record prices will be tried at all levels. Many will fail, a handful will cheer. HDB will continue to outpace the private residentials in terms of transaction numbers. Prime will slow and anything above $900psf will be a challenge to sell. Speculators are gone. That means flipping options will be extremely rare. Only the bravest dare try. With this missing link, fewer enblocs, prices will steady.

To me, that's good news. The increase number of real transactions is far more important than record breaking prices. The media should not glorify and highlight such news as it gives the public a misconception that "all" prices are increasing. That's absurd!  Newsy but falsely projected.

Let's take an example; if 1 unit is transacted at an exceptional price of $750,000 and 20 units are transacted at an average of $600,000. This "one" single unit can pull up the average price to $675,000, when a more reasonable range would be $580,000 - $620,000. This can be a real challenge for any agent to analyse and research on to provide the buyer or seller the actual picture.

National average, indexes and broad-base averages can be misleading. I suggest all buyers, sellers and agents dwell on the distinct vicinity than the entire district. This will give you a better & deeper understanding of what is happening. Be smart. Be precise. Be prepared. Happy shopping or selling. [Bingo! U got a Match!]

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