\n\u00a0
\nDevelopers are bracing for a tougher market ahead as many unsold units remain, while tenants are calling the shots amid a weakening rental market.
\nBy Khalil Adis
\nThe Singapore property market faces a lacklustre year ahead as the various cooling measures, interest rate hikes and more unsold units continue to put pressure on rentals, while developers are faced with hefty extension fines.
\nAccording to fourth quarter data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), prices of condominiums in the Rest of Central Region (RCR) declined the most by 0.3 percent, followed by those in the Core Central Region (CCR) by 0.2 percent.
\nMeanwhile, the Outside Central Region (OCR) remains unaffected.
\nThe government has so far made no indications on whether it will remove the cooling measures, which include the Additional Buyer\u2019s Stamp Duty (ABSD), Seller\u2019s Stamp Duty (SSD) and Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR), which have had a significant impact on local and foreign property investors.
\nAs a result, developers may have to pay $238 million for unsold units this year, up from the $90 million incurred in 2015.
\nSince 2014, the Real Estate Developers\u2019 Association of Singapore (Redas) has been calling on the government to lift the cooling measures which have severely impacted sales of new units.
\nAccording to the URA, as of the fourth quarter, 23,271 private housing units remain unsold out of the total supply of\u00a055,638 units.
\nIncluding executive condominiums (ECs), the total supply in the pipeline is 67,765 units.
\nOf this, 6,744 EC units remain unsold.
\nSo what does this mean for you as a consumer? We give you the lowdown.
\n\u200bTip 1: Good time for prospective tenants to look for rental bargains
\n\u200b
\nAccording to the URA, the stock of completed private residential units (excluding ECs) increased by 5,299 units in the fourth quarter.
\nMeanwhile, the vacancy rate rose to 8.1 percent in the same period, up from the 7.8 percent in the third quarter.
\nFigures from the URA show that rental declines were observed across all segments of the private residential market.
\nThe rental market is currently facing three challenges \u2013 the tightening of foreign worker quotas and expatriates looking to secure employment passes (EPs), restrictions on the granting of permanent residencies (PRs), and an oversupply of private units.
\nWith landlords outnumbering rental seekers, tenants are calling the shots in an already weak rental market.
\nCondominiums located in the OCR experienced the steepest decline of 1.8 percent, followed by the RCR and CCR at 1.6 percent and 0.4 percent respectively.
\nFor tenants, this is an opportune time to dictate their terms and conditions and to negotiate for better prices amid the slowdown.
\nTip 2: It\u2019s a buyers\u2019 market \u2013 bargain hunt for prime properties<\/p>\n
New launches and take-up rates remained weak in the fourth quarter with fewer units launched.
\nAccording to the URA, 1,333 condominium units were launched in Q4 compared to the 2,435 units in the previous quarter.
\nTake-up rates also fell sharply, with 1,603 units sold in the fourth quarter compared to the 2,410 units in the previous quarter.
\nIn view of the large supply coming onstream, sellers must be realistic in their asking prices and may have to sell at a loss, especially for those who had purchased properties in prime areas.
\n\u200b
\nFor buyers, this presents a good time to start their property hunt in the secondary market.
\nTip 3: Buyers\/tenants spoilt for choice in the HDB market<\/p>\n
In November 2015, the HDB launched 12,000 new flats to meet the housing needs of Singaporeans.
\nThis has taken some pressure off from the resale market as many buyers opt to buy directly from the HDB as it is significantly cheaper.
\nStill, transactions in the resale HDB market increased by two percent in the fourth quarter to 4,992 transactions, up from 4,893 transactions previously.
\nFor the whole of 2015, the number of resale transactions reached 19,306 units. This was an increase of 11.5 percent compared to 2014.
\nWoodlands recorded the lowest median quantum price for three-room resale flat transactions at $273,000, while the central area (Queenstown, Redhill and Tanjong Pagar) recorded a median price of $425,000.
\nMoving forward, the HDB plans to launch four Build-To-Order (BTO) exercises in 2016 that will bring the total supply to about 18,000 flats. The February BTO exercise saw 4,170 flats offered in Bidadari, Bukit Batok and Sengkang.
\nThis presents good news for buyers as they will be spoilt for choice with significant cost savings when they buy directly from the HDB, inclusive of the various grants that they could be eligible for.
\nFor buyers who cannot wait, this means they will be able to purchase their flats at a good price from the resale market.
\n\u200b
\nTenants will rule the HDB market in 2016.
\nTip 4: HDB sellers must be more realistic in their asking prices<\/p>\n
The public housing market recorded an increase in the Resale Price Index (RPI) in the last three months of 2015, up 0.1 percent from 134.6 points in the quarter before.
\u00a0 Developers are bracing for a tougher market ahead as many unsold units remain, while...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-property-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p75ss1-28I","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":86928,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/up-to-29-new-launches-offering-14200-units-for-rest-of-year-report\/","url_meta":{"origin":8228,"position":0},"title":"Up to 29 new launches offering 14,200 units for rest of year: report","date":"May 2, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Is the upcoming supply excessive and will it result in an overheating housing market?\u00a0 Up to 29 private residential projects could be launched between the second and fourth quarters of this year, supplying about 14,200 new units and raising concerns of an overheating housing market, according to a report\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":123929,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/en-bloc-hopefuls-march-ahead-with-tenders-despite-new-curbs\/","url_meta":{"origin":8228,"position":1},"title":"En bloc hopefuls march ahead with tenders despite new curbs","date":"December 22, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Despite the increased ABSD rates for developers, tenders for properties such as Lakepoint Condominium, Dublin Lodge, Sixth Avenue Centre, Baode Building, and Hillview Terrace will continue. 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(Artist\u2019s impression) To avoid paying additional extension charges for the 50 remaining units at Waterscape At Cavenagh, the developer of the 200-unit freehold residential project in District 9 had no choice but to be acquired by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":100646,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/private-home-prices-rise-at-a-much-slower-pace-in-q3\/","url_meta":{"origin":8228,"position":3},"title":"Private home prices rise at a much slower pace in Q3","date":"October 29, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\r The URA\u2019s price index rose 0.5% in Q3, compared with the 3.4% increase in the quarter before. Private residential property prices grew at a much slower pace in the third quarter of 2018 as the government\u2019s latest round of property cooling measures in July took their toll. The Urban\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":114670,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/rising-number-of-unsold-invetories-give-buyers-the-upper-hand-cbre\/","url_meta":{"origin":8228,"position":4},"title":"Rising number of unsold invetories give buyers the upper hand: CBRE","date":"March 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"\r The increasing number of unsold units coupled with the COVID-19 outbreak will see buyers having the upper hand.\u00a0\u00a0 Buyers in Singapore are seen to have the upper hand in the private residential market this year due to the rising number of unsold inventories, reported The Straits Times. Around 40\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38843,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/hopes-of-tweaking-cooling-measures-revived\/","url_meta":{"origin":8228,"position":5},"title":"Hopes of tweaking cooling measures revived","date":"December 22, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Will the property cooling measures be eased in 2017?\u00a0 Hopes of seeing the government tweak the property cooling measures have been rekindled after the US Federal Reserve signalled a faster pace of interest rate hikes in 2017, reported The Business Times. 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\nIn comparison, the RPI registered a decline of 0.3 percent in the previous quarter.
\nFor sellers, the new supply coming onstream in 2016 on top of the BTO launches announced by the HDB means they need to be more realistic in their asking prices.
\nBuyers are now spoilt for choice and will have the upper hand.
\nTip 5: HDB landlords \u2013 be prepared to drop asking prices
\nLandlords will need to drop their asking prices in view of the higher number of units coming onstream this year.
\nAs mentioned, the HDB plans to launch four BTO exercises in 2016 that will bring the total supply to about 18,000 flats.
\n\u200b
\nThis upcoming supply of new and existing HDB flats will weaken demand in the rental market.
\nThis article was first published on khaliladis.com.
\n
\nSource : proppertyguru.com.sg\/Property Market
\nRead more…5 tips when navigating Singapore\u2019s property market in 2016<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"