Value of new home sales drops to S$16.22b in 2009

Property consultant CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) says last year’s total transaction value of new homes in Singapore was just 69 per cent of that in 2007.

Based on caveats lodged for the full 12 months of last year, 2009 logged a total transaction value of S$16.22 billion.

That’s lower than the total value of new home sales for the whole of 2007, which came in at S$23.52 billion.

CBRE says the lower transaction values are due to the popularity of mass market homes and the proliferation of small-format homes of less than 500 square feet.

Such homes have relatively lower prices.

In contrast, much of the demand in 2007 came from the luxury segment where the overall prices were high.

But CBRE says the total transaction volume for 2009 was similar to that of 2007.

For this year, it expects the transaction value to be between S$16 billion and S$22 billion.

The first quarter this year accounted for some S$4.2 billion in transaction value or 26 per cent of last year’s total transaction value.

Source: Channel News Asia, 14 May 2010