OCR THE MOST POPULAR REGION
Of the 391 units sold in January, the Outside Central Region (OCR) accounted for a majority at 185 units, mainly thanks to the launch of Sceneca Residence. A total of 158 units in the Core Central Region (CCR) were sold, while the Rest of the Central Region (RCR) saw 48 units sold.
“Contrary to the OCR and CCR, the RCR registered a decline in sales in January; but this is most likely due to RCR seeing only 105 new units launched, on the back of a dearth of new project launches,” said Mr Lam Chern Woon, head of research and consulting at Edmund Tie.
“The spike in sales for the OCR can be attributed to the fact that 270 new units were launched in this segment, compared to just 35 and 105 new units in the CCR and RCR, respectively.”
At the upper end of the market, 28 new non-landed homes sold for at least S$5 million last month, said Ms Sun.
She pointed out that two units transacted for more than S$10 million; a 4,661 sq ft unit at Dalvey Haus which sold for S$16,280,000 or S$3,493 psf and a 3,272 sq ft unit at Midtown Modern which sold for S$14 million or S$4,278 psf.
THE RETURN OF FOREIGN BUYERS
The relaxation of border controls by China on Jan 8 saw the return of super wealthy Chinese property buyers to Singapore, said Mr Lee.
Foreigners picked up 57 units in January, 58.3 per cent higher than December.
“The super wealthy Chinese were said to be behind some of the purchases in Klimt Cairnhill in January, pushing the project to become the number three bestselling project in January.”
Fourteen out of the 17 units at Klimt Cairnhill sold last month went to foreigners.
“One of the reasons why the Chinese zoomed in on Klimt Cairnhill was the availability of large units which were more than 2,000 sq ft. 15 of the 17 units sold at Klimt Cairnhill were above 2,000 sq ft,” said Mr Lee.
Mr Lam said that he expects the share of foreign purchases to inch up in 2023, with demand from Mainland Chinese for private homes in Singapore to gradually recover in 2023.
“The potential return of well-heeled Mainland Chinese investors would likely drive demand for private homes, especially in the prime and city fringe areas.”