For the cautious developer, rescheduling a launch appears to be a favorable risk management decision. If the developer believes the market will turn for the better after two to three months, then the developer would avoid the risk of a lukewarm launch and possible adverse publicity by postponing a launch until the market conditions get better.
If a developer does not feel the market will rebound for a considerable period, deferring a launch seems like a good option. There is a chance that the strategy might even allow for tweaking of cooling measures should the economy hit a severe slump near Woodlands Ave 12 EC.
Woodlands EC Causeway Point Sembawang Primary School
Preliminary data from the URA in December 2015 indicates that there were no new projects launched in that month. Poiz Residences was the top selling project, selling 64 units at an average of $1, 430. Sky Vue came in second with 20 units sold at a median of $1, 571. Botanique at Bartley was third with 17 units sold at $1, 302. Twenty executive condo units were sold by The Brownstone at the average price of $814. This is near to schools such as the below
Riverside Primary School
Admiralty Secondary School
Sembawang Secondary School
In the private homes segment, developers enjoyed a 67 per cent year-on-year jump with 384 units sold. Only 124 EC units were bought in December, resulting in a one-third fall in sales compared to December 2014. The URA is expected to release final sales of 2015 on January 22, 2016. Developers faced with looming Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) have been forced to cut house prices. Buyers have a unique opportunity to bargain on house prices starting from December 2011 when the ABSD was introduced.
Causeway Point EC Admiralty Secondary School
The stamp duty requires buyers to sell residential projects within five years of completion, and if they fail, they have to pay the ABSD. Initially set at 10 per cent, the ABSD rate was knocked up to 15 per cent from January 12, 2013. The end of 2016 marks the first five-year deadline for ABSD.
The Trilinq offers a perfect example of the rule at work. The company has a large number of unsold units currently near Sun Plaza, Causeway Point and Northpoint Yishun. In the last quarter, the company sold 20 units at an average price of $1, 329, compared a median price of $1, 545 for eight units sold after the launch of the project in 2013. As of late 2015, the Clementi project had sold 220 out of 755 units.
Sun Plaza Hao Yuan Gambas EC
Mon Jervois, another developer who might potentially attract the ABSD next year, the average price of two units sold in the last quarter was $1, 852, a sharp drop from $2, 087 median prices when the project was launched in the second quarter of 2013. Only 49 units out of 109 were sold as of late last year.Kingsford@Hillview Peak is also expected to attract ABSD early next year. Its median price has fallen from $1, 340 for 97 units sold in the second quarter of 2013 to $1, 288 for 23 units sold in the fourth quarter.In a larger perspective, only a few projects will attract ABSD in 2013 since sales were better before the second half of 2013, or before the Total Debt Servicing Ratio application as noted by the Research Director at RST, Ong Kah Seng.