Singapore’s Real Estate Market received a leg-up, according to figures of sales of new homes jumped to 441 units in May from 284 in April. An increase by 55%, an impressive jump. There’s much to cheer about given the lack lustre sales performance in H1 2008. It goes to show that a slight discount seems to go a long way (for some).

Nassim Park Residences, 39 of 70 units launched were sold at a median price of $2,929 per square foot (psf) as reported by URA’s data. UOL’s Nassim Park Residences has a total of 100 units, and UOL will be withholding some choice units from the sale.

As reported in The Business Times (17th June 2008) 

A check with UOL revealed that since last week, Nassim Park Residences has been marketed overseas and more than 50 units have now been sold. UOL Group’s general manager of marketing, Dolly Lian said that as things stand, more than 30 per cent of the buyers are foreigners and the average selling price is $3,300 psf. This is higher than $3,000-$3,200 psf average selling price that some market watchers expected. It is understood that most of the foreign buyers are from Indonesia.

But Nassim Park Residences isn’t the only one that saw better sales. Another popular development was Macly Group’s 102-unit Vutton, with 72 units sold at a median price of $1,225 psf.  Also in the limelight would be Ascend Land’s 106-unit The Verve, off Balestier Road. During the month, 42 units were transacted at a median price of $985 psf. According to URA data, 84 units have been sold so far. In April, eight units were sold at a median price of $1,055, while in March the median price was $1,187 psf.

But we are still a long way off from bringing out the champagne for celebration. These hikes in sales are from properties that have already been ear-marked as potentially hot property. Coupled with good marketing, a well oiled sales team brought home the bacon for these  developers. We still anticipate many other developers who are launching their projects soon to add sweeteners and to soften their prices just a bit to bring in the sales. Its better to buy in now as mortgage rates have not edged up by too much (just a tad). Dakota Residences will be launched this weekend, in great anticipation of possible sweeteners, our team have encouraged several real estate investors who have sidelined the market for a while to consider Dakota Residences seriously. We will only know this weekend. Keep everyone posted.