News Releases

27 April 2007

Release of 1st Quarter 2007 Real Estate Statistics

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) released today the real estate statistics for the 1st Quarter 2007.

PRIVATE RESIDENTIAL PROPERTIES

Prices and Rentals

Overall prices of private residential properties rose 4.8% in the 1st Quarter 2007, compared with the 3.8% increase in the previous quarter (see Annexes A-1 and B-1 & B-2).

Prices of non-landed properties rose 5.3% in the 1st Quarter 2007, compared with the 4.3% increase in the previous quarter. Prices of apartments rose 5.1% while those of condominiums rose 5.4%.

Prices of non-landed properties in CCR rose 5.5% in the 1st Quarter 2007. Prices of non-landed properties in RCR and OCR rose 3.7% and 2.0% respectively (see Annex A-2).

Within CCR, prices of uncompleted non-landed properties rose 7.3% in the 1st Quarter 2007, compared to 3.1% for completed properties (see Annex A-2).

Prices of landed properties rose 2.9% in the 1st Quarter 2007, compared with the 2.4% increase in the previous quarter. Prices of detached, semi-detached and terrace houses rose 4.0%, 1.8% and 2.1% respectively.

Rentals of private residential properties rose 7.6% in the 1st Quarter 2007, compared with the 5.3% increase in the previous quarter (see Annex A-3).

Supply in the Pipeline

As at the end of 1st Quarter 2007, there were 32,746 uncompleted private residential units that have not been sold in projects with planning approvals#1, about 0.6% higher than the 32,543 units as at the end of the previous quarter. Of these, 10,736 units were in projects which have the pre-requisite conditions for sale (i.e. sale license and building plan approval), comprising 2,168 units that had been launched for sale by developers and 8,568 units that can be launched for sale any time. The remaining 22,010 uncompleted units with planning approvals did not yet have the pre-requisite conditions for sale.

However, these units could be made available for sale quite soon, if the developers choose to do so#2. There were also 567 completed but unsold units as at the end of 1st Quarter 2007. Details of the supply in the pipeline in the 3 locations are given in Annex C-2.

Launches and Take-up

A total of 4,259 uncompleted private residential units were launched for sale by developers in the 1st Quarter 2007, compared with the 3,696 units launched in the 4th Quarter 2006. Of the 4,259 uncompleted units launched in the quarter, 2,259 units were in CCR, 923 units were in RCR, and 1,077 units were in OCR (see Annex D-1). Major residential projects launched in the quarter included One-North Residences (405 units), One Shenton (341 units) and Sky@eleven (273 units).

During the 1st Quarter 2007, 4,565 uncompleted private residential units were sold by developers, compared with the 4,162 units sold in the 4th Quarter 2006. Of the 4,565 uncompleted units sold in the quarter, 2,055 units were in CCR, 1,294 units were in RCR, and 1,216 units were in OCR (see Annex D-2). Developers also sold 218 completed private residential units in the 1st Quarter 2007.

Sub-sales

During the 1st Quarter 2007, there were 581 sub-sales island-wide, which represented 6.3% of the total number of private housing transactions in the quarter. The number of sub-sales in CCR in the 1st Quarter 2007 accounted for 10.4% of all the property sale transactions in this area in the quarter, compared to 5.8% in RCR and 1.9% in OCR (see Annex E).

Stock and Vacancy

A total of 716 private residential units were completed (granted TOP) in the 1st Quarter 2007. Major residential projects completed in the quarter were VisionCrest at Oxley Rise (265 units) and Twin Regency at Kim Tian Road (234 units).

The vacancy rate of completed private residential units was 5.1% as at the end of 1st Quarter 2007, compared with 6.1% as at the end of the previous quarter (see Annex F).

Executive Condominiums

As at the end of 1st Quarter 2007, there were 444 units of Executive Condominiums (EC) in the pipeline, all of which were under construction (see Annex G-2). All the 444 units had been issued with sale licenses and building plan approvals (i.e. pre-requisites for sale). As at the end of the quarter, 398 units had been launched for sale, of which 288 units had been sold.

The total stock of completed EC units remained unchanged at 9,986 units as at the end of 1st Quarter 2007. As at the end of 1st Quarter 2007, the vacancy rate was 3.7%, compared with the vacancy rate of 5.0% as at the end of the previous quarter.

OFFICE SPACE

Prices of office space rose 4.3% in the 1st Quarter 2007, compared with the 7.7% increase in the previous quarter (see Annex A-1). Rentals rose 10.4% in the 1st Quarter 2007, compared with the 11.6% increase in the previous quarter (see Annex A-3).

URA’s rental index is compiled based on IRAS’ records of all rental contracts in Singapore which have to be submitted to IRAS for payment of stamp duty. Rental contracts signed in advance of the lease period are excluded from computation3.

Office space4 under construction increased by 6.7% to 367,000 sq m (gross) as at the end of 1st Quarter 2007 (see Annex F).

The stock of completed office space (with TOP) increased by 6,000 sq m to 6.535 million sq m (nett) as at the end of 1st Quarter 2007, while the amount of occupied office space increased by 81,000 sq m to 5.940 million sq m (nett) in the same period.

Consequently, the vacancy rate of office space fell by 1.2 percentage points to 9.1% as at the end of 1st Quarter 2007.

SHOP SPACE

Prices of shop space rose 1.7% in the 1st Quarter 2007, compared with the 4.1% increase in the previous quarter (see Annex A-1). Rentals rose 1.4%, compared with the 0.9% increase in the previous quarter (see Annex A-3).

Shop space6 under construction increased by 20.9% to 359,000 sq m (gross) as at the end of 1st Quarter 2007 (see Annex F).

The stock of completed shop space (with TOP) decreased by 17,000 sq m to 3.235 million sq m (nett) as at the end of 1st Quarter 2007, while the amount of occupied shop space decreased by 12,000 sq m to 2.991 million sq m (nett) in the same period.

Consequently, the vacancy rate of shop space decreased by 0.2 percentage point to 7.5% as at the end of 1st Quarter 2007.

INDUSTRIAL SPACE

Prices of multiple-user factory space rose 4.0% in the 1st Quarter 2007, the same rate of increase as in the previous quarter (see Annex A-1). Rentals of multiple-user factory space increased by 4.6%, compared with the 3.0% increase in the previous quarter (see Annex A-3).

Factory space6 under construction increased by 0.5% to 2.025 million sq m (gross) in the 1st Quarter 2007 (see Annex F).

The stock of completed factory space (with TOP) increased by 147,000 sq m to 27.584 million sq m (nett) as at the end of 1st Quarter 2007, while the amount of occupied factory space increased by 129,000 sq m to 25.009 million sq m (nett) in the same period.

The vacancy rate of factory space remained unchanged at 9.3% as at the end of 1st Quarter 2007.

URA’s REAL ESTATE INFORMATION SERVICE

More detailed information on the price and rental indices, supply in the pipeline, stock and vacancy position of the various properties can be found in the Real Estate Information System (REALIS), an online database of URA.

Subscribers of REALIS can obtain the information from the system after 12.30 pm today. More information on REALIS can be found at http://spring.ura.gov.sg/lad/ore/login/index.cfm. You can also contact the REALIS hotline at 6329 3456.

Planning approvals refer to either Provisional Permission or Written Permission. The pre-requisites for sale are sale license from the Controller of Housing and Building Plan approval from the Building Construction Authority (BCA).

Sale licenses could be obtained within 9 days and building plan approvals could be obtained within 7 days from the date of application for cases where clearances from various technical agencies are obtained and relevant documents are in order during formal submissions.

The methodology and sample size may differ from those used by some property consultants.

The supply of office, shop and factory space under construction is given in gross floor area as the developments have yet to be completed and hence the nett floor area is not available.

ANNEX C-1

NUMBER OF UNSOLD PRIVATE RESIDENTIAL UNITS FROM PROJECTS WITH PLANNING APPROVALS

Whole Island

4Q/2006

1Q/2007

% Change

UNCOMPLETED UNITS

With Pre-Requisites for Sale 1/

Launched But Unsold
Not Launched Yet

Without Pre-Requisites for Sale
but with planning approvals 2

32,543

9,480

2,536
6,944

23,063

32,746

10,736

2,168
8,568

22,010

0.6

13.2

-14.5
23.4

-4.6

COMPLETED UNITS 3

793

567

-28.5

Refers to private residential developments with Housing Developer Licence and Building Plan Approval. Under the Housing Developer (Control and Licensing) Act, a sale licence must be obtained for a project with more than 4 units, if the developer intends to sell the residential units in the development. However, the sale of the residential units can only commence with the approval of the building plans of the development.
Refers to uncompleted private residential developments without pre-requisites for sale but with Written Permission or Planning Permission granted. The sale licences could be obtained within 9 days and building plan approvals could be obtained within 7 days from the date of application for cases where clearances from various technical agencies are obtained and relevant documents are in order during formal submissions.
Refers to unsold units in completed projects which are still licensed.
For a breakdown of unsold units by market segment, please refer to Annex C-2.

ANNEX G-1

SUMMARY OF KEY INFORMATION ON EXECUTIVE CONDOMINIUM (EC)
NUMBER OF EC UNITS LAUNCHED AND SOLD IN THE QUARTER

Quarter/Year

Number of New Units Launched

Units Sold Directly by Developers1

Uncompleted

Completed

2001

1Q/2001

2Q/2001

3Q/2001

4Q/2001

1,677

678

384

615

1,541

672

387

482

382

246

2002

1Q/2002

2Q/2002

3Q/2002

4Q/2002

894

665

229

718

391

213

2003

1Q/2003

2Q/2003

3Q/2003

4Q/2003

400

108

232

438

155

141

2004

1Q/2004

2Q/2004

3Q/2004

4Q/2004

160

226

134

2005

1Q/2005

2Q/2005

3Q/2005

4Q/2005

325

292

342

173

110

2006

1Q/2006

2Q/2006

3Q/2006

4Q/2006

167

2007

1Q/2007

This is compiled from the returns of the quarterly survey on licensed developers based on option given by developers.