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Release of 2nd quarter 2011 real estate statistics

Friday 22 July 2011

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) released today the real estate statistics for 2nd Quarter 2011.

PRIVATE RESIDENTIAL PROPERTIES

Prices and Rentals

The rate of price increases continues to moderate. Prices of private residential properties increased by 2.0% in 2nd Quarter 2011, lower than the 2.2% increase in the previous quarter. This was the 7th consecutive quarter in which the rate of increase in private housing prices had moderated.

Prices of non-landed properties in Rest of Central Region1 (RCR) and Outside Central Region (OCR) increased at a more moderated pace. Prices of non-landed properties in RCR and OCR increased by 1.1% and 1.7%, lower than the increase of 2.0% and 3.1% in the previous quarter. Prices in the Core Central Region2 (CCR) increased by 1.6% in 2nd Quarter 2011, faster than the 1.1% increase in the previous quarter (see Annexes A-1, A-2, A-6 & A-73).

Rentals of private residential properties4 increased by 1.3% in 2nd Quarter 2011, compared with the 1.2% increase in the previous quarter (see Annexes A-3 & A-45).

Supply in the Pipeline

The supply of residential units in the pipeline continues to build up. As at the end of 2nd Quarter 2011, there was a total supply of 71,111 uncompleted private residential units from projects in the pipeline6, higher than the 68,887 units in 1st Quarter 20117 (see Annexes E-1 & E-28).

Of the supply in the pipeline, 33,899 units remained unsold as at 2Q2011. The unsold units comprised 10,309 units in CCR, 7,610 units in RCR and 15,980 units in OCR (see Annexes B-1 & B-2).

Launches and Take-up

A total of 4,802 uncompleted private residential units were launched for sale by developers in 2nd Quarter 2011, compared with 4,130 units in 1st Quarter 2011 (see Annex C-1). At the same time, 4,325 uncompleted private residential units were sold by developers, compared with 3,430 units in 1st Quarter 2011. Developers also sold 119 completed private residential units in 2nd Quarter 2011 (see Annex C-2).

Sub-sales

Sub-sales accounted for 7.4% of all sale transactions in 2nd Quarter 2011, lower than the 8.3% recorded in 1st Quarter 2011 (see Annex D).

Stock and Vacancy

The stock of private residential units increased by 2,054 units in 2nd Quarter 2011. At the same time, the vacancy rate of completed private residential units increased from 4.9% as at the end of 1st Quarter 2011 to 5.1% as at the end of 2nd Quarter 2011 (see Annex E-1).

Executive Condominiums

The total stock of completed Executive Condominium (EC) units remained at 10,430 units as at the end of 2nd Quarter 2011. In addition, there were 4,194 EC units in the pipeline (see Annex E-1).

OFFICE SPACE

Prices and Rentals

The rate of increase in rentals and prices has reduced. Rentals for office space, based on leases which had commenced, increased by 1.5% in 2nd Quarter 2011, lower than the increase of 5.4% in 1st Quarter 2011 (see Annexes A-3 and A-5). Prices of office space increased by 3.6% in 2nd Quarter 2011, lower than the 4.9% increase in the previous quarter (see Annex A-1).

Supply in the Pipeline

As at the end of 2nd Quarter 2011, there was a total supply of about 876,000 sq m GFA of office space in the pipeline. More detailed data on pipeline supply of office space by development status and expected year of completion are at Annexes E-1 & E-2.

More supply of office space will also come from the GLS sites which were recently awarded or released for sale by the Government in 2011. This includes the commercial sites at Robinson Road / Cecil Street and Paya Lebar. In addition, more supply of commercial space is also expected from the development of the 6 plots of land at Marina Bay and Ophir Road / Rochor Road to be jointly developed by M+S Pte Ltd.

Stock and Vacancy

The amount of occupied office space increased by 62,000 sq m (nett) in 2nd Quarter 2011, compared to the increase of 50,000 sq m in the previous quarter. On the other hand, the stock of office space increased by 105,000 sq m in 2nd Quarter 2011. The island-wide vacancy rate of office space as at end of 2nd Quarter 2011 increased to 12.5%, from 12.1% as at the end of 1st Quarter 2011 (see Annexes A-5 & E-1).

SHOP SPACE

Prices and Rentals

Rentals for shop space, based on leases which had commenced, increased by 0.8% in 2nd Quarter 2011, the same rate of increase as in 1st Quarter 2011 (see Annexes A-3 and A-5). At the same time, prices of shop space increased by 1.1% in 2nd Quarter 2011, compared with the increase of 0.5% in the previous quarter (see Annex A-1).

Supply in the Pipeline

As at the end of 2nd Quarter 2011, there was a total supply of 431,000 sq m GFA of shop space from projects in the pipeline. More detailed data on pipeline supply of shop space by development status and expected year of completion are at Annexes E-1 & E-2.

Stock and Vacancy

The amount of occupied shop space increased by 2,000 sq m (nett) in 2nd Quarter 2011, compared with a decrease of 16,000 sq m in 1st Quarter 2011. On the other hand, the stock of shop space contracted by 11,000 sq m in 2nd Quarter 2011. The island-wide vacancy rate of shop space was 5.8% as at the end of 2nd Quarter 2011, compared with the 6.1% vacancy rate as at the end of 1st Quarter 2011 (see Annexes A-5 & E-1).

INDUSTRIAL SPACE

Prices and Rentals

Prices of multiple-user factory space increased by 5.7% in 2nd Quarter 2011, compared with 8.6% in the previous quarter (see Annex A-1). Rentals of multiple-user factory space increased by 4.5%, compared with the increase of 8.3 % in the previous quarter (see Annex A-3).

Supply in the Pipeline

As at the end of 2nd Quarter 2011, there was a total supply of 3.097 million sq m GFA of factory space from projects in the pipeline. More detailed data on pipeline supply of factory space by development status and expected year of completion are at Annexes E-1 & E-2.

Stock and Vacancy

The amount of occupied factory space increased by 110,000 sq m (nett) in 2nd Quarter 2011, lower than the increase of 263,000 sq m (nett) in 1st Quarter 2011. On the other hand, the stock of factory space increased by 184,000 sq m in 2nd Quarter 2011. The vacancy rate of factory space was 7.1% as at the end of 2nd Quarter 2011, compared with the 6.9% as at the end of the previous quarter (see Annex E-1).

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 property sectors can be found in the Real Estate Information System (REALIS), an online database of URA.

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.

1 Rest of Central Region comprises of the area within Central Region that is outside postal districts 9, 10, 11, Downtown Core Planning Area and Sentosa. A map of Central Region showing the Core Central Region (CCR) and the Rest of Central Region (RCR) is available at: http://spring.ura.gov.sg/lad/ore/login/map_ccr.pdf

2 Core Central Region comprises postal districts 9, 10, 11, Downtown Core Planning Area and Sentosa. A map of Central Region showing the Core Central Region (CCR) and the Rest of Central Region (RCR) is available at: http://spring.ura.gov.sg/lad/ore/login/map_ccr.pdf

3 The prices of private residential properties are not uniform and vary from project to project. Home-buyers can view more detailed information on transactions of private residential properties at: http://www.ura.gov.sg/propertyinfo. Similar information can also be accessed by users on the go via the new iphone/ipad application introduced by URA. The application can be downloaded directly from http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/property-market-information/id428469176?mt=8&ls=1.

4 URA's rental data for private residential properties are compiled based on IRAS' records of rental contracts for such properties where leases commenced in the reference quarter.

5 URA also released data on the 25th percentile, median and 75th percentile rentals for individual private residential projects where there were at least 10 rental transactions in 2nd Quarter 2011. This can be found at: http://www.ura.gov.sg/propertyinfo.

6 In this press release, supply or projects in the pipeline refers to new development and redevelopment projects with planning approvals, i.e. either a Provisional Permission (PP) or Written Permission (WP). A WP is a final approval, as compared with a PP, granted under the Planning Act for a proposed development.

7 The expected completion dates of private residential projects in the pipeline are provided by the developers of these projects.

8 More detailed data on supply in the pipeline by market segment, development status and expected year of completion can be found at http://www.ura.gov.sg/propertyinfo.

Source: Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA)