For those claiming that private home sales are still strong...

New home sales appear to be cooling, with key indicators down by half so far this year from those in the same period last year.

Not only has there been a plunge in the number of new private homes sold, but the total value of sales has also more than halved, according to a new report by property consultancy CB Richard Ellis (CBRE).

Expert attribute this to weaker market sentiment this year, as well as the cooling measures in January, which were the strictest seen in the past few years.

CBRE also highlighted how smaller homes are gaining favour. Median sizes of new homes hovered around 1,200sqft in the first six months of last year, but they have shrunk to around 900sqft now.

These smaller units, with their lower overall prices, could be partly to blame for the reduced transaction values, said CBRE.

About $5.1 million worth of new homes have been sold so far this year, less than half the $12.3 billion in the first half of last year.

CBRE data also show a drop in sale volume: 3,796 private homes were sold this year till last week, well down from the 7,189 sold in the first half of last year. This translates to a median price of around $1 million for each home sold this year, compared with about $1.2 million last year.

Analysts say the muted numbers this year could be a sign that the recent cooling measures are taking effect.

Extracted from : The Straits Times

 .