Will the Buyers Return in Force for Lakeville?

Tough days are coming and developers know it. No longer are the days where you can achieve sales of more than 50% during the launch. The Santorini for one, sold only 40% or 80 units of the 200 units launched for sale.

Analysts blamed the Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) for the quieter market. But I would say most of the demand has been soaked up. The TDSR helped to arrest price increases and return some sanity to the market.

More effort and even greater product differentiation is needed to move units. An article by Business Times on Tuesday (see below) highlighted that developers are spending or doing more marketing to sell their projects. Some examples are listed below.

• Seminars
• Multiple estate agencies

I have seen more TV ads placed by one of the largest developers in Singapore. Another foreign developer even invited the public to name their executive condominium project - not one but two.

All eyes are on Lakeville now which is expected to be launched soon. The developer said the average selling price is between $1,250 to $1,350 psf on balloting day. If sales disappoint, the negativity will hit the market and perhaps trigger even lower prices for other projects yet to be launched.