Property launches pick up speed in Singapore

These firms fear looming property market uncertainty, said Wing Tai Holdings chairman Cheng Wai Keung.

With government cooling measures taking hold, developers believe it is better to take a bet on prices now, and are pushing out their properties much faster than usual, he said.

Cheng was speaking at Wing Tai's results briefing at the Raffles Hotel. He was answering a question on whether he believed there would be a correction in the property market.

“My reading of the upgraders' market is that it seems to have come to a saturation point,” he said, after low interest rates and a “tremendous increase” in the number of permanent residents saw property demand outstrip supply.

He said Wing Tai would have tendered for land last year before prices shot up, but not now as it would be dangerous to “chase” rapidly rising land prices.

“If you look at any developer, they are actually pushing out (properties) much faster than the normal timeframe required. What it translates to is that people believe the risks are too high to wait.

“You can see that more and more projects are actually pushed out in six to nine months' time, rather than the normal time of one to 1 1/2 years.”

The site for Waterbank at Dakota was won by the UOL Group in September last year, and pushed out within seven months in April this year. Similarly, Hong Leong Group won the site for The Scala last October and launched the property in July, while City Developments' Tree House site was won last August and launched in April.

“If we also try to push off in the next six to nine months, we may get jammed and given there is such a high price, we believe, even if we wait, the upside may not be there,” Cheng added.

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