• Aug private home sales showed selective buying post cooling measures, in our view.
• We think that fast asset turn and good sell-through rates are key to margin preservation.
• Stay sector Neutral. Our sector top picks are City Dev, UOL and HoBee Land.

Aug monthly private home sales came in at 639 units (616 units excluding executive condominiums), down 60% yoy and 64% mom, reflecting a much quieter residential market post cooling measures. New launches such as The Tre Ver garnered 22% sales (out of a total of 729 units) within the first month of launch at an average of S$1,551 psf, in line with the company’s expectations. Meanwhile, selected ongoing projects saw an additional 4-10% changing hands such as Stirling Residences (32% sold), Affinity at Serangoon (16% sold), Riverfront Residences (47% sold) and Park Colonial (57% sold). In 8M18, non-executive condominium private home sales totalled 6,476 units, which is 27% lower than 8M17 and make up 65% of our full year expectation of 10,000 for 2018 ......