New private home sales fall to 217 units in September, lowest monthly figure year

New condo sales inch up 9.6% m-o-m to 477 units in July

New home sales in Singapore plummeted in September, with 217 units sold – a 44.9% decrease m-o-m from the previous month. This was the lowest new home sales seen since December 2022’s 170 units.

Additionally, the condo also boasts modern facilities and amenities such as a 50-m lap pool and 24-hour fitness corner.

The decreased sales were in expectation due to a lack of big project launches and the normal drop in activity during the lunar seventh month. Added to this, market headwinds have contributed to the situation – steeply reducing the new home sales from the 987 units seen in September 2022.

ECs however remain a bright spot in the market, with an estimated 118 units sold last month. The most successful of these was the 360-unit Altura on Bukit Batok West Avenue 8, with 100 units sold at a median price of $1,473 psf.

A total of 76 units were sold in the Core Central Region (CCR), marking the lowest monthly new homes sales in the area since February 2021. Non-landed new private homes median prices rose by 10.5% however, to $3,151 psf.

The Rest of Central Region (RCR) made up 71 units (33%), with the Outside Central Region (OCR) making up 70 units (32%).

Foreigners purchased 13 new private homes, making up 5.9% of all new home sales. This is an increase from the 2.7% purchasing in August.

Looking ahead, Lam Chern Woon from Edmund Tie is “cautiously sanguine” about the sale outlook for the rest of the year.

With developers expected to move between 6,500 and 7,500 new units in 2023, and notable projects such as J’den in Jurong East, Hillock Green in Lentor and Watten House in Bukit Timah set to launch in 4Q2023, the market could potentially pick up.

Leonard Tay from Knight Frank Singapore predicts that ECs will remain favoured among self-occupation buyers, with investors likely to remain on the sidelines until interest rates peak and stabilise. He projects new home sales in 2023 to be just shy of 7,000 units.

Sentiment, this year, has clearly deteriorated with higher interest rates, softer economic prospects and two more rounds of cooling measures since. Buyers have become more discerning in their choices with the plethora of options available in the market. September’s new home sales tally declined y-o-y despite 93.4% more new units launched in 3Q2023 compared to a year ago.

The high-price single transaction in September was for a 2,164 sq ft unit at Dalvey Haus, sold for $7 million ($3,235 psf). Nine condos were sold for at least $5 million in total.

Overall, the future of new home sales remains uncertain, however the upcoming project launches across Singapore could potentially lead to an uptick in activity and confidence in the short-term.