New private home sales rebound in July on increased launches
News release
15 August 2024
Private residential units sold by developers in July 2024
SINGAPORE, August 15, 2024 – On 15 August 2024, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) released the data on developer sales for the month of July 2024.
A summary of the launches and sales is provided in the Appendix.
Ms. Chia Siew Chuin, Head of Residential Research, Research & Consultancy at JLL
谢岫君, 私宅市场研究部主管 (新加坡) commented:
The rebound in new private home (excluding executive condominiums or ECs) launches and sales in July was expected as developers and buyers returned to the market after the June holidays.
616 new private homes were launched in July, up by more than five times month-on-month (m-o-m) but 71.4% below the tally a year ago. The total units launched in the first seven months of this year is estimated at 2,554 units, a 56.3% decline year-on-year (y-o-y). Although gradually increasing, the still-low level of unsold stock for sale in the market has enabled developers, who face a multitude of challenges, to hold home prices firm.
A gradually expanding unsold stock and ongoing projects in the market have broadened choices for buyers and raised competition among developers. Amid elevated interest rates and high private home prices, this has kept homebuyers selective and cautious, and reined in the pace of price increase.
Developers sold 571 new private homes (excluding ECs) in July 2024, a 150.4% increase from the 228 units sold in June 2024. Total developers’ sales for the first seven months of 2024 stands at an estimated 2,460 units. This is 48.7% below the 4,796 units sold during the same period in 2023. March 2024 still leads with a new sales tally of 718 units thus far in 2024.
The new home sales market is expected to be subdued in August as the Ghost Month, which spans from 4 August to 2 September, commences. During this period, property transactions tend to slow down, and developers typically refrain from launching new projects. Sales momentum should rebound from September onwards, with buyers and developers returning to the market. For instance, the UOL Group is set to introduce the freehold Meyer Blue project in September. Other notable upcoming projects include The Chuan Park and Emerald of Katong.
Based on current trends, new private home sales could register between 4,500 to 6,500 units for the full year, compared to 6,421 units sold in 2023.
New Sales by Market Segment
The sales take-up in July was led by projects in the suburbs or Outside Central Region (OCR) with 444 units sold, representing 77.8% of islandwide new private home sales. This was followed by the city fringes i.e. Rest of Region (RCR) with 106 units sold (18.6%). Projects in the prime Core Central Region (CCR) sold just 21 units (3.7%).
New home sales in the OCR, which more than tripled m-o-m, were driven by the new launches of the 440-unit Sora (103 units of the 320 units released were sold) as well as the 276-unit Kassia (154 units were sold). Sales from these projects collectively accounted for 57.9% of the total new sales in the OCR and 45.0% of overall new private home sales in July. However, compared to a year prior, developers’ sales in the market segment were 9.2% lower given that there were fewer (-17.8% y-o-y) number of new units launched correspondingly.
New sales in the RCR increased by 49.3% m-o-m to 106 units in July. However, this is 87.3% lower than the total chalked up in July 2023, when Grand Dunman and Pinetree Hill were newly launched. New sales in the RCR remained subdued due to the absence of major fresh project launches. Sales at ongoing projects like Grand Dunman, Tembusu Grand, The Continuum and Pinetree Hill contributed to July’s sales.
New sales in the CCR fell by 16.0% m-o-m and 76.1% y-o-y to just 21 units in July. The prime market remains weighed down by the April 2023 market cooling measures. The popular CCR projects in the month were Hill House, which sold seven units at a median price of $3,066 psf, and One Bernam, which sold four units at a median price of $2,757 psf.
Sales by Residential Status of Buyers and Price Range
Since the hike in Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty in April 2023, non-permanent resident (non-PR) foreign buyers continued to stay on the sidelines. According to available sales caveats for July 2024, non-PR foreign buyers accounted for only six deals or 1.1% of new home sales. This is down from June’s 11 units. In contrast, Singaporeans continued to dominate the market, accounting for 495 deals or 86.7%% of all new private home purchases, up from 82.4% in June. New home sales involving PRs in July made up 12.1%.
On the back of the new launches of Sora and Kassia, Singaporeans bought more private new homes in the OCR, up from 107 transactions in June to 391 purchases or 88.1% of all new private homes sold in July. The number of new sales involving PR buyers in the OCR rose from 17 in June to 51 (11.5%) in July.
In terms of price range, the bulk of new private home sales in July was within the $1.0 million to less than $2.0 million range, accounting for 56% of all new sales. This was followed by the $2.0 million to less than $3.0 million bracket, representing 27% of sales. Notably, 63% of the islandwide new homes sales sold in the price range of $1.0 million to less than $2.5 million took place in the OCR.
Appendix
Two new private residential projects (excluding ECs) were newly launched in July 2024 – Kassia and Sora, which jointly accounted for 96.8% of the total units released in the month.
Details of the two fresh project launches are provided in Table A.
Table A – New Launches