Fresh Launches Supercharge November New Private Home Sales 2557 Units 247 M O M
In November, developers sold 2,557 new private homes (excluding executive condos) according to data from URA published on December 16. This reflects a surge of 246.5% compared to the 738 units sold in October and an even larger jump of 226% when compared to the number of units sold in November 2023.
“This is the highest monthly sales figure for developers since March 2013, when 2,793 units (excluding ECs) were sold,” says Christine Sun, chief researcher and strategist at OrangeTee Group. Mohan Sandrasegeran, head of research and data analytics at Singapore Realtors Inc (SRI), adds that this is also the first time new home sales have surpassed the 2,000-unit mark in a single month since March 2013.
The surge in November’s sales can be attributed to an “unprecedented” number of project launches during the month, says Lee Sze Teck, senior director of data analytics at Huttons Asia. Five private residential projects were launched in November, including Chuan Park with 916 units, Emerald of Katong with 846 units, Nava Grove with 552 units, The Collective at One Sophia with 367 units, and Union Square Residences with 366 units.
The total number of new homes launched in November was 2,871 units, a 438% increase from the month before and a 196% increase from last year. In addition, the 504-unit Novo Place EC also began sales in November. When including ECs, the total number of new homes sold in November jumped by 277% from the previous month and 226% from the previous year to 2,891 units.
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As of November, developers have sold an estimated 6,344 units, slightly higher than the 6,317 units sold in the first 11 months of 2023. This is due to the launch of 6,627 units by developers during this time period, compared to 7,515 units launched last year.
Top-selling projects in November included Emerald of Katong, which sold 840 units (99%) at a median price of $2,627 psf, making it the best-selling project by units and percentage in 2024. Chuan Park, a 99-year leasehold condo with 916 units located on Lorong Chuan in the Outside Central Region (OCR), was the second best-selling project with 721 (79%) units sold at a median price of $2,586 psf. Nava Grove, a 99-year leasehold RCR development with 382 units, was third best-selling with 382 units sold (69%) at a median price of $2,445 psf.
The strong sales performance in new launches was fueled by pent-up demand and improved buyer sentiment following interest rate cuts in September, says Sun. “Consequently, many buyers were eager to take advantage of attractive deals as several prominent projects were launched simultaneously,” she adds. Lee also points out that buying momentum has been increasing since the previous quarter, with the successful launches of 8@BT with 158 units and Norwood Grand with 348 units. This led to a spill-over effect to the wider market as buyers who missed out on their preferred unit in a particular project quickly committed to units in other new or existing projects.
EdgeProp Singapore previously reported that the launch of Emerald of Katong has also prompted an uptick in take-up for neighboring projects in District 15, such as Tembusu Grand and The Continuum.
Looking ahead, a quieter December is expected due to the school holidays and the festive season. Lee predicts that new private home sales will fall to around 200-250 units due to the lack of planned launches for the month. This will bring full-year developer sales to around 6,500 units, slightly higher than in 2023. Lee also estimates that full-year price growth will moderate from 6.8% in 2023 to around 5% in 2024.
Moving into the new year, Sandrasegeran expects new home sales to pick up again in January 2025 with the launch of The Orie by City Developments, which has 777 units. This is the first launch in the area since Gem Residences in 2016 and is likely to generate pent-up demand in the well-established estate near Braddell MRT station. Other launches expected in 1Q2025 include Bagnall Haus with 113 units, Aurea with 186 units, and the Tampines EC with 760 units.
Sun believes that the recent surge in sales is temporary and that new home demand has been subdued throughout 2024 due to the lack of significant private project launches. She adds that developer sales in the first three quarters of 2024 were the lowest Q1 to Q3 figures recorded since 2004, when data from URA became available.
However, Lee is “cautiously optimistic” about a better performance in the new sale market in 2025. “Some of the unmet demand in 2024 may carry over to the launches in 1Q2025,” he says. He estimates that new private home sales will rebound to between 7,000 and 8,000 units in 2025, with prices growing between 4% to 7%.