New Private Home Sales Slumped By 73% MOM, To A 6-Month Low In June 2023 Due To A Lack Of New Launches On The Market

 17 July 2023, SINGAPORE – Developers’ sales fell to a 6-month low in June 2023 owing to a dearth of new project launches. New private home sales (ex. executive condos) came in at 278 units in June, representing a 73.2% decline from May’s robust sales of 1,039 units, and a 43% year-on-year fall from 488 units sold in June 2022.
The sluggish sales were mainly due to a lack of new project launches during the month, as developers held back on putting projects on the market in June, where sales activity tends to be slower owing to the June school holidays where many families may be traveling. There were limited major projects being launched in June, resulting in a sharp month-on-month decline in developers’ sales compared to May, where two launches (The Continuum and The Reserve Residences) boosted demand then.

For the third month running, the new home sales were led by the Rest of Central Region (RCR) where 147 new homes were sold in June. Despite leading sales, June’s RCR transactions were still down significantly by 82.6% MOM from the 847 units transacted in May, where healthy sales at The Reserve Residences and The Continuum helped to supercharge RCR sales in the previous month. Meanwhile, the launch of Tembusu Grand and Blossoms by the Park had lifted RCR home sales in April 2023. The Reserve Residences was the top-selling RCR project during the month – shifting 79 units at a median price of $2,646 psf (see Table 2). A 17-unit boutique development Lavender Residence which was launched in June transacted 8 units at a median price of $1,972 psf. RCR home sales would likely lead transactions again in July following the launch of Grand Dunman and Pinetree Hill over the weekend.

The Core Central Region (CCR) saw 112 new private homes sold, marking a 26.8% MOM decline from May’s sales. Developers continued to pare down on their unsold CCR inventory. The best-selling projects included Leedon Green which sold 14 units at a median price of $2,812 psf, the Van Holland which transacted 13 units at a median price of $2,692 psf, and The Atelier which moved 12 units at a median price of $2,663 psf in June.

New home sales in the Outside Central Region (OCR) continued to be tepid in June as the low unsold inventory in this sub-market limited buying opportunities and crimped demand. OCR new home sales fell by 51.3% MOM – its third straight monthly decline – to 19 units in June. The top-selling mass market project (ex. EC) in June was Lentor Modern which sold 5 units at a median price of $2,125 psf. OCR sales are expected to rebound in July with the launch of The Myst and Lentor Hills Residences this month.

In the EC segment, developers sold 19 new units in June – up slightly from 17 units transacted in the previous month. North Gaia EC in Yishun led sales with 14 transactions at a median price of $1,280 psf.

Developers placed 31 new units (ex. ECs) for sale in June – down sharply from 1,595 units that were put on the market in the previous month. The only fresh project launched in June was the 17-unit freehold mixed-use development Lavender Residence in Kallang in the RCR.

Please attribute the comments below to Wong Siew Ying, Head of Research & Content, PropNex Realty.
“Developers’ sales are supply-led, typically driven by new launches that come on and may fluctuate substantially from month to month, depending on the availability of new projects in the given month. Therefore, we would not read too much into the significant decline in new home sales from May to June, because of the dearth in project launches during the month – as developers held off on launches till after the June school holidays.

Additionally, we anticipate new home sales numbers to shoot right back up again in July with several back-to-back launches - The Myst, Lentor Hills Residences, Grand Dunman, and Pinetree Hill. The four projects have collectively sold over 1,100 units during their respective launches over the 8 July and 15 July weekends. We expect OCR sales to pick up markedly in July on the sales at The Myst and Lentor Hills Residences, leaping from three months of double-digit transaction numbers as low unsold supply stymied sales. Meanwhile, RCR transactions will likely lead developers’ sales in July, driven by sales at Grand Dunman and Pinetree Hill.

Our observations suggest that there is still keen interest in new private homes amongst buyers and demand remains relatively resilient. Sales of new private homes from the July launches are also encouraging, drawing in buyers despite more new projects being lined up in August, and beyond. Some of the upcoming launches in August include Lake Garden Residences, Altura EC, TMW Maxwell, Orchard Sophia, and The Arden. With a steady pipeline of new launches to come, we expect the new home sales market to be lively, supported by sensitive pricing on the part of developers amidst the cautious sentiment, discerning buyers and continued high interest rates.

In June, we note that about 4.8% of non-landed new private homes (ex. EC) sold have been purchased by Foreigners (non-PR) – up from the 3.0% in May 2023. While the proportion may be up as a percentage of total sales, the absolute number of non-landed new private homes sold to Foreigners in June was actually lower than the previous month - at 13 units (7 in CCR and 6 in RCR), compared to 30 units in May 2023. This is also the lowest number of such homes purchased by Foreigners since May 2020 (12 units), where the pandemic measures disrupted international travel and curtailed investment demand by foreigners.

We expect developers’ sales to rebound strongly in July with the healthy demand for the four launches during the month. The sales momentum is also likely to spill over into August, particularly in the EC segment with Altura EC in Bukit Batok coming on – this could likely be the only new EC project that will hit the market in 2023 and should be well-received by eligible EC buyers. In addition, there have been no new EC projects in the Bukit Batok area for 22 years, with the last EC new launch being The Dew in Bukit Batok Street 21 in May 2001.”