Private Home Sales In July 2021 Bolstered By Exuberant Suburban Sub-market

SINGAPORE, 16 August 2021 – Overall private new home sales bounced back in July 2021 compared to the previous month, despite Singapore entering the second round of Phase 2 Heightened Alert from 22 July to 18 August. Developers sold 1,589 new private homes (excluding Executive Condos) in July 2021 – almost twice the 872 units transacted in the previous month where sales volume hit a low due to the absence of new launches. When compared to July 2020 – new home sales last month were 46.7% more than the 1,083 units transacted then. The sales in July recorded the second highest month of sales in 2021, after January 2021 where 1,633 homes were sold. During the month of January, sales was boosted by two new launches, namely mega project Normanton Park and The Reef at King's Dock where 622 and 210 units were sold respectively.

New homes sales in the Outside Central Region (OCR) recorded almost two thirds of total sales with 1,012 units. The OCR sales figures was up 200.3% month-on-month from June where 337 homes in the OCR were sold. Majority of the sales in the OCR were from the Pasir Ris 8 new launch, which sold 418 units, and boosted by other previously launched OCR projects such as Midwood (91 units) and Seng Kang Grand Residences (89 units).

In the Rest of Central Region (RCR), 438 new homes were transacted in July 2021. The RCR sold 33% more units in July compared to the previous month. Its sales were boosted by Normanton Park which sold 125 units – the project’s strongest monthly sales since its launch in January 2021. Meanwhile, in the Core Central Region (CCR), 139 new homes were sold, 32.5% less units in July compared to June. Leedon Green was the best selling CCR project in July, with 33 units transacted, at a median price of $2,559psf.

In the EC segment, developers sold 155 new units in July 2021 despite a lack of new EC launches – up by 72% from the 90 new ECs transacted in June. In July 2021, Parc Central Residences was the best-selling EC project, moving 52 units at a median price of $1,168psf.

In terms of units launched, developers placed 1,104 new private homes (ex. ECs) on the market in July – 35.5% more than the 815 units (ex. ECs) launched in the previous month. All of the units placed on the market in July were mostly from previously launched projects and one brand new project launch, namely Pasir Ris 8 with 487 units.

Mr Ismail Gafoor, CEO of PropNex Realty:
“While the market was reeling from the tightening of restrictions from April to June this year, the month of July exceeded expectations with an impressive sales figure of more than 1,500 new units being sold. The new home sales performance in July 2021 was boosted by the buzzing OCR sub-market which saw over 1,000 units being transacted. We believe that the catalyst to the exuberance was the recent GLS tender activity where Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 and Lentor Central received top bids of $1,118 psf ppr and $1,204 psf ppr respectively from developers. The news of aggressive land prices triggered many to realize that future launch prices are likely to rise further. A good number of investors and buyers, whom have been waiting for the right opportunity, decided to enter the market in July, in anticipation of possible price hikes in the future.

Pasir Ris 8 was the best-seller last month, selling more than 85% of its total inventory, with an attractive median price of $1,624 psf. The favourable response to the Pasir Ris 8 launch and news of multiple price revisions up to $2,000 psf created a spill-over effect to other projects in the OCR. In July, a number of OCR projects managed to move more units compared to previous months in the year. Mega project Normanton Park in the RCR which was launched in January this year was the second best-selling last month with an attractive median price of $1,825psf, while other OCR projects Midwood and SengKang Grand Residences continued to sell units steadily, with a median price of $1,656 psf and $1,714 psf respectively. It was observed that 7 out of the top 10 best-selling projects in July were located in the OCR, we expect this sub-market to continue to do well this year, with more new launches to come.

New home sales are expected to moderate in August to the tune of 1,000 units due to the Hungry Ghost month and dwindling stock in the OCR, as a result of the lean line-up of new launches in the suburbs, which will put a cap on sales volume. Upcoming launches in the later part of August include: The Watergardens at Canberra in the OCR. Given the strong turnout at the Pasir Ris 8 launch, the new projects in the OCR should attract strong interest from owner-occupiers, including HDB upgraders.

For the whole of 2021, we project that new private home sales (ex. ECs) could exceed 12,000 units, barring any unforeseen events and new cooling measures.”