New Private Home Sales Rose By 13.6% MOM In March, Spurred By New Launch The Botany At Dairy Farm

 17 April 2023, SINGAPORE – Developers’ sales rose by 13.6% month-on-month in March, partly driven by new launch mass market project The Botany at Dairy Farm, which accounted for over a-third of the monthly sales. New private home sales came in at 492 units (ex. Executive Condos) in March, up from 433 units shifted in the previous month. March’s monthly sales is the highest in the last 6 months, since 987 units were transacted in September 2022. On a year-on-year basis, the new home sales volume fell by 24.8% from 654 units sold in March 2022.

There was only one fresh project put on the market in March, being The Botany at Dairy Farm, which transacted nearly half of its total 386 units during its launch weekend on 4/5 March. Its brisk sales have helped to prop up transactions in the Outside Central Region, which led new home sales in March.

The Outside Central Region (OCR) clocked the highest new home sales among the three sub-markets. Developers sold 230 new units in March – up strongly by nearly 5 times from the 48 units that changed hands in the previous month. The Botany at Dairy Farm was the top-selling project during the month (see Table 1), selling 184 units at a median price of $2,068 psf and it made up 80% of the OCR sales in March. Meanwhile, existing projects such as The Gazania, The Lilium, and Urban Treasures continued to pare down on their limited unsold units, shifting 7 units each in March.

Core Central Region (CCR) The CCR dominated the top-10 list of best performing new private residential projects in March and made up about 40% of March’s total new home sales. Developers sold 197 new units during the month – down by 11% from the 222 units transacted in February. Leedon Green was the most popular CCR projects, selling 26 units at a median price of $2,957 psf, followed by Pullman Residences Newton which sold 21 units at a median price of $3,295 psf, and Hyll on Holland where 18 units changed hands at a median price of $2,875 psf.

Rest of Central Region (RCR) Developers sold 65 new RCR private homes in March, down sharply by 60% from 163 units transacted in the previous month, where the launch of Terra Hill in Pasir Panjang had supported the sales volume then. Amidst a lack of new launches, The Landmark topped RCR sales, shifting 24 units at a median price of $2,626 psf in March. The other two RCR projects that made the top-10 list are Riviere which sold 9 units at a median price of $3,180 psf, and Piccadilly Grand where 8 units were transacted at a median price of
$2,008 psf.

In the EC segment, developers sold 21 new units in March amid lower unsold inventory - slowing from the 38 EC units transacted in February. Tenet was the best-selling EC project in March, moving 9 units at a median price of $1,416 psf.

Developers placed 573 new units (ex. ECs) for sale in March (mostly from The Botany at Dairy Farm) – up from 401 units that were put on the market in the previous month. This is the highest number of units launched for sale in a month since 913 units were launched in September 2022.

Wong Siew Ying, Head of Research & Content, PropNex Realty:
“The sales performance at recent new launches should help to put wind in developers’ sails. The Botany at Dairy Farm achieved a take-up rate of nearly 50% at launch in March with prices averaging at $2,070 psf, and most recently, Tembusu Grand transacted 53% of its 638 units over its launch weekend at an average price of $2,465 psf. Both average launch prices are new benchmarks for 99-year leasehold new projects in District 23 and District 15 - where The Botany at Dairy Farm and Tembusu Grand are located respectively. Similarly, we are expecting upcoming new launch in the one-north precinct, Blossoms by the Park (which will be put on the market in end-April) to do well and should help to prop up April’s new home sales figure further.

We believe the positive sales outcomes reflect the resilient underlying demand for new private homes and the still ample liquidity in the market. Furthermore, there’s perhaps some price acceptance on the part of buyers as private home prices have remained firm, rising by 3.2% QOQ in Q1 2023 according to URA flash estimates. In addition, the progressive payment scheme likely also helped buyers better manage their financial outlay and commitment amid the high interest rate environment.

The private new home sales market continues to be dominated by local buyers. In March, Singaporean buyers accounted for 77% of the new home sales (ex. EC) – rising from about 71% in February (see Table 2), likely spurred by the launch of The Botany at Dairy Farm in the OCR during the month. Local buyers, including HDB upgraders tend to favour OCR homes given their more affordable prices compared to new launches in the Central Region. Meanwhile, the proportion of foreign buyers who purchased new private homes in March dipped to 7.8% from 12.6% in the previous month, with the CCR being the sub-market most favoured by foreigners.

We expect new home sales to pick up in April and to continue to build momentum into May, where up to four launches – The Continuum, Newport Residences, as well as potentially Lentor Hills Residences and The Reserve Residences – are slated to be put on the market before the June school holidays start.”