Five-Fold Surge in New Private Home Sales from June to July, Turbocharged by Four New Launches; Highest Monthly Sales in Nearly 2 Years

15 August 2023, Singapore – Developers’ sales swiftly recovered from June to July, surging by more than five times to 1,412 units (excluding executive condos) from 278 units shifted in the previous month. The rebound in sales was turbocharged by four new launches during the month – Grand Dunman, Lentor Hills Residences, Pinetree Hill, and The Myst – which collectively accounted for about 82% of July’s new private home sales. On a year-on-year basis, sales were up by nearly 69% from 836 units in July 2022.

July’s sales performance is the strongest in nearly two years, since 1,547 new private homes (ex. EC) were sold in November 2021. Including July’s sales volume, developers sold 4,795 new private homes (ex. EC) in the first seven months of 2023 – on track to meeting PropNex’s forecast of 7,000 to 7,500 units of new home sales (ex. EC) this year.

New home sales in July were led by the Rest of Central Region (RCR) where transactions rose by more than five-fold from 147 units in June to 836 units in July. The RCR alone made up about 59% of July’s new home sales, mainly driven by new projects Grand Dunman and Pinetree Hill. In fact, the 1,008-unit Grand Dunman was the top-seller during the month, moving 549 units at a median price of $2,519 psf. Meanwhile, Pinetree Hill sold 150 units at a median price of $2,360 psf (see Table 3). In addition, The Continuum, One Pearl Bank, and The Reserve Residences – which were previously-launched – also helped to prop up RCR transactions, shifting 48, 20 and 19 units respectively.

Meanwhile, new private home sales in the Outside Central Region (OCR) leapt by more than 25 times month-on-month from 19 units in June to 488 units in July – the sub-market’s highest monthly sales since 686 units changed hands in September 2022. The surge in sales was mainly due to two new launches: Lentor Hills Residences which sold 333 units at a median price of $2,107 psf; and The Myst which transacted 127 units at a median price of $2,056 psf.

The Core Central Region (CCR) bucked the trend, as new home sales declined by about 21% MOM to 88 units in July in the absence of any new launches in this segment. The most popular CCR project in July was Leedon Green where 14 units were sold at a median price of $2,827 psf. July’s sales volume is the lowest monthly tally in the CCR since 89 new units were transacted in December 2022.

In the EC segment, developers sold 59 new units in July – markedly higher than the 19 units sold in the previous month. North Gaia EC in Yishun led sales with 39 transactions at a median price of $1,291 psf, while Tenet shifted 20 units at a median price of $1,424 psf. EC sales are set to jump in August, with the recently launched Altura EC selling 61% (220 units) of its 360 units at a median price of $1,480 psf, as per caveats lodged.

Developers placed a total of 2,156 new units (ex. ECs) for sale from the four new projects in July, representing a sharp increase from the 31 units that were put on the market in the previous month.

Please attribute the comments below to Wong Siew Ying, Head of Research & Content, PropNex Realty.
“As expected, new home sales made a strong comeback in July, after a brief slump in the previous month as four back-to-back new launches helped to turbocharge developers’ sales to a near two-year high in July. As at the end of July, Lentor Hills Residences sold about 56% of its units, while Grand Dunman has a take-up rate of about 54%. Meanwhile, The Myst and Pinetree Hill transacted about 31% and 29% of their total units, based on URA’s data.

With more fresh launches on the market, home buyers now have more options, particularly owner-occupiers looking at the 2- and 3-bedroom unit types, which tend to be sold out more quickly and are limited in supply in the market, prior to the slate of new projects coming on. Based on our observations, buyers remain price conscious, and are discerning and selective, with a preference for projects situated close to an MRT station as well as amenities. Meanwhile, we note that home prices are stabilising, with developers pricing units more sensitively in consideration of the various rounds of cooling measures and high interest rates. The median transacted unit prices of non-landed new private homes (ex. EC) in July have stabilised at around $2,900 psf in the CCR, about $2,500 psf in the RCR, and just over $2,000 psf in the OCR (see Table 1).

The proportion of new non-landed private home sales to foreigners (non-PR) moderated to 1.6% in July (see Table 2) - matching the record low in May 1998 – following the punitive hike in the additional buyer’s stamp duty rates to 60% for foreigners in late-April 2023. The URA caveat data also showed that the proportion of new non-landed private homes purchased by Singaporeans rose to 88.4% in July 2023, the highest proportion since 90.1% recorded in March 2009. The rise in the proportion of Singaporean buyers could be due to the injection of new launches in the RCR and OCR during the month, and perhaps a pullback in foreign investment demand offering more opportunities to local buyers.

Following July’s rebound in sales, we expect transactions (ex. EC) could ease in August, owing to the fewer units offered at August’s launches and as prospective buyers likely take more time to evaluate their options amidst more ample supply of unsold units. However, EC new sales should pick up strongly in August as Altura in Bukit Batok drew healthy demand, selling 220 of its 360 units at launch. In addition, with the Hungry Ghost month starting from August 16th, market activity could slow as developers hold back on new launches.”