New private home sales fall to 217 units in September, lowest monthly figure year
Private home sales in September plummeted to the lowest since December 2022, with 217 units transacted (excluding executive condos or ECs). That’s a 44.9% drop month-on-month from 394 units the month before. The second consecutive fall in sales, compared to 72.1% m-o-m during August, was “within expectation”, according to Christine Sun, senior vice president of research and analytics at OrangeTee & Tie. This is because there were no big project launches during the period, and the housing market usually quiets down during the lunar seventh month, which ended in mid-September.
Developers launched only 68 new homes in September, 88.5% lower than the 590 units launched in August.
Tricia Song, head of research for Singapore and Southeast Asia at CBRE, attributed the significant y-o-y decline in new home sales to market headwinds, noting that y-o-y sales plunged 78% from 987 units in September 2022. “Sentiment this year has clearly deteriorated with higher interest rates, softer economic prospects and two more rounds of cooling measures since,” she shared.
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Buyers are also becoming more discerning in their choices given the “plethora of options” available as pointed out by Chia Siew Chuin, head of residential research, research and consultancy at JLL. In 3Q2023, developers sold 2,024 new homes, 4.8% lower q-o-q and 7.5% lower y-o-y compared to 2022. Nevertheless, Chia noted the new home sales tally declined y-o-y despite 93.4% more new units launched in 3Q2023.
The bright spot in September was the EC market, according to Lee Sze Teck, senior director of data analytics at Huttons Asia. Developers estimated 118 EC units were sold last month, lower than the 255 units sold in August. Most of the sales came from the 360-unit Altura on Bukit Batok West Avenue 8 which launched in August, with 100 units being moved at a median price of $1,473 psf.
The Core Central Region (CCR) accounted for 35% of total sales in September. Sales in the CCR fell 20.8% m-o-m, with the units sold marking the lowest monthly new homes sales in the CCR since February 2021 when 58 units were sold, details from Wong Siew Ying, head of research and content at PropNex Realty. However, median prices of non-landed new private homes rose 10.5% m-o-m to $3,151 psf.
In the Rest of Central Region (RCR), new home sales fell 33% m-o-m from the 106 units sold in August. In the Outside Central Region (OCR), new home sales plunged 64% m-o-m, mainly due to a lack of project launches in the past month.
Foreigners purchased 13 new private homes in September, a slight increase from the 10 units in August. Twelve of the homes bought by foreigners are in the CCR, including the highest-price single transaction in September – the sale of a 2,164 sq ft unit at Dalvey Haus for $7 million ($3,235 psf).
Huttons’ Lee believes the level of interest by foreigners is unlikely to return to the pre-cooling measures level. Nevertheless, given the low volume of transactions, the percentage of purchases by foreigners climbed to 5.9% in September, compared to 2.7% in August.
Lam Chern Woon of Edmund Tie remains “cautiously sanguine” on the sale outlook for the rest of the year, given a line-up of launches expected in 4Q2023. He anticipates that developer sales will be in the range of 6,500 and 7,500 units for 2023.
Notable projects expected to launch in the 4th quarter include J’den in Jurong East, Hillock Green in Lentor and Watten House in Bukit Timah. Leonard Tay of Knight Frank Singapore shared his view that ECs will continue to be favoured among buyers purchasing for self-occupation, while investors will likely remain on the sidelines until interest rates peak and stabilise. He estimates new home sales in 2023 to come in just shy of 7,000 units.
September saw the lowest new home sales in Singapore since December 2022, with 217 units transacted (excluding executive condos or ECs). That was a 44.9% drop from the 394 units the month before. The weak numbers were expected given no new project launches during the period, and the housing market usually slowdown during the lunar seventh month.
Market headwinds have also played a role, with developers selling 78% fewer new homes, y-o-y in September (from 987 units in September 2022). “Sentiment this year has clearly deteriorated with higher interest rates, softer economic prospects and two more rounds of cooling measures since,” shares Tricia Song, head of research for Singapore and Southeast Asia at CBRE.
Chia Siew Chuin, head of residential research, research and consultancy at JLL, observed that buyers have become more discerning with the “plethora of options” available in the market search. In 3Q2023, developers sold 2,024 new homes, 4.8% lower q-o-q and 7.5% lower y-o-y.
ECs remained the bright spot in September, with an estimated 118 units sold. Most of the sales came from the 360-unit Altura on Bukit Batok West Avenue 8 which launched in August, with 100 units being moved at a median price of $1,473 psf.
Core Central Region accounted for 35% of total sales in September, with the units sold marking the lowest monthly sales since February 2021. Despite that, median prices of non-landed new private homes rose 10.5% m-o-m to $3,151 psf, likely due to higher prices at some of the new projects such as Midtown Bay, Midtown Modern, Perfect Ten, Leedon Green and Orchard Sophia.
Foreigners purchased 13 new private homes in September, edging up from the 10 units recorded in August. Twelve of the homes bought by foreigners are in the CCR, including the highest-price single transaction – a 2,164 sq ft unit at Dalvey Haus that was sold for $7 million ($3,235 psf).
A line-up of launches expected to take place in 4Q2023 keeps Lam Chern Woon, head of research and consulting at Edmund Tie “cautiously sanguine” on the sale outlook for the rest of the year. Notable projects in the pipeline include J’den in Jurong East, Hillock Green in Lentor and Watten House in Bukit Timah. Leonard Tay, head of research at Knight Frank Singapore, believes ECs will continue to be favoured and estimate new home sales in 2023 to come in just shy of 7,000 units.