Private residential units sold by developers in August 2024

SINGAPORE, September 16, 2024 – On 16 September 2024, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) released the data on developer sales for the month of August 2024.

A summary of the launches and sales is provided in the Appendix.

Ms. Chia Siew Chuin, Head of Residential Research, Research & Consultancy at JLL
谢岫君, 私宅市场研究部主管 (新加坡) commented:

Key Observations

New private homes sales (excluding executive condominiums or ECs) fell by 63.6% month-on-month (m-o-m) to 208 units in the traditionally quiet month of August. The decline was mainly due to developers being cautious and refraining from launching new projects, as well as some buyers holding off due to the Hungry Ghost Month, which ran from 4^th August to 2^nd September. On a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis, sales were down by 47.2% from 394 units in August 2023.

This is also the second lowest monthly private home sales so far in 2024, after February’s 153 units. This puts the total new home sales from January to August 2024 to 2,668 units, 48.6% lower than the 5,190 units sold over the same period in 2023.

The cumulative number of new private homes launched but unsold as of August 2024 expanded by 2.7% m-o-m and by 6.8% from December 2023 to 3,595 units. The gradual build-up of unsold units also shows that new sales momentum has slowed down.

Market sentiment has been weighed down by the combination of elevated interest rates, cloudy macroeconomic prospects, and prolonged effects from the April 2023 market cooling measures. Some buyers are also exercising caution and staying on the sidelines, anticipating potential interest rate cuts before making commitments.

The resale market, on the other hand, shows that buyers were relatively active in August which recorded 1,076 caveats. Although the resale tally is 13.9% lower than the 1,249 units in July, it is comparable to the 1,069 resale caveats recorded in August 2023. These figures indicate that buyers remain fairly keen in the private residential market and are willing to make commitments if resale prices align with their expectations.

Sales by Market Segment

August’s new home sales was led by the Outside Central Region (OCR), making up 59.1% of the total new private homes sold during the month. This was despite sales in the region falling by 72.3% m-o-m to 123 units. The most popular ongoing projects in the OCR in August were Hillock Green, Lentoria and Hillhaven, which collectively accounted for 37.4% of the total units moved in the region.

Sales in the Rest of Central Region (RCR) declined by 38.7% m-o-m to 65 units, accounting for 31.3% of total developers' sales in August. Sales at ongoing projects like Tembusu Grand, The Continuum, and The Reserve Residences contributed to 75.4% of the total new sales in the region in August.

New sales in the Core Central Region (CCR) were relatively stable with 20 caveats lodged in August, keeping pace with the 21 units sold in July. One Bernam, 19 Nassim and Watten House were the top-selling ongoing projects in the region in August, making up 80% of new sales in the region.

Outlook

New sales volume is projected to rebound in September on the back of the anticipated official launches of the 158-unit 8@BT, the 226-unit Meyer Blue and Union Square Residences.

More new projects such as Chuan Park, Grove in Pine Grove, Bagnall Haus, Emerald of Katong, and Aurea, can potentially come onstream in 4Q24.

The favourable mix of still-low unemployment rate, healthy household liquidity, and expected improvements in the economic and interest rate environment in the later part of 2024, are expected to lift buyer sentiments. Previous trends also indicate that market slowdowns can quickly recover, resulting in a revival in home sales when the external environment improves, and when attractive projects with compelling attributes are introduced.

However, as the demand catalysts for new private homes are expected to materialise in the final months of 2024, the uplift in sale numbers is projected to be apparent only in 2025.  JLL Research expects developers to sell between 4,500 and 6,000 new units in 2024, which is below the 6,421 units sold in 2023. 

Appendix

The top-five selling private residential projects (excluding ECs) are listed in Table A below.
 

Table A - Top Selling Projects

Source: URA