New home sales slip by 23.6% MoM in August

A total of 1,215 private homes were sold. 

The Urban Redevelopment Authority announced that private home sales slid by 23.6% month-on-month (MoM) in August. 

1,215 private homes were sold during this period, a decrease from the 1,591 units in July. 

This performance also expanded to the sales including executive condominiums, which puts it at a 24.3% MoM decrease to 1,322, from the 1,746 units sold in August. 

The best-selling project for August was the Watergardens at Canberra, which was able to sell 60%, or 268 of 448, of its total units at a median price of $1,469 per square foot (psf). Other top sellers include Normanton Park with 131 units sold at a median price of $1,828 and The Florence Residence at 66 units for $1,679 psf.

Outside Central Region and Rest of Central Region currently lead the market segments, with 59.3% and 28.3%, respectively. The Core Central Region made up the remaining 12.5% of total sales. These numbers exclude executive condominiums.

Analysts have pinned this performance to the Hungry Ghost Festival, normally a quieter period for the property market. 

For instance, this lull in the market, as described by Christine Sun, senior vice president of Research & Analytics, Orangetee, meant that new launches were kept to a minimum and that the demand would target existing properties.

“There was a significant dip in the number of new homes put on the market as developers launched just 836 units (excluding EC) for sale, down 24.3% from the 1,104 units in July and a 47.2% decrease from the 1,582 units in August last year. The 138-unit Klimt Cairnhill and the Watergardens at Canberra were the only projects launched in August," Sun said.

"In the absence of many major launches, demand gravitated to existing launches. Projects in the suburbs and city fringes continue to find favour with buyers due to their affordability and spaciousness. Apart from the new launch at The Watergardens at Canberra which sold 267 units, other best-selling projects were Normanton Park, The Florence Residences, Midwood, OLA, Treasure at Tampines, Dairy Farm Residences, and Parc Clematis,” she continued.
 
Sun also stated that developers looked towards the end of the month, in which new launches like the CanningHill Piers at River Valley Road and Perfect Ten at Bukit Timah Road are expected to boost performance.
 
This same sentiment is echoed by Tricia Song, head of Research, Southeast Asia, CBRE. She pointed towards the launching of projects, as well as the influx of foreign demand, as factors for this positive outlook.

“We expect to see healthy new home sales in the next few months, albeit mostly from ongoing projects with few large launches for the rest of the year. It was reported that Parc Greenwich EC moved about 65% or 322 of its 496 units over its launch weekend on September 11 and 12," Song said.
 
In the higher-end segments, CanningHill Piers, the residential component of the Liang Court redevelopment, targeted to launch in the fourth quarter of 2021, could also ride on the continued interest for integrated developments.
 
"Having vaccinated more than 80% of the population, the Singapore Government has established Vaccinated Travel Lanes with Brunei and Germany in September, a pilot programme for the further easing of border controls. This is a development conducive to the possible return of foreign demand. Furthermore, as Singapore transitions into endemic living, restrictions that undermined show gallery viewings would no longer be a headwind for developer sales. As such, we expect the momentum in the housing market to remain positive,” Song said.