In January, developers launched just 204 units and sold a mere 108 units as buyers stayed away amid the gloom and Lunar New Year holidays. Sales of new private homes for the whole of last year reached only 4,264 units.

The strong February sales were boosted primarily by three projects, two of which were new launches that did exceptionally well given the current economic climate.

All 293 units at Alexis in Alexandra Road were sold at a median price of $1,083 per square foot, while Caspian in Jurong registered sales of 517 units at a median price of $603 psf.

A project launched sometime back, The Quartz in Buangkok Drive, also saw strong sales in February, with 168 units sold at a median price of $591 psf.

Jones Lang LaSalle's local director and head of research, South-east Asia, Dr Chua Yang Liang, said this is the first time total transactions have crossed the 1,000 mark in more than a year. 'This unusual demand blip is some 23 per cent from the historical peak attained in August 2007,' he said.

The surge in market interest was supported by affordable pricing and pent-up demand from almost five months of very limited transactions, he added.

Developers were only selling an average of about 350 housing units per month in 2008. This is comparatively lower than the 1,230 units sold monthly by developers in 2007, noted Knight Frank.

The non-landed housing market continues to dominate overall market activity. New landed housing supply remained low - at only 10 units from MontClair @ Whitley by East Coast Properties.

'While no sales were reported in this project, overall demand showed positive growth albeit marginal, with some 35 units landed properties absorbed islandwide,' said Dr Chua.