New private home sales plunge due to lack of major launches
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The latest numbers are seen as a lull as July is expected to be a blockbuster sales month with four major condominium projects.
PHOTO: BT FILE
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SINGAPORE - The absence of new major non-landed project launches in June sent private home sales tumbling to just 278 units following a blistering performance in May, when two new launches
There was only one small project launched in June, the 17-unit Lavender Residence in the city fringe, which sold eight units at a median price of $1,972 per square feet (psf).
But this is just a lull as July is expected to be a blockbuster sales month with four major condominium projects – Grand Dunman, Lentor Hills Residences, Pinetree Hill in Ulu Pandan and The Myst in Upper Bukit Timah – collectively launching over 2,400 units in the first half of the month, analysts said.
“Developers’ sales are supply-led, typically driven by new launches and may fluctuate substantially from month to month, depending on availability. Therefore, we would not read too much into the significant decline in new sales from May to June,” Ms Wong Siew Ying, PropNex Realty’s head of research and content, said.
In June, developers held back on new launches due to the school holidays, releasing a mere 31 new units – the smallest monthly number of new homes launched since December 2022 when 45 units were put out.
The number of units launched plunged 98.1 per cent from 1,595 units in May, and down 92 per cent from a year ago, according to data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority on Monday.
As a result, new private home sales excluding executive condominiums (EC) plunged 73.2 per cent in June from May’s 1,039 units, and were down 43 per cent from a year ago.
Including ECs, June’s sales dropped 71.9 per cent to 297 units, from 1,056 in May, and down 40.1 per cent from 496 a year ago. There were no ECs launched in June.
Ms Wong expects July’s new home sales numbers “to shoot right back up again” because four new launches have collectively sold over 1,100 units in the first half of the month.
“We expect sales in the suburbs to pick up markedly in July due to The Myst and Lentor Hills Residences. The city fringe will likely lead developers’ sales in July, driven by Grand Dunman and Pinetree Hill,” she said.
The momentum in July could carry over to August with the launch of Altura EC in Bukit Batok, the first new EC launch in the area in 22 years, Ms Wong added.
The last EC launched there was The Dew in Bukit Batok Street 21 in May 2001.
Ms Chia Siew Chuin, JLL’s head of residential research and consultancy, noted that for the first half of this year, 3,463 units were sold in the primary market, down 18 per cent from the first half 2022.
This is also the lowest first half sales since 3,862 units were sold in the first half of 2020 due to the pandemic-triggered circuit breaker, reflecting greater caution among buyers, she added.
Although demand for mass market homes appears insulated from the latest cooling measures, Edmund Tie’s head of research and consulting Lam Chern Woon cautioned that the Singapore economy continues to face external headwinds, and the unemployment rate, while still low, inched up in May.
“Interest rates could resume trending north later this year and upgrading demand is expected to moderate as sales and price growth have softened in the HDB resale market,” Mr Lam added.
Ms Tricia Song, head of research for South-east Asia at CBRE, noted that the “weaker average take-up rate of 27 per cent to 55 per cent for major launches so far this year, compared with take-up rates of above 70 per cent in 2022, reflects buyers’ selectiveness and growing price resistance”.
“Developers should be prepared to take a longer time to clear each project,” she added.
Upcoming launches include The LakeGarden Residences in Yuan Ching Road, TMW Maxwell, Altura EC and Newport Residences in Anson Road.
Citing URA Realis data, the number of non-landed new homes sold to foreigners dropped to 13 units in June, from 30 units in May and 67 units in April, said Ms Christine Sun, OrangeTee & Tie’s senior vice-president of research and analytics.
For a third straight month, the city fringe outperformed other submarkets. But, Ms Wong noted, June’s sales of 147 new homes are nearly 83 per cent down from 847 units sold in May.
New home sales in the suburbs continued to be tepid in June due to low unsold inventory. Just 19 units were transacted in the month, down 51.3 per cent from May, she added.
The prime district saw 112 new private homes sold, marking a 26.8 per cent month-on-month drop from May, Ms Wong said.
Ms Song said several projects that are nearing completion continued to move units as developers dangled discounts and marketing campaigns.
The Atelier, near Newton, sold 12 units at a median price of $2,663 psf in June, after moving 22 units in May, and is now 95 per cent sold.
The 69-unit Van Holland, which is expected to get its temporary occupation permit in July, is fully sold after moving the last 13 units in June at a median price of $2,692 psf, she said.
