December new private home sales fizzle as developers hold back launches over holidays

SINGAPORE – December’s private new home sales sank to a 10-month low following November’s sizzling sales, as developers held back new launches during the holiday period.

New home sales, excluding executive condominiums (ECs), plummeted to a mere 203 units – a new low since February 2024 when 153 units were transacted – from 2,560 units in November.

However, sales were up 50.4 per cent from a year ago, according to data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority on Jan 15.

This takes the 2024 tally of new homes sold to 6,560 units, up 2.2 per cent from 2023’s 6,421 units – a 15-year low for developer sales, since 4,264 units were sold during the global financial crisis in 2008.

Including executive condominiums (ECs), new home sales plunged 87.1 per cent to 373 units, from 2,894 units in November.

New launch activity dwindled to just 20 units in December following a blockbuster launch of 2,871 units in November. This was down 44 per cent from a year ago. No new EC units were launched in December.

Developers’ sales in the first nine months of 2024 had been much weaker as sentiment was dented by still-high interest rates at the time, higher prices and a lack of attractive new launches.

But sales rebounded in the fourth quarter, catalysed by lower mortgage rates following the US Federal Reserve’s successive rate cuts since September, and pent-up demand for attractively priced new launches, Ms Tricia Song, CBRE head of research for South-east Asia, said.

As such, developers are more likely to push ahead with more new launches in 2025, Ms Song added, estimating that up to 14,000 new units could be put on the market this year, nearly twice that of 2024’s 6,647 units.

With more than 20 new projects in the launch pipeline, some developers are kick-starting their launches early to get ahead of the competition. Two projects – the 113-unit freehold Bagnall Haus off Upper East Coast Road and the 777-unit The Orie in Lorong 1 Toa Payoh – are slated to launch on Jan 18.

The 188-unit Aurea in Beach Road, the 501-unit Elta in Clementi Avenue 1, the 477-unit Lentor Central Residences and the 1,193-unit ParkTown Residence in Tampines Avenue 11 are scheduled for a February launch, JLL said.

Upcoming projects such as The Orie, Elta and Parktown Residence should benefit from pent-up demand due to a lack of new supply in their respective estates. But Ms Song cautioned that buyers could remain selective amid an ample supply pipeline.

Ms Chia Siew Chuin, JLL’s head of residential research in Singapore, believes the private property market should be bolstered by moderated interest rates, healthy household balance sheets, low unemployment, and demand from HDB upgraders amid rising resale flat prices.

But buyers could turn cautious, given the ample supply, rising geopolitical tensions and potential policy shifts under a new US administration, which could result in slower interest rate reductions, she added.

Analysts stressed that attractive pricing remains key to driving sales.

According to PropNex, the median transacted price of non-landed private new homes, excluding ECs, was $2.27 million in December, a shade lower than $2.29 million in the previous month. The median price of new EC units sold was $1.47 million in December, down from $1.56 million in November.

ERA chief executive Marcus Chu expects a recovery in new home sales in January, due to upcoming launches like The Orie and Bagnall Haus, and prime mixed-use project One Bernam clearing 99 per cent of its 351 units by slashing prices by up to 27 per cent and moving 87 units this past weekend.

“We have seen exceptional visitor turnout during the previews of The Orie, driven by pent-up demand as this is the first Toa Payoh launch in nine years, and Bagnall Haus. Many were buyers who had missed out on earlier launches like Emerald of Katong and Chuan Park,” Mr Chu said.

On the EC market, PropNex’s head of research Wong Siew Ying noted that there were just 160 unsold new EC units as at the end of December.

“This tight supply of unsold stock bodes well for the upcoming EC project, Aurelle of Tampines, which will offer 760 new EC units,” she said.