New private home sales slump in Sept but recovery expected in Oct with several hot launches

SINGAPORE – New private home sales slumped to a nine-month low in September following a breakout performance in August, amid a dearth of new launches during the Hungry Ghost Month.

Just 255 new homes – excluding executive condominiums (EC) – were moved during the month. This is down 88 per cent from 2,142 units transacted in August, and a 36 per cent drop from 401 units a year ago.

The sharp drop is partly due to only 20 new units being launched – markedly lower than the 2,496 new units launched in August.

But developers’ sales are expected to make a swift recovery in October.

Skye at Holland

– the first launch in October – is already almost sold out. About 99 per cent, or 658 of 666 units, were sold at an average price of $2,953 per square foot (psf) over its weekend launch, which started on Oct 11.

Several other highly anticipated projects in desirable locations are expected to hit the market soon. They include the 462-unit Penrith in Margaret Drive, the 347-unit The Sen in Upper Bukit Timah, the 706-unit Zyon Grand in Kim Seng Road, and the 399-unit Faber Residence in Clementi.

Lower borrowing rates may potentially nudge some fence-sitters to act, said PropNex head of research and content Wong Siew Ying.

As at Oct 15, the three-month compounded Singapore overnight rate average or Sora, which banks use to price home loan packages, has eased to around 1.4 per cent per annum. This is the lowest since around mid-August 2022.

September’s new private home sales will take the overall tally for the third quarter to 3,337 units, excluding ECs. This is nearly three times the 1,212 new units sold in the second quarter, as new launches at the time were few and far between.

All in, developers transacted 7,924 new homes in the first nine months of 2025 – already besting annual sales in each of the three years from 2022 to 2024.

Analysts say that if this momentum continues, new home sales for 2025 could hit between 9,000 and 10,000 units, above previous forecasts of 8,000 to 9,000 units.

Apart from lower interest rates, home-buying appetite could also be buoyed by a better-than-expected local economic performance, despite trade uncertainty and geopolitical tensions, according to CBRE.

Singapore’s 2025 GDP growth forecast was upgraded to 1.5 per cent to 2.5 per cent from the previous 0 to 2 per cent, said Ms Tricia Song, head of research for South-east Asia at CBRE.

Property sales in different parts of Singapore

A majority of the 255 new units sold in September were in the city-fringe area, with the rest in the suburbs and prime district.

Developers sold 125 new units in the city-fringe submarket, down from 476 in the previous month. Two new launches are upcoming in the area – Zyon Grand in Kim Seng Road and Penrith in Queenstown – which has not seen a new condo launch since Margaret Ville was launched in May 2018.

In the suburbs, developers sold 84 new units in September, down from 1,153 units transacted in August. Analysts expect sales to be boosted by the upcoming launch of the 399-unit Faber Residence.

The prime district also saw a big drop in new private home sales, with just 46 units moved in September, down from 513 units in the previous month.

But overall, the prime district has seen more than 900 new units sold in the third quarter of 2025 – the highest quarterly new sales in this submarket since the fourth quarter of 2010, Ms Wong noted.

Despite the recent strong pick-up in prime district new home sales, Knight Frank Singapore head of research Leonard Tay noted that prices of new non-landed prime district homes grew a cumulative 27 per cent. This is lower than price gains of 47 per cent in the city fringe and 46 per cent in the suburbs over the past five years.

Meanwhile, September’s new EC sales were also dismal in the absence of new launches. Just 15 new units were sold in September, as recent launches, including Lumina Grand and Altura, have already sold a majority of their units.

The upcoming new launch in Jalan Loyang Besar should attract strong upgrader interest, but the new units could cost more due to higher land and construction costs, said Mr Marcus Chu, chief executive officer of ERA Singapore.

Ms Christine Sun, chief researcher and strategist of Realion (OrangeTee & ETC) Group, noted that prices of new EC units have hit new highs in 2025, with 287 units sold for more than $2 million so far, exceeding the 65 units sold in 2024 and the 90 units sold in 2023.

“A total of 291 new ECs have sold for at least $1,800 psf from January to September 2025, with none transacted in previous years. An EC at Otto Place was sold for a record unit price of $1,909 psf in August 2025, surpassing the unit price of many resale condominiums,” she pointed out.

“The surge in HDB resale prices and the sale of several flats at or near the million-dollar mark have provided buyers with the financial capability to upgrade to ECs,” Ms Sun added.