New home sales remain steady despite June school holidays

Overview

In June 2024, new home sales remained steady and slightly increased despite the absence of major project launches, and many potential buyers were overseas during the June school holidays.

According to data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), new home sales, excluding executive condominiums (ECs), rose by 2.2 per cent from 223 units in May to 228 units in June 2024.

Including ECs, new home sales increased by 5.7 per cent from 263 units in May to 278 units in June 2024. However, compared to June 2023, new home sales last month (excluding ECs) decreased by 18 per cent from 278 units.

New home sales have hit a record low for the first half of the year*, marking the lowest half-year sales since 2000, when URA records were available. 1,916 new homes excluding EC were sold in the first half of this year, which is 43.4 per cent less than the 3,383 units sold in 1H 2023 and 54.6 per cent less than the 4,222 units sold in 1H 2022.

The current sales figures are even lower than those registered during the Global Financial Crisis, with only 2,287 units sold in 1H 2008, and the COVID-19 lockdown period, with just 3,862 units sold in 1H 2020.

Best-selling projects

Demand for new homes remained subdued in the absence of major project launches last month. Consequently, the new home sales were primarily from the unsold stock of existing projects. The top-selling projects, including ECs, were North Gaia, The Lakegarden Residences, The Botany at Dairy Farm, Tembusu Grand, Hillhaven and Lumina Grand.

By Market Segment

Last month’s transactions, excluding ECs, were mainly in the suburbs, with the Outside Central Region (OCR) accounting for 57.9 per cent or 132 units of the total transactions. This was followed by the Rest of Central Region (RCR) at 31.1 per cent or 71 units, and the Core Central Region (CCR) at 11 per cent, or 25 units.

Luxury Market

In June 2024, the demand for luxury homes in the upper-end of the market remained low. According to URA Realis data, only seven non-landed homes were sold for at least S$5 million in June, marking the lowest number of sales in this price range since February 2024. No new homes were sold for more than S$10 million last month.

Outlook

We anticipate a surge in market activity during the latter part of this year. This is largely due to the scheduled launch of several medium to large-sized projects, which are expected to have a significant impact on developers' sales.

Some notable projects in the pipeline include the 440-unit SORA, which was launched in July, the 847-unit Emerald of Katong, the 366-unit Union Square Residences, the 348-unit Norwood Grand, and The Chuan Park, boasting 916 units. These projects might lead to an increase in sales for certain months. 

As the lunar seventh month draws near, most developers will schedule their project launches to steer clear of the inauspicious period believed to affect buyer sentiment.

Consequently, we may expect to see a notable increase in project launches during the months of July, early August, and particularly October, due to the anticipated pent-up demand for new homes following the one-month gap in project launches.