Sustained Strong Performance for New Private Home Sales in February
According to the latest data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on March 17, new private home sales in February continued their strong momentum from the previous month, driven by new launches. Data shows that developers sold 1,575 units, excluding executive condos (ECs), last month, marking a 45.4% increase from the 1,083 units sold in January.
Compared to February 2024, new home sales saw a substantial growth of over 10 times, with only 153 units sold. This also marks the highest February sales figure in 13 years, since 2,417 units were sold in February 2012, says Tricia Song, CBRE’s head of research for Singapore and Southeast Asia. Including ECs, new home sales totaled 1,604 units last month, up 45.3% from January.
Developers have already sold a total of 2,658 units (excluding ECs) since the beginning of the year. This is a significant improvement from the same period last year, when it took eight months to reach a similar figure, observes Leonard Tay, head of research at Knight Frank Singapore.
The strong performance in February can be attributed to two major launches in the Outside Central Region (OCR): The 1,193-unit ParkTown Residence in Tampines North and the 501-unit Elta on Clementi Avenue 1. ParkTown Residence sold 1,041 units last month at a median price of $2,363 psf, making it the best-selling project. This translates to an 87% take-up rate at the integrated project, which is jointly developed by UOL Group and CapitaLand Development. Elta, on the other hand, sold 65.1% or 326 units at a median price of $2,538 psf. CBRE’s Song notes that both projects are located in suburban areas that have not seen new supply in the past five years, contributing to their strong performances.
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In addition to these two projects, developers launched a total of 1,694 units for sale in February, an 89% increase from the 896 units launched the month before. The majority of sales were in the OCR, which saw 1,452 units sold, accounting for an impressive 92% of total new private homes sold in February. This is the best monthly showing for the OCR in over nine years, since 1,523 units were sold in July 2015, says Wong Siew Ying, PropNex Realty’s head of research and content. Sales in the Rest of Central Region (RCR) made up 98 or 6.2% of units sold in February. The top-selling RCR project was Pinetree Hill, which sold 22 units at a median price of $2,613 psf.
In the Core Central Region (CCR), only 25 units were sold, accounting for 1.6% of developers’ sales last month. The best-selling CCR project was 19 Nassim, which sold five units at a median price of $3,372 psf. Additionally, four units were sold at One Bernam at a median price of $2,651 psf. The 351-unit One Bernam, which launched for sale in May 2021, is now fully sold.
Citizens and HDB Upgraders Account for Bulk of Buyers
Singapore citizens continued to make up the majority of new private home buyers at 92.4%, followed by permanent residents at 6.9%, notes Lee Sze Teck, senior director of data analytics at Huttons Asia. Foreigners accounted for 11 of the new home purchases, including the two most expensive transactions in February: the sale of two units at 32 Gilstead for $14.47 million and $14.61 million.
Record Number of Suburban Homes Sold for Over $2 Million
A total of 603 new private homes (including ECs) in the OCR were sold for at least $2 million in February, observes Christine Sun, chief researcher and strategist at OrangeTee Group. This sets a record for the highest number of new suburban homes sold at this price range in a single month since URA data became available in 1995. The previous record was in November 2024, with 512 new homes in the OCR sold for at least $2 million, she adds.
Of the 603 OCR homes that transacted for at least $2 million, 596 were non-landed homes, composed mainly of units from ParkTown Residence (397 units), Elta (145 units), and Hillock Green (16 units). PropNex’s Wong notes that the average unit prices of recent launches have “decoupled from the sub-market where these projects are located”. She explains that while property prices usually follow a hierarchy led by the CCR, followed by the RCR and then the OCR, recent launches indicate that this may no longer always be the case.
As an example, Wong points out that The Collective at One Sophia, a CCR project that launched last November, has sold 73 units at an average unit price of $2,743 psf, based on URA data up until the end of February. “This is lower than the average transacted price of units sold at Union Square Residences ($3,175 psf) in the RCR, and only slightly higher than that of The Orie ($2,734 psf), also in the RCR,” she continues.
Meanwhile, recent OCR launches such as Chuan Park, Elta, and Bagnall Haus have registered average unit prices of $2,589 psf, $2,544 psf, and $2,489 psf, respectively, surpassing RCR project Nava Grove, which logged an average unit price of $2,460 psf.
Wong believes that the narrowing price gaps between regions could be due to various factors, including site-specific attributes of projects, amenity-driven pricing, demand by HDB upgraders, and the location of certain projects on the cusp of the CCR. She predicts that prices could converge even further in the coming months as new RCR projects located just off the CCR come to market, such as One Marina Gardens in Marina South and future developments on Zion Road residential sites.
Sustained Momentum Expected
The buoyant momentum in developers’ sales is expected to continue in March, boosted by recent launches such as the 477-unit Lentor Central Residences, the 188-unit Aurea, and the 760-unit Aurelle of Tampines EC. “As of mid-March, these projects have collectively sold over 1,150 units, promising a strong closing to the quarter,” comments Marchus Chu, CEO of ERA Singapore. Given the strong performance in the first quarter, ERA has increased its new private home sales projection for the whole of 2025 to between 8,500 and 9,000 units, up from its previous range of 7,000 to 8,000.
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Huttons’ Lee estimates that developers will sell more than 3,200 units (excluding ECs) in the first quarter of the year. This would make it the highest first-quarter sales since 2021, he adds.
As the second quarter approaches, new launches to look out for include the 358-unit Bloomsbury Residences, the 937-unit One Marina Gardens, the 638-unit W Residences Singapore – Marina View, and the 107-unit Arina East Residences. However, despite the strong start to the year, not all projects launched in the coming months are expected to perform equally well, notes Knight Frank’s Tay. “Homebuyer demand will largely depend on the specific location and property attributes of each project, with some projects doing better than others,” he says.