January developer sales rebound by 108.1% m-o-m, but is the lowest in 15 years

By Nur Hikmah Md Ali

/ EdgeProp Singapore |

February 15, 2024 8:14 PM SGT

The crowd at the preview of Lumina Grand executive condo sales gallery (Photo CDL).

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In January, developers launched two private condos and one executive condo (EC). They are the 341-unit, 99-year leasehold Hillhaven on Hillview Rise in the suburbs of District 23 (Outside Central Region or OCR), the 172-unit, freehold The Arcady at Boon Keng on Serangoon Road in District 12 (Rest of Central Region or RCR) and the 512-unit, 99-year leasehold Lumina Grand EC in Bukit Batok West Avenue 5, also in District 23.

According to URA, Hillhaven sold 64 units (18.8%) at a median price of $2,065 psf, The Arcady sold 47 units (27.3%) at a median price of $2.574 psf, and Lumina Grand sold 271 units (52.9%) at a median price of $1,525 psf. Including ECs, total new home sales accounted for 382 units.

Private residential sales (excluding ECs) doubled by 108.1% m-o-m to 281 units in January, from 135 units in December. Hillhaven and The Arcady combined accounted for 111 sales, 39.5% of all private new home sales during the month, notes Chia Siew Chuin, JLL head of residential research. Other ongoing top-selling projects in January include The Myst (with 21 units sold), The Landmark (with 17 units sold) and Pinetree Hill (with 15 units sold).

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Chia adds that transactions within the price range of $1 million to under $2.5 million accounted for 72.7% of total new home sales in January. Private homes priced between $2.5 million and under $4 million made up 21.9%, while transactions above $4 million made up the remaining 5.4% last month.

This is the lowest January sales since 2009, says Lee Sze Teck, senior director of data analytics at Huttons Asia. Developer sales are also 28.7% lower y-o-y compared to January 2023.

"The strong rebound from a quiet December is likely due to the resumption of launches after the year-end holidays," says Lee. He adds that Hillhaven and The Arcady bumped the number of launched units to 417 in January, 11 times higher than the 36 units launched in December and 1.7% higher y-o-y.

Suburban or OCR projects led developer sales (excluding ECs) with 144 units sold (51.2%), followed by city fringe or RCR with 112 units sold (39.9%) and the Core Central Region (CCR) with 25 sales (8.9%), says Tricia Song, head of CBRE Research Southeast Asia. In December 2023, CCR accounted for 17.8% of the sales, with RCR making up 48.9% and 33.3%.

Singaporeans made up 87.7% of non-landed private new home buyers in January, according to Wong Siew Ying, head of research and content at PropNex Realty. The number of foreign buyers moderated from 3.2% in December 2023 to 1.9% in January, while Singaporean permanent residents (PRs) increased slightly to 10.4% from 9.5% in December 2023, she adds.

Homebuyers' cautious sentiment is reflected in the strong demand for ECs, says Eugene Lim, key executive officer of ERA. The top-selling project in January was Lumina Grand EC, which comprised 71% of the 382 new homes sold.

Notably, ECs are more affordable than private non-landed homes, according to Leonard Tay, head of research at Knight Frank Singapore.

Still, the median price of 1,525 psf achieved at Lumina Grand is a new high for ECs sold by developers, points out PropNex's Wong.

Being the first EC launch of the year, Lumina Grand attracted significant interest from buyers, Mohan Sandrasegeran, head of research and data analytics at SRI. The success of the neighbouring EC, the 360-unit Altura, launched last year, "may have had a ripple effect, encouraging potential buyers to consider Lumina Grand."

Upcoming previews in February are the 267-unit Lentoria in Lentor Hills Estate in the OCR and the 17-unit Koon Seng House on Koon Seng Road, off Still Road in the RCR.

They are expected to be launched in March. "New private home sales may only pick up more meaningfully from March when more projects are put on the market," says PropNex's Wong.

Demand is expected to be tempered by prevailing market sentiments. "Given the sense of caution and uncertainties in the market, some buyers may prefer to hunker down temporarily," adds Wong. "They may also take this time to assess the unsold units on the market or perhaps wait for other project launches to compare the options."