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In June, developers sold just 278 new single-family houses, townhomes, and condominiums (excluding ECs). This is a drop of 73.2% compared to May’s 1,039 unit sales and a drop of 43% compared to June 2017’s 488 unit sales.
This is the first year drop in sales and the lowest monthly total thus far in 2023. According to Tricia Song of CBRE, this is the lowest number of sales since December 2022, when developers sold 170 units.
The lack of new projects starting in May and the June vacations are to blame for the decline. Leonard Tay of Knight Frank Singapore, observes that developers who were planning to launch larger-scale projects (those with more than 500 units) preferred to timing the debuts in July to avoid the holiday season.
As a consequence, there were just 31 new development starts (excluding ECs) in the month of June. The number is down 92.2% from the previous year and 98.1% from the 1,595 units released in May. “The 31 units launched in June 2023 is the the lowest number of units launched since 2007,” claims Tay. Lavender Residence, a 17-unit boutique property on Lavender Street in District 8, was the primary source of June’s new house launches.
New house sales for the first half of 2023 were 3,463 units in June, down 18% year over year from the 4,222 units sold during the same time in 2022. According to Chia Siew Chuin of JLL, an estimated 3,736 new private residences have been released for sale so far this year, up from 2,569 units in 1H2022.
Rest of Core Central Region has highest transactions
The RCR has maintained its position as the top region for new house sales for three consecutive months. June’s 147 new home sales were down 82.6% month-over-month in the area. The Reserve Residences and The Continuum were the main contributors to the 847 new houses sold by developers in May.
With 79 units sold at a median price of $2,646 psf in June, The Reserve Residences maintained its position as the best-selling residential property. With eight apartments sold at a median price of $1,972 psf, Lavender Residence ranked as the RCR’s number two best-selling property.
Top Selling Condos in June 2023
Sales of nwly built houses dropped by 26.8 percent month over month in the CCR, where it occurred. Leedon Green, which sold 14 units with a median price of $2,812 psf, and Van Holland, which sold 13 units at a median price of $2,692 psf, are two of the best-selling developments in Singapore.
According to CBRE’s Song, sales in the CCR were boosted by developers offering discounts and holding marketing campaigns for projects that were getting close to completion. Makeaway Avenue’s The Atelier is now 95% sold, with 12 apartments selling in June at a median price of $2,663 psf. “Prices are about 8% to 9% lower than the average price of $2,916 psf when it initially opened.” says Song.
Also along Holland Road is the 69-unit Van Holland, which just sold out after selling its last 13 apartments at a median price of $2,692 psf. Temporary occupancy approval for the project is anticipated this month.
With just 19 units traded in the OCR, sales dropped by 51.3% month-over-month (m-o-m) and continued their three-month downward trend. Lentor Modern was the most successful OCR project in June, selling five apartments at a median price of $2,125 psf.
The EC market saw 19 new units sold by developers in June, a little increase from the 17 units sold in May. There were 14 sales in the North Gaia EC, with a median price of $1,280 psf.
Drop in New Home Sales by Foreigners
According to Lee Sze Teck at Huttons Asia, the number of new private house sales by foreigners continued to decline in June, demonstrating the sustained impact of cooling measures that came into force on April 27. Foreign purchasers decreased from 33 in May to 13 in June, accounting for 4.7% of all new private house purchases, according to URA disclosures. According to Lee, February 2021 was the last time less than ten new residences were sold to foreign purchasers in the CCR. Last month, just seven units were sold to foreign buyers.
ERA Realty Network Eugene Lim, explains that some non-citizens may want to become permanent residents before purchasing a house. He cites a rise from April’s 9.6% to June’s 10.8% of new private property sales going to permanent residents.
The Myst, Grand Dunman, Lentor Hills Residences and Pinetree Hill are just some of the major launches that are expected to boost sales significantly in July.
The four projects together sold more than 1,100 units during each of their launches in July.” She forecasts that Grand Dunman and Pinetree Hill sales would propel RCR transactions to the forefront in July, while sales at Lentor Hill Residences and The Myst will give the OCR a lift.
Recent project results, according to Tay of Knight Frank, demonstrate “very much alive” demand for suburban real estate. Until the end of 2023, he predicts that “demand for such units will keep on to be supported by home buyers buying for own stay” as family balance sheets remain solid.
CBRE’s Song agrees, saying that if additional construction projects are started after the summer, new house sales may increase. She thinks the number of newly built private residences sold in 2023 might be anywhere from 6,500 to 7,500, which would be on par with the total of 7,099 sold in all of 2018. Lake Garden Residences, Orchard Sophia, TMW Maxwell, The Arden and Altura EC are just some of the developments set to debut in the coming months.
