New private home sales surge in October as market continues to rebound

SINGAPORE – New private home sales surged to an 11-month high in October, after developers launched more units in response to growing demand from home buyers.

This continues the uptick in market activity that began in September, when sales of new private homes rebounded from a 16-year low in August.

In October, developers sold 738 private homes, excluding executive condominium (EC) units, according to data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Nov 15.

This is an 84 per cent jump from the 401 units sold in September and more than 3.5 times the 204 units sold in October 2023.

October’s sales volume is also the highest since November 2023, when 784 units were sold, said Ms Christine Sun, chief researcher and strategist at real estate firm OrangeTee Group.

She said the boost in sales can be explained by improving consumer sentiment as the economy gains momentum and recent interest rate cuts that have made mortgages more affordable.

Private home sales were buoyed by strong take-up at two major projects launched in October: Norwood Grand in the north and Meyer Blue in the east, which together accounted for over half of the total sales, said analysts.

The two projects pushed up the number of private homes launched for sale that month to 534 units, a 22 per cent jump from the 437 units released for sale in September, said Mr Lee Sze Teck, senior director of data analytics at Huttons Asia.

Norwood Grand sold 292 units, or 84 per cent of its 348 units, over its launch weekend in October.

It is the first private residential project in Woodlands since 2012, Mr Lee added.

“The transformation taking place, such as the upcoming Woodlands Regional Centre, Woodlands North Coast, RTS Link and the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone, convinced buyers of the vast potential in Woodlands,” he said.

The RTS Link refers to the Rapid Transit System Link project between Johor Bahru and Singapore.

Meyer Blue, which is in the East Coast area, sold 124 units – or over half of its 226 units – in October.

Home buyers were drawn to the condominium’s rare freehold tenure, unobstructed sea views and connectivity to new MRT stations, said Ms Tricia Song, CBRE’s head of research for South-east Asia.

OrangeTee Group’s Ms Sun noted that of the 31 new non-landed homes sold for at least $5 million in October – the highest since November 2023 – 22 were from the newly launched Meyer Blue. URA data shows that these 22 units ranged in size from 1,528 sq ft to 2,992 sq ft.

In the EC market, developers sold 28 new units in October, down slightly from 32 in September.

However, ERA Singapore’s chief executive Marcus Chu said EC sales will likely improve with the launch of Novo Place, a 504-unit EC in Tengah, on Nov 16.

With developers pushing out this and five other projects in November – The Collective at One Sophia, Union Square Residences, Chuan Park, Nava Grove and Emerald of Katong – analysts are bullish about upcoming sales prospects.

“New home sales are expected to surge in November as more than 2,500 new homes could be added to the market within a month,” said Ms Sun, who added that she expects November to record the highest monthly sales figures in 2024.

“Furthermore, many of these launches are large-sized (developments) with more than 500 units, and big developments tend to attract more buyers.”