Monthly Developer Sales March 2024

It took long enough, but the private home new sales market finally woke up with new launches spurring activity with supply-led demand. Based on the monthly developers’ sales data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), 718 homes (excluding Executive Condominiums (ECs)) were sold by developers in March 2024 with four new launches being the projects, Ardor Residence, Koon Seng House, Lentoria and Lentor Mansion.

The 718 new sales in March 2024 was 57.1% higher than the first two months of January and February combined. Similarly, the 877 units launched in March was 89.8% more than the sum of 417 units launched in January and 45 units in February.

In the Core Central Region (CCR), the highlight during the quarter was the take up of Watten House which sold 12 more units, with 74.4% of its total now sold. Singaporeans and permanent residents (PR) made up the majority of buyers, suggesting underlying local demand for homes in the prime areas for owner occupation, especially in neighbourhoods where popular schools are located.

With an estimated 1,175 new homes sold in Q1 2024, this is 6.4% less than the 1,256 primary sales in Q1 2023. More telling is that the current new sale market of circa 2023/2024 remains in a phase of moderate volume with new home sales (based on monthly developer sales data) in Q1 2024 at a very substantial 35.6% lower than the 1,825 units in Q1 2022 and 66.4% below that of Q1 2021.

Homebuyers have more choices now than they did in the property boom during and soon after the pandemic, and the variety of options have led to longer decision-making before purchase, even though demand remains intact. Given the choices from current available projects as well as anticipated upcoming launches throughout the year, the buying decision of homebuyers will ultimately be motivated by the quality of a new project, location of the development, and the track record of the developer.

Although the pace of sales in the private residential market has quietened from the heady days in 2021 and 2022, with homebuyers no longer showing the frenetic urgency on the back of limited options and fear-of-missing-out (FOMO), buyers are still able to identify value opportunities and acquire suitable properties for owner-occupation.

Perhaps when interest rates tamper down sometime in late 2024, this could perhaps be the catalyst that will inject more activity in the market, spurring homebuyers to step out from the sidelines. However, as interest rates are now expected to remain higher for longer with sticky inflation not going away, much of 2024 might be characterised by muted sales with spikes of buying activity occurring only when a compelling project that ticks most of the boxes in buyers’ checklists is introduced.