Summary
Real estate developers sold 401 private housing units, almost double the 211 units that they sold in August 2024.
The only residential project launch in September was 8@BT. Eighty-three units or 52.5% of all the units in this project were sold last month, which was covered by the media. As a result, homebuyers’ sentiment were lifted by the positive news of the strong take-up rates at the launch of 8@BT in September.
This contributed to an increase in buyers’ interest in the other condominium projects, which led to a rise in property sales.
Twelve luxury condominium units priced at least $5 million each, were sold in September, an increase over the 7 luxury units sold in the previous month.
The sales momentum that started in September will gradually gather pace in October before pausing in December due to the year-end holidays. The sales momentum will likely pick up again in February after the Lunar New Year provided developers do not price their new launches too aggressively.
Introduction
After contracting by 63% in August 2024, the number of private homes sold by real estate developers almost doubled to 401 units in September. Over half of the private homes sold are located in the city fringe areas.
Sales surge in September
In September 2024, the private residential primary property market saw a substantial increase in new sales, from the 211 units sold in August to 401 units, excluding Executive Condominium (EC) units, in the following month.
Of these 401 housing units sold in September, the biggest increase in sales were in residential projects located in the Rest of Central Region (RCR). Developers sold 221 units in developments in the city fringe, which represented 55% of the total primary market sales in September. This is the highest monthly number of primary residential units in the city fringe being sold since July 2023, when 836 units in the RCR were sold in that month.
The increase in the city fringe housing units sold last month were partly attributed to the launch of 158-unit project, 8@BT, located at Bukit Timah Link. Eighty-three units in 8@BT or 52.5% of all the units in the 99-year leasehold project were sold last month at the median price of $2,727 psf.
The robust sales in this development was covered by the media and the positive news contributed to the improvement in homebuyers’ sentiment. This led to buyers’ interest in the other condominium projects that were already launched. The other top selling residential projects in September were Pinetree Hill, Tembusu Grand, Hillhaven and Hillock Green. These projects were launched in the past 18 months.
Conversely, the Central Core Region (CCR) experienced a decline in primary market sales, with only 15 units sold in the prime district in September. The 15 CCR units sold only made up 3.7% of the overall primary residential sales last month.
Sweet Spot in prices among buyers
The analysis of sales data revealed two predominant price ranges attracting the most buyers in September. Notably, 30% of transactions occurred within the $1.5 million to $2 million range, while 23.1% of the new units sold were priced between $2 million and $2.5 million. This indicates a strong preference for units priced between $1.5 million and $2.5 million, positioning this price range as the most appealing to prospective buyers.
Furthermore, in terms of price in per square foot ($/psf) terms, the most favoured price range among primary market buyers is between $2,000 and $2,500 psf with 53.7% of the private housing units sold at this price range.
Based on the above analysis, the pricing sweet spot for buyers of new private residential units, excluding EC, is between $1.5 million and $2.5 million, as well as between $2,000 and $2,500 psf in the current market climate.
Lowest primary housing sales in past nine months
In the first nine months of 2024, developers sold 3,077 private housing units, excluding EC units. This is the lowest primary market sales for the January to September period since 1996, when such information were made available.
In the past 28 years, the second lowest private primary housing sales in the initial nine months of the year was in 1998, during the Asian Financial Crisis, when developers sold 3,109 residential units from January to September that year. This shows that property developers sold fewer housing units in the initial nine months of this year compared to the corresponding period in the worst financial crisis to hit Asia in living memory.
Due to the low property take-up rate so far this year, the projected private residential primary sales could drop to a record low in 2024, ranging from 4,000 to 5,000 housing units.
Outlook
The private housing sales momentum that started in September will gradually gather pace in October before pausing in December due to the year-end holidays. The primary market sales would be aided by new launches such as the condominium projects Meyer Blue and Norwood Grand in October. They could be followed by Emerald of Katong and Chuan Park in the coming months.
After the year-end lull period in 2024, more new residential launches are expected after the Lunar New Year in January 2025. Hence, the private housing sales momentum could pick up again provided property developers do not price their new residential launches too aggressively.
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