Singapore's new private home sales double in March amid demand for luxury properties
Midtown Modern is located in the Bugis precinct, with direct connection to the Bugis MRT interchange station. (Photo: GuocoLand)
SINGAPORE: Sales of new private homes doubled in March amid fresh interest in luxury properties, with one analyst expecting appetite for what she called "trophy properties" to continue growing.
Developers sold 1,296 homes last month, excluding executive condominiums, compared with 645 units in February, according to data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Thursday (Apr 15).
Huttons Asia research director Lee Sze Teck noted that this is the highest March sales since 2017.
The bulk of the homes sold in March was priced above S$1.5 million, while 16 properties were sold at more than S$5 million each, he said.
One of them was a five-bedroom unit at Midtown Modern that sold for S$14.8 million or S$4,213 per sq ft (psf).
"Buyers flush with cash and seeking stability are investing in stable assets like properties," said Mr Lee.
March's sales were also up 96.4 per cent compared to the same month last year, when 660 new private homes were sold.
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LUXURY PROJECTS
The 558-unit Midtown Modern, which launched last month, was the best-selling project in March. A total of 368 homes at the luxury condominium in Bugis were sold, with the lowest price at S$2,299 psf.
Boosted by Midtown Modern, the prime Core Central Region (CCR) led new home sales with 546 units sold in March, followed by the Rest of Central Region (RCR) with 388 units and the Outside Central Region (OCR) with 362 units.
Other high-end projects such as RV Altitude in River Valley, The M in Middle Road, Fourth Avenue Residences, Leedon Green, Kopar At Newton and Martin Modern continued to sell units last month.
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In all, developers launched 959 homes for sale last month, compared with 167 in February.
"Investors seemed to be showing fresh interest in the luxury segment as sales of new homes in the prime districts rebounded strongly last month," said OrangeTee & Tie senior vice president of research and analytics Christine Sun.
"Singapore will continue to be one of the hot favourites among well-heeled investors and wealthy overseas buyers for trophy properties ... We may see more luxury homes being sold in the coming months as more luxury properties are slated to be launched," she added.
