Demand for new private homes likely to remain 'robust', say analysts as sales rise 13.6% in March

SINGAPORE: Sales of new private homes in Singapore rose for a third consecutive month in March, with property analysts predicting that demand will likely remain "robust".

Excluding executive condominiums (ECs), developers sold 492 units in March - a 13.6 per cent increase from the 433 units sold in February, according to figures released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Monday (Apr 17).

On a year-on-year basis, however, private home sales fell by 24.8 per cent from the 654 units sold in the same period last year.

A total of 573 units were launched for sale, about 43 per cent higher than in February.

Sales in March were mainly driven by the launch of The Botany at Dairy Farm in the Outside Central Region (OCR). A total of 184 units at the project were sold at a median price of S$2,068 (US$1,550) psf.

"This is indicative of stable genuine demand for new mass-market homes amid tight unsold inventory in the OCR," said Ms Tricia Song, CBRE's head of research, Southeast Asia. 

Huttons Asia's senior director for research Lee Sze Teck noted that the one- and two-bedroom units at The Botany at Diary Farm were “almost sold out”.

“Investors zoomed in on the one-bedroom units probably for the rental demand from the German European School next door. Due to changing demographics to a smaller family nucleus, many buyers went for the two-bedroom units,” he added.

The bulk of last month's transactions came from the OCR (46.7 per cent), followed by the Core Central Region (40 per cent) and the Rest of Central Region (13.2 per cent)

SALES TO REMAIN STRONG

Demand for new projects is likely to remain "robust", said Ms Christine Sun, OrangeTee and Tie's senior vice president of research and analytics, noting that there will be a few more launches in the months ahead.

These include Lentor Hills Residences, Newport Residences in the Tanjong Pagar area and The Reserve Residences in Bukit Timah.

Tembusu Grand, a project launched in April, has seen strong sales, with more than half of its units sold during the first weekend, noted Mr Mohan Sandrasegeran, senior analyst for research and content creation at One Global Property Services.

"The demand for new homes in the market is still present, and the success of new launches such as Tembusu Grand is a positive sign for developers and stakeholders in the property market," he added.

Huttons' Mr Lee said strong sales seen for the launches so far this year is an indication that the desire to invest in properties is robust.

"Unsold units in the market remained low and there is broad-based support for prices in the market, thus giving buyers the confidence to enter the market," he said.

"Barring unforeseen circumstances, developers are estimated to sell around 9,000 units with prices increasing up to 8 per cent in 2023."