New private home sales fall for second straight month, with only 221 units sold in May

Due to a lack of new private residential launches, new private home sales fell for the second consecutive month in May, tumbling 78.7% year-on-year to 221 units.

According to the latest data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), developers sold 221 units in May, excluding Executive Condominiums (ECs), down 26.6% month-on-month.

The Outside Central Region (OCR), representing mass-market private homes, led sales with 141 units sold, down 6% month-on-month. The Rest of Central Region (RCR), representing mid-tier private homes, and the Core Central Region (CCR), representing prime homes, saw sales of 53 units and 27 units respectively, down 55.5% and 15.6% month-on-month.

Including ECs, new private home sales in May stood at 261 units, declining 25.9% month-on-month and sliding 75.3% year-on-year.

The best-selling projects were Lentor Hills Residences, Hillhaven, and Hillock Green, moving 25, 23, and 21 units, respectively.

Fewer new launches by developers the primary reason for sales decline

The main reason for the drop in sales was the reduced volume of new units launched by developers in May. Excluding ECs, developers launched 248 units, down 10.8% month-on-month and 84.4% lower than the 1,595 units rolled out during the same period last year.

Three projects were launched in May: Skywaters Residences, Jansen House, and Straits at Joo Chiat, comprising 190 units, 21 units, and 16 units, respectively.

Sales in May this year marked the lowest May sales volume since 2008. The softer sales performance was within expectations given the limited new launches. Among the projects released in May, two were boutique developments with few units, while Skywaters Residences is a prime development located in the city centre with price points beyond the budget of most local buyers.

The private residential market is slowing down, with developers launching 1,865 new private residential units and selling 1,697 units in the first five months of this year—roughly half the launch and sales figures recorded in the same period last year.

Unless developers ramp up new launches significantly and step up marketing and promotional campaigns in the coming months, full-year new private home sales could drop to levels last seen during the 1998 Asian Financial Crisis, when developers sold only 6,096 units.

Highly anticipated projects such as SORA, The Chuan Park, Union Square Residences, and Emerald of Katong are slated to commence sales soon, which are expected to rejuvenate market activity in the coming months. Most of these projects are situated in the suburban or city fringe areas, holding strong appeal for HDB upgraders and Singaporean investors.

These projects are anticipated to deliver robust sales figures, contributing significantly to developer sales volumes in the months ahead.