Introduction

The sales and launch activities in the Singapore private residential property market slowed down significantly last month, which the recent round of cooling measures were one of the key contributing reasons. The other reason was the school examination period which kept some parents busy and prevented them from house-hunting.

Residential property primary market in October 2022

Real estate developers only released 102 private housing units and sold 312 units (excluding Executive Condominium) in October 2022, the month immediately after the implementation of the latest round of cooling measures on 30 September.

The private residential property sales volume last month was the lowest since April 2022, when the Singapore property market was reeling from the uncertainties at the start of the pandemic. In April 2020, property developers sold only 277 private housing units, excluding Executive Condominium (EC) units.

Silver Lining

At first glance, the sales numbers looks negative. However, closer examination reveals that there are some bright spots.

Firstly, despite releasing only 102 private housing units in October, property developers managed to sell three times the number of units launched, indicating that there was healthy underlying demand for residential properties among homebuyers.

Secondly, the Core Central Region (CCR) was the best performing market segment in October in terms of the number of private homes sold. In October 2022, 171 private housing units were sold in the CCR primary market, which was more than the combined number of units sold in the Rest of Central Region (RCR) and Outside Central Region (OCR). Last month, developers sold 81 and 60 units in the RCR and OCR respectively.

It is unusual for the CCR to have the highest number of private homes sold in a single month, as it is geographically the smallest market segment.

One of the best-selling CCR residential projects last month was “Perfect Ten”. Thirty-seven units in this project were sold in October at the median price of $2,955 psf. Another top selling condominium project in the CCR is Pullman Residences Newton, where 13 units were sold in October at the median price of $3,039 psf.

Table 1: Top 5 best-selling residential projects in the CCR

Source: URA, ERA Research & Consultancy

Thirdly, the demand for Executive Condominiums is still very healthy, despite the cooling measures.

Table 2: Top 5 best-selling residential projects island wide

Source: URA, ERA Research & Consultancy

Figure 1: Private residential units launched and sold

Source: URA, ERA Research & Consultancy

New residential project launches

Three residential developments were launched in October, according to the official data, according to the official data. The largest of the three projects was the EC development, Copen Grand. It was followed by the 132-unit landed housing development, Pollen Collection, which was located near Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5. Twenty-two houses in this project was launched last month. The rest of the units could be gradually released in the coming months.

The third project to be launched in October was Enchante. The25-unit freehold development at Evelyn Road is the only CCR project to be launched last month. Two units were sold at the median price of $2,675 psf.

Table 3:Residential projects launched in October 2022

Source: URA, ERA Research & Consultancy

Executive Condominium primary market

A new Executive Condominium (EC) project named Copen Grand was launched in October 2022, boosting the sales volume in this niche market. The 639-unit EC project is located in the new town of Tengah. The developer of Copen Grand sold 480 units, about three quarters of the projects, at the median price of $1,345 psf, setting a new benchmark price level for EC in the west region. The sales in the first month of the launch is also very impressive.

In the other EC projects, a total of 19 units were sold in October, bringing the total number of EC units sold last month to 498.

Outlook

The latest round of cooling measures were slightly more complicated than the previous rounds of property curbs. It requires homebuyers to examine their financial status more closely in order to assess the effects of the property curbs on their home acquisition plans. As a result, buyers and sellers took a pause to understand the curbs more closely.

From now to the Chinese New Year period in January 2023, developers’ property launch and sales activities could remain subdued, mainly due to the holiday season.

However, there could be a built-up of buyers’ demand and supply of new residential projects. Some developers plan to launch their new projects after the coming Chinese New Year. This would result in a jump of primary market launch and sales activities, which is the result when pent-up supply meets pent-up demand.

Table 4:Upcoming residential projects to be launched

Source: URA, ERA Research & Consultancy

Want to find out more about the upcoming new projects? Drop me a message and we can have a chat over a cup of coffee.