Private residential units sold by developers in April 2023

SINGAPORE, 15 May 2023 - On 15 May 2023, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) released the data on developer sales for the month of April 2023.

A summary of the launches and sales is provided in the Appendix

Ms. Chia Siew Chuin, Head of Residential Research, Research & Consultancy at JLL

谢岫君, 私宅市场研究部主管 (新加坡) commented:

“A surge in private new home sales (excluding executive condominiums or ECs) in the mid-tier Rest of Central Region (RCR) in April 2023 almost doubled the total tally of all new private homes sold during the month to 887 units. This was also a 34.2% improvement from the 661 new units sold in April 2022, when cautious sentiments arising from the December 2021 cooling measures resulted in more muted primary market launch and sale activities. Previously launched projects, particularly those in the Core Central Region (CCR), also continued to draw buyers on the hunt for attractive buying opportunities.

The RCR was the bestselling market segment in April, with homebuying activities being led by the new launches of Tembusu Grand and Blossoms By The Park. The two project launches addressed pent-up demand and the lack of new supply in the respective districts, and collectively accounted for 89.0% of all new units sold in the RCR and 63.0% of islandwide new private home sales in April. With Singaporean buyers reportedly forming the majority of purchasers in Tembusu Grand (90%) and Blossoms by the Park (85%), data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA’s) Real Estate Information System (REALIS) showed that the overall composition of local buyers purchasing new private homes in the RCR rose from 77.8% in March to 86.3% in April.

While there were no new project launches in the CCR in April, homebuyers continued to seek buying opportunities in the market segment and developers moved more new units from previously launched projects during the month – 208 new units or 23.4% of total new private home sales – up from 197 units in March. The Atelier, Pullman Residences Newton and Leedon Green were most popular ongoing projects in the CCR in April. Information from REALIS showed that the primary market in the CCR attracted more locals (70.4% of all buyers in the CCR) and non-permanent resident (PR) foreign buyers (18.9% of all buyers in the CCR) in April, compared to 69.1% locals and 14.4% foreigners in March.

New private home sales in the Outside of Central Region (OCR) in April were lacklustre as the lack of new project launches in the market segment during the month offered limited options to prospective homebuyers.

Following the new hikes in additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD) from 27 April 2023 and amid a dimmer economic outlook, the sales performance for the new project launches – Blossoms by the Park (sold 74.5% of the 275 units available in end-April) and The Continuum (sold 26.5% of the 816 units in the project during the launch weekend on 6-7 May) was encouraging, indicating resilient underlying demand from Singaporean and PR buyers. 

The cooling measures are likely to dampen demand over the next few months, with foreign investment demand expected to slow. Among the three market segments, a greater impact on the CCR is anticipated, given the larger foreigner demand pool. The RCR and OCR should see limited impact from the increased levies due to their relatively limited exposure to foreign demand and owner-occupier homebuying demand from Singaporeans and PRs should continue to support new sales in these market segments.

Nonetheless, as the majority of sales in the CCR are still made by Singaporean buyers, they are expected to remain the main drivers of CCR home sales. This is especially so as there should be less competition from foreign buyers for the low supply of unsold CCR properties, which have become more appealing due to the narrowed price difference compared to private homes in the RCR.

The inventory of unsold new homes in the CCR fell to 5,009 units as at end 1Q23, the lowest since the 4,830 unsold units recorded in 4Q17. The unsold supply from developers is projected to remain low and could limit options available to prospective homebuyers, as we expect the ABSD hike to likely impede the availability of high-end collective sale sites in the CCR. Collective sale projects continue to face difficulties in achieving substantial price premiums, and the higher ABSD imposed on future property purchases by existing foreign owners in collective sale projects would reduce their profits from the sales. Moreover, if reserve prices were raised considerably to encourage foreign owners' participation, it may deter potential developers from tender bidding. Developers are also likely to be cautious about acquiring high-end CCR sites due to uncertainties in homebuyer demand resulting from the higher ABSD rates and increased development costs.

While some CCR project launches may be delayed, a number of RCR and OCR projects are expected to be released for the rest of the year and draw homebuying demand from locals and Singapore PRs. Upcoming projects include The Reserve Residences, The Myst, Pinetree Hill, Grand Dunman and Lentor Hills Residences.”

Appendix

In April 2023, 779 new private home units were launched for sale, up 36.0% from the 573 units launched in March. The number of new units launched surged 96.2% compared to the 397 units launched in April 2022.

Blossoms By The Park and Tembusu Grand were freshly launched last month. Collectively, both projects represented 86.6% of total units launched in April.

Table A – New Launches

Developers sold 887 new private homes (excluding ECs) last month. The take-up in April 2023 was led by the city fringes in the RCR with 628 units sold, followed by the prime CCR with 208 units sold. Meanwhile, the suburbs or OCR sold 51 units in the month of April.

The top selling projects during the month are listed in Table B below. The newly launched Tembusu Grand and Blossoms By The Park were the top-selling projects of the month, with take-up rates of 74.5% and 88.5%, respectively, in the month of launch. Both projects were well-received. Blossoms By The Park’s close proximity to Buona Vista MRT station, and amenities like one-north Park, The Star Vista, The Rochester as well as various schools attracted buyers to the project. Tembusu Grand is also a well-located project, being close to various schools, and retail amenities such as i12 Katong and Parkway Parade, and the upcoming Tanjong Katong MRT station which is expected to complete in 2024.

Table B - Top Selling Projects