February saw new private home sales maintaining their positive trend with the help of fresh launches. According to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), developers were able to sell 1,575 units (excluding executive condos) last month, a notable 45.4% increase from the 1,083 units sold in January.
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Compared to the 153 units sold in February 2024, this year’s figure is over 10 times higher. This is also the highest number of February developer sales in the past 13 years, since 2,417 units were sold in February 2012, according to Tricia Song, CBRE’s head of research for Singapore and Southeast Asia. The overall number of new home sales for last month, including ECs, reached 1,604 units, a 45.3% increase from January.
Developers have already sold 2,658 units (excluding ECs) since the beginning of the year, which is a significant improvement compared to the same time frame last year, where it took eight months to achieve a similar figure, notes Leonard Tay, head of research at Knight Frank Singapore.
The key contributors to February’s strong performance were two major launches in the Outside Central Region (OCR): ParkTown Residence, which has 1,193 units in Tampines North, and Elta, with 501 units in Clementi Avenue 1. ParkTown Residence had the most impressive sales with 1,041 units sold at a median price of $2,363 psf. This translates to an 87% take-up rate at the integrated project, which is a joint effort by UOL Group and CapitaLand Development. Elta was the second best-performing project, with 326 units sold by developers MCL Land and CSC Land Group at a median price of $2,538 psf. According to CBRE’s Song, both projects are located in suburban areas that have not seen new supply in the past five years, contributing to their sturdy performances.
Including these two projects, developers launched a total of 1,694 units for sale in February, an 89% increase from the 896 units launched in January. In addition, developers’ sales in the OCR accounted for a staggering 92% of total new private homes sold in February, with a total of 1,452 units sold. This is the best monthly showing for the OCR in over nine years, since 1,523 units were sold in July 2015, according to Wong Siew Ying, PropNex Realty’s head of research and content. Sales in the Rest of Central Region (RCR) made up 98, or 6.2% of units sold in February. The top-selling RCR project was Pinetree Hill, which had 22 units sold at a median price of $2,613 psf. In the Core Central Region (CCR), only 25 units were sold, accounting for 1.6% of developers’ sales last month. The best-selling CCR project was 19 Nassim, which had five units sold at a median price of $3,372 psf. Four units were also sold at One Bernam, which has 351 units and was fully sold after its launch in May 2021.
In terms of buyer profile, Singapore citizens continued to be the main purchasers of new private homes, making up 92.4% of buyers, followed by permanent residents at 6.9%, according to Lee Sze Teck, senior director of data analytics at Huttons Asia. Foreigners accounted for 11 new home purchases, including the two most expensive transactions in February – the sale of two units at 32 Gilstead for $14.47 million and $14.61 million.
A record number of suburban homes were also sold for over $2 million in February. A total of 603 new private homes (including ECs) in the OCR were sold at this price range, making it the highest number of sales in a single month since URA data became available in 1995. “The previous record was in November 2024, with 512 new homes in the OCR sold for at least $2 million,” adds Christine Sun, chief researcher and strategist at OrangeTee Group. Out of the 603 OCR homes sold for over $2 million, 596 were non-landed homes, mostly from ParkTown Residence (397 units), Elta (145 units), and Hillock Green (16 units).
PropNex’s Wong points out that the average unit prices of recent launches have “decoupled from the sub-market where these projects are located”. In general, property prices follow a pattern with the Core Central Region having the highest prices, followed by the Rest of Central Region, and then the Outside Central Region. However, recent launches suggest that this may not always be the case. For example, The Collective at One Sophia, a CCR project that launched in November 2024, has sold 73 units at an average price of $2,743 psf, based on URA data up until the end of February. This is lower than the average transacted price of units at Union Square Residences ($3,175 psf) in the RCR, and only slightly higher than that of The Orie ($2,734 psf), also in the RCR.
On the other hand, recent OCR launches like Chuan Park, Elta, and Bagnall Haus have average unit prices of $2,589 psf, $2,544 psf, and $2,489 psf, respectively, surpassing RCR project Nava Grove, which logged an average unit price of $2,460 psf.
Wong believes that the narrowing price gaps between regions could be due to various factors, such as specific project attributes, pricing based on amenities, demand from HDB upgraders, and location of projects on the outskirts of the CCR. She predicts that prices may continue to converge in the coming months as new RCR projects located near the CCR are launched, such as One Marina Gardens in Marina South and future developments on residential sites on Zion Road.
The strong momentum in developer sales is expected to continue in March, supported by recent launches like the 477-unit Lentor Central Residences, the 188-unit Aurea, and the 760-unit Aurelle of Tampines EC. As of mid-March, these projects have already sold over 1,150 units, indicating a strong closing for the first quarter. Due to the robust sales in the first quarter, ERA Singapore has revised its new private home sales projection for 2025 to between 8,500 and 9,000 units, up from the previous range of 7,000 to 8,000.
Huttons’ Lee estimates that developers’ sales (excluding ECs) will exceed 3,200 units in the first quarter of the year, making it the highest first-quarter sales since 2021. Going into the second quarter, there are already several new launches lined up, such as the 358-unit Bloomsbury Residences, the 937-unit One Marina Gardens, the 638-unit W Residences Singapore – Marina View, and the 107-unit Arina East Residences. However, despite the strong start to the year, not all upcoming projects may perform equally well, as homebuyer demand will heavily depend on the specific location and property features of each individual project.