Singapore new home sales hit 6-month high in May

There were 1,356 private homes sold last month.

Five months after property measures were implemented, homebuyers in Singapore have made a strong comeback to the market. New home sales recorded a robust rebound in May, hitting the highest levels in six months.

According to the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s sales data, 1,356 private homes, excluding executive condominiums (ECs), were sold last month.

OrangeTee notes that this is a 105.5 per cent increase over the 660 units sold in April 2022. On a year-on-year basis, new sales excluding ECs increased by 51.5 per cent from 895 units in May 2021 to 1,356 units in May 2022.

Here’s more from OrangeTee:

Last month’s sales excluding EC were the highest May sales since 2014, when 1,488 homes were sold. Including ECs, new home sales jumped by 62.6 per cent, from 846 units in April 2022 to 1,376 units in May 2022.

The sales rebound did not come as a surprise as sentiment typically recovers around two to six months after each round of cooling measures. For instance, new home sales excluding EC jumped by 139.2 per cent month-on-month in November 2018, four months after cooling measures were implemented in July 2018. Similarly, sales rebounded by 63.6 per cent month-on-month in September 2013, two months after new rules on TDSR were imposed in July 2013.

Last month, buyers started streaming back to the market as market confidence has improved since Singapore lifted most of the safe management measures in April, and business sentiment picked up significantly across many sectors.

Many buyers moved past the cooling measures, having seen prices stabilised after the measures. As buyers were keenly aware that the supply of new homes would remain limited in the coming months, most were prepared to purchase new homes at prices they deemed reasonable.

There were 2 big project launches last month, the 407-unit Piccadilly Grand and the 298-unit Liv @ MB. Both projects were very well received, with brisk sales inked during their first-weekend launch.