Singapore new private home launches plunge to a half-year low of 1,938 units in H1 2024

Launches slumped 73.3% to 634 units in Q2 alone.

The primary home sales market was subdued in 2Q24. According to JLL, developers remained cautious in timing their project launches amid buyers’ tentative buying sentiment and economic uncertainties. 

“Developers launched just 634 new private homes (excluding executive condominiums or ECs) in 2Q24, 51.4% below the 1,304 units placed on the market in the preceding quarter and 73.3% lower year-on-year (y-o-y). In 1H24, launches slumped to a new half-year low of 1,938 units,” said Ms Chia Siew Chuin, JLL Head of Residential Research, Research & Consultancy, Singapore.

Here’s more from JLL:

As launches slowed, new home sales in 2Q24 also moderated by 37.7% from 1,164 units in the previous quarter to 725 units. Y-o-y, new home sales plunged by 65.9%.

This brings the total developer sales tally in 1H24 to 1,889 units. This is 44.2% below the 3,383 units sold in 1H23 and 55.3% lower than the 4,222 units moved by developers in the same period in 2022. This is also the poorest half-yearly showing, plummeting below the 1,977 units sold during the height of the global financial crisis in 2H08. 

The lacklustre new sales performance thus far in 2024 is due a lower launch volume. The low sales volume also shows that buyers have become more price-sensitive and discerning in light of an ample pipeline of new launches, the April 2023 cooling measures and elevated interest rates amid soft economic conditions.

In the secondary market, sale transactions improved by 36.7% from 3,066 units in the previous quarter to 4,190 units in 2Q24. More buyers seem to be turning to the secondary market as resale units are more affordable than new projects and seen as better value for their money by some. Buyers with immediate housing needs have also turned to the resale market as a means to secure a home in a relatively shorter period of time.