Key drivers of Singapore’s stellar February new home sales revealed

Two projects boosted the sales figures during the month.

New home sales in Singapore reached 1,575 new units (ex. executive condo) in February, reflecting a 45% jump from the 1,083 units sold in the previous month and a growth of more than 10 times from the 153 units transacted in February 2024.

According to Wong Siew Ying, Head of Research & Content, PropNex Realty, brisk sales at Parktown Residence and ELTA have supercharged new home sales in February, extending the trend of healthy take-up rates at many new launches since November 2024.

“The two projects were expected to do well, owing to the allure of integrated development in the case of Parktown Residence, and proximity to schools and the Clementi town centre where ELTA is concerned. To this end, their sales performance did not disappoint, and the healthy transactions despite benchmark average $PSF launch prices in the respective Tampines and Clementi planning areas is indicative of the resilient demand for mass market homes among end-users,” Wong added.

Here’s more from PropNex:

At Parktown Residence, about 65% of the units were transacted at between $2,200 psf and $2,399 psf, while 82% of the units sold were priced at below $2.5 million in February, based on URA Realis caveat data. Over at ELTA, about 45% of the units sold have a unit price ranging from $2,400 psf to $2,599 psf, while nearly 77% of the total sales in February were priced at below $2.5 million. Quantum play will remain a key pricing strategy for developers, and a price range of between $1.5 million and $2.5 million appears to be a pricing sweet-spot that many owner-occupiers are relatively comfortable with.

Interestingly, it seems like the average unit price of some recent new launches has decoupled from the sub-market where these projects are located. By way of general pecking order, CCR prices tend to be higher than the RCR, while prices in the RCR are usually a step up from that of the OCR. However, it appears that this pricing rubric may not necessarily hold true always, based on observations from launches of late.

Take The Collective at One Sophia in the CCR for instance, it has sold 73 units at an average unit price of $2,743 psf since it was put on the market in November. This is lower than the average transacted price of units sold 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. Meanwhile, the average unit price of some OCR launches - Chuan Park, ELTA, and Bagnall Haus (freehold) – are higher than that of Nava Grove in the RCR.

Some possible reasons why the average unit price for some projects had seemingly de-linked from the Region could include site-specific attributes and amenity-driven pricing, deeper private housing demand (including from HDB upgraders) in certain areas pushing up prices, and perhaps to some extent the blurring of lines between regions for developments that are located on the cusp of the CCR (e.g. Union Square Residences).

Going forward, there are several new RCR projects that are situated just off the CCR, being One Marina Gardens in Marina South, and upcoming developments in Zion Road. As RCR projects nearer to the CCR are being launched, we anticipate RCR prices may track closer to CCR levels, potentially narrowing the price gap between the two sub-markets in certain months (when the projects do come on).

In February, foreigners (non-PR) made up 0.7% of the non-landed new private home sales (ex. EC) – down from 1.1% in January. In absolute terms, there were 11 transactions by foreign buyers (NPR): one each at Meyer Blue, The Continuum, and The Lakegarden Residences; and two each at 19 Nassim, 32 Gilstead, ELTA, and Orchard Sophia. Meanwhile, Singaporean buyers accounted for 92.4% of the non-landed new home sales, and Singapore Permanent Residents at 6.9% during the month, according to caveats lodged.

The primary market started the year brightly, continuing the positive sentiment from end-2024. We remain cautiously optimistic about developers’ sales in 2025. There is still a long stretch to go and it is not without downside risks, including uncertainties in the global economy in view of geopolitical tensions and trade fictions which may be disruptive to growth. At this juncture, we are maintaining our new home sales forecast at 8,000 to 9,000 units (ex. EC) for 2025.