Singapore new private home sales soar 46% in March

There were 718 units sold during the month, driven by two major suburban launches.

After a slow start in the first two months of 2024, new private home sales in Singapore (excluding executive condominiums or ECs) gained momentum in March on the back of fresh project launches. 

According to JLL, two major new suburban launches in March – Lentor Mansion and Lentoria – fuelled a 4.7-fold increase in new private homes sales from February to 718 units in March. Together, these projects made up 65.3% of the total monthly new home sales in March. 

Here’s more from JLL:

The rise in monthly sales reflects a degree of confidence among homebuyers despite prevailing uncertainties, particularly towards selected projects with attractive selling points and reasonable pricing. 

Year-on-year (y-o-y), overall new sales rose 45.9% from 492 units but were 13.6% below the 5-year average of 831 units for the month of March. This brings 1Q24 new private home sales to 1,175 units, a 6.4% y-o-y decline from 1,256 units sold in 1Q23. Compared to a year ago, prospective homebuyers have turned more cautious due to multiple rounds of market cooling measures, softer economic conditions, and high financing costs. Increased options and prices have made homebuyers more selective and price-conscious, resulting in slower sales take-up as they take longer to make home buying decisions. 

Overall, take-up has notably eased on the back of the tentative sentiment towards home buying. JLL Singapore research’s shows that the average take-up rate for new projects (where the project size consists of at least 100 units) within the first month of their launch fell from 72% in 2022 to 55% in 2023. The take-up for similar private residential projects launched in 1Q24 averaged 40% compared to 47% in 1Q23.

Developers released 877 new private home units for sale in March, 19.5 times the 45 units launched for sale during the Lunar New Year month in February, and an increase of 53.1% y-o-y. This brings the total new launch tally in 1Q24 to 1,339 units, which is a rise of 26.3% q-o-q and 2.1% y-o-y. However, this remains below the 5-year 1Q average of 2,066 units, suggesting the developers’ cautious approach to timing their project launches.