Singapore private home sales to hit 14,000 to 16,000 units this year

It’s down from the initial forecast of up to 18,000.

Singapore’s residential market appears to be in a quiet phase after the completion of almost 20,000 units in 2023 as well as interest rates that look to be higher for longer for much of 2024, according to a report from Knight Frank. 

Homebuyers remain more selective, no longer showing the kind of urgency and fear-of-missing-out (FOMO) behaviour at showflats that was a feature of the market from the second half of 2020 to the first half of 2022. 

Here’s more from Knight Frank:

Buyers scouring the new home market will continue to take their time to identify the right project with attributes that suit their lifestyle preferences. Prominent new launches that can spur market activity have also been lacking, against a backdrop of homebuyers on the sidelines who are reticent to commit to any purchase. 

With secondary sales leading the market, Knight Frank expects overall private home sales volume to fall between 14,000 and 16,000 for the whole of 2024, down from the 15,000 to 18,000 units initially forecasted. In the new sale market, it is now more than likely that the projected total for 2024 will be between 4,000 and 6,000 units, substantially lower than the 7,000 and 9,000 primary transactions originally anticipated. 

Nonetheless, private home prices are still expected to grow around 3% to 5% for the full year due to the prices at new launches that are a result of elevated land costs committed some 12 to 18 months ago, as well as prevailing high construction costs.