Why Singapore residential demand is expected to be robust this year

Analysts expect spillover buying demand to continue in 2025.

As 2024 drew to a close, a Savills report said a series of launches ranging from medium sized to large projects caught even the most optimistic market observers off guard. “With the benefit of hindsight, we can agree that the horde of buyers arose from the well-used cliché ‘pent-up demand’ after a dry spell of launches in 1H/2024 when only 1,938 units were offered, or 29.1% of the total units launched for the full year,” the report added.

By year end, from the performance of new launches in November and almost nothing in December, it suggests that spillover buying demand may carry through to 2025.

Here’s more from Savills:

Demand for private residential properties for 2025 is likely to be driven by the savings pool from the late baby boomers and early Gen-X groups and public flat (HDB) upgraders. As Singapore’s population ages, the savings from recent retirees could surface to help their children foot the deposit for their private property purchase.

As for the HDB upgrader market, given the 9.7% YoY price increase for resale public flats in 2024 versus the 3.9% increase in the private market, the gap between the two housing segments has narrowed, making it easier for upgraders to cross the bridge to private housing.

We believe that HDB resale prices will continue to increase more than private residential property prices in 2025, and this could drive prices for the latter up by as much as 7% YoY. However, if this sharp increase triggers the implementation of an effective measure to cool the market early in the year, prices by year’s end may fall modestly by 1%.

Ultimately, how prices may perform in 2025 will depend on whether there will be the imposition of effective cooling measure(s) and if so, when they are applied.