Why Singapore's new home sales slumped in September

New home sales dropped 31.4% during the month.

According to data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), Singapore's new private home launches saw a sharp 74.9% month-on-month drop to 210 units in September 2021. 

JLL said two new projects were launched last month, namely Bartley Vue and Jervois Mansion. The bulk of the units launched last month was from the newly launched Bartley Vue (115 units) and the previously launched Sengkang Grand Residences (40 units), accounting for 73.8% of the total units launched.

The significant decline in new launches drove sales to drop 31.4% to just 834 units, compared to 1,216 units sold in August 2021.

According to JLL, the bulk of the developers’ sales in September was in the suburbs or Outside Central Region (OCR), with 356 new units sold, followed by 310 units taken up in the city fringes i.e. Rest of Central Region (RCR) and 168 units sold in the prime Core Central Region (CCR).

Mr. Ong Teck Hui, Senior Director of Research & Consultancy at JLL commented:

“The significant decline in new private home sales in September is mainly due to the sharp rise in Covid-19 infections which may have alarmed many, causing buyers to be cautious. New infections rose sharply from 177 new cases on 1 September, crossing 4-digits to hit 1,009 new cases on 18 September and climbing further to 2,478 new cases on 30 September. The hungry ghost month which ended on 6 September and the tightened measures commencing 27 September (and ending 24 October) could have also contributed to the weaker sales in September.

The unfavourable circumstances caused by the rise in infections led to developers scaling back launches to only 210 new units in September and only two small new projects coming on the market. The dearth of new launches also contributed to the lower sales in September.

It is estimated that 3,652 new private homes were sold in 3Q21, a 23.1% improvement from 2Q21, and also 3.8% higher y-o-y. The total number of new private homes sold in the first three quarters of 2021 is estimated at 10,111 units which is slightly higher than the 9,982 units sold in the whole of last year. This shows the stronger market momentum in 2021 which could be attributed to the economic recovery and longer-term confidence in managing covid-19 and living with it. Take-up of new private homes for 2021 could be in the range of 12,000 to 13,000 units, which could be the best annual new home sales performance since 2013, when 14,948 new private residential units were sold."