SINGAPORE – The rebound in new private home sales gained traction in February, with two major suburban launches and lower mortgage rates propelling developers’ sales to a 13-year high for that month.
Developers’ sales were off to a flying start in 2025, clocking a total of 2,658 new private home sales in January and February.
In comparison, there was a total of 2,714 units sold between January and August 2024.
Knight Frank research head Leonard Tay noted: “With interest rates less than what it was a year ago, home buyers are picking up new homes, especially as rates are now expected not to fall further.”
The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged at its policy meeting on March 20, amid uncertainty over US President Donald Trump’s economic policies, which include spending cuts and sweeping tariffs.
Fewer rate cuts in the US would limit the downside for short-term Singapore rates such as the Singapore Overnight Rate Average (Sora), which influences mortgage rates.
Developers also pushed out more new launches.
Excluding executive condominiums (ECs),1,694 new units – all of which were in the suburbs, from the 1,193-unit Parktown Residence in Tampines to the 501-unit Elta in Clementi – were launched for sale in February.
This was up 89 per cent from 896 units in January.
As a result, new home sales, excluding ECs, jumped 45.4 per cent to 1,575 units in February from 1,083 units in January, according to data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority on March 17.
This was up tenfold from just 153 units a year ago and represents the highest February sales volume since 2012 when 2,417 units were moved.
Including ECs, new home sales rose by 45.3 per cent to 1,604 units in February from 1,104 units in January.
Fuelling the momentum was pent-up demand for Tampines’ first fully integrated mega project Parktown Residence, and Elta in Clementi, an area that has not seen a new launch since Clavon in 2020.
Top performer Parktown sold 87 per cent – or 1,041 – of its units at a median price of $2,363 per square foot (psf), due in part to its direct access to amenities including a retail mall, the future Tampines North MRT station on the Thomson-East Coast Line, and a bus interchange.
With around 2,500 flats in Tampines reaching minimum occupation period (MOP) between 2024 and 2025, Parktown Residences was well-positioned to attract HDB upgraders, ERA Singapore’s chief executive officer Marcus Chu said.
Ms Christine Sun, OrangeTee Group chief researcher and strategist, cited the potential for future price appreciation in the Tampines and eastern regions, as well as pent-up demand since the last integrated development launch in the vicinity was Pasir Ris 8 in July 2021.
“The relocation of Paya Lebar Air Base is expected to free up valuable land for new residential and commercial projects. The government has also announced infrastructure plans including the development of new transport links, parks and public amenities, which will likely bolster property values,” she added.
Meanwhile, Elta moved 65.1 per cent or 326 units in February at a median price of $2,538 psf.
“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,” said Ms Wong Siew Ying, head of research and content at PropNex.
But she believes developers’ sales in the suburbs could drop in March as only one new launch has hit the market – Lentor Central Residences, which transacted 445 of its 477 units (93 per cent), at an average price of $2,200 psf over its launch weekend.
PropNex noted that there were 29 EC transactions in February, compared with the 21 units sold in the previous month. The top-selling EC project – Novo Place in Tengah – moved 17 units at a median price of $1,676 psf.
Ms Wong expects new EC sales to surge in March, given the strong take-up at Aurelle of Tampines, which sold 682 of its 760 EC units at an average price of $1,766 psf over its March 8 launch weekend.
Following robust sales at Aurelle of Tampines, the overall stock of unsold new ECs remains relatively tight, and will give developers the impetus to bid for new EC sites under the Government Land Sales programme, she added.
Ms Tricia Song, CBRE head of research for South-east Asia, believes that the strong new home sales performance in January and February should place first-quarter 2025 sales on track to match the 3,420 units sold in the fourth quarter of 2024.
“However, while general take-up rates across new projects are expected to improve, buyers could remain selective in 2025 amid a myriad of new launch options. Attractive developer pricing remains key to healthy new launch performance,” she said.
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