Developers sell 1,548 new homes in April, chalking up the highest sales in six months
The Outside Central Region accounts for 87.7% of condo and private apartment sales in April
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[SINGAPORE] Developers sold 1,548 private homes, excluding executive condominiums (ECs), in April, up 129 per cent year on year and reaching the highest monthly level in six months.
April sales were up 19.1 per cent from the 1,300 units sold in March, data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority on Friday (May 15) showed.
Leonard Tay, head of research at Knight Frank Singapore, said that primary sales activity in the private residential market “continues to chug along unflinchingly, as Singapore residents continue to throng showflats for new homes”.
He noted that this comes “notwithstanding the global uncertainty due to the ongoing unresolved tensions in the Middle East, and the wide-ranging spillover impact of volatile energy prices affecting many different industries”.
The Outside Central Region (OCR) led in condo and private apartment sales, accounting for 87.7 per cent of sales in April. The strong showing was driven by firm take-up at the launches of Tengah Garden Residences and Vela Bay.
Both projects notched more than 1,220 units in sales over their weekend launches in April, with Tengah Garden Residences nearing sell-out at an median price of S$2,111 per square foot (psf).
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Vela Bay, the first private residential project in the Bayshore precinct, recorded a 72 per cent take-up rate at median price of S$2,865 psf, setting a new price benchmark in the OCR.
Marcus Chu, ERA Singapore chief executive officer, said that this reflects “continued buyer appetite in the OCR, particularly for developments that are well-positioned in terms of location and value proposition”.
Wong Siew Ying, PropNex head of research and content, said the strong showing at both launches suggests that “many buyers may be willing to accept higher price points” for well-located projects, and points to “healthy household balance sheets and ample liquidity in the market”.
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Citing caveats lodged, Wong said about 87 per cent of units sold at Tengah Garden Residences and 66 per cent of units sold at Vela Bay in April were priced up to S$2.5 million.
Transacted prices at Tengah Garden Residences during the month ranged from S$980,000 for a 484 square foot (sq ft) unit on the second floor to S$2.9 million for a 1,249 sq ft unit on the 15th floor.
At Vela Bay, the most expensive unit sold in the month was a 1,765 sq ft unit on the 31st storey for about S$5.8 million, while the lowest transacted price was for a fifth-floor unit spanning 484 sq ft for about S$1.3 million.
Wong reckoned that the robust sales at recent well-located projects could boost developers’ confidence at land tenders for site near MRT stations, leading to firmer land bid prices and higher future selling prices.
Sales of city-fringe projects in the Rest of Central Region accounted for 10.3 per cent of primary sales; the Core Central Region made up just 1.9 per cent of new sales last month.
Knight Frank’s Tay said that the bifurcation of home prices between new products for sale at showflats against existing completed inventory will continue to prevail.
“New sale prices have been and will drive most of the price growth in 2026, as the premium for new homes pulls away from transacted resale averages on psf basis,” he added, noting that the median price of non-landed new sales in April was S$2,210 psf, 24.8 per cent higher than the median price of S$1,771 psf for resale units.
Including ECs, 1,649 units were sold in April with 1,426 units launched. A year earlier, 771 units were sold and 1,344 units were launched. In March 2026, meanwhile, 1,937 units were sold and 1,615 units were launched.
Mark Yip, CEO of Huttons Asia, noted that the second balloting for Rivelle Tampines saw “overwhelming interest from second-timers”, and that all the remaining units in the project were taken up last month.
A total of 101 EC units were sold in April at a median price of S$1,905 psf.
In a move to rein in soaring EC prices and temper land bids, the government earlier in May tightened restrictions for EC housing projects with a longer minimum occupation period of 10 years, removal of the deferred payment scheme and higher allocation and longer priority period for first-timers.
“The new EC policy is likely to result in the remaining unsold EC units becoming sought after among second-timers,” said Yip. “There is a possibility that the remaining 162 unsold units may be fully sold before the end of 2026.”
New home sales are expected to ease in May due to fewer major launches, said CBRE Singapore and South-east Asia head of research Tricia Song, pointing to Qingjian venture’s 325-unit Hudson Place Residences in the one-north district as the only major launch this month.
Tay of Knight Frank said that as buyers are “cognisant that interest rates could rise in the near future”, the window of opportunity to “secure a new home at current benign levels of borrowing will be the catalyst in upcoming launches, underpinned by the belief that residential property is a long-term store of value”.
“Developers would also be keen on keeping the launch pipeline moving with projects, keeping an eye on global uncertainty and looking out for unexpected shocks such as open conflict could derail the existing strong buyer sentiment,” he added.
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