Private home prices rise 0.9% in Q1, setting stage for steady 2026

[SINGAPORE] Singapore’s private home market is on track for a steady 2026, with modest price gains expected following a solid first quarter, even as global uncertainties mount. 

Figures released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Friday (Apr 24) showed that the prices of private residential properties rose 0.9 per cent in Q1 2026, up from a 0.6 per cent increase in the previous quarter. 

The 0.9 per cent growth was also treble the 0.3 per cent flash estimate released by the agency earlier this month. 

This means the price index picked up in the last two to three weeks in March – “a surprise given the negative backdrop of the Middle East conflict”, said Tricia Song, CBRE’s head of research for South-east Asia. 

Song attributed the late surge to strong take-up at Pinery Residences and Rivelle Tampines executive condominium (EC), which launched in the later half of March. Buyers snapped up nearly 93 per cent of units at both projects at an average price of S$2,546 per square foot (psf) and S$1,893 psf, respectively. 

Knight Frank research head Leonard Tay added that brisk sales at both suburban launches show that demand for new homes from Singapore residents remains intact, and will likely continue driving sales in the second quarter.

“The price gap between new sales and resale transactions is expected to bifurcate further throughout the rest of 2026,” said Tay.

Caveat data showed that the median price of new private homes, excluding ECs, was S$2,660 psf, 50.6 per cent higher than that of resale transactions at S$1,766 psf in Q1.

Holding steady

Private home growth was driven by the non-landed segment, where prices rose 1.3 per cent in Q1, reversing from a 0.2 per cent decline in the previous quarter. 

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By region, prices in the Outside Central Region (OCR) saw the biggest increase of 2.2 per cent. This was followed by the city fringe or Rest of Central Region (RCR) with a 0.8 per cent growth, and the prime Core Central Region (CCR) with 0.6 per cent. 

Meanwhile, landed property prices fell 0.4 per cent in Q1, swinging from a 3.4 per cent increase in the quarter before – its first decline in five quarters. 

Q1’s stronger overall price growth came despite lower transaction volumes and fewer home completions. 

In the primary market, developers launched 1,844 private homes, excluding ECs, for sale in Q1, some 30 per cent less than the fourth quarter’s 2,632 units. Sales volume consequently fell to 2,013 units in Q1, from 2,940 units in Q4. 

Resale transactions likewise fell to 3,225 units, compared with 3,529 units transacted in the prior quarter. This was the lowest quarterly resale volume in two years, since 2,689 units changed hands in Q1 2024, noted Realion chief researcher and strategist Christine Sun. 

Wong Shanting, Newmark’s research director, pointed to a lower number of completions in 2025, which has constrained resale supply and weighed on transaction volumes. Private home completions fell to 5,619 that year, the lowest since 2021, when 6,155 units were completed. 

Existing supply remains relatively tight, with total unsold inventory standing at 16,219 units as at end-Q1. While this was 8 per cent higher than Q4’s 15,007 units, it is still below the 10-year average of 21,498 units, said Wong Xian Yang, Cushman & Wakefield’s head of research. 

“Going by the 10-year average annual developers’ sales at 9,106 units, excluding ECs, from 2016 to 2025, the unsold stock… can potentially be absorbed in around two years,” said Kelvin Fong, PropNex CEO. 

This has boosted developers’ confidence and appetite for landbanking, with competition at state land tenders picking up, Cushman’s Wong noted. In Q1, the average number of bidders per site for private residential and EC plots rose to 4.5, from 4.2 in the same period last year. 

Land prices have also been on the rise, as seen in recent land sales such as the Dover Drive government land sales site, he pointed out. The RCR parcel was sold in March at a new benchmark land price of S$1,556 psf per plot ratio. 

On the rental front, URA’s overall index was up 0.3 per cent in Q1, after a 0.5 per cent decrease in the prior quarter. The vacancy rate inched up to 6.2 per cent as at end-Q1, from 6 per cent in Q4. 

The slight increase in the rental index follows the completion of 1,271 private housing units in Q1. Some 360 units of these were ECs. 

In the remaining three quarters of 2026, 5,883 private homes, including ECs, are set to be ready, based on the expected completion dates reported by developers. This figure includes units with and without planning approval. 

A further 9,753 units are slated for completion in 2027, followed by 11,706 in 2028 and 11,013 in 2029. Beyond that, another 17,471 units are projected to come onstream.

Altogether, this brings the upcoming supply pipeline to 55,826 new private homes over the next few years. 

CBRE’s Song expects momentum in the primary market to hold firm in Q2, given strong interest in upcoming OCR launches, such as Vela Bay in the new Bayshore district and Tengah Garden Residence.

Prices are projected to remain on a “stable, albeit modest, upward trajectory”, said PropNex’s Fong. “As long as the new launches continue to book robust sales, prices will likely hold.” 

Newmark’s Wong said resale supply is tight with home completions at modest levels in 2026, with 911 units completed in Q1 and another 5,371 expected between Q2 and Q4. This is expected to continue steering buyers towards the new home market.