September new home sales fall to a low, but strong rebound expected in October
Developers sold 255 private homes in September, down 88.1% on month and 36.4% on year
[SINGAPORE] New private-home sales fell to their lowest in nine months in September amid a seasonal lull, but analysts expect a strong rebound in October.
Developers in Singapore sold 255 private homes (excluding executive condominiums or ECs) in September. This was down 88.1 per cent from the month before, and 36.4 per cent lower than the 401 units sold a year earlier, showed data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority on Wednesday (Oct 15).
Activity in the month was sluggish as expected, as September coincides with the Hungry Ghost Festival, a traditionally quiet period for property launches and home purchases.
The number of new units sold in September also marks the lowest volume for the month since 2023.
Only 20 units were launched in September 2025.
The expected slowdown was not a sign of market weakness, said Knight Frank Singapore’s head of research Leonard Tay. “The reported 99 per cent of units sold during the launch of the Skye at Holland (after the Hungry Ghost Festival was over) attests to the ongoing appetite of homebuyers for new product.”
A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU
Tuesday, 12 pm
Property Insights
Get an exclusive analysis of real estate and property news in Singapore and beyond.
In total, some 7,924 new units were sold in the nine months from January, exceeding the 6,626 new sale units transacted throughout all of 2024, said ERA Singapore chief executive officer Marcus Chu.
The latest nine-month tally also bested the 2022 full-year sales of 7,099 and 2023’s 6,421 sales, PropNex Realty data showed.
Even with September’s exceptionally low volume, new home sales for the third quarter totalled 3,337 units (excluding ECs), “nearly three times the 1,212 new units sold in the previous quarter”, said Wong Siew Ying, PropNex’s head of research and content.
“The lull will be short-lived and we expect developers’ sales to rebound significantly in October, with four new launches that can collectively offer 2,233 new private homes,” she added.
New sales activity has bounced back since the end of the Hungry Ghost month on Sep 21, with Skye at Holland selling 99 per cent of its 666 units over the Oct 11 weekend, at an average price of S$2,953 per square foot (psf).
Analysts have revised sales forecasts for the year slightly upwards, and most expect developers to clear at least 9,000 units by the end of the year, which will mark a multi-year high.
Other projects slated to launch in October are Faber Residence, Penrith and Zyon Grand.
Huttons Asia’s senior director of data analytics Lee Sze Teck said: “Based on the extremely strong cheque collection for Faber Residence and Penrith, both projects are expected to book excellent sales on launch weekend.”
Faber Residence, GuocoLand’s Clementi project, and Hong Leong’s Queenstown development Penrith are booking sales on Oct 18. Zyon Grand, City Developments Ltd’s mixed-use project in the River Valley area, will book sales on Oct 25.
Robust homebuyer demand
Homebuying appetite has recovered strongly amid low interest rates and better-than-expected economic performance despite persistent trade uncertainty and geopolitical tensions, noted Tricia Song, CBRE head of research for South-east Asia.
She pointed to the Ministry of Trade and Industry upgrading its 2025 gross domestic product growth forecast to 1.5 to 2.5 per cent from zero to 2 per cent.
Wong said: “The lower borrowing rates can help to bolster market confidence, improve affordability and may potentially nudge some fence-sitters to act.”
As at Oct 15, the three-month compounded Singapore Overnight Rate Average, which banks use to price home loans, had eased to about 1.4 per cent – the lowest since around mid-August 2022, she added.
“Although some prospective buyers may decide to wait for rates to fall further, we believe there are those who prefer to enter the market sooner as they perceive that home prices may creep up in 2026, when projects with firmer land prices are launched.”
Private-home prices have risen 3.1 per cent so far this year, taking in the latest Q3 flash estimates. Prices could see continued momentum in the fourth quarter, said Song.
“We expect that the full-year price increase will likely be at the higher end of our 3 to 4 per cent forecast, matching or exceeding 2024’s 3.9 per cent full-year growth.”
Demand from Singapore residents for prime residential locations is strong, said Knight Frank’s Tay, noting that in Q3, primary sales in the Core Central Region (CCR) surged to 916 deals, from the 46 units sold in the preceding quarter.
Yet home prices in the CCR have not risen as briskly as those in the Rest of Central Region (RCR) and Outside Central Region (OCR). In the past five years, the non-landed private home price index for the CCR grew by a cumulative 27 per cent, compared with the gains of 47 per cent in the RCR and 46 per cent in the OCR, he added.
“With a narrowing price gap between the prime locations versus the rest of the island, value opportunities have emerged for the observant homebuyer. And this also includes options for capital preservation and legacy transfer, especially when a substantial proportion of the completed freehold inventory is in the CCR.”
Canberra Crescent Residences topped the September sales chart with 28 units sold. Since its launch in August, the District 27 project has sold more than 60 per cent at a median price of S$2,001 psf, said Huttons Asia’s Lee.
Grand Dunman in the RCR followed closely with 24 units sold at a median price of S$2,508 psf, and River Green in the CCR sold 16 units at a median price of S$3,201 psf, showed Huttons Asia’s data.
Singaporeans made up 85.5 per cent of buyers in September, while permanent residents accounted for 8.6 per cent, added Lee.
Including ECs, 270 units were sold in September with 20 units launched, versus the 433 units sold and 437 units launched in the same month in 2024. In comparison, 2,338 units were sold and 2,496 units were launched in August 2025.
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
