New home sales in Singapore for August surprise with 16% rise m-o-m

DESPITE economic headwinds and the Hungry Ghost Festival, developers in Singapore sold 1,256 private homes in August, 16 per cent higher than July's take-up.

This marks the fourth consecutive month of increase in monthly sales since the circuit breaker in April 2020, analysts noted. It is also the highest sales level in 2020 and a tad shy of the peak seen in September 2019, said Lee Sze Teck, director (research) at Huttons Asia.

"The property market appeared to behave in a similar way to the stock market," said Mr Lee. "Possible reasons for the strong set of numbers could be down to genuine buying demand generated by the low interest rate environment, lack of alternative stable investment asset, and the fear of missing out."

Likewise, Wong Siew Ying, head of research and content at PropNex, said the brisk sales suggest that there is still ample liquidity in the market.

"On the surface, the healthy home sales in August appear to be in stark contrast with the gloomy economic and hiring outlook, but we believe there remains a segment of buyers who have the finances and have been looking to enter the market."

Analysts note that buyers have a investment horizon of three to five years, and are looking beyond the current recession.

A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU

Tuesday, 12 pm

Property Insights

Get an exclusive analysis of real estate and property news in Singapore and beyond.

Sign Up

The larger number of units launched by developers in August also offered buyers more choices. Last month, 1,582 units were released, of which 109 were in the Core Central Region (CCR), 821 in Rest of the Central Region (RCR), and 652 were Outside the Central Region (OCR).

In comparison, 82 per cent fewer units were launched for sale in July as Singapore progressively emerged from the "circuit breaker". There were also about 56 per cent more units released in August compared to the corresponding month a year ago when 1,015 units were released.

The figures - which were released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Tuesday based on its survey of licensed housing developers - exclude executive condominium (EC) units, which are a public-private housing hybrid. Including ECs, developers moved 1,307 units in August, up 14 per cent from 1,142 units in July and 12 per cent higher than the 1,168 units sold in August last year.

Christine Sun, head of research at OrangeTee & Tie, said: "The property market bucked the trend with higher new home sales inked in August, (as) market activity typically tends to slow during the seventh lunar month. New home sales rose 'higher and quicker' than expected after the "circuit-breaker" period, which upended sales in April and May (when there were) showflat closures."

Property analysts said sales in the RCR were propped up by the launch of Forett@Bukit Timah and Noma. August's take-up in the RCR (excluding ECs) stood at 622 units, versus 128 units in CCR and 506 units in OCR.

Analysts added the launches of major condominium projects Penrose and Verdale this month could ride the buying momentum, boosting September's transaction volume.