Singapore new home sales sink 27% in February

NEW home sales sank in February in the absence of major new launches. Chinese New Year festivities and the declining inventory of unsold new homes also dampened sales during the month, analysts said.

"Some developers were holding back their new project launches until the current wave of Omicron Covid-19 infections has subsided," said Nicholas Mak, head of research and consultancy at ERA Singapore.

PropNex Realty head of research and content Wong Siew Ying added that as at the end of Q4 2021, the unsold inventory in the rest of central region (RCR) and outside of central region (OCR) were both at record lows of 4,306 and 3,972 units respectively.

She said: "As more units in existing projects are transacted, buyers may find that the balance stock of unsold homes may not be suitable for them, in terms of unit size and pricing. This mismatch could persist and likely weigh on sales volume until more RCR and OCR launches come on stream, presenting buyers with a wider selection of units."

Based on caveats lodged, developers sold 490 new private homes last month, a 27.2 per cent drop from January's 673 units.

Compared to the year ago, the latest estimates are 24 per cent lower than the 645 units sold in February 2021.

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Last month's only new launch was 32-unit Royal Hallmark, a freehold boutique development in District 15 which sold 10 units at a median price of S$1,904 per square foot (psf) during its launch on Feb 26.

The best selling project, excluding executive condominiums, by sales volume was Normanton Park. The 1,862-unit development transacted 84 homes at a median price of S$1,853 psf.

This was followed by Avenue South Residence, which sold 31 units at a median S$2,364 psf.

In the OCR, Dairy Farm Residences was the top seller with 30 transactions at a median price of S$1,715 psf.

Based on market segments, the RCR again saw the most sales with 253 units or 51.6 per cent. Meanwhile, the OCR made up 29.4 per cent of the month's sales with 144 units.

"Sales volume recorded in the OCR in February 2022 was one of the weakest transaction volumes that this sub-market had seen since April 2020, when the 'circuit-breaker' measures were imposed," Wong said.

Core central region (CCR) sales also fell to a one-year low with 93 units, making up 19 per cent of February's sales.

Wong said: "The cooling measures introduced in December 2021 could have dampened sales in the CCR, as this sub-market tends to attract investors and foreign buyers, who are more severely affected by the hike in additional buyer's stamp duty (ABSD) rates."

"Despite the sharp fall in sales volumes, prices appear to be holding up for now. Comparing transacted values in February 2022 against December 2021, the average unit prices of RCR and OCR non-landed private new homes remained steady, while that of CCR homes dipped by 2.6 per cent," Wong added.

She expects launches to remain relatively muted in March, and anticipates a significant year-on-year decline in sales.

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