The November sales of developers soared to 2,557 units – the highest total since March 2013, when 2,793 units had been sold.
According to the Urban Redevelopment Authority, data published on December 16, it was an increase of 246.5 percentage increase over the October sales and 226 percent more than one year ago.
including executive condominiums (ECs) as well as new home sales increased 277.4 percent to reach 2,891 units from 766 units in the month of October.
After months of a lacklustre launch activity 2871 units (excluding ECs) were launched in November. This was 437 percent higher than October, and more than 196 percent better than one year ago.
In addition, 504 brand-new EC units were put up for auction.
As interest rates fell in November and September homeowners came back to the market in huge numbers.
Six residential launches – Chuan Park, Emerald of Katong, Nava Grove, The Collective at One Sophia, Union Square Residences and Novo Place EC were responsible for more than 82 per cent of total new home sales in November.
In November and October the amount of new houses sold totalled 3,295 units. This is higher than the 3,049 unit sales reported in the first nine months of 2024.
The 6,344 new homes that developers sold in the first eleven months of this year are expected to surpass 2023 sales that were at their lowest level in 15 years, with 6,421 units excluding ECs.
In the EC segment, sales surged up to 334 units during November, up from just 28 units in the month of October. This is due primarily to new launch Novo Place, which sold 289 units for a median cost of $1,654 sq ft (psf).
Six new launches as well as the closure of Emerald of Katong changed the mood.
The top-selling condominium of November was Emerald of Katong which is a city-fringed development. It sold 840 units out of 846 units for a median price of $2.627 per square foot. Another city-fringed project, Nava, sold 382 with a median price of $2.445 per square foot.
In the suburbs, Chuan Park was the top seller by a stretch with 721 units sold for a median cost of $2,586 psf due to pent-up demand from HDB upgraders as well as private home downgraders, as well as the absence of new launches in the region for more than a decade.
The expected surge in fourth-quarter new home sales could trigger an increase of 3 percent to 4 per cent rise in the total private price index in 2024.
While November was a booming month for sales, a single swallow doesn’t necessarily mean it’s summer. This record-breaking performance is unlikely to repeat anytime soon.
New launches in central locations with more expensive entry prices have higher take-up rates in November, and December will likely not see new launches due to the year-end holiday slowdown.
Whether demand will be sustainable in the coming year following the Christmas period has passed.
Geopolitical tensions arising from greater uncertainty in the Middle East and the current impasse in Ukraine as well as more tariffs and protectionist policies from the US in the second Trump presidency, can impact companies across the globe and, in turn could affect trade flows and the world economy.
If this has an impact on Singapore’s employment market and economy, then buyers could be forced to put off purchasing a home until 2024.
The reduction in interest rates could slow in 2025 due to policy modifications proposed by a Trump administration that emphasizes tax reductions and tariffs on a broad basis. These policies may increase risk of inflation and affect rate cutting initiatives.
Collectively, these forces of market will reduce the chance of local property markets overheating and mitigate the need for further cooling measures.
The new home sales market is expected to regain the momentum they lost in January 2025. driven by new launches, such as the 777-unit The Orie in Toa Payoh that hasn’t seen an update since Gem Residences in 2016.
The impressive performance of Chuan Park, and Emerald of Katong further demonstrates the attraction of large-scale projects which offer a wide range of facilities. This trend should bode well in the future for large-scale development.