Singapore home sales down 15.1% in Q2 as new launches falter

There were only 2,356 units launched in the quarter.

Singapore saw a healthy momentum of new residential launches since Q3 2020, only to witness a slowdown by Q2 2021. According to Savills, over the last three quarters, there were an average of over 3,500 newly-launched units. However in Q2 2021, there were only 2,356 units launched, almost half of which (1,019 units) belong to the luxury segment in the Core Central Region (CCR). The rest were spread across the other segments: 30.9% (727 units) in the Outside Central Region (OCR) and 25.9% (610 units) in the Rest of Central Region (RCR). 

“The majority of the new units in the OCR was from previously-launched projects including Treasure at Tampines, Midwood and The Florence Residences which launched more than 400 units in total. In the RCR, projects such as One-North Eden newly launched 165 units while a previously launched project, The Landmark, launched an additional 130 units.”

Here’s more from Savills:

As there were fewer new launches, the total new sales volume fell 15.1% QoQ to 2,966 units in Q2/2021. Nevertheless, the sales volume surpassed the number of units launched in Q2, mainly lifted by sales in the RCR and OCR, which constituted 37.9% (1,123 units) and 34.7% (1,030 units) of new sales respectively. The sales in the RCR were driven by the take-up of the newly launched One-North Eden and the previously launched mega development, Normanton Park. 

In the OCR, the sales rate continued to be supported by strong take-up of projects such as Treasure at Tampines and The Florence Residences. This was attributed to their attractive pricing in the mass market segment which had of late seen an uplift of prices. Along with more new launches in the CCR and good take-up of some new projects such as Irwell Hill Residences, the sales volume (813 units) in Q2 was higher than the units sold in the previous quarter (681 units). 

Out of the top five best-selling projects in Q2/2021, two of them were new launches in the quarter. These included Irwell Hill Residences (sold 325 units) in the CCR and One-North Eden (sold 147 units) in the RCR, which were both launched in April. During the first weekend of the launch, Irwell Hill Residences sold over 86% (278 units) of the 320 units launched at an average selling price of S$2,700 per sq ft.

While one-bedroom plus study and two-bedroom were the most popular unit types, one four-bedroom penthouse was sold for over S$9 million (S$4,123 per sq ft). When the 165-unit One-North Eden was launched, it achieved an 85% take-up over the maiden weekend, with all of the one-bedroom plus study and two-bedroom units sold on the first day of the launch. The selling price worked out to about S$1,800 to S$2,250 per sq ft. From its launch in late-April to June, One-North Eden has thus far sold 94% (155 units) of its units.

After three quarters of increase, resale numbers continued to rise in Q2. Total sales volume in the secondary market rose by 19.0% QoQ to a record high of 5,483 units. On a QoQ basis, resale volume increased across all market segments. Notably, the sales volume of the secondary resale market in the CCR saw the largest increase of 29.1% QoQ to 1,117 units in Q2. The resale transaction volume in the OCR and RCR also rose to record levels, up 20.7% QoQ to 2,933 units and 9.2% QoQ to 1,433 units respectively. The pick up in the secondary market was attributed to the few new launches in the primary market in Q2 and the significant price gap between new and resale units. 

Based on the caveats lodged, the number of non-landed private residential units bought by Singaporeans remained relatively stable from Q1, falling by a marginal 0.7% QoQ to 5,669 units. Even though the proportion of purchases by Singaporeans against total transaction volume dropped marginally to 79.0%, buying interest among Singaporeans remained strong in the resale market. 

Meanwhile, both transaction numbers and the proportion of non-landed purchases by Singapore Permanent Residents (PRs) increased. The sales volume was up by 1.7% QoQ to a record high of 1,211 units, raising the market share by 0.4 of a ppt QoQ to 17.3%. Although transactions made by non-PR foreigners fell by 3.1% QoQ to 283 units with their market share shrinking by 0.2 of a ppt QoQ to 3.9%, it was still above the average quarterly sales level for the last three years (246 units). The strong buying interest among PRs and non-PR foreigners could be because more people rather own a property here than renting as they are likely to stay here in the long run before the global pandemic situation stabilises.