Singapore New Home Sales Up 9.9% in February, Driven by Terra Hill Launch

Developers sold 432 new private homes in Singapore last month, up from 393 units transacted in January but down from 542 that changed hands a year earlier, according to data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority.

February’s 9.9 percent monthly rise, which excludes sales figures from executive condos, was fuelled by the strong launch of the Terra Hill freehold development, PropNex Realty said Wednesday in a release.

The 270-unit condo project, a joint venture of Hoi Hup Realty and Sunway Developments on the old Flynn Park site in Pasir Panjang, sold 97 units and was one of only two new launches citywide last month, along with the 24-unit Gems Ville in Geylang.

“The new private home sales volumes in recent months have been relatively moderate owing to a combination of factors, such as the elevated interest rates, firm home prices, and limited unsold stock in the market,” said Wong Siew Ying, head of research and content at PropNex. “Despite these challenges, the major new launches this year have been relatively well-received so far.”

Pullman Pulls Its Weight

The Core Central Region was the best-selling submarket in February, shifting 222 units to account for 51.4 percent of monthly sales, PropNex said.

EL Development’s Pullman Residences Newton in Novena was the most popular CCR project, transacting 38 units at a median price of S$3,171 (now $2,349) per square foot. Leedon Green, a joint venture of Hongkong Land affiliate MCL Land and Shanghai-based Yanlord in Bukit Timah, sold 21 units at a median price of S$2,943 per square foot, and CK Asset’s Perfect Ten in Bukit Timah moved 20 units at a median price of S$3,174 per square foot.

In the Rest of Central Region, Terra Hill’s 97 homes sold made up nearly 60 percent of the RCR’s 163-unit February total, with the project recording a median price of S$2,699 per square foot. The runner-up RCR project was Frasers Property’s Riviere in Queenstown, selling 18 units at a median price of S$3,073 per square foot.

February sales in the mass-market Outside Central Region segment fell by 74.7 percent from January to 47 units, as a lack of new projects put a drag on transactions, according to PropNex. January’s sales had also received a one-time boost from the launch of Sceneca Residence, with the MCC Land project in Tanah Merah selling 157 of its 268 units in the first month of the year.

March Momentum

Chia Siew Chuin, head of residential research at JLL Singapore, said the property consultancy expects new home sales to gain momentum as developers roll out more new project launches.

“Following the debut of The Botany at Dairy Farm in early March, a few new projects expected to be launched in the city-fringe could garner interest — Blossoms by the Park, Tembusu Grand and The Continuum,” Chia said.

Sim Lian Group’s The Botany at Dairy Farm sold 187 of its 386 units on its launch day earlier this month, beating analyst predictions as buyers acquired nearly half of the homes being built in the complex close to the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. The units sold for an average of S$2,070 per square foot, with Singaporeans accounting for 85 percent of buyers, according to Sim Lian.

The Botany and Terra Hill both set new price benchmarks for their respective neighbourhoods, said Leonard Tay, head of research at Knight Frank Singapore, who took it as a sign that buyers are prepared to pay for new homes despite the prevailing pessimism.

“Notwithstanding the slow and uncertain start to 2023, Knight Frank maintains its projection of about 7,000 to 8,000 new sales during the year with private home prices projected to grow by 5 to 7 percent for the whole year,” Tay said.