February Developers%E2%80%99 Sales Surge 13 Year High 1575 Units Sold
In February, the strong upward trend of new private home sales continued, fueled by several new launches. According to data released by URA on March 17, a total of 1,575 units (excluding executive condos) were sold last month, marking a 45.4% increase from January’s sales of 1,083 units.
Compared to the measly 153 units sold in February 2024, February’s sales were over 10 times higher. This figure is also the highest February developer sales have seen in the past 13 years, since 2,417 units were sold in February 2012, says Tricia Song, CBRE’s head of research for Singapore and Southeast Asia.
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If we include ECs, the total number of new home sales in February reaches 1,604 units, representing a 45.3% increase from January. Developers have now sold a total of 2,658 units (excluding ECs) since the beginning of the year. This is a drastic difference from last year, which took eight months to reach a similar figure, according to Leonard Tay, head of research at Knight Frank Singapore.
The impressive February sales can be attributed to two major launches in the Outside Central Region (OCR): The 1,193-unit ParkTown Residence and the 501-unit Elta on Clementi Avenue 1. ParkTown Residence sold 1,041 units in February at a median price of $2,363 psf, making it the month’s best-selling project. These units account for an 87% take-up rate in the integrated project, which was jointly developed by UOL Group and CapitaLand Development. Elta followed as the second best-performing project, with 65.1% or 326 units sold by developers MCL Land and CSC Land Group at a median price of $2,538 psf.
CBRE’s Song points out that both ParkTown Residence and Elta are located in suburban neighborhoods that have not seen new launches in the past five years. This contributes to the projects’ impressive performances. Including these two projects, developers launched a total of 1,694 units for sale in February, which is an 89% increase from the 896 units launched the month before.
The OCR is responsible for a whopping 92% of total new private homes sold in February, with 1,452 units sold. This is the best performance the OCR has seen in over nine years, since 1,523 units were sold in July 2015, says Wong Siew Ying, PropNex Realty’s head of research and content. The Rest of Central Region (RCR) contributed 98 or 6.2% of units sold in February, with the top-selling project being Pinetree Hill, which moved 22 units at a median price of $2,613 psf. In the Core Central Region (CCR), only 25 units were sold, accounting for just 1.6% of developers’ sales. The top-selling CCR project was 19 Nassim, which sold five units at a median price of $3,372 psf. Four units were also sold at One Bernam at a median price of $2,651 psf, a 351-unit development that has been fully sold since its launch back in May 2021.
The majority of new private home buyers in February were Singapore citizens at 92.4%, followed by permanent residents at 6.9%, notes Lee Sze Teck, senior director of data analytics at Huttons Asia. Only 11 units were purchased by foreigners, including the two most expensive units at 32 Gilstead for $14.47 million and $14.61 million.
The OCR saw a record number of suburban homes sold at prices exceeding $2 million in February. A total of 603 new private homes (including ECs) were sold at this price range, the highest number since URA data became available in 1995. “The previous record was set in November 2024, with 512 new homes in the OCR sold for at least $2 million,” adds Christine Sun, OrangeTee Group’s chief researcher and strategist. Out of the 603 units, 596 were non-landed homes, mostly from projects like ParkTown Residence (397 units), Elta (145 units), and Hillock Green (16 units).
PropNex’s Wong observes that unit prices for recent launches seem to have decoupled from their respective sub-markets. While property prices usually follow a pattern, led by the CCR, then the RCR, and finally the OCR, recent launches suggest this may no longer always be the case. For example, Wong points out that The Collective at One Sophia, a CCR project launched in November 2024, sold 73 units at an average price of $2,743 psf based on URA data up until the end of February. “This is lower than the average price of units sold at Union Square Residences ($3,175 psf) in the RCR and only slightly higher than that of The Orie ($2,734 psf), also in the RCR,” she points out.
In terms of recent OCR launches, Chuan Park, Elta, and Bagnall Haus have registered average unit prices of $2,589 psf, $2,544 psf, and $2,489 psf, respectively, surpassing RCR project Nava Grove’s average unit price of $2,460 psf. Wong believes that the narrowing price gaps between regions could be due to various factors, including site-specific attributes of projects, amenity-driven pricing, demand by HDB upgraders, and the location of certain projects on the cusp of the CCR. She predicts that prices could further converge in the coming months as new RCR projects located just off the CCR come to market, such as One Marina Gardens in Marina South and future developments on Zion Road residential sites.
The strong momentum in developers’ sales is expected to continue in March, thanks to recent launches like the 477-unit Lentor Central Residences, the 188-unit Aurea, and the 760-unit Aurelle of Tampines EC. “As of mid-March, these projects have collectively sold over 1,150 units, promising a strong closing to the quarter,” comments Marchus Chu, CEO of ERA Singapore. In light of the robust first-quarter sales, ERA has revised its new private home sales projection for the whole of 2025 to between 8,500 and 9,000 units, up from its previous range of 7,000 to 8,000.
Huttons’ Lee estimates that developers’ sales (excluding ECs) will exceed 3,200 units in the first quarter of the year, making it the highest first-quarter sales since 2021. Looking ahead to the second quarter, new launches potentially include Bloomsbury Residences (358 units), One Marina Gardens (937 units), W Residences Singapore – Marina View (638 units), and Arina East Residences (107 units). Despite the strong start to the year, not all projects launched in the coming months may perform equally well, notes Knight Frank’s Tay. “Homebuyer demand will largely depend on the specific location and property attributes of each specific new project launch, with some projects doing better than others,” he says.