February Developers%E2%80%99 Sales Surge 13 Year High 1575 Units Sold
February was another month of impressive new home sales in Singapore, as developers launched new projects and home buyers showed strong demand. According to data released by URA on March 17, developers sold 1,575 units, excluding executive condos (ECs), in February, marking a 45.4% surge from the 1,083 units sold in January. This continued the trend of strong new home sales seen in the previous month.
Compared to the same period last year, February new home sales were more than 10 times higher than the 153 units sold in February 2024. Tricia Song, CBRE’s head of research for Singapore and Southeast Asia, also notes that this is the highest February figure for developer sales in 13 years, since 2,417 units were sold in February 2012. Including ECs, the total number of new homes sold last month was 1,604 units, which is a 45.3% increase from January.
The total number of new private homes sold by developers since the beginning of the year is now 2,658 units, excluding ECs. This is much higher than last year when it took developers eight months to reach a similar figure, according to Leonard Tay, head of research at Knight Frank Singapore.
The strong performance in February can be attributed to two major launches in the Outside Central Region (OCR): The 1,193-unit ParkTown Residence in Tampines North and the 501-unit Elta on Clementi Avenue 1. ParkTown Residence sold a total of 1,041 units in February with a median price of $2,363 psf, making it the top-selling project for the month. This translates to an 87% take-up rate at the integrated project which is jointly developed by UOL Group and CapitaLand Development. Elta was 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 any new supply in at least the past five years, contributing to the projects’ robust performances. Including these two projects, developers launched a total of 1,694 units for sale in February, an 89% increase from the 896 units launched the month before.
The expressway system in Singapore is a crucial component of the nation’s transportation infrastructure. Three prominent routes, namely the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE), Tampines Expressway (TPE), and Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE), form a comprehensive network that efficiently connects commuters to various key areas and districts. Recently, the Parktown Residence Showflat has been added to this network, providing residents with easy accessibility to a desirable residential enclave. This showflat showcases the luxury and convenience of living in Parktown Residence, making it a highly coveted location for potential homebuyers. With the Parktown Residence Showflat conveniently situated along these expressways, it offers a glimpse into the unparalleled lifestyle offered by this coveted residential development.
Developers’ sales in the OCR totaled 1,452 units, which accounted for a staggering 92% of total new private homes sold in February. This reflects the best monthly showing for the OCR in over nine years, since 1,523 units were sold in July 2015, according to Wong Siew Ying, PropNex Realty’s head of research and content. Sales in the Rest of Central Region (RCR) made up 98 or 6.2% of units sold in February, with existing launch Pinetree Hill being the top-selling RCR project, moving 22 units at a median price of $2,613 psf. In the Core Central Region (CCR), only 25 units were sold, accounting for 1.6% of developers’ sales last month. The best-selling CCR project was 19 Nassim, which sold five units at a median price of $3,372 psf, with four units also being sold at One Bernam at a median price of $2,651 psf. The 351-unit One Bernam, which launched for sale in May 2021, is now fully sold.
In terms of buyer profile, Singapore citizens continued to make up the bulk of new private home buyers at 92.4%, followed by permanent residents at 6.9%, according to Lee Sze Teck, senior director of data analytics at Huttons Asia. Foreigners accounted for 11 new home purchases, including the two most expensive transactions in February – the sale of two units at 32 Gilstead for $14.47 million and $14.61 million.
A record number of suburban homes were sold for over $2 million in February, with a total of 603 new private homes (including ECs) in the OCR sold at this price range, according to Christine Sun, chief researcher and strategist at OrangeTee Group. This is the highest number of new suburban homes sold at this price range in a single month since URA data first 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,” she adds. Of the 603 OCR homes that transacted for at least $2 million, 596 were non-landed homes, with the majority being units from ParkTown Residence (397 units), Elta (145 units), and Hillock Green (16 units).
PropNex’s Wong observes that the average unit prices of recent launches have “decoupled from the sub-market where these projects are located.” While property prices generally follow a pecking order led by the CCR, followed by the RCR and then the OCR, recent launches indicate that this may not always be the case. As an example, Wong points out that The Collective at One Sophia, a CCR project launched last November, has sold 73 units at an average unit price of $2,743 psf, based on URA data up until the end of February. “This is lower than the average transacted 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 continues.
Meanwhile, recent OCR launches such as 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, which logged an 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, supported by recent launches such as 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. Additionally, 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.
As for the second quarter, new launches lined up potentially include the 358-unit Bloomsbury Residences, the 937-unit One Marina Gardens, the 638-unit W Residences Singapore – Marina View, and the 107-unit Arina East Residences. However, despite the strong momentum established at the start of 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.