The Orie was the best-selling project in January, moving 680 units at a median price of $2,731 psf (Picture: CDL)
Developers sold a total of 1,083 new private homes excluding executive condominiums (ECs) in January, according to URA data published on Feb 17. This represents a 433.5% rebound from the 203 units sold in December 2024. Including ECs, new home sales surged 196% m-o-m to 1,104 units in January.
Lee Sze Teck, senior director of data analytics at Huttons Asia, describes the January performance as “a strong start” to 2025 that builds on the momentum from the previous quarter. Last November, developers sold a whopping 2,560 new private homes excluding ECs – the first time new home sales exceeded 2,000 units in a single month since March 2013, according to URA data.
The latest monthly sales figure represents the highest developers’ sales volume for the first month of the year since January 2021 when 1,633 units were sold, observes Christine Sun, chief researcher and strategist for OrangeTee Group. On a y-o-y basis, new home sales increased by 256% from the 304 units sold in January 2024, URA's data shows.
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Wong Siew Ying, head of research and content at PropNex Realty, adds that the January figure is only the second time developers’ sales have hit four-digit figures in the last 18 months. “Prior to January’s sales and the 2,560 units shifted in November 2024, new private home sales have never crossed the 1,000-unit mark since 1,413 units were sold in July 2023,” she elaborates.
Developers' sales volume and launches
The higher developers' sales in January came on the back of two notable project launches: the 777-unit The Orie in Toa Payoh and the 113-unit Bagnall House on Upper East Coast Road. “These two projects alone accounted for 69.7% of the 1,083 new home sales,” observes Mohan Sandrasegeran, head of research and data analytics at Singapore Realtors Inc (SRI).
Huttons' Lee adds that the two projects increased the number of new homes launched in January to 896, compared to just 20 units launched in December of last year.
The Orie, located in the Rest of Central Region (RCR), was the best-selling project in January by number of units sold. A total of 680 units at the 99-year leasehold development by City Developments Ltd (CDL), Frasers Property and Sekisui House were sold last month at a median price of $2,731 psf.
The Orie’s performance boosted sales in the RCR which totalled 771 units, accounting for 71.2% of January's new private home sales. Sales in the Outside Central Region (OCR) clocked in at 191 units, or 17.6% of the total, followed by the Core Central Region (CCR) at 121 units (11.2%).
Meanwhile, EC sales fell sharply from 170 units last December to 21 units in January. PropNex’s Wong chalks up the fall to a dearth of new EC launches and low supply in the market. “Based on URA’s data, there were only 148 unsold new EC units as at the end of January,” she adds.
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While sales in the CCR continue to trail the RCR and the OCR, the CCR received a boost with One Bernam, which moved 99 units at a median price of $2,521 psf in January. This is 33 times more than the three units moved at the project in December 2024 and makes it the second best-selling project by units sold last month.
OrangeTee’s Sun attributes the spike in One Bernam’s sales to the price discounts offered by the developers in January, along with its approaching completion. The 351-unit, 99-year leasehold project by MCC Land and Hao Yuan Investment in Tanjong Pagar is expected to be completed next year.
Developers' sales at another CCR project, Park Nova, also stood out during the month. The freehold luxury condo on Tomlinson Road registered two transactions in January, namely the sale of a 5,899 sq ft penthouse for $38.9 million ($6,593 psf) and the sale of a 2,906 sq ft, four-bedroom apartment for $34.4 million ($5,838 psf).
The penthouse deal represents the highest psf-price registered for a condo unit since 2011 when a 3,089 sq ft, four-bedroom unit at The Marq on Paterson Hill fetched $20.54 million or $6,650 psf, based on URA data.
According to Huttons’ Lee, URA data shows that the Park Nova penthouse was sold to a Singapore Permanent Resident, while the four-bedroom apartment was bought by a foreigner.
Lee believes developers’ sales will remain strong in February, supported by the launches of Elta, the 501-unit condo on Clementi Avenue 1 by MCL Land and CSC Land Group, and ParkTown Residence, an integrated development by UOL, Singapore Land Group and CapitaLand Development in Tampines North with 1,193 units.
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“Both projects should sell well on the first weekend,” Lee predicts. PropNex’s Wong concurs, noting Clementi and Tampines are mature towns that are popular among homebuyers due to their good connectivity and range of amenities. Elta and ParkTown Residence will commence sales bookings on Feb 22.
Going into March, Wong observes that new projects potentially lined up include the 188-unit Aurea, the 477-unit Lentor Central Residences, and the 760-unit EC project Aurelle of Tampines.
The positive momentum is expected to carry forward towards the rest of the year, opines Leonard Tay, head of research at Knight Frank Singapore. “Sales in 2025 at new launches should pick up pace…as relatively more benign interest rates are likely to motivate homebuyers from their watch-and-wait stance into a purchase,” he says.
Given the strong performance in January and launches happening in February and March, PropNex's Wong anticipates developers’ sales in 1Q2025 to “outperform the first quarter sales in each of the last three years, where fewer than 2,000 units (excluding ECs) were sold”.
For the full year, Wong forecasts developers’ sales excluding ECs to come in between 8,000 and 9,000 units. This would be the highest annual transaction volume in four years, beating the 7,099 units sold in 2022, the 6,421 units sold in 2023, and the 6,469 units sold in 2024, she adds.
Meanwhile, OrangeTee’s Sun believes that fresh launches, coupled with healthy demand for new private homes, will support developers’ sales of around 7,000 to 9,000 new homes excluding ECs in 2025. She also anticipates new home prices to rise by 2% to 4% this year.
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