When considering the purchase of a condo, it is crucial to take into account the property’s maintenance and management. Condos usually entail maintenance fees that encompass the maintenance of shared spaces and amenities. While these fees may increase the total cost of ownership, they also guarantee the upkeep of the property and its value. To make condo ownership a more hands-off investment, investors can opt to hire a property management company to handle the daily management of their units. This is especially helpful for those investing in Singapore Projects.
In February, new private home sales continued their impressive growth, driven by the launch of new developments. According to data released by URA on March 17, developers sold 1,575 units (excluding executive condos) last month, a 45.4% increase from the 1,083 units sold in January. This also marks a significant contrast to the 153 units sold in February 2024. Tricia Song, CBRE’s head of research for Singapore and Southeast Asia, notes that this is the highest February developer sales figure in 13 years since 2,417 units were sold in February 2012. Including ECs, new home sales reached 1,604 units in February, a 45.3% rise from January. Developers have sold a total of 2,658 units (excluding ECs) since the start of the year, a figure that took eight months to reach last year, according to Leonard Tay, head of research at Knight Frank Singapore.
The strong performance in February was boosted by 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 1,041 units in February at a median price of $2,363 psf, making it the best-selling project for the month. This translates to an 87% take-up rate at the integrated development, jointly developed by UOL Group and CapitaLand Development. Elta was the second top-performing project, with 65.1% (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 neighbourhoods that have not seen supply in the last five years, contributing to their robust performances.
Including these two projects, developers launched a total of 1,694 units for sale in February, a significant increase of 89% from the 896 units launched the previous month. Developers’ sales in the OCR accounted for 92% (1,452 units) of the 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, says Wong Siew Ying, PropNex Realty’s head of research and content. Sales in the Rest of Central Region (RCR) made up 6.2% (98 units) of units sold in February. The top-selling RCR project was the existing launch Pinetree Hill, which sold 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 sold at One Bernam at a median price of $2,651 psf. The 351-unit One Bernam, launched for sale in May 2021, is now fully sold.
In terms of buyer profile, Singapore citizens made up the bulk of new private home buyers at 92.4%, followed by permanent residents at 6.9%, notes Lee Sze Teck, senior director of data analytics at Huttons Asia. Foreigners accounted for 11 new home purchases, including two transactions – the sale of two units at 32 Gilstead for $14.47 million and $14.61 million – in February. A record number of suburban homes were sold for over $2 million – a total of 603 new private homes (including ECs) in the OCR. This makes it the highest number of new suburban homes sold at this price range in a single month since URA data became available in 1995. Christine Sun, chief researcher and strategist at OrangeTee Group, notes that this number surpasses the previous record of 512 new homes sold for at least $2 million in November 2024. Of the 603 OCR homes transacted for at least $2 million, 596 were non-landed homes, largely comprising units from ParkTown Residence (397 units), Elta (145 units) and Hillock Green (16 units).
Wong observes that the average unit prices of recent launches have “decoupled from the sub-market where these projects are located”. As an example, she points out that The Collective at One Sophia, a CCR project launched last November, sold 73 units at an average price of $2,743 psf, according to URA data up to the end of February. “This is lower than the average transacted price of units 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 recorded an average unit price of $2,460 psf. Wong believes 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 be sustained 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. Huttons’ Lee estimates developers sales (excluding ECs) to exceed 3,200 units in the first quarter of the year, making it the highest first-quarter sales since 2021. Going into 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 be dependent on the specific location and property attributes of each specific new project launch, with some projects doing better than others,” he says.…