New private home sales rise 69.8% last month, highest November performance in 10 years

SINGAPORE — Sales of new private homes in Singapore rose 69.8 per cent in November compared to the previous month.

Excluding executive condominiums (ECs), developers sold 1,547 units last month, up from 911 in October, according to data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Wednesday (Dec 15).

This is the highest figure since July when 1,602 units were sold.

It is also the best November sales performance in 10 years, noted OrangeTee & Tie senior vice-president of research and analytics Christine Sun.

Including ECs, sales of new private homes rose 53.8 per cent, with 1,610 units sold in November.

Compared to a year ago, new sales — excluding ECs — surged by 99.9 per cent.

Developers launched a total of 1,283 units in November — a 94 per cent increase from the 661 units launched in October.

NEW DEVELOPMENTS BUOYED SALES

There were four project launches last month — CanningHill Piers, Cairnhill 16, The Carrara, as well as The Commodore.

"CanningHill Piers is the best-selling project in the Central Area in 2021. Buyers were eager to grab a unit in the tallest development by the Singapore River," said Huttons Asia's senior director of research Lee Sze Teck.

Due to the strong sales at CanningHill Piers, Rest of Central Region (RCR) registered the biggest share of transactions last month, comprising 58.8 per cent of the total sales, said Ms Sun.

The Outside of Central Region (OCR) made up 29.7 per cent and the Core Central Region (CCR) at 11.5 per cent.

Analysts noted that sales momentum has been strong this year.

Between January and November, about 12,460 new private homes have been sold, nearly 42 per cent higher year-on-year, said JLL's senior director of research & consultancy Ong Teck Hui.

He added that the year is likely to end with more than 13,000 new units sold, which would be the best performance in eight years.

"This current phase of buyer momentum was ignited soon after Singapore exited from the circuit breaker in June 2020, and has steadily built up steam over the last 18 months or so," said Mr Leonard Tay, head of research at Knight Frank Singapore.

"Much of the demand has been from genuine buyers as the Covid-19 outbreak compelled many into making key life decisions such as purchasing a home sooner rather than later."

Looking ahead, the luxury market may get a boost when more vaccinated travel lanes are set up, allowing foreigners to travel to Singapore, said Mr Lee. CNA

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