February saw a continuation of the strong performance in new home sales, driven by the launch of exciting new developments. According to data released by URA on March 17, developers sold 1,575 units (excluding executive condos) in February, marking a 45.4% increase from January’s figure of 1,083 units.
Compared to the same period last year, new home sales in February were over 10 times higher than the 153 units sold in February 2024. This also marks the highest February developer sales in 13 years, since 2,417 units were sold in February 2012. Tricia Song, CBRE’s head of research for Singapore and Southeast Asia, notes that this includes the sale of 1,604 units including executive condos, indicating a 45.3% increase from January’s figures.
Developers have already sold 2,658 units (excluding executive condos) since the start of the year, outperforming the same timeframe last year when it took eight months to reach a similar figure. This is according to observations made by Leonard Tay, head of research at Knight Frank Singapore.
The strong sales in February were largely attributed to the launch of two major projects 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 recorded an impressive 1,041 units sold at a median price of $2,363 psf, making it the top-selling project for the month. This translates to an 87% take-up rate, indicating strong demand for the integrated project jointly developed by UOL Group and CapitaLand Development. Elta, with 65.1% or 326 units sold, is the second best-performing project by developers MCL Land and CSC Land Group at a median price of $2,538 psf. CBRE’s Song highlights that both projects are located in suburban areas with limited supply in recent 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 January’s figure of 896 units. Furthermore, the majority of these sales occurred in the OCR, where developers sold 1,452 units, accounting for a staggering 92% of total new private homes sold in February. This is the best monthly performance for the OCR in over nine years, since July 2015 saw 1,523 units sold, comments Wong Siew Ying, PropNex Realty’s head of research and content. Sales in the Rest of Central Region (RCR) accounted for 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. Sales in the Core Central Region (CCR) were relatively low, with only 25 units sold, representing 1.6% of developers’ total sales in February. The best-selling project in this region was 19 Nassim, with five units sold at a median price of $3,372 psf. Additionally, four units were sold at One Bernam at a median price of $2,651 psf. This project, which launched for sale in May 2021, is now fully sold out.
The bulk of new home buyers in February were Singapore citizens, accounting for 92.4% of sales, followed by permanent residents at 6.9%, notes Lee Sze Teck, senior director of data analytics at Huttons Asia. Foreigners made up 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, with a total of 603 new private homes (including ECs) in the OCR sold in this price range in February. This marks the highest number of new suburban homes sold in a single month since URA data first became available in 1995. “The previous record was in November 2024, with 512 new homes in the OCR sold for at least $2 million,” says Christine Sun, chief researcher and strategist at OrangeTee Group. Of these homes, 596 are non-landed homes, mostly from ParkTown Residence (397 units), Elta (145 units), and Hillock Green (16 units).
Wong Siew Ying of PropNex observes that the average unit prices of recent launches have “decoupled from the sub-market where these projects are located.” Traditionally, home prices follow a hierarchy, with the CCR at the top, followed by the RCR and then the OCR. However, recent launches suggest that this may no longer always be the case. For example, The Collective at One Sophia, a CCR project launched last November, has sold 73 units at an average price of $2,743 psf, based on URA data 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.
Recent OCR launches such as Chuan Park, Elta, and Bagnall Haus have also recorded average unit prices of $2,589 psf, $2,544 psf, and $2,489 psf respectively, surpassing RCR project Nava Grove, which saw an average unit price of $2,460 psf. Wong believes that this narrowing price gap between regions could be due to various factors, including specific project attributes, amenity-driven pricing, demand from HDB upgraders, and locations bordering the CCR.
She predicts that prices may continue to converge in the coming months as new RCR projects located just outside the CCR are launched, 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 into 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 close to the quarter,” comments Marchus Chu, CEO of ERA Singapore. In light of this robust first-quarter performance, ERA has revised its new private home sales projections for the whole of 2025 to between 8,500 and 9,000 units, up from the previous range of 7,000 to 8,000.
Meanwhile, 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. Moving into the second quarter, upcoming launches could 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 start to the year, not all future projects may perform equally well, notes Knight Frank’s Tay. He highlights that the overall demand will depend on the specific location and attributes of each project, with some projects performing better than others.