Commentary on Monthly New Home Sales for October 2024

By Tricia Song (宋明蔚), Head of Research, Southeast Asia, CBRE

Private new home sales rose to its highest level in 2024, as developers started launching more attractive suburban and city fringe projects. October new home sales rose 84% m-o-m and 261.8% y-o-y to 738 units with 56% of it coming from the two new launches – Norwood Grand and Meyer Blue.  

October’s sales take the tally of new homes sold in 10M2024 to 3,787 units, still 31.6% below than the 5,533 units over the corresponding period in 2023. 

Earlier developer sales in 2024 have been weak as sentiments were dented by elevated interest rates, high price points and lack of attractive launches. Home sales are poised to improve further in November 2024, as demand for several major launches have been boosted by pent-up demand, interest rate cuts and a more optimistic economic outlook – Q3 2024’s advance GDP estimate announced on 14 Oct recorded 4.1% y-o-y growth, its highest pace since 2022.
Top 10 Selling Projects in October 2024 (including ECs and landed)

Project Name	Street Name	Tenure	Locality	Units Sold in the Month	Median Price ($psf) in the Month	% of project sold to date
Norwood Grand	Champions Way	99 yrs	OCR	292	2,081	84%
Meyer Blue	Meyer Road	FH	RCR	124	3,240	55%
Pinetree Hill	Pine Grove	99 yrs	RCR	71	2,541	73%
Hillock Green	Lentor Central	99 yrs	OCR	36	2,236	66%
Lentor Mansion	Lentor Gardens	99 yrs	OCR	29	2,241	92%
Tembusu Grand	Jalan Tembusu	99 yrs	RCR	26	2,388	83%
Lentoria	Lentor Hills Road	99 yrs	OCR	22	2,253	61%
Hillhaven	Hillview Rise	99 yrs	OCR	16	2,168	73%
The Myst	Upper Bukit Timah Road	99 yrs	OCR	15	2,126	71%
Klimt Cairnhill	Cairnhill Road	FH	CCR	13	3,302	99%
North Gaia EC	Yishun Close	99 yrs	OCR	13	1,310	93%

Source: CBRE Research, URA
New launches in October 2024

Project Name	Street Name	Tenure	Locality	Total no. of units	Units Launched in the Month	Units Sold in the Month	Median Price ($psf) in the Month	Units sold as % of launched
Norwood Grand	Champions Way	99 yrs	OCR	348	348	292	2,081	84%
Meyer Blue	Meyer Road	FH	RCR	226	186	124	3,240	67%

Source: CBRE Research, URA

Oct 2024 saw two new launches which topped the best-sellers list in October. Norwood Grand, the first private residential project in Woodlands since 2012, sold 292 units or 84% of its total 348 units at a median price of S$2,081 psf. Besides pent-up upgraders’ demand from the public housing catchment, it is a five-minute walk away from Woodlands South MRT station on the Thomson-East Coast Line. Investors also eye its capital growth potential from the upcoming Woodlands Regional Centre, Woodlands North Coast, RTS link and the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone.  

Freehold Meyer Blue sold 124 units or 55% of its total 226 units at a median price of $3,240 psf, a benchmark price in the popular East Coast locale. Buyers are attracted by its rare freehold tenure, unobstructed seaviews and improved connectivity with new MRT stations.  

The third top project in the month was Pinetree Hill (520 units) at Pine Grove which sold 71 units at a median price of $2,541 psf. Launched in July 2023, initial take-up had been lacklustre, with only 29% sold in its first month at a median price of $2,360psf. However recent sales have picked up significantly since September 2024 as Pinetree Hill dropped some prices amid renewed focus in this location as upcoming next-door new launch Nava Grove gets ready to launch on 16 November. Pinetree Hill is now 73% sold as of end-October. 

By market segment, October 2024’s developer sales (excluding ECs) were led by the Outside Central Region (OCR), on the outperformance of Norwood Grand launch. 458 units or 62.1% of total October new home sales were sold in the OCR, up from 165 units (41.1%) in September. The Rest of Central Region (RCR) sold 248 units (33.6% of October sales), up from 221 units (55.1%) in September 2024. Lastly, the Core Central Region (CCR) moved more units, despite no new launches, moving 32 units (4.3% of October sales), compared to 15 units (3.7%) in September. CCR sales were boosted by Klimt Cairnhill which sold 13 units at a median price of $3,302 psf, which appears to be some 10-12% discount from the average prices of $3,700-3,800psf for units sold between 2021 and 2023. With this sales push, the high-end 138-unit Klimt Cairnhill is 99% sold, with two units remaining.  

Outlook and forecasts 
November will be a busy month with a historic six new launches as developers rush to capitalise on the improved sentiment and before the year-end lull. In the CCR, the mixed-use development One Sophia has sold 35 residential units – around 10% of the 367 available – at an average price of $2,750 psf as of 6 Nov. In the RCR, Union Square Residences, also part of a mixed-use project, sold 75 units or 20% of 366 units at an average price of $3,200 psf on 9 Nov. In the OCR, Chuan Park sold 696 units or 76% of its 916 units at a benchmark price of $2,579 psf. 

In the coming weekend, Emerald of Katong (846 units), Nava Grove at Pine Grove (552 units) in the RCR; and Novo Place EC (504 units) in Tengah in the OCR will launch. Based on improved sentiment, the projects should do fairly well, especially Emerald of Katong, which has reportedly received 3,629 cheques in advance for balloting. November new home sales could well cross 1,500 units before softening during the December festive and school holiday season.    

With 10M24 home sales tally at 3,787 units, CBRE Research expects 5,000 – 6,000 new homes to be sold in 2024, compared to 6,421 units in 2023. A more significant recovery of new developer sales is likely in 2025.

Private residential prices, which unexpectedly registered a 0.7% decline in Q3 2024, could resume a growth trend in Q4 2024, given the improved sentiment at the new launches. Private home prices are 1.6% up in 9M2024. CBRE Research keeps our full year forecast at +3% in 2024, moderating from the 6.8% in 2023.