New private home sales in Singapore almost doubled to 1,356 units in May, a substiantial increase from 660 units in April. Credits to a series of major new launch projects by developers in Singapore.

This figure excludes executive condominiums (ECs) according to data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).

It is notable that May 2022 clocked the highest number of private condos sold since November 2021 when developers sold 1,547 units during that month.

Only 216 units were sold in the Core Central Region (CCR), followed by 247 units for Outside Central Region (OCR). Whereas the Rest of Central Region (RCR) took up the majority share of 893 units sold.

The two new launch projects that accounted for almost 41 percent of the total new home sales in May are Piccadilly Grand at Farrer Park and Liv @ MB near Marine Parade.

The remaining close to 60 per cent new private homes sales came from Normanton Park, The Florence Residences, Avenue South Residence and The Gazania.

ERA associate division director Andy Chia said that June is a relatively quiet month due to the school holidays. Most families are going overseas following the easing of COVID-19 travel restrictions. 

Chia said: “The US federal reserve raised interest rate by 75 basis points yesterday and it will affect the buying sentiment for Singapore residential properties. The home loan fixed rates for 2 years stood at 2.45% by DBS bank.”

Since the implementation of the Vaccinated Travel Framework in April 2022, there has been a rise of property transactions involving high-net-worth-individuals (HNWI) who came from China and Indonesia. They regard Singapore as a safe haven and set sights in luxury residential properties for investment opportunities. After all, it is a known fact that the Singapore currency is stable and properties appreciate over time. 

URA statistics revealed that the Foreigners bought 84 units of new homes in May, up from 52 in April. This is despite the fact that all foreigners must pay 30% additional buyer stamp duty (ABSD) when buying any residential property in Singapore from 16 December 2021. The ABSD for foreigners was 20% between 6 Jul 2018 to 15 Dec 2021. 

There were a total of 216 transactions sold at a quantum of S$3 million or higher last month, the highest number of sales registered since April 2010 when 238 units were sold.

In the 3rd Quarter of 2022, the property developers will be launching new projects in Singapore including the 372-unit AMO Residence at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1, the 268-unit Sceneca Residence at Tanah Merah and the 605-unit mixed development Lentor Modern. The smaller scale new launches include 158-unit Sky Eden @ Bedok and 105-unit The Arden at Phoenix Road.