Month-on-month, the number of new homes transacted dipped by 22.5%, against a gloomy backdrop of geopolitical tension. February’s performance was further defined by the latest cooling measures, Chinese New Year lull period and declining housing supply.
Given that property is still considered a safe haven investment in Singapore, and a record volume of HDBs that will attain their minimum occupation period this year, analysts expect that the sale of new homes will pick up despite the geopolitical tension.
Developers in Singapore sold 527 new private homes in February, down 22.5% from January's 680 units, and 18.3% lower than the 645 new private homes sold in February 2021. This was the lowest since May 2020 during the Circuit Breaker period where 487 units were sold.
Last month's only new project launch was the 32-unit Royal Hallmark, a freehold boutique development in District 15 which sold 10 units at a median price of $1,905psf during its launch on Feb 26.
Including executive condominiums (ECs), 559 units moved last month, down 23.6% from January.
Analysts expect the number of new homes slated for launch for the whole year 2022 to be around 9,000 units (including EC), a downward trend from the previous years. Furthermore, while more land parcels would be released from the Government Land Sales (GLS) programme in the first half of this year, the new homes will only enter the market next year.
In light of the growing global uncertainties which are impacting businesses worldwide, analysts anticipate that some buyers may sit on the fence for a while. However, there could also be a revival in demand for safe-haven purchases like properties in Singapore.
Analysts further noted that the number of purchases by foreigners in the past 2 months have trended higher compared to Dec 2021 when the cooling measures were imposed. Overall, 79.1% of purchases last month were made by Singaporeans, with PRs and foreigners making up the rest.
Last month, most of the sales excluding ECs were in the Rest of Central Region (RCR) (46.4%), followed by the Outside of Central Region (OCR) (32.9%) and Core Central Region (CCR) (20.7%).
The proportion of transactions $2 million and above in February stayed at the same level before the cooling measures. 39.2% of last month’s transactions were priced above $2 million. Another 35.6% were priced between $1.5 million to $2 million, while 25.3% of February’s new home sales were priced below $1.5 million.
Analysts pointed out that there could be increased demand for private housing in 2022 as an estimated record 35,000 HDB flats will reach the end of their Minimum Occupation Period this year. In comparison, an annual average of 8,500 HDB flats reached the end of their MOP in the 10-year period from 2009 to 2018.
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