New private home sales boosted by flurry of launches

The front-loading of five new private residential launches ahead of the Hungry Ghost Festival, lower mortgage rates and Singapore's better full-year prospects sent new private home sales rocketing in August.

- Grace Leong

ERA Singapore chief executive Marcus Chu cited a strong pipeline of new launches in underserved areas in recent years, alongside moderating interest rates.

Robust new home sales in the first two months of the third quarter could result in unsold uncompleted stock dropping below 18,000 units, down from 18,498 units in the previous quarter, and 19,405 units in the fourth quarter of 2024, said Mr Wong Xian Yang, Cushman & Wakefield's research head for Singapore and Southeast Asia.

In August, new private home sales, excluding executive condominiums (ECs), surged to 2,142 units — the highest monthly figure for 2025 to date and since November 2024, when 2,560 units were sold. This compared with 940 units in July, and a mere 211 units a year ago.

This came as developers, ahead of the Hungry Ghost month, which is deemed by some as an inauspicious period to buy property, launched 2,496 new units in August, up 49 per cent from 1,675 units in July.

These include two new projects in the suburbs - the 941-unit Springleaf Residence in Upper Thomson and the 376-unit Canberra Crescent Residences in Sembawang - along with the 524-unit River Green in River Valley, and two city-fringe projects - the 596-unit Promenade Peak in Zion Road and 34-unit boutique project Artisan 8 in Sin Ming Road.