New private home sales fizzle in Dec as launch activity dwindles

December's private new home sales sank to a 10-month low following November's sizzling sales, as developers held back new launches during the holiday period.

- Grace Leong

New home sales, excluding executive condominiums (ECs), plummeted to a mere 203 units—a new low since February 2024 when 153 units were transacted—from 2,560 units in November.

However, sales were up 50.4 percent from a year ago, according to data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority on Jan 15.

This takes the 2024 tally of new homes sold to 6,560 units, up 2.2 percent from 2023's 6,421 units—a 15-year low for developer sales, since 4,264 units were sold during the global financial crisis in 2008.

Including ECs, new home sales plunged 87.1 percent to 373 units, from 2,894 units in November.

New launch activity dwindled to just 20 units in December following a blockbuster launch of 2,871 units in November. This was down 44 percent from a year ago.

No new EC units were launched in December.

Developers' sales in the first nine months of 2024 had been much weaker as sentiment was dented by still-high interest rates at the time, higher prices and a lack of attractive new launches.