New Private Home Sales Fall in May Amid Lack of New Launches

Buyers stay cautious with economic outlook hit by trade frictions and geopolitical tensions

- Grace Leong

New private home sales tanked for a second straight month in May as developers held back new launches and buyers remained cautious amid an uncertain economic outlook pummelled by global trade frictions and geopolitical tensions.

Excluding executive condominiums (ECs), new private home sales dropped to a mere 312 units from 663 in April as the number of newly launched units plummeted to a mere 20 from 1,344 units in April. But May's sales were still 39 per cent above the 223 units sold in the same month in 2024.

Including ECs, new private home sales fell to 336 units in May from 759 the previous month. No new EC units were launched in May.

But May's sales still outperformed those of other months in the past three years when no new projects were launched, primarily because of lower interest rates, said Mr Justin Quek, chief executive officer of OrangeTee & Tie.

In fact, 4,350 new private home sales (excluding ECs) were recorded in the first five months of 2025, anchored by robust sales at a few large suburban and city-fringe new launches in the first quarter.

This is up from 1,688 units in the same period in 2024, prompting some analysts to anticipate a gradual rebound in the second half of 2025 as several major new projects are launched.