For international investors, being knowledgeable about the laws and limitations surrounding property ownership in Singapore is crucial. In comparison to landed properties, foreigners face fewer restrictions when purchasing condominiums. However, they are required to pay the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD), which currently stands at 20% for their initial property acquisition. Despite this added expense, many foreign buyers are drawn to the stability and immense growth potential of the Singapore real estate market, which also offers a wide selection of New Condo Launches.
Sales of new private homes maintained their strong pace in February, bolstered by the introduction of new developments. According to data released by URA on March 17, developers recorded a total of 1,575 units sold (excluding executive condos) last month, representing a staggering 45.4% increase from January’s sales of 1,083 units. The year-on-year comparison is even more impressive, with February’s sales over 10 times higher than the 153 units sold in February 2024. This performance marks the highest February sales for developers in 13 years, since they sold 2,417 units in February 2012. Tricia Song, the head of research for Singapore and Southeast Asia at CBRE, notes that February’s sales, including ECs, totaled 1,604 units, a 45.3% rise from January. Developers have already sold 2,658 units (excluding ECs) since the beginning of the year, a significant increase compared to last year when it took eight months to reach a similar figure. Leonard Tay, the head of research at Knight Frank Singapore, observes that this strong performance in February can be attributed to the launch of two major projects in the Outside Central Region (OCR): the 1,193-unit ParkTown Residence in Tampines North and the 501-unit Elta on Clementi Avenue 1. Last month, ParkTown Residence recorded sales of 1,041 units at a median price of $2,363 psf, making it the best-selling project for the month. This translates to an 87% take-up rate at the integrated development, which is a collaborative effort between UOL Group and CapitaLand Development. The second best-performing project was Elta, with 65.1% or 326 units sold by developers MCL Land and CSC Land Group at a median price of $2,538 psf. Song from CBRE points out that both ParkTown Residence and Elta are located in suburban areas that have not seen any supply in the past five years, contributing to the projects’ robust performances. Taking these two projects into account, developers launched 1,694 units for sale in February, a considerable increase of 89% from the 896 units launched in January. Additionally, developers’ sales in the OCR reached a whopping 1,452 units, accounting for an astonishing 92% of the total new private homes sold in February. This marks the best showing for the OCR in over nine years, since 1,523 units were sold in July 2015, says Wong Siew Ying, head of research and content at PropNex Realty. Sales in the Rest of Central Region (RCR) accounted for 98, or 6.2% of the units sold in February. The top-selling RCR project was the existing launch Pinetree Hill, with 22 units sold at a median price of $2,613 psf. In the Core Central Region (CCR), only 25 units were sold, making up 1.6% of developers’ sales last month. The best-selling CCR project last month was 19 Nassim, which sold five units at a median price of $3,372 psf. Four units were also sold at One Bernam at a median price of $2,651 psf. The 351-unit One Bernam, which was launched for sale in May 2021, is now fully sold. When it comes to buyer profiles, Singapore citizens were the most significant new private home buyers at 92.4%, followed by permanent residents at 6.9%, according to Lee Sze Teck, senior director of data analytics at Huttons Asia. Foreigners accounted for 11 new home purchases, one of which was the acquisition of two units at 32 Gilstead for $14.47 million and $14.61 million, making them the most expensive transactions in February so far. A record number of suburban homes were sold for over $2 million in February. Christine Sun, chief researcher and strategist at OrangeTee Group, notes that 603 new private homes (including ECs) were sold in the OCR for at least $2 million, the most sold for this price range in a single month since the first release of URA data in 1995. “The previous record was set in November 2024 when 512 new homes in the OCR were sold for at least $2 million,” she adds. Of the 603 OCR homes that were sold for over $2 million, 596 units were non-landed homes, mostly consisting of units from ParkTown Residence (397 units), Elta (145 units), and Hillock Green (16 units). PropNex’s Wong notes that the average unit prices of recent launches have “decoupled from the sub-market where these projects are located”. While property prices typically follow a pecking order led by the CCR, followed by the RCR and then the OCR, recent launches indicate that this may no longer always be the case. As an example, Wong points out that The Collective at One Sophia, a CCR project that launched in November, sold 73 units at an average unit price of $2,743 psf through URA data until the end of February. According to her, this is lower than the average transaction price of units sold at Union Square Residences ($3,175 psf) in the RCR and only slightly higher than The Orie ($2,734 psf), also in the RCR. Number of units sold and average psf price at selected new launches from November 2024 to February 2025 Meanwhile, recent OCR launches such as Chuan Park, Elta, and Bagnall Haus have recorded average unit prices of $2,589 psf, $2,544 psf, and $2,489 psf, respectively, surpassing RCR schemes such as Nava Grove, which logged an average unit price of $2,460 psf. Wong believes that the price gaps between regions could be attributed to various factors, including site-specific characteristics of projects, amenity-driven pricing, demand by HDB upgraders, and the location of certain projects on the cusp of the CCR. In the coming months, Wong predicts that prices may continue to converge as new RCR projects such as One Marina Gardens in Marina South and future developments on residential sites on Zion Road hit the market. The momentum in developers’ sales is expected to remain robust in March, backed by recent launches such as the 477-unit Lentor Central Residences, the 188-unit Aurea, and the 760-unit Aurelle of Tampines EC. “As of mid-March, these projects have collectively sold more than 1,150 units, promising a strong end to the quarter,” comments Marchus Chu, CEO of ERA Singapore. In light of the robust sales at the beginning of the year, ERA has revised its projection for new private home sales in 2025 to between 8,500 and 9,000 units, up from the previous range of 7,000 to 8,000. According to Lee from Huttons, developers sold over 3,200 units (excluding ECs) in the first quarter of the year. This would be the highest first-quarter sales since 2021, he adds. Going into the second quarter, new launches lined up include the 358-unit Bloomsbury Residences, the 937-unit One Marina Gardens, the 638-unit W Residences Singapore – Marina View, and the 107-unit Arina East Residences. However, despite the strong momentum established in the first quarter, not all projects launched in the coming months may perform equally well, says Knight Frank’s Tay. “Homebuyer demand will largely depend on the specific location and property characteristics of each new project launch, with some projects performing better than others,” he says.