February new-home sales fall 47% amid launch drought

Developers sold 246 units as the March rebound builds.Developers sold 246 new private homes in February, excluding executive condominiums, down 47.2% from January’s 466 and 84.6% from 1,597 a year earlier, as the Chinese New Year period and a lack of fresh launches hit monthly volumes.Only 15 units were launched for sale in February, from previously launched landed project Pollen Collection II, versus 786 units in January. Huttons said this was the lowest monthly launch volume since records began in 2007.Analysts said the weak showing did not signal a collapse in demand, but rather reflected a temporary shortage of new supply. PropNex said transactions at River Modern alone during its 7 to 8 March launch weekend had already exceeded February’s full-month sales, whilst CBRE also said sales should pick up strongly from March as launches resume.By segment, the Rest of Central Region led February sales with 103 units, followed by the Outside Central Region with 80 and the Core Central Region with 63.Newport Residences was the top-selling project for a second straight month, moving 32 units at a median price of $3,059 per square foot, ahead of Pinetree Hill on 19 units and Chuan Park on 14.The absence of new launches also shifted the sales mix towards higher-value homes. PropNex said homes priced below $2.5m made up about 42% of non-landed new private home sales in February, down from 66% in January, whilst CBRE said the largest share of transactions fell in the S$3m to S$5m bracket.Including executive condominiums, developers sold 266 new homes in February, down 73.1% from 990 in January, according to Realion. In the EC segment alone, sales fell to 20 units from 524 in January, with Otto Place EC the top seller at 10 units.Most buyers remained local. Huttons said Singaporeans accounted for 86.6% of buyers in February and permanent residents for 10.1%, whilst PropNex said foreigners made up 3.3% of non-landed new home sales excluding ECs, or eight units.