New home sales jump five-fold in March as launches return post-CNY lull

The strong take-up was led by River Modern and Pinery Residences.New private home sales in Singapore jumped 428.5% month on month (MoM) to 1,300 units in March 2026 from 246 in February, as launches surged to 1,043 units from just 15 the previous month.“Despite the outbreak of conflict in the Middle East from the end of Feb 2026, buyers were relatively unperturbed and showed up in thousands during the preview of River Modern and Pinery Residences. This showed their confidence in the mid to long term prospects of the Singapore property market,” said Mark Yip, CEO of Huttons Asia.According to Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) data cited by multiple property consultancies, sales were also up 78.3% from 729 units a year earlier, reflecting a sharp rebound after the Chinese New Year lull.“Including ECs, total new home sales surged by 628.2 per cent month-on-month from 266 units to 1,937 units in March 2026,” said Christine Sun, chief researcher and strategist at Realion Group.Sales in March were led by the launches of River Modern in the Core Central Region (CCR) and Pinery Residences in the Outside Central Region (OCR).River Modern sold 416 units at a median price of $3,220 per square foot (psf), whilst Pinery Residences moved 543 units, or about 92% of its total, at a median price of $2,547 psf.Demand was led by the OCR, which accounted for 51.2% of total sales, followed by CCR at 36.3% and the Rest of Central Region (RCR) at 12.5%.“The monthly volume of developer sales in March was also 82.6% more than the combined sales in January and February 2026, and the highest for the month of March since 2017,” said Leonard Tay, head of research at Knight Frank Singapore.“The brisk take-up across both the prime CCR and mass-market OCR segments points to broad-based demand, supported by a mix of owner-occupiers and upgraders,” said Kelvin Fong, CEO of PropNex.The EC segment also saw strong demand, with Rivelle Tampines selling more than 90% of its units. Sun noted that 275 EC units were transacted above $2m in March, a new monthly record, whilst 411 units were sold at $1,900 psf and above.Despite strong sales, affordability remained a key factor.“This showed that many buyers in the OCR remained quantum sensitive and had a sweet spot affordability of $2.5m and below,” said Yip, noting that 43.5% of transactions were priced between $2.5m and $5m.Propnex' Fong added that around 67% of units at Pinery Residences and 44% at River Modern were priced below $2.5m, whilst about 94% of Rivelle Tampines EC units fell within that range.The luxury segment also rebounded. Sun said 49 homes priced between $5m and $10mwere sold in March, up from six in February, whilst two units above $10m were transacted. Yip added that both units were sold at 32 Gilstead for about $14.5m each.Foreign buyers remained limited, accounting for 24 units or 1.8% of total sales, with Singaporeans and permanent residents making up the bulk of transactions.Looking ahead, developers are expected to launch projects such as Tengah Garden Residences and Vela Bay in April.“Barring unforeseen circumstances, transaction volume is estimated to be between 8,000 and 10,000 units whilst prices are estimated to grow between 2% and 5% in 2026,” said Yip.Fong expects around 9,000 units to be sold in 2026, supported by end-user demand and relatively favourable financing conditions, whilst Tricia Song head of research for Singapore and Southeast Asia at CBRE said “Barring major economic shocks, CBRE Research projects that 7,500 – 8,500 new homes will be sold in 2026,”“Higher energy prices and its knock-on effect on broad-based inflation can be expected to raise business costs and affect households,” said Tay, adding that any impact on employment could weigh on buyer sentiment.