Sluggish start to 2024 ends in decade-high home sales at year’s end
It started on Nov 6 with the open of the 367-unit The Collective at One Sophia, followed by the 366-unit Union Square Residences at Havelock Roadway on Nov 9. Momentum built up with the launch of the 916-unit Chuan Park on Nov 10, and it rose over the weekend of Nov 15-16 with 3 projects launched jointly: the 846-unit Emerald of Katong, the 552-unit Nava Grove, and the 504-unit Novo Place executive condominium (EC).
Yip observes that the dispatch of the 276-unit freehold Kassia on Flora Drive around late July, that accomplished a 52% take-up rate, set the stage for solid business energy following the Lunar Seventh Month.
Speculation is now rampant about the possibility of further real estate cooling steps, offered the uncharacteristically high November sales. “While November’s sales numbers are impressive, they offer an incomplete picture for predicting cooling procedures,” Chia notes. “The market excitement was greatly driven by a year-end rush to launch projects.”
In 3Q2024, brand-new home sales leapt 60% q-o-q, according to Huttons, that regarded a turn in sentiment, which some credit to the 50-basis point rate of interest cut by the United States Federal Reserve in September.
According to Chia Siew Chuin, JLL’s head of residential research, the sluggish functionality of the exclusive residence sector in the first three quarters of 2024 produced an atypical year-end scenario. “Property developers, who had continuously postponed launches as a result of financial unpredictabilities and hopes for better situations, ultimately rolled out ventures in November.”
Chia says this decisive shift from vigilance to response was prompted by the approaching year-end cheery lull and enhanced market belief since the third quarter of 2024. “The surge in activity has transformed November right into an unusually dynamic time frame for real property release, defying the normal seasonal slowdown and developing a vibrant industry environment.”
“Despite close tracking by authorities, brand-new steps are likely to stay on hold unless clear indicators of persistent market overheating emerge,” Chia adds.
The first project introduced after the Lunar Seventh Month was the 158-unit 8@BT at Bukit Timah Web Link. Over the weekend of Sept 21– 22, 53% of its units were gotten at a common cost of $2,719 psf.
The real estate industry in 2024 unfolded in 2 starkly different halves. The first part was slow, with shop developments taking centre stage and the smallest number of units released up for sale as 1H1996, according to Huttons Data Analytics. Sales amount mirrored this fad, with just 1,889 units sold– the most affordable ever since 1996.
The 348-unit Norwood Grand in Woodlands additionally attained several breakthroughs. Over the weekend of October 19-20, it saw a take-up rate of 84%, reaching the very popular project in regards to rate of sales as of October. The common rate of units sold was $2,067 psf, marking the first time a property in Woodlands exceeded the $2,000 psf limit.
The solid November efficiency drove total developer transactions for the very first 11 months of 2024 to 6,344 units. Year-end numbers are expected to exceed 6,500 units, surpassing the 6,421 units sold in 2023. “This shows the durability and strength of the real property market,” states Huttons’ Yip. “It marks the lasting appearance of real property as an asset for wealth development and preservation.”
The exception was the 533-unit Lentor Mansion, which achieved a 75% take-up price during its release weekend in March. Many various other venture launches in 1H2024 saw reasonably lacklustre revenues contrasted to 2023.
Norwood Grand was the first new private residential project released in Woodlands in 12 years. Its solid performance was in addition a very clear indicator of expanding purchaser confidence and demand, according to Huttons’ Yip. It set off a tidal wave of event in November with a record-breaking 6 new assignments consisting of 3,551 units unleashed over 10 days.
” Market sentiment was reluctant and cautious,” mentions Mark Yip, CEO of Huttons Asia. “It could be due to uncertainties in the job market and persistently high rates of interest. Purchasers were likely holding back, waiting for the extremely anticipated plan launches later in the year, including Chuan Park and Emerald of Katong.”
Developer revenues in November soared to 2,557 units– the biggest number since March 2013, when 3,489 units were introduced and 2,793 were offered, according to Huttons Data Analytics.
Further proof of raised sales momentum arised on Oct 5, the moment more than 50% of the 226 units at Meyer Blue were purchased in private sales. Units were settled at an average price of $3,260 psf, establishing a new standard for the prime District 15 enclave on the East Coast.
With cumulative brand-new home sales in 2024 most likely to stay on a par with that in 2023, Chia considers regulatory treatment “unlikely”. Any treatment, she says, will rely on two factors: continual sales drive right into the first quarter of 2025 and a concurrent sharp increase in property costs exceeding GDP growth.
