Ravi Chandran
Dec 2020 home sales data showed developer sales have surged in December, after two months of below-1,000 unit sales, with 1,217 new private homes sold
Dec 2020 home sales data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority on Friday (15 January) showed that 1,217 new private homes (excluding Executive Condos) were sold in December, up by 57.2% month-on-month (MOM) from the 774 units that were shifted in November 2020. On a year-on-year (YOY) basis, developers’ sales more than doubled from the 538 units (excl. ECs) transacted in December 2019, becoming the top December monthly sales since 2012.
This brings private home sales (excl. ECs) in Q4 to 2,636 units, -25.0% QOQ but +7.9% YOY, and the highest Q4 sales since Q4 2012’s 4,353 units. This brings the full year 2020 new sales to 10,015 units, 1.0% above the 9,912 units sold in 2019.
In December, developers sold 48 ECs – which are a hybrid of public and private housing –flat from the 48 sold in November, and 269% more than the 13 ECs sold in December 2019. This brings total developer sales (including ECs) in December 2020 to 1,265 units, up 53.9% MOM and 129.6% YOY.
Ms Tricia Song,, Head of Research for Singapore at Colliers International, commenting on the Dec 2020 home sales data said: “After two months of below-1,000 unit sales, developer sales surged again in December, on vaccine optimism and boosted by two attractively-priced launches. This is also the highest December monthly sales since 2012’s 1,410 units, as Decembers are typically associated with very weak launches and sales with most people travelling overseas during the school holidays.”
Top 10 Selling Projects in December 2020 (including EC)
| Project Name | Street Name | Tenure | Locality | Units Sold in the Month | Median Price ($psf) in the Month | % sold to date (of total) | |
| 1 | Clavon | Clementi Avenue 1 | 99 yrs | OCR | 473 | 1,637 | 74% |
| 2 | Ki Residences At Brookvale | Brookvale Drive | 999 yrs | OCR | 172 | 1,766 | 26% |
| 3 | Parc Clematis | Jalan Lempeng | 99 yrs | OCR | 50 | 1,651 | 71% |
| 4 | Treasure at Tampines | Tampines Lane | 99 yrs | OCR | 37 | 1,400 | 75% |
| 5 | Jadescape | Shunfu Road | 99 yrs | RCR | 33 | 1,785 | 90% |
| 6 | Piermont Grand (EC) | Sumang Walk | 99 yrs | OCR | 27 | 1,140 | 84% |
| 7 | Avenue South Residence | Silat Avenue | 99 yrs | RCR | 23 | 2,101 | 58% |
| 8 | The Florence Residences | Hougang Avenue 2 | 99 yrs | OCR | 23 | 1,625 | 67% |
| 9 | The Garden Residences | Serangoon North View | 99 yrs | OCR | 22 | 1,544 | 93% |
| 10 | Midwood | Hillview Rise | 99 yrs | OCR | 19 | 1,605 | 15% |
Source: Colliers International, URA. CCR: Core Central Region; RCR: Rest of Central Region; OCR: Outside Central Region.
The best-selling private residential projects in December were topped by the two successful new launches in the suburbs – Clavon and Ki Residences at Brookvale, which collectively sold 645 units, or 53% of the total (excluding ECs) sold.
The others in the top 10 were mostly earlier launches, with some laggards on buyers’ radar now that the earlier popular projects are now substantially sold. Parc Clematis, a neighbouring launch of Clavon, rounded up the top three, moving 50 units at a median price of SGD1,651 psf.
Colliers noted that the prices of those that are have crossed or approaching 80% sell-through rates have seen prices firming up, such as Jadescape and The Piermont Grand EC.
2 New Launches in December 2020
| Project Name | Street Name | Tenure | Locality | Total Number of Units in Project | Units Launched in the Month | Units Sold in the Month | Median Price ($psf) in the Month | % sold to date (of total) |
| Clavon | Clementi Avenue 1 | 99 yrs | OCR | 640 | 500 | 473 | 1,637 | 95% |
| Ki Residences At Brookvale | Brookvale Drive | 999 yrs | OCR | 660 | 660 | 172 | 1,766 | 26% |
| Parc Clematis | Phoenix Avenue | 99 yrs | OCR | 74 | 74 | 5 | 1,520 | 7% |
Source: Colliers International, URA. CCR: Core Central Region; RCR: Rest of Central Region; OCR: Outside Central Region.
There were two new project launches in December – both in surburbs (or the OCR), and did well due to the attractive price quantum relative to their tenure or location.
Clavon has sold 473 units at a median price of SGD1,637 psf, 95% of the 500 units launched. The stellar performance of Clavon, had been driven by its proximity to NUS, popular primary schools and reasonable distance to Clementi MRT station.
999-year leasehold Ki Residences at Brookvale, while tucked in a low-rise enclave and not near any MRT station, still sold 26% of its total and launched units, due to its relatively attractive price of SGD1,766 psf.
Analysing the Dec 2020 home sales data, Ms Song said: “Over 85% of the total developer sales in December 2020 were priced at the median price of SGD1,000-2,000 psf, compared to 47% in November 2020, as the major launches were in the suburbs or OCR. HDB upgraders may have come back, after being sidelined for two months, attracted by the attractive attributes of the new launches.”
“13% of the total developer sales in December 2020 were priced at the median price of SGD2,000-3,000 psf, compared to 51% in November when city-fringe projects dominated.
In December, Outside Central Region (OCR) or the proxy for the mass market segment made up 75.9% of total sales (excl. ECs), compared to 31.1% in November 2020. The Rest of Central Region (RCR) or city fringe projects made up (excl. ECs) 19.1%, compared to 57.9% in November 2020. Core Central Region (CCR) or a proxy for the high-end segment fell to 4.9%, compared to 11.0% in November.
Momentum in the high-end segment appeared mixed. Leedon Green sold six units at a median price of SGD2,739 psf, after moving 18 units in November. The Avenir moved another eight units at a median price of SGD3,100 psf, after moving six units in November. The priciest unit on a per square foot price came from one unit at Boulevard 88 at SGD3,674 psf.”
Dec 2020 home sales data suggests that January could see stronger developer sales, but this would depend on the reception of the mega launch of 1,862-unit Normanton Park, which reportedly saw 12,000 visitors over its preview period of January 2-14. Other upcoming major projects in the pipeline include 165-unit one-north Eden and 230-unit Perfect Ten at Bukit Timah Road. Two EC projects – 413-unit Provence Residence at Canberra Link and 700-unit Parc Central Residences at Tampines Avenue 10 are also waiting at the wings.
Commenting on the outlook for developers’ sale for January Ms Song said, “2020 has been surprisingly resilient in terms of new sales and prices. Flash estimates on 4 January showed that private home prices were up 2.2% for the full year 2020, despite Singapore experiencing the deepest recession since independence.”
“Going forward, with a brighter economic outlook in 2021, we expect private residential prices to improve in the same direction. However, with the market’s resilience and prices up 2.2% in 2020, we expect private home price growth to be a modest 5% in 2021, tracking the expected GDP growth.
With economic recovery expected in 2021, we forecast stronger buying power partially offset by fewer new launches, so buyers will likely have to dip into ongoing launches or enter the secondary market. We expect 2021 developer sales to be around 10,000 units, similar to 2020.”
