Anjia SG Private Residential Sales Monthly Report
November 2021
New Private Home Sales (excluding ECs)
(October 2021 vs November 2021)
In November 2021, new private home sales reached 1,547 units (excluding ECs), a surge of 70% month-on-month. Two new projects, Canninghill Piers and The Commodore, saw good take-up rates, collectively accounting for 48% of November’s sales. This marks the strongest November for new private home sales since the 1,702 units transacted in November 2011. Compared to the same period last year, developers’ sales last month doubled the 774 units sold in November 2020.
Sales in the Rest of Central Region (RCR) or city-fringe areas took the lead in November 2021, with a total of 910 new units sold. The successful launch of Canninghill Piers, which sold 576 units at a median price of S$2,887 per square foot, was the main driver for the leading sales volume in the RCR. This was followed by the Outside Central Region (OCR), with 459 new private homes sold, led by the sale of 164 units at The Commodore in the Sembawang/Canberra area (median price of S$1,513 per square foot). Meanwhile, the Core Central Region (CCR) saw a total of 178 new units transacted in November as buyers continued to cherry-pick units from existing projects like The Avenir and Leedon Green.
November’s sales brought the number of new private home transactions in the first 11 months of 2021 to 12,467 units, already surpassing the annual sales of the past seven years. Singapore property consultant Leo Kwek predicts that new private home sales in 2021 will exceed 13,000 units, which would be the highest annual sales since 14,948 units were sold in 2013.
The stellar performance of new private home sales in November, the best November sales data in a decade, has allowed the property market to end 2021 on a strong note. Healthy demand for new private homes and the dwindling unsold stock should continue to support developers’ confidence in their upcoming new launches and land acquisition assessments.
The two projects that spurred sales in November were Canninghill Piers, located on the former Liang Court site along the Singapore River and near Fort Canning, and The Commodore, located near Canberra MRT Station. These two new launches attracted different segments of buyers in the market. Canninghill Piers attracted investors, owner-occupiers, and expatriates, while The Commodore appealed to mass-market homebuyers and HDB upgraders.
In terms of the number of units launched, developers released 1,283 new private homes (excluding ECs) to the market in November 2021, a 94% increase from the 661 units launched the previous month. The new projects, Canninghill Piers and The Commodore, accounted for a total of 71% of all units launched in November, with 696 and 219 units launched, respectively.
Table 1. Breakdown of New Private Home Sales
Based on caveats lodged on the URA REALIS system, foreigners and Singapore Permanent Residents (PRs) accounted for 5.6% and 13.1% respectively of non-landed new private home sales in November 2021. Meanwhile, Singapore Citizens purchased 81.2% of non-landed private homes in November, a further decline from 83% in October (see Table 2).
Table 2. Residency and Nationality of Non-Landed New Private Home Buyers
Looking at the residency and nationality of new private home buyers across different regions in November 2021 (see Table 3), foreigners accounted for 12.9% of CCR buyers, while Singapore Citizens made up 74.2%. Meanwhile, homes in the RCR or city-fringe have become increasingly popular among foreigners and Singapore PRs — they purchased over 20% of the non-landed private homes in the RCR. Leo Kwek expects that interest from homebuyers in central region properties will maintain its growth momentum with the launch of more central projects and the reopening of borders under the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) scheme. The VTL will enable more foreign buyers and overseas investors to come to Singapore for property viewings.
Table 3. Residency and Nationality of New Private Home Buyers by Region in November 2021
In terms of price, based on caveats lodged, about 61.5% of the non-landed new private homes transacted in November 2021 were priced below S$2 million (see Chart 1), comparable to the figure in October (61%). Of these, the majority of sales under S$2 million consisted of RCR homes (52.3%), followed by OCR (40%), with CCR units making up the smallest portion (7.8%).
Chart 1: Price of Non-Landed New Private Homes Sold in November 2021
Table 4. Top-Selling New Private Homes in November 2021 (excluding ECs)
Outlook
Given the strong performance in November, it is unlikely that December’s sales figures will surpass November’s. However, new launches slated for December will still create a buzz, with Perfect Ten in Bukit Timah (CCR) and Mori at Guillemard Road/Jalan Molek (RCR) contributing to December sales. These two upcoming projects, along with previously launched central residential projects, will provide housing options that appeal to investors, including foreigners who can now visit Singapore for property viewings and purchases via the VTL.
Leo Kwek predicts that new private home sales for the full year of 2021 will exceed 13,000 units. Attractive new launches, favorable interest rates, the work-from-home trend, the desire to invest in real estate to hedge against inflation, and Singapore’s reputation as a safe haven for investment are all key factors that have motivated buyers to upgrade or enter the market this year.
As Singapore gradually moves towards ‘living with COVID-19 as an endemic disease,’ and with high vaccination rates paving the way for more VTLs, Leo Kwek is optimistic about the property market’s prospects for 2022. As inflation may intensify in 2022, more buyers will turn to residential properties to hedge against inflation. However, if inflation leads to a significant rise in interest rates, the increased cost of borrowing may deter potential buyers.
Barring a further worsening of the COVID-19 pandemic or a new round of cooling measures, Leo Kwek expects new private home sales to moderate in 2022, achieving a volume of 11,000 to 12,000 units, amidst dwindling unsold inventory and a limited number of large-scale new launches.
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