Singapore home sales at lowest since 2008 with developers and buyers locked in a stand-off
The financial hub has been grappling for months with slowing sales of new flats amid a stand-off between developers and homebuyers
Singapore new-home sales are likely to fall this year to their lowest level since the global financial crisis, according to property consultancies that cut their forecasts after yet another month of weak transactions.
Developers sold fewer than 2,700 units this year through August, according to Bloomberg calculations based on Urban Redevelopment Authority figures. CBRE Group Inc. and Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. now see the total for 2024 dropping below last year’s 6,421, which was the least since 4,264 in 2008.
The financial hub has been grappling for months with slowing sales of new flats amid a stand-off between developers and homebuyers. Builders are reluctant to cut prices while also limiting supply, pushing prospective buyers to turn to the second-hand market or wait for borrowing costs to fall before diving in.
Homebuyers remain “fairly keen” to purchase homes if second-hand prices meet their expectations, Chia Siew Chuin, JLL’s head of residential research in Singapore, wrote in a note. But some are also “exercising caution and staying on the sidelines, anticipating potential interest-rate cuts,” she said.
Only 208 new private homes were sold last month, URA figures showed on Monday. That’s a record low for August, according to available data going back to mid-2007.
In a month when some Singaporeans believe the spirits of the dead visit the living, developers appeared to be spooked by market conditions, with no major projects being launched.
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Singapore government doubles residential property tax for foreigners to 60 per cent
Despite the slowdown, private home prices have risen for four consecutive quarters, creating a headache for the government in one of the world’s most expensive housing markets. Property curbs including a 60 per cent stamp duty targeting foreigner purchases last year have yet to tame values, even as sales cool.
