January new home sales down 57% yoy at 466 units, with two new projects launched

[SINGAPORE] Developers sold 466 private homes (excluding executive condominiums) in January, down 57 per cent from the year-ago period, as 2026 opened with two projects launched in the first month of the year.

January sales were up 136.5 per cent from the 197 units sold in December, data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority on Monday (Feb 16) showed.

Including executive condominiums, 990 units were sold in January with 1,534 units launched; in January 2025, 1,104 units were sold and 896 units were launched. In December that year, 234 units were sold and 52 units were launched.

A total of 786 units hit the market in January, some 15 times the number launched in December 2025, but 12.3 per cent lower than the year-ago period, noted Huttons Asia chief executive officer Mark Yip.

The two condo launches in the month – Narra Residences and Newport Residences – accounted for just over half of January’s new sales tally, he added.

Some 82.6 per cent of buyers in Newport Residences – a City Developments Limited project in the central business district that had been postponed since 2023 – were Singaporeans. Foreigners made up 3 per cent.

The proportion of foreign buying was higher in Newport Residences than in other Core Central Region (CCR) launches since the second half of 2025, said Yip, who suggested that this could be because of the location of the development in the CBD.

The S$3,070 per square foot (psf) median pricing at Newport Residences made for a “very attractive” price point for a freehold CCR project, relative to recent 99-year leasehold launches in the prime region.

About three-quarters of the units sold in the project were priced at S$2.5 million and below, Yip said.

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Newport Residences sold 57 per cent or 140 of its 246 units, at an average of S$3,370 psf at its launch weekend.

PropNex head of research and content Wong Siew Ying said: “This potentially indicates a carry-over of sales momentum from 2025, when developers’ sales in the CCR reached a four-year high, supported by competitive pricing, an increase in CCR launch supply, and a more moderate interest-rate environment.”

At Narra Residences in the Dairy Farm area, about 80 per cent of buyers purchased units priced at S$2 million and below, an affordable quantum for those upgrading from public housing, said Yip.

The development sold about a quarter, or 135 of its 544 units at an average price of S$2,180 psf.

Many launches in 2025 recorded strong take-up rates of more than half over their launch weekends, but such performances should not be seen as the norm, said Wong.

A more measured take-up at launch – as in the case of Narra Residences – is not unusual and can be constructive, giving developers greater pricing flexibility to respond to shifting market conditions as more projects come onstream, she added.

Among the three market segments, the Outside Central Region (OCR) led in condo and private apartment sales, accounting for 39.3 per cent of sales in January.

Wong expects the OCR to be lively in 2026, with several attractive launches potentially lined up, including in Tengah, Chuan Grove and Bayshore.

This was followed by the CCR, which accounted for 34.8 per cent of primary sales, and the Rest of Central Region, which made up 26 per cent of new sales last month.

Citing caveats lodged, Wong noted that about 67 per cent of new private homes (excluding ECs) sold in January were priced below S$2.5 million.

Developers continue to calibrate pricing to keep within the budget range of prospective buyers, extending the “quantum play” strategy of last year, said Wong.

With no new projects booking sales in February amid the Chinese New Year lull, home sales for the month are expected to slump before picking up in March.

Following the festive period, new launches in the pipeline include GuocoLand’s River Modern in the River Valley precinct, Hoi Hup and Sunway’s Pinery Residences, and Sim Lian’s Rivelle Tampines EC.

The EC segment, which could have three more projects following the launch of Rivelle Tampines, is expected to perform well in 2026.

This comes as Coastal Cabana, which hit the market in January, booked healthy take-up rates of more than 67 per cent, underpinning resilient demand from first-time homebuyers and HDB upgraders, said Wong.

“The relative affordability of new ECs against other private condo launches remains a key driver of buying interest.”

According to caveats lodged, the median transacted unit price of new EC units was S$1,788 psf in January, about 17 per cent lower than the S$2,164 psf for new 99-year leasehold, non-landed private homes in the OCR.