As the market winds down for the year, the number of project launches dwindled to just one in November compared to four in October.
Developers launched 347 units for sale in November, 84.5% lower m-o-m and 87.9% lower y-o-y. In November 2024, developers pushed out five major projects.
The sole launch in November was The Sen, also the first project in the Upper Bukit Timah area in five years. Developed by Sustained Land, the 347-unit project sold 77 units at a median price of $2,339 psf.
According to Mark Yip, CEO of Huttons Asia, buyers were drawn to the “lush surrounding greenery” and “hard-to-beat” starting price of below $1 million for a one-bedroom unit.
Christine Sun, chief researcher and strategist at Realion (OrangeTee & ETC) Group, says buyers were likely drawn to the city fringe location as it is convenient to travel to the city centre via public transport along the Downtown Line, as well as by car via the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) and along Bukit Timah Road.
“Many were also attracted to the existing retail and dining amenities in the Bukit Timah and Beauty World area,” adds Sun. “Future residents at The Sen will also benefit from the upcoming Master Plan transformation, including a redeveloped food center and an integrated transport hub at Beauty World.”
Moreover, entry prices were “competitive” at a median of $2,339 psf, says Sun, compared with $2,550 psf for new non-landed homes in the Bukit Timah area in 11M2025.
See also: Singapore homebuying frenzy hits lull in absence of new projects
Huttons’ Yip notes that more than 80% of the units sold in The Sen were below the “sweet spot” price of $2.5 million, a level where loan eligibility, mortgage affordability and government regulations are said to strike a perfect balance.
At this price, buyers can secure up to 75% financing, with monthly repayments typically around $9,000.
A total of 325 units were sold in November, 86.6% lower m-o-m and 87.3% lower y-o-y.
Huttons Data Analytics estimates developer sales excluding executive condominiums (ECs) in 11M2025 at 10,624 units. This is around 97% of Huttons’ estimate for the full year.
Sales of ECs in November were similar to the previous month at 21. The number of unsold EC units dropped to a low of 44 in November, notes Yip.
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Market ‘taking a breather’
The year-end holidays “will see the market taking a breather” in December, says Yip. He forecasts sales of between 200 and 250 units this month.
Coastal Cabana, the first EC in Pasir Ris in more than 10 years, could see pent-up demand from buyers, says Yip. The first preview weekend, which began Dec 6, attracted more than 4,000 visitors.
Coastal Cabana, developed by a consortium comprising Qingjian Realty, Forsea Holdings, ZACD Group and Jianan Capital, is one of the rare ECs offering sea views, notes Yip. There will be a new community hub in Pasir Ris, he adds, and sales booking for Coastal Cabana will take place in January 2026.
Huttons Data Analytics estimates developer sales for 2025 to be as high as 11,000 units, the highest annual sales number since 2021.
Prices, on the other hand, are forecast to grow between 3% and 4% y-o-y in 2025.
‘Just under 11,000’, says Knight Frank
Meanwhile, Knight Frank Singapore research head Leonard Tay thinks the number of primary transactions should end the year at “just under 11,000 units” as new sale numbers in December “are not likely to move the needle by much”.
“Despite 2025 being characterised with economic uncertainty, political tensions, insular protectionist policies, limited military conflict and extreme climate episodes, Singapore’s residential market not only remained resilient but also defied gravity with buoyant sales, especially at showflats,” says Tay in a Dec 15 note. “The declining interest rates since September 2024 motivated homebuyers into purchases as unemployment remained contained, notwithstanding news of layoffs in a few high-profile multinational firms.”
Moving into 2026, however, it is unlikely that there will be a repeat of developer sales above the 10,000-unit level, says Tay.
“While annual primary sales recorded five-digit volumes in consecutive years between 2009 and 2013, a repeat of more than 10,000 new sales per annum has not been repeated since, and an encore should not be expected next year,” he adds.
For instance, there were 10,566 new sales in 2017 and 13,027 new sales in 2021, based on quarterly Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) data, but an above-10,000 transaction volume did not materialise in the respective following years.
“The full suite of cooling measures currently in force is significantly more restrictive than how it was before the pandemic,” notes Tay. “The lack of successful collective sales in the past few years is not adding many new development sites alongside parcels sold in the government land sales (GLS) programme. The almost-11,000 new sales in 2025 would also have taken quite a substantial chunk of buyers out of the market.”
Given the combination of the above factors, Knight Frank projects new sales in 2026 to range from 8,000 to 10,000 units.
“While lower than the serendipitous total in 2025, the private home market nonetheless remains supported by the continued but slower easing of interest rates, low unemployment rate, largely intact household earnings and savings, as well as wealth that is being passed down from affluent baby boomers and Generation X to their children, facilitating the spin-off of new households,” writes Tay.
Realion sets narrower target
Compared to Knight Frank, Realion’s Sun expects around 10,900 to 11,100 new home transactions for 2025.
Looking ahead, Sun also has a narrower forecast range of around 8,500 to 9,500 new homes (excluding ECs) to be sold in 2026.
“We expect new home sales to pick up in January after buyers return from their year-end trips. Moreover, several highly anticipated projects are slated for launch in the first quarter of next year, including the 540-unit Narra Residences, the 860-unit project at Tengah Garden Avenue, the 455-unit River Modern, the 246-unit Newport Residences and the 572-unit EC at Tampines Street 95,” writes Sun.
These projects are situated in attractive locations near public transport nodes and retail amenities, she adds. Overall, however, fewer project launches are anticipated in 2026, possibly dipping to 17 projects from 26 this year.
Photos and tables: Huttons, Realion Group, Knight Frank
