(Jan 15): Singapore new home sales reached their highest level in years in 2025, even after transactions cooled during the holiday season.
Developers sold 197 new private homes in December, a typically slow month for purchases, figures released on Thursday by the Urban Redevelopment Authority showed. Based on calculations by Bloomberg, that means more than 10,700 units were likely sold in the year.
The annual figure surpasses the 6,469 units transacted in 2024 and would be the highest since 2021, when a surge in buying during the pandemic led to 13,027 homes being sold.
Authorities in the city state have for years sought to dampen the boom, including by introducing one of the highest stamp duties globally on foreign buyers in 2023. They heightened curbs last year to discourage the “flipping” of new units for a quick profit.
Still, the measures have yet to make a big dent in buyer interest, which has been driven by locals as well as wealthy immigrants and buoyed by lower borrowing costs. The resilience in demand is likely to complicate public calls by local realtors for the easing of housing measures in the country’s annual budget due on Feb 12.
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Home prices rose 3.4% in 2025, according to preliminary estimates released earlier this month, extending the market rally into its ninth year, even as the pace of increases slowed slightly. Final price and sales figures for 2025 are set to be released next Friday.
Looking ahead, analysts expect sales to moderate this year as the decline in interest rates tapers. CBRE Group Inc forecasts 7,500 to 8,500 new units to be sold in 2026, while Knight Frank projects 8,000 to 10,000.
Nicholas Mak, the chief research officer of property portal Mogul.sg, expects sales in the range of 8,000 to 9,000 units, as buyers become more selective. “A lot of people who want to buy would have bought and then now they may see what are the new offerings first,” he said.
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Mak expects prices to rise 2% to 3.5% this year. He said it is unlikely the government will roll back cooling measures, and there is a risk that interest rates may resume rising. “It will start eroding the purchasing power of homebuyers,” he said.
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