Analysts say sales are expected to rebound to more than 1,000 units as several new projects come on stream in July.

The latest estimates released by the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) on Monday (July 17) showed that developers sold a total of 278 flats last month, down 43.03 per cent from the same period last year.

Among them, the Other Central Region (RCR), which represents mid-range private residential properties, recorded the highest number of sales, with 147 units sold. Sales in the Core Central Region (CCR), which represents high-end private housing, and the Outside Central Region (OCR), which represents mass-market private housing, were 112 and 19 units, respectively.

Including executive condominiums (ECs), sales fell 71.88 per cent to 297 units in June from 1,056 units in May, and were also down 40.12 per cent year-on-year.

Developers launched only 31 new private residential units in June, down 98.06 per cent from 1,595 units in May and the fewest since records began in 2007.

Only one small condominium project was launched last month, Lavender Residence in Kallang, which has only 17 units and sold eight units in June.

Huttons' senior research director, Sidney Lee, said the significant drop in new private home sales in June was mainly due to school holidays and the absence of large-scale project launches. It also reflected the tight supply of unsold flats in the market.

He said foreign buyers continued to decline following the Government's cooling measures. According to the Urban Renewal Authority's caveats data, foreign buyers purchased 13 new private residential units in June, a 56.7 per cent drop from the previous month.

With The Myst, Lentor Hills Residences, Grand Dunman and Pinetree Hill coming on stream this month, new private home sales are expected to pick up strongly in July," said Wong Siew Ying, head of research and content at Propnex. to pick up strongly in July. Together, these four projects sold more than 1,100 units during their openings on the weekends of 8 July and 15 July."

Lee Sze-tak forecasts new private residential sales in July to be between 1,200 and 1,400 units.

Wong Siew Ying believes the sales momentum may continue into August, especially in the EC market. Altura in Bukit Batok may be the only EC project to be launched this year and should be popular with buyers. In addition, it has been 22 years since a new EC project debuted in the Bukit Batok area, with the last launch of a new EC project in May 2001, The Dew in Bukit Batok's 21st Street.

Other possible launches in August include Mattar Residences, Orchard Sophia, The Arden and The LakeGarden Residences.

However, Mak Chun-wing, chief research officer of Mogul Property Website (MOGUL.sg), believes that new private home sales may fluctuate in the coming months. He said, "Developers may hold off on launching projects in August, partly because it is the seventh month of the lunar calendar, commonly known as the 'Ghost Month', as well as to allow the market to soak up the inventory of newly launched units."

He said 10 private residential projects with 2,350 flats could debut in the next few months of the year. Due to the high supply of new projects as well as limited demand, it will become increasingly difficult for projects coming down the pipeline to sell more than 40 per cent of their units in the first weekend of opening.