After a hot sales month in July, local new private home sales in August plunged by more than 70 per cent year-on-year, mainly dueto the impact of the seventh lunar month and buyers becoming more cautious in the high interest rate environment.

Excluding executive condominiums (ECs), the number of new private residential units sold in August was only 394, a 10 per cent drop from the same month last year and 72.1 per cent lower than the 1,412 units sold in July. 590 new private residential units were launched in August, a 72.6 per cent drop from the previous month.

In terms of regional distribution, Outside Central Region (OCR) saw the largest number of new private residential launches, with a total of 316 units and 192 sold, while 194 units were launched and 96 sold in the Core Central Region (CCR). Other Central Regions (RCR) had only 80 units launched in August, but a total of 106 new private residential units found buyers in August due to the high number of units launched in July.

As the seventh lunar month starts in mid-August, new launches were concentrated in the first half of August, with no new projects at all in the second half of the month. According to caveats, more than 283 new flats were sold before the start of the seventh lunar month.

Developers are not necessarily refraining from launching new projects based on taboos. If the market atmosphere is favourable and demand is strong, developers will still open new flats in Lunar New Year's Eve, and buyers will snap them up as usual.

With a 117.6 per cent increase in the number of new flats launched in the first eight months of this year, "buyer fatigue" is beginning to set in.

Buyers are becoming more cautious, taking time to evaluate projects launched in the past few months and upcoming projects.

Of the new projects launched in August, Altura, an executive condominium, was the best seller, with 225 of its 360 units, or 63 per cent, sold.

With interest rates climbing since the second half of last year and affordability becoming a growing concern for buyers, the focus in the next few months is expected to be on ECs.

Other private homes launched in August included Orchard Sophia, The Arden, The Lake Garden Residences and TMW Maxwell.

Foreign buyers purchased 12 new private residential units in August, with half of them in CCR and the other half in RCR and OCR. Midtown Modern and Pullman Residences were the most popular among foreigners, with two units each sold in August. The largest number of foreigners purchased properties in the $2 million to $5 million range, with a total of four units and three transactions over $5 million.

For this year's sales outlook, it is predicted that between 7,000 and 8,000 new private residential units will be sold this year, compared with 7,099 units last year, which is less than the five-year average of 9,763 units per annum.