Dai Yuk Cheung director of industrial research and consultancy, Lan Zhenwen, said the sharp increase in sales was mainly due to sales driven by the four new developments that opened in July, which included the launch of Pinetree Hill and Grand Dunman in Other Central Region (RCR), which represents the mid-range private residences; and the launch of Lentor Hills Residences in Other Central Region (OCR), which represents the mass private residences; and the launch of Lentor Hills Residences in Lundo area in Outer Central Region (OCR), which represents the mass private residences. Outside the Central District (OCR), Lentor Hills Residences was launched in the Lentor area, and The Myst was launched in Bukit Timah.

In terms of volume, sales in Other Central Region (RCR), which represents the mid-range segment, accounted for 59 per cent of total sales in July, while sales in Core Central Region (CCR), which represents the upmarket segment, and Outside Central Region (OCR), which represents the mass-market segment, accounted for 6 per cent and 35 per cent of total sales.

Developers launched 2,156 new private residential units in July, significantly higher than the 31 units launched in the previous month, and hence a two-and-a-half-year high.

In the Other Central and Outside Central districts, sales of new private residential units came mainly from newly opened property projects, such as Pinetree Hill in the Other Central District (RCR), which sold 150 units, and Grand Dunman, which sold 549 units, with the combined sales of the two developments accounting for 84 per cent of the district's total sales for the month, while in the Outside Central District (OCZ), which represents the mass-market private sector, sales were higher than the previous month's high of 31 units. In the Outside Central Region (OCR), which represents mass-market private residences, Lentor Hills Residences sold 333 units, while The Myst, a condominium project in the Bukit Timah section, sold 127 units, with the two developments accounting for 94 per cent of the total sales in the district. In the Core Central Region (CCR), which represents the high-end private residential sector, a number of projects, such as Klimt Cairnhill, saw a varying number of units sold.

As the local property market has become increasingly competitive, pricing pressure has weakened significantly. With a large number of new projects launched in July, both recently launched projects and previously launched projects adopted a cautious pricing strategy. Among the top 10 sellers, apart from the four new launches, the median selling price (MSRP) of three projects (Marble Crest, Liv@Mb and Greendale Arcade) increased by 1.9 per cent in July from a year earlier, while the median selling price of the other three projects dropped by 2.5 per cent from a year earlier.

Following the introduction of the cooling measures, the share of foreign buyers in the overall number of new private residential units purchased has been decreasing, from 3.7 per cent in May to 2.4 per cent in June, and then to 1.5 per cent in July. In the Other Central Region (RCR) in particular, the share of purchases made by expatriate buyers fell significantly, from 2.7 per cent in June to 1.5 per cent in July. Lan Zhenwen expects foreign buyers to adopt a wait-and-see attitude in the coming months, but their demand may pick up towards the end of the year.

Buyers are more likely to be attracted to reasonably priced projects due to the tighter financing environment, with the share of new private homes priced at S$1.5 million and below surging to 25 per cent in July, compared to 4 per cent in June. Similarly, there was an increase in the proportion of smaller units, with the proportion of units under 700 square feet (65 square metres) rising to 37 per cent in July, compared to 26 per cent in June.

Lan Zhenwen expects about 2,000 to 3,000 private residential units to be launched in the rest of the year. However, his forecast for new private residential sales for the whole of this year has been lowered to 6,500 to 7,500 units (compared with a previous forecast of 7,000 to 8,000 units) due to the recent low turnover of newly launched projects.

However, the fundamentals of the local property market remain stable due to the persistence of rigid demand in the market, coupled with a tight labour market and solid household asset positions. However, the continued uncertainty in the macroeconomic environment and rising financing costs, as well as the gradual slowdown in resale HDB sales, have put constraints on demand and price growth. In addition, market sentiment has become more volatile as momentum has slowed.

Lan Zhenwen expects that overall private home prices may swing sideways in the second half of 2023. This is due to a tighter financing environment that makes it unaffordable for individual buyers, while still-high construction and land costs will have an impact on pricing. He expects private home prices in Singapore to increase by between 3-5 per cent for the whole of this year, following the 8.6 per cent jump in private home selling prices in 2022.

Nonetheless, the Singapore property market as a whole remains fairly stable, given the tight labour market and rigid housing demand.