Singapore home sales at lowest since 2008 with developers and buyers locked in a stand-off

Singapore new-home sales are likely to fall this year to their lowest level since the global financial crisis, according to property consultancies that cut their forecasts after yet another month of weak transactions.

Developers sold fewer than 2,700 units this year through August, according to Bloomberg calculations based on Urban Redevelopment Authority figures. CBRE Group Inc. and Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. now see the total for 2024 dropping below last year’s 6,421, which was the least since 4,264 in 2008.

The financial hub has been grappling for months with slowing sales of new flats amid a stand-off between developers and homebuyers. Builders are reluctant to cut prices while also limiting supply, pushing prospective buyers to turn to the second-hand market or wait for borrowing costs to fall before diving in.

Homebuyers remain “fairly keen” to purchase homes if second-hand prices meet their expectations, Chia Siew Chuin, JLL’s head of residential research in Singapore, wrote in a note. But some are also “exercising caution and staying on the sidelines, anticipating potential interest-rate cuts,” she said.