The lack of major new launches continued to weigh on new private home sales in February. Developers sold 527 new homes (ex. Executive Condos) last month, representing a 22.5% decline from the 680 new units transacted in January 2022. This is the slowest monthly new home sales since 487 units were sold in May 2020. On a year-on-year basis, sales were down by 18.3% from the 645 units transacted in February 2021. There was just one new project launched during the month – the 32-unit Royal Hallmark in Haig Road – which sold 10 units at a median price of $1,905 psf. In February, developers placed 194 units (ex. ECs) for sale on the market. This is an increase of nearly 9% from the 178 units placed on the market in January. New home sales tend to be driven to a large extent by the new launches put up during the month. Given the dearth in new project launches, the muted sales in January and February was unsurprising. In addition, several other factors likely weighed on sales as well, such as the seasonal lull due to the Chinese New Year festive period and the market still mulling over the impact of the December 2021 cooling measures. The Rest of Central Region (RCR) accounted for just over half of February’s sales with 266 transactions or 50.5% of the monthly total. Within RCR, Normanton Park led sales, transacting 85 units at a median unit price of $1,855 psf. Meanwhile, 160 new private homes changed hands in the Outside Central Region (OCR). Dairy Farm Residences was the top seller in OCR with 32 transactions at a median price of $1,716 psf. The sales volume recorded in the OCR in February 2022 is the weakest monthly sales volumes that this sub-market had seen since 98 units were sold in April 2020, where the circuit breaker measures were imposed. In the Core Central Region (CCR), new home sales fell to a one-year low with 101 units sold in February 2022. Leedon Green was the most popular CCR project during the month – transacting 14 units at a median price of $2,838 psf. The cooling measures introduced in December 2021 could have put a drag on sales in the CCR, as this sub-market tends to attract foreign buyers and buyers with multiple properties, who are more severely affected by the hike
in additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD) rates. Despite the expectations that demand from foreigners and property investors may weaken due to the increased ABSD rates introduced in December 2021, the proportion of foreign 
buyers inched up slightly in February 2022. Based on Realis caveats, foreigners accounted for 4.9% of the new private home sales in February 2022. Meanwhile, Singaporeans and Permanent Residents (PRs) bought 79.3% and 15.6% of the private new homes sold in February 2022 respectively. The proportion of new homes purchased by Singaporeans in February fell from the 86% recorded in the previous month –as many buyers are likely monitoring the market and waiting for more new launches to come on.