If you haven't heard the news, well, new launch fever has hit town. Emerald of Katong sold out 99 per cent of its 846 units over the launch weekend, Nava Grove moved 65 per cent of its units, and Novo Place managed to sell 57 per cent at an average of $1,654 psf. That's a total of 1,480 transactions so far, not even counting the 696 units sold at Chuan Park the previous weekend.
This runs contrary to a lot of what we hear online, where buyers have been saying prices are more unaffordable than ever. What's going on? We asked around on the ground:If you’ve been keeping track of the new launch market, you would know that the first half of 2024 only registered 1,916 units sold. This figure is the lowest half-year figure recorded since 2008, and more incredibly, it is even lower than the second half of 2008 (the global financial crisis) when 1,977 units were sold. If we add last weekend's 1,480 units to the current 5,186 units, that brings to a total of 6,666 units. Looking at the numbers from the past few years, this still represents a low number of new units sold — which isn't reflective of last weekend's bumper sales. It's more that the new launches have been concentrated in the last quarter of 2024, which may have distorted the overall view. And as we saw with AMO Residence, and Chuan Park, a lot of the buying could be due to pent-up demand. That is, HDB upgraders in the area have had view options over the past few years. When the rare new launches come about, they're quick to make the leap, having waited in the wings for a long time. (Proximity to their old home makes a big difference to some buyers, as they want to continue being near their parents, favourite hang-out spots, etc. even after they move). Some of these new launches are also big projects (Chuan Park has 916 units), and the sale of so many units makes the jump in transaction volumes very noticeabl