If you have been watching the new launch market, September looked like someone flicked a switch back on. Developers moved 296 new private homes (excluding executive condominiums) last month. That is nearly double August's 153 units, and 16.1 per cent higher than the 255 sold in September last year, according to URA data released on 15 October.
But before you read that as a market roaring back to life, look at the other number: developers only put 158 units on the market. The rebound is real, but it is being driven by timing and thin supply rather than a sudden surge of buyers.
What actually moved the needle
Two simple things happened. First, the Lunar Seventh Month ended on 10 September, and activity typically picks up once that quiet window closes. Second, buyers were still working through projects launched earlier in the year, even though almost no new ones came to market.
Amberwood at Holland was the only condo launch in September. It sold 24 units, and more than 60 per cent of them were four- and five-bedroom apartments, which tells you families were the ones signing. Two-thirds of the units sold there went for above $3 million. Against the 70 units released in its first phase, that worked out to about a third taken up, at an average of roughly $3,019 psf.
The volume leaders were projects already on the market. Terra Hill sold 32 units at a median $2,209 psf, and The Sen moved 25 at a median $2,386 psf. Both came in below the wider city-fringe median of $2,522 psf for new non-landed homes in September, which is a polite way of saying pricing did the selling.
By region, the city fringe (RCR) took the biggest share with 131 units, or 44.3 per cent. The suburbs (OCR) followed with 125 units (42.2 per cent), while the prime core (CCR) accounted for 40 units (13.5 per cent).
The quiet surprise: landed homes
Buried in the numbers is a detail that stood out to the analysts. Of the 296 homes sold, 19 were landed properties, the highest monthly figure since April 2018, according to Huttons Asia chief executive Mark Yip.
The reason is a narrowing price gap. The premium a new terrace home commands over a resale one shrank to 20.8 per cent in Q3, down from 27.7 per cent in Q2. When the new-versus-resale gap tightens that much, some buyers decide they may as well buy new. Luxus Hills sold 18 terrace houses and Belgravia Ace moved nine semi-detached strata units. That landed activity also pushed the median transaction size in the suburbs up to $3.2 million for the month.
Bigger cheques, fewer of them
September's deals skewed expensive. About 65 per cent of transactions fell in the $2.5 million to under $10 million band. The priciest sale was a 2,088 sq ft unit at Skywaters Residences for $11.48 million, bought by a Singaporean, and it was the only condo deal at $10 million or above for the month.
Two 2,056 sq ft apartments at UpperHouse at Orchard Boulevard also changed hands, at $7.8 million and $7.3 million. So the top end is not frozen. It is just selective.
Zoom out: supply is the real story
Here is the context that makes September's headline number easier to read. In the first nine months of 2026, developers launched about 4,790 units, down 41.9 per cent from 8,247 in the same period last year. Sales over the same stretch totalled around 5,334 units, a 30.4 per cent drop.
A big part of that is timing. Several government land sale sites awarded earlier will only reach the market in 2027. In other words, the pipeline is thin now because it was always going to be thin now.
The EC market is running on empty
Executive condominiums barely featured. Developers sold 23 new EC units in September, up from 18 in August but still a small number. Coastal Cabana led for the fourth straight month with 19 units at a median $1,811 psf. By the end of September, only around 145 EC units were left unsold across launched projects, and no new EC project has been rolled out since Rivelle Tampines.
For EC hopefuls, that scarcity is the thing to watch. It is not a price story yet, but it is a choice story.
What's coming in the fourth quarter
October is already busier. Lucerne Grand at Lakeside Drive sold more than 61 per cent of its units over its launch weekend on 3 and 4 October, at an average of about $2,480 psf.
Still to come:
- The Serra Residences on Bassein Road, a freehold project in prime District 11, launched on 16 October.
- Thomson Reserve debuts on 31 October with 1,268 units, priced from $2,608 psf or $1.544 million. It will be the largest new private residential launch in Singapore this year.
- The Park Residence on Stevens Road, a 43-unit ultra-luxury freehold project with units above 4,000 sq ft each.
PropNex's read is that buyers will stay picky and gravitate towards projects where location, layout and pricing line up. That matches what September showed: the projects that sold were the ones priced below their neighbourhood benchmark.
What it means if you're in the market
Three practical takeaways:
- Choice has been the real shortage this year, not demand. That starts to ease in Q4, especially with a 1,268-unit mega launch in Thomson.
- Pricing discipline still wins. Terra Hill and The Sen outsold everything partly because they undercut the wider city-fringe median.
- If you are selling a resale unit, expect buyers to compare you directly against new launches. In landed homes, that gap has already narrowed.
September's 296 units is a healthy bounce off a very low base. It is not evidence that the market has shifted gears. The next real test is whether the Q4 launches can hold their pricing without discounts.
Sources
EdgeProp Singapore via Yahoo: Spike in number of new private homes sold in September 2026
The Business Times: New private home sales nearly double in September to 296 units