Despite rising tensions in the Middle East, Singapore’s private residential market is expected to remain resilient, supported by owner-occupiers who contribute to the bulk of demand, say HSBC Global Investment Research analysts Rayson Khoo and Joy Wang.
During periods of global uncertainty, local buyers might even allocate more capital to Singapore property, add Khoo and Wang in a March 16 report. “[This] may have contributed to the strong sales at River Modern earlier this month.”
GuocoLand’s 455-unit River Modern sold an “impressive” 90% of its units at launch on March 7, at an average selling price of $3,266 psf. “We see this as further evidence of market resilience, which bodes well for upcoming project launches such as Pinery Residences and Rivelle Tampines executive condominium (EC),” say Khoo and Wang.
Located next to each other, both developments are currently open for preview and are scheduled to launch later this month.
New private home sales for February came in at 246 units (excluding EC), down 47% m-o-m due to the lack of launches.
On a y-o-y basis, year-to-date primary transactions declined 73%, and represent 8% of HSBC’s 2026 forecast of 8,500 units.
See also: ‘More than two cheques per unit’: GuocoLand’s 455-unit River Modern sells 90% of units at launch
Some 24% of units sold in February had an average selling price (ASP) of more than $3,000 psf, with February Core Central Region (CCR) sales increasing 152% y-o-y, while Rest of Central Region (RCR) sales increased 5% y-o-y and Outside Central Region (OCR) sales fell 94% y-o-y.
In the secondary market, condo resale prices rose 0.5% m-o-m in January, though transaction volumes declined 3.5% m-o-m, according to Singapore Real Estate Exchange (SRX).
The premium bid price for a recent Lentor Government Land Sales (GLS) plot highlights developers’ landbank replenishment needs, say the HSBC analysts.
The most recent Lentor Central land tender was awarded at a top bid (out of five bidders) of $1,278 psf per plot ratio (ppr) to Mainboard-listed developer GuocoLand and consortium partners Intrepid Investments and TID Residential. “This was 5.7% above the next highest bidder and above the winning bids for the seven earlier sites sold in the Lentor precinct between 2021 and 2025.”
For context, Lentor Gardens Residences, the seventh plot of land expected to launch in 2Q2026, was awarded at $920 psf ppr.
“We believe the premium paid for the final Lentor plot reflects both strong demand in the precinct (with 99% of units across the past six launches sold) and developers’ ongoing need to replenish their landbank, underscoring continued confidence in Singapore’s private residential sector,” add the analysts.
