New private-home sales fell 45% as Singapore’s launch calendar shrank

Developers sold 1,183 uncompleted private homes, excluding executive condominiums (ECs), in Q3 2026—958 fewer than in the previous quarter. Yet Singapore’s overall private-home price index rose 1.4%, picking up from a 0.5% increase in Q2, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s final figures released on 23 October 2026.

For buyers hoping quieter sales would bring cheaper choices, another number matters: developers launched just 1,140 units, compared with 1,783 in Q2. The quarter brought both fewer new units to choose from and fewer developer sales, while the broad price measure continued upwards.

Fewer sales, but also fewer fresh choices

The fall in developer sales was 44.7% quarter on quarter, calculated from URA’s counts of 2,141 units in Q2 and 1,183 in Q3. New launches fell by 36.1%, or 643 units, over the same period. Both comparisons exclude ECs.

Put another way, for every 100 units launched in Q2, developers launched about 64 in Q3. For every 100 developer sales in Q2, there were about 55 in Q3. Sales therefore fell more sharply than launches, but the two measures moved down together. These are calculations from URA’s quarterly figures, rather than a finding about why individual buyers held back.

There is an important distinction between the two counts. Units launched measure the fresh flow offered for sale during the quarter; developer sales are purchases recorded during that period. They are not necessarily the same batch of homes. Dividing 1,183 sales by 1,140 launches would therefore not establish a project take-up rate.

For someone comparing condominiums, the practical question is narrower than whether the whole market was busy: did the quarter bring a suitable home within reach? A smaller launch calendar matters differently to a family seeking a particular layout than to a buyer who is flexible about location and size.

The price rise was not uniform

The 1.4% increase covers private residential property overall. For non-landed homes—the more relevant category for condominium buyers—prices rose 1.0% in Q3.

Even within that category, the regional picture varied. Non-landed prices rose 2.3% in the Outside Central Region, which covers the suburban market, and 0.3% in the Core Central Region. Prices in the Rest of Central Region were unchanged.

That spread is more useful than treating the headline increase as a price adjustment to every apartment. A buyer looking at a suburban condominium and another considering a city-fringe home were looking within regions with different quarterly price movements. Neither regional figure supplies the asking price—or the eventual agreed price—of a particular unit.

For a launch comparison, start with the actual home rather than adding 1.4% to an older reference price. Compare the total asking price, usable layout, floor, facing and tenure. Keep any claimed advantage specific: a higher floor or a more convenient layout needs to justify its own premium, not borrow credibility from a national index.

Resale buyers did not retreat at the same pace

The resale market provides a useful contrast. URA recorded 3,801 resale transactions in Q3, against 3,813 in Q2—a decline of just 12 transactions, or about 0.3%. That was a much smaller change than the 44.7% fall in developer sales.

Resales accounted for 73.9% of private residential sale transactions, up from 62.0% in the previous quarter. The higher share occurred while the resale count stayed almost flat and developer sales fell substantially; it was not accompanied by a surge in resale volume.

For a buyer choosing between a launch and an existing home, this is a reason to keep both options in the comparison. It is not evidence that one is automatically better value. The useful exercise is to ask what the same budget buys in each: internal space, condition, location and a move-in timetable that works for the household.

An existing apartment can be assessed as it stands. For an uncompleted purchase, separate confirmed specifications from proposed facilities and assumptions about the eventual experience. A comparison is only helpful if it accounts for those differences, rather than placing two headline prices side by side.

More supply is coming—but it is not today’s shortlist

At the end of Q3, URA estimated that roughly 32,800 private housing and EC units could be made available for sale over the next one to two years. That figure includes unsold supply with planning approval and supply without approval yet. It is a pipeline estimate, not a count of units immediately available to buy.

Its scope also differs from the quarterly developer-sales figures: the pipeline includes ECs, while the 1,183 sales and 1,140 launches exclude them. Those numbers should not be set against one another as though they describe identical choices.

Waiting may make sense if today’s available units fail a household’s basic requirements. But the pipeline total alone does not establish when a suitable project will open, which layouts will be offered or what they will cost. Those remain project-level questions.

Q3’s clearest lesson is about the choices actually on offer: fewer new units reached the market, developer sales fell sharply, and prices still rose. The next useful development for a launch buyer is not simply a bigger sales number. It is the release of a home that fits—at a price that stands up against real alternatives.