SINGAPORE — The executive condominium (EC) market sizzled last month with sales of the hybrid public-private homes surging to a record high, as pent-up demand was met by new launches that returned to the market after an almost year-long hiatus.

Developers sold 855 units of ECs last month, up almost tenfold from only 90 sales in October, latest figures by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) showed yesterday.

Last month’s figure was a record high since the URA first published the EC market data in 2007.

This came as 1,758 EC units were launched — also a record high — after an 11-month pause as developers are now only allowed to start selling their EC projects 15 months after the date of award of the sites or after physical completion of the foundation works.

“The number of EC units sold last month is higher than the total number of EC units sold in the first 10 months of this year.

This is the result of pent-up demand meeting pent-up supply as there was an absence of new ECs,” said Mr Nicholas Mak, executive director of research and consultancy at SLP International Property Consultants.

Three EC projects hit the market last month with Lake Life topping the sales chart.

Despite its heftier price tag, the EC at Tao Ching Road saw sales of 533 out of 546 units at a median price of S$869 per square foot (psf). Bellewaters at Anchorvale Crescent sold 170 out of 651 units at a median of S$813 psf, while Bellewoods at Woodlands Avenue 5 offloaded 79 out of 561 homes at S$800 psf median.

JLL’s national director of research and consultancy Ong Teck Hui said Lake Life’s better sales performance was due to its more attractive location within the Jurong Lake District, indicating that buyers are willing to pay a premium for projects with strong attributes.

Meanwhile, the private homes segment saw developers selling 47.5 per cent fewer units last month at 412 homes, although they launched 27.1 per cent more units at 859 homes, the URA data showed.

Besides the year-end seasonal slowdown, analysts attributed the lower sales to interest being diverted to the relatively more affordable ECs — a key consideration given the current tight credit environment.

The best-selling private project last month was TRE Residences at Geylang East Avenue 1, which sold 52 out of 250 units at a median of S$1,588 psf. The only other new launch — Sophia Hills at Mount Sophia — moved nine out of 493 units at a median of S$2,292 psf.

The suburban areas, or Outside Central Region (OCR), led the segment with 186 units sold, followed by the city fringes or Rest of Central Region (RCR) at 147 units and the city centre or Core Central Region (CCR) at 79 units.

Analysts said this month’s sales will likely be slow too, as developers start winding down on new launches.

“Developers’ sales volume is expected to come in at under 400 units to close the year with primary home sales volume in the region of 7,300 to 7,500 units — this is about half of the 14,984 units sold for the whole of last year,” said Ms Chia Siew Chuin, director of research and advisory at Colliers International.