On November 17, Singapore's home sales surged to their highest level in nearly a year, sparking renewed concerns about potential overheating in the market.

City developers sold 2,424 private units in October, according to figures released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority. This marks the highest sales since November of the previous year, when 2,560 homes were sold during a similar buying spree.

The recent burst of purchases is attributed to several factors including declining borrowing rates, intergenerational wealth transfers, and increased spending by affluent foreign residents. This trend risks pushing prices higher in an already expensive real estate market.

According to a financial stability review by the Monetary Authority of Singapore earlier this month, the average home sales volumes in the first three quarters of 2025 exceeded those of the past three years. The central bank noted that more favorable domestic interest-rate conditions could boost market sentiment and buying interest.

Historically, Singapore has implemented macroprudential measures to cool down the private property market, most recently increasing the seller’s duty to deter speculative transactions.

A survey conducted in the third quarter revealed that approximately 60% of senior real estate executives viewed government intervention to cool the market as a potential risk, up from 42% in the previous quarter.

The authorities have also made efforts to increase the supply of land for new private homes, typically built on government-auctioned parcels and sold years before completion. However, new land supply appears to be tapering off. The government plans to release land for about 4,500 new private residential units in the first half of 2026, a decrease of more than 10% compared to the same period in 2025, as stated by the Minister for National Development, Chee Hong Tat.

Not all recent projects have achieved success. For example, The Sen, a development in the prime Bukit Timah area, sold just over 20% of its 347 units during its launch last weekend, according to data from property agencies.