New Launch Condos: What Sales Galleries Leave Out (2026)
What sales galleries leave out: how '% sold' works, freebies and rebates as hidden price cuts, shrinking units and rental claims, with 2026 numbers.
A new launch is a legitimate way to buy a home, with a standard contract, staged payments and a defects warranty. But it is sold by people paid to close, using a short list of tactics. The “truth” is mostly that the headline price, the ”% sold” and the freebies each hide something you can check yourself. Check them before you pay a booking fee.
At a glance
- “70% sold” is not 70% of a project. It can count options granted, in one phase, after VIP sales. A buyer who lets an option lapse can lose only 25% of the booking fee, so units can come back on sale.
- Compare net price per square foot of strata area. A lower total price can hide a smaller home, and a freebie is a discount you should be able to price.
- Ask for every promise in writing. URA tells buyers to get written confirmation of anything offered outside the specifications.
- The agent at the gallery works for the developer. URA’s Home Buyers’ Guide says appointed agents represent the developer’s interests.
- 2026 is a buyer-friendly supply backdrop. URA counted 15,810 unsold units with planning approval at end-June, so a “last few units” claim deserves scrutiny.
What has changed since this article was first written
Earlier versions of this article, written between 2013 and 2020, talked about ABSD of 5% to 15% and earlier Seller’s Stamp Duty terms. Those figures are gone. Today a citizen pays 20% ABSD on a second home and 30% on a third. SSD for homes bought from 4 July 2025 runs for four years at 16% / 12% / 8% / 4% (IRAS). The old “buy at launch, flip before completion” play is expensive now. The sales tactics have not changed much, though.
Tactic 1: the crowd and the ”% sold”
A full car park, a queue of agents and groups at the discussion tables make a launch look hot. A headline of “70% sold” adds to the effect. Ask what it leaves out: how many units were released in this phase, how many phases there are, and how many units went to VIPs before the launch.
The headline can also overstate real sales. Under the standard process in URA’s Home Buyers’ Guide, you pay a booking fee of 5% to 10% for an option. You then have three weeks from delivery of the contract to sign it. If you do not, the developer may keep 25% of the booking fee and resell the unit. So an option can be counted as a sale and then return. In 2018 and 2019, earlier versions of this article tracked gaps between launch-weekend claims and later official data. The mechanism has not changed.
What to do. Look at the project’s figures in URA’s developers’ sales information and recent transactions in later months, not the launch-weekend press report.
Walking away costs less than you think. Say you pay a 5% booking fee on a S$2.0m unit: S$100,000. If you let the option lapse, the developer may keep 25% of it, or S$25,000. That is a real loss, and still far cheaper than buying a home you doubt. If an agent asks for a “blank” cheque as an expression of interest, URA says it is not a commitment to buy. Ask for it back if you do not proceed.
Tactic 2: the carrot
Developers rarely like to cut the list price, because it hurts earlier buyers and the project’s price record. So the discount often arrives as something else.
| Tactic | What it really is | How to price it |
|---|---|---|
| Cash rebate | A price cut paid later | Take the net price. Ask your lawyer how it affects stamp duty and your loan |
| Furniture or renovation voucher | A discount in kind | Ask for the same value off the price instead |
| Rental guarantee | Part of the price handed back as “rent” | Add up the guaranteed rent and treat it as a discount, then ask who backs it and when it ends |
| “Star buy” units | Leftover stock, often bad facing or returned units | Find out why the unit is still there |
| Mark-up then discount | List prices raised, then cut | Compare with recent transactions in the same project |
Worked example (mark-up then discount). A unit sells for S$1.8m. The developer raises the list price to S$2.0m, a rise of 11.1%, then offers a “10% launch discount”. The buyer pays 0.9 × S$2.0m = S$1.8m. The discount is real on paper and nil in practice. Only a check of recent transactions in the project shows it.
What does the law say about extras? Developers may offer items beyond the contract specifications. URA’s guide advises written confirmation of any such item. It also notes that curtains, lighting and wallpaper in the show unit are decoration and will not be provided.
Tactic 3: the shrinking home
A S$1.5m price sounds cheaper than a S$1.8m price. But it may buy less home. Compare price per square foot (psf) on strata area, the area in the contract.
Worked example. A new one-bedder-plus-study of 650 sq ft at S$1.5m costs S$2,308 psf. An older 1,000 sq ft three-bedder at S$1.7m costs S$1,700 psf. The first has the lower price tag and the higher unit price, by about 36%.
Developers must show the unit’s area broken down into rooms, balcony, air-con ledge and void before they take your booking fee, according to URA. Read the breakdown and subtract the voids and ledges. URA also limits very small units. For sites outside the Central Area, its handbook says no more than 20% of dwelling units may have a nett internal area of 50 sqm (about 538 sq ft) or less. So tiny units exist, but they cannot be most of a project. Our guide to picking the best unit shows how to read a floor plan.
- New sales (from developers)
- Resales
Latest: New S$2,341 psf (Q2 2026); Resale S$1,793 psf (Q2 2026).
Medians of URA caveat prices divided by floor area, calculated by Propwise. A quarter appears once it is complete. New-sale medians depend on which projects launch in the quarter, so the two lines compare different mixes of homes.
Table view
| Period | New sales (from developers) | Resales |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | S$2,341 psf | S$1,793 psf |
| Q1 2026 | S$2,664 psf | S$1,766 psf |
| Q4 2025 | S$2,817 psf | S$1,768 psf |
| Q3 2025 | S$2,511 psf | S$1,767 psf |
| Q2 2025 | S$2,768 psf | S$1,748 psf |
| Q1 2025 | S$2,433 psf | S$1,723 psf |
| Q4 2024 | S$2,568 psf | S$1,684 psf |
| Q3 2024 | S$2,226 psf | S$1,663 psf |
| Q2 2024 | S$2,257 psf | S$1,662 psf |
| Q1 2024 | S$2,274 psf | S$1,626 psf |
| Q4 2023 | S$2,436 psf | S$1,623 psf |
| Q3 2023 | S$2,416 psf | S$1,566 psf |
| Q2 2023 | S$2,535 psf | S$1,575 psf |
| Q1 2023 | S$2,579 psf | S$1,547 psf |
| Q4 2022 | S$2,744 psf | S$1,485 psf |
| Q3 2022 | S$2,198 psf | S$1,476 psf |
| Q2 2022 | S$2,284 psf | S$1,445 psf |
| Q1 2022 | S$1,970 psf | S$1,358 psf |
| Q4 2021 | S$2,070 psf | S$1,366 psf |
Source: URA. Data to Q2 2026. Licences and notices
Tactic 4: the “guaranteed” return
If you are buying to rent out, an agent may quote a yield. Do the sum yourself.
Worked example (assumptions, not a forecast). Say a citizen with no other property buys a S$1.8m unit and expects S$5,000 a month in rent.
- Loan at 75%: S$1.35m, at 1.8% over 30 years. The instalment is about S$4,856 a month. About S$2,025 of it is interest in the first month, and the rest builds equity.
- Maintenance: S$450 a month (assumed).
- Property tax for a rented home, with annual value assumed at S$60,000: 12% on the first S$30,000, 20% on the next S$15,000 and 28% on the next S$15,000, which is S$10,800 a year, or S$900 a month (IRAS rates).
- Cash needed up front: 25% (S$450,000) plus S$59,600 of BSD, about S$509,600, before legal fees.
The gross yield is S$60,000 ÷ S$1.8m = 3.3%. After the instalment, maintenance and tax, the monthly cash flow is S$5,000 − S$4,856 − S$450 − S$900 = −S$1,206. That is a cash-on-cash return of about −2.8% a year, before any capital gain. If this were a second home for a citizen, ABSD of 20% (S$360,000) would apply, and the loan limit would fall to 45%. Package rates are about 1.5–1.8% floating and 2.0–2.2% fixed after the September Fed hike, so your own result will differ. Try your own numbers in the mortgage calculator. Check agent claims against URA’s published rental data, and against listings of comparable homes.
What a new launch does give you
Balance matters. Licensed developers must use the standard option and sale agreement. They cannot amend them without the Controller of Housing’s approval. They owe you vacant possession by a set date, with damages if they are late. If the final surveyed area is more than 3% smaller than the contract area, the price is reduced for the excess. You also get a 12-month defects liability period. Our guide on developer defects explains how it works.
You also get time. Payments follow construction stages, and your loan is drawn only as stages complete. For a fuller comparison, see new launch vs resale.
The 2026 backdrop
URA’s flash estimate figures showed private home prices rose 1.4% in Q3 2026. The gain was uneven: +2.2% outside the central region, +0.2% in the rest of the central region, and -0.1% in the core central region. Supply is ample. URA counted 15,810 unsold units with planning approval at end-June 2026, and the 2026 land sales programme confirms 9,320 more homes. Developers need buyers as much as buyers need homes. That is your leverage to ask for the net price in writing.
- Core Central Region
- Rest of Central Region
- Outside Central Region
- Policy measures (select one for details)
Latest: CCR 161.5 (Q2 2026); RCR 226.2 (Q2 2026); OCR 271.1 (Q2 2026).
Table view
| Period | Core Central Region | Rest of Central Region | Outside Central Region |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | 161.5 | 226.2 | 271.1 |
| Q1 2026 | 158.6 | 228.9 | 271.4 |
| Q4 2025 | 157.7 | 227.1 | 265.6 |
| Q3 2025 | 163.4 | 225.5 | 263.0 |
| Q2 2025 | 160.7 | 224.8 | 260.9 |
| Q1 2025 | 156.0 | 227.3 | 258.1 |
| Q4 2024 | 154.8 | 223.5 | 257.3 |
| Q3 2024 | 150.9 | 217.0 | 249.1 |
| Q2 2024 | 152.6 | 215.3 | 249.1 |
| Q1 2024 | 153.1 | 211.9 | 248.6 |
| Q4 2023 | 148.1 | 211.3 | 248.1 |
| Q3 2023 | 142.5 | 213.0 | 237.4 |
| Q2 2023 | 146.5 | 208.6 | 225.0 |
| Q1 2023 | 146.6 | 213.9 | 222.3 |
| Q4 2022 | 145.4 | 204.9 | 218.2 |
| Q3 2022 | 144.4 | 198.7 | 224.0 |
| Q2 2022 | 141.2 | 193.3 | 208.4 |
| Q1 2022 | 138.6 | 181.7 | 204.1 |
| Q4 2021 | 138.7 | 186.7 | 199.7 |
| Q3 2021 | 135.1 | 175.0 | 188.9 |
| Q2 2021 | 135.8 | 170.6 | 189.1 |
| Q1 2021 | 134.3 | 170.4 | 185.6 |
| Q4 2020 | 133.6 | 160.6 | 183.6 |
| Q3 2020 | 129.5 | 153.8 | 180.4 |
| Q2 2020 | 134.6 | 150.0 | 177.4 |
| Q1 2020 | 131.1 | 152.6 | 177.2 |
| Q4 2019 | 134.1 | 153.4 | 177.9 |
| Q3 2019 | 138.0 | 155.4 | 173.1 |
| Q2 2019 | 135.3 | 153.4 | 171.7 |
| Q1 2019 | 132.3 | 148.2 | 171.0 |
| Q4 2018 | 136.4 | 149.2 | 170.7 |
| Q3 2018 | 137.8 | 146.6 | 169.5 |
| Q2 2018 | 136.0 | 148.5 | 169.7 |
| Q1 2018 | 134.8 | 140.6 | 164.8 |
| Q4 2017 | 127.8 | 138.9 | 156.1 |
| Q3 2017 | 126.0 | 138.3 | 154.9 |
| Q2 2017 | 125.9 | 137.6 | 153.7 |
| Q1 2017 | 126.5 | 136.8 | 154.2 |
| Q4 2016 | 127.0 | 136.4 | 154.0 |
| Q3 2016 | 126.9 | 139.2 | 154.9 |
| Q2 2016 | 129.4 | 140.6 | 156.5 |
| Q1 2016 | 129.0 | 140.3 | 157.3 |
| Q4 2015 | 128.6 | 140.3 | 159.4 |
| Q3 2015 | 129.0 | 140.9 | 159.4 |
| Q2 2015 | 130.6 | 143.2 | 162.0 |
| Q1 2015 | 131.4 | 144.1 | 163.8 |
| Q4 2014 | 131.9 | 146.6 | 165.6 |
| Q3 2014 | 133.1 | 148.6 | 167.0 |
| Q2 2014 | 134.2 | 149.2 | 167.6 |
| Q1 2014 | 136.2 | 149.7 | 169.1 |
| Q4 2013 | 137.6 | 154.8 | 169.3 |
| Q3 2013 | 140.5 | 154.2 | 170.9 |
| Q2 2013 | 140.9 | 155.6 | 167.3 |
| Q1 2013 | 141.2 | 155.3 | 161.1 |
| Q4 2012 | 140.3 | 155.0 | 158.9 |
| Q3 2012 | 139.4 | 153.6 | 153.2 |
| Q2 2012 | 139.2 | 152.3 | 151.6 |
| Q1 2012 | 138.4 | 151.7 | 150.9 |
| Q4 2011 | 139.2 | 152.5 | 149.2 |
| Q3 2011 | 138.5 | 152.4 | 148.4 |
| Q2 2011 | 137.5 | 150.6 | 145.3 |
| Q1 2011 | 135.3 | 148.9 | 142.8 |
| Q4 2010 | 133.9 | 145.9 | 138.6 |
| Q3 2010 | 131.0 | 143.3 | 135.8 |
| Q2 2010 | 128.9 | 140.0 | 132.9 |
| Q1 2010 | 122.4 | 133.8 | 125.7 |
| Q4 2009 | 117.2 | 124.1 | 120.5 |
| Q3 2009 | 109.2 | 113.3 | 113.4 |
| Q2 2009 | 94.8 | 95.6 | 97.7 |
| Q1 2009 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
| Q4 2008 | 119.4 | 120.4 | 107.9 |
| Q3 2008 | 127.6 | 128.3 | 114.6 |
| Q2 2008 | 131.2 | 131.5 | 116.3 |
| Q1 2008 | 131.3 | 130.6 | 115.2 |
| Q4 2007 | 126.5 | 126.4 | 111.0 |
| Q3 2007 | 117.7 | 117.4 | 103.7 |
| Q2 2007 | 108.6 | 108.7 | 96.1 |
| Q1 2007 | 100.7 | 100.6 | 89.7 |
| Q4 2006 | 95.4 | 96.9 | 87.9 |
| Q3 2006 | 90.9 | 94.8 | 86.5 |
| Q2 2006 | 86.3 | 94.4 | 85.8 |
| Q1 2006 | 82.5 | 94.4 | 84.5 |
| Q4 2005 | 81.5 | 94.1 | 84.3 |
| Q3 2005 | 79.7 | 94.1 | 83.6 |
| Q2 2005 | 77.9 | 94.1 | 83.6 |
| Q1 2005 | 77.6 | 93.7 | 83.6 |
| Q4 2004 | 76.9 | 92.9 | 83.4 |
| Q3 2004 | 76.4 | 92.2 | 83.0 |
| Q2 2004 | 76.1 | 91.6 | 82.7 |
| Q1 2004 | 76.0 | 91.5 | 83.0 |
Policy measures marked on this chart (22)
- 2025-07-03 Seller's Stamp Duty holding period back to four years, rates raised by 4 pp
- 2024-08-19 HDB loan LTV cut to 75% and Enhanced CPF Housing Grant raised
- 2023-04-26 ABSD rates raised, April 2023
- 2023-02-14 CPF Housing Grant raised for first-time resale buyers, Budget 2023
- 2023-02-14 Buyer's Stamp Duty raised for higher-value properties, Budget 2023
- 2022-09-29 Property measures, September 2022: higher TDSR and MSR rate floor, HDB loan LTV 80%, 15-month wait-out
- 2021-12-15 Property cooling measures, December 2021: higher ABSD, TDSR 55%, HDB loan LTV 85%
- 2018-07-05 Property cooling measures, July 2018: higher ABSD and lower LTV limits
- 2018-02-19 Budget 2018: Proximity Housing Grant enhanced
- 2018-02-19 Budget 2018: top BSD rate raised to 4% above S$1m
- 2017-03-10 SSD holding period cut to 3 years; TDSR relaxed for equity withdrawal
- 2013-08-27 HDB loan and resale measures, August 2013
- 2013-06-28 MAS introduces the Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) framework
- 2013-01-11 Property cooling measures, January 2013
- 2012-10-05 Maximum loan tenure of 35 years and tighter LTV limits, October 2012
- 2011-12-07 Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty introduced, December 2011
- 2011-01-13 Property cooling measures, January 2011
- 2010-08-30 HDB measures after National Day Rally 2010: DBSS income ceiling, 5-year MOP for non-subsidised flats
- 2010-08-30 Property cooling measures, August 2010
- 2010-02-19 Seller's Stamp Duty introduced and LTV limit cut to 80%, February 2010
- 2009-09-14 Interest-only loans and Interest Absorption Scheme disallowed, September 2009
- 2005-07-19 Property policy review, July 2005: LTV limit raised to 90%, CPF housing rules eased, foreign ownership rules eased
Source: URA (via SingStat). Data to Q2 2026. Licences and notices
Bottom line
Treat a launch as a negotiation. Ignore ”% sold” and queue photos. Check recent transactions, compare psf on strata area, price every freebie as a discount, and run the rental maths yourself. Get your loan approved before you pay a booking fee. If the numbers work after all that, the launch is a fair deal. If they only work with the freebies, you are paying for the freebies. This is general information, not financial advice.