Foreign buyers have all but disappeared from the CCR, yet demand jumped fivefold in 2025. The data tells us who's actually filling the gap — and it's not who you'd expect.
Demand for new CCR homes rebounded sharply in 2025 — jumping fivefold to 1,916 units — even as foreign buyer participation collapsed to historic lows. But Huttons Asia data shows most of these buyers were already private property owners "right-sizing," not HDB owners upgrading.
Demand for new private homes in Singapore's Core Central Region rebounded sharply in 2025, even as foreign buyer participation fell to historic lows following the April 2023 cooling measures. According to Huttons Asia CEO Mark Yip and senior director of data analytics Lee Sze Teck, this recovery — driven largely by local buyers — comes amid a narrowing price gap between the CCR and Rest of Central Region, reshaping buying patterns and redefining the CCR's traditional positioning as a luxury, investor-led segment.
Foreigners made up a significant share of new CCR home purchases, averaging 17% between 2015 and 2022. That eased to 10.7% in 2024 after the government raised Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty on foreign purchases to 60% in April 2023, and has contracted further to just 4.7% in 2026 to date. Despite this pullback, demand for new private non-landed homes in the CCR jumped fivefold in 2025 to 1,916 units, from just 378 units in 2024 — suggesting the CCR market may be undergoing a structural shift, with local buyers increasingly filling the gap left by foreign purchasers.
One key driver is the rapid compression in CCR pricing premiums. The median price gap between CCR and RCR homes narrowed to just 10.1% in 2025, nearly halving from 21.5% in 2024. This convergence has effectively repositioned CCR homes from a luxury niche into a more accessible upgrade option for Singaporean buyers. As a result, the proportion of new CCR home purchases by Singaporeans rose to a high of 82.4% in 2025, compared with an average 67.7% between 2015 and 2022 — and has hovered around 78% in 2026 to date.
The number that changes the story: around 82% of new CCR homes bought by Singaporeans in 2026 to date were priced around $3 million. But among these buyers, only 16.1% had an HDB address, while 55.8% already had a private residential address. This points to a growing trend of right-sizing — existing private homeowners adjusting their housing choices based on lifestyle needs, location and cost — rather than the traditional HDB-to-private upgrade narrative.
Within this evolving landscape, the redevelopment of Turf City represents one of the most significant new residential transformations in Singapore, following the Greater Southern Waterfront. Spanning roughly 176ha, the estate is expected to yield between 15,000 and 20,000 homes across public and private housing. Envisioned as a car-lite precinct, it will eventually be served by a future Turf City MRT Station on the Cross Island Line (expected 2032), alongside existing connectivity via Sixth Avenue MRT Station on the Downtown Line.
To kick-start development, the government released two sites for private residential use across 2025 and 2026. The first project, Dunearn House, previewed on 10 July and is scheduled to launch on 25 July 2026 — making it the inaugural private residential development in the precinct, and an early test of how buyers respond to this new CCR micro-market. Notably, the neighbouring plot was sold at $1,625 psf ppr, well above Dunearn House's own land price of $1,410 psf ppr — a sign developers are pricing in confidence for the precinct's future.
Historical precedent suggests the first project in a new precinct often sets pricing benchmarks for what follows. Lentor Modern, for instance, launched at an average of more than $2,100 psf — subsequent Lentor launches referenced that price, and early Lentor Modern buyers have since seen sub-sale profits averaging more than $300,000, with peak gains exceeding $500,000. If that pattern holds, Dunearn House could play a similar anchoring role for Turf City.
As Singapore becomes a super-aged society, more seniors may choose to right-size out of larger landed or non-landed homes as they move into retirement — a trend that could sharpen demand for non-landed properties in established districts like Bukit Timah, where familiarity and proximity remain strong pull factors. As at 1Q2026, the Bukit Timah Planning Area comprised over 10,000 landed homes and more than 22,000 non-landed units — a substantial pool of potential right-sizing demand that developments like Dunearn House are positioned to capture.
The "right-sizing, not upgrading" distinction matters more than it sounds. If you're an HDB owner reading "CCR demand is booming" and assuming that means the door has opened for you specifically, the data actually says otherwise — most of these buyers were already private owners moving sideways, not HDB owners moving up. That's not a reason to rule out CCR, but it does mean the competition you're up against in that price band isn't first-time upgraders like yourself — it's people trading one private property for another, often with more equity and fewer financing constraints.
On Turf City specifically: this is a genuine long-horizon precinct play, similar to what we discussed with Woodlands Gateway — except Turf City sits in the CCR with a much shorter runway to maturity (MRT by ~2032 vs a longer wait for Woodlands' infrastructure). If the Lentor Modern pattern repeats, being an early buyer in Dunearn House carries real upside — but "early buyer in a new precinct" is inherently a higher-conviction bet than buying into an established address. Worth a proper conversation before deciding if that trade-off fits your plan.
Source: EdgeProp Singapore, 16 July 2026, "CCR demand rebounds despite foreign buyer pullback: Is pricing the new catalyst?" by Mark Yip (CEO, Huttons Asia) and Lee Sze Teck (Senior Director, Data Analytics, Huttons Asia). Data from URA, Huttons Data Analytics (downloaded 13 July 2026). This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice.
No pressure, no obligation. Tell me what you're working through and I'll get back to you within 24 hours to arrange a time that works.
Your details are used solely to follow up on your consultation request. No spam, ever.