PropNex, Singapore's dominant real estate agency, has announced its financial results for the first half of fiscal year 2024. The company's earnings declined 13.8% compared to the same period last year, dropping from $22.1 million to $19 million. This decrease in profitability coincides with a 5.1% year-over-year revenue reduction, totalling $345.6 million for the six months ending June 30, 2024.

The primary factor behind the revenue decline was a significant decrease in commission income from project marketing services. This segment saw a 19.6% year-over-year reduction, bringing in $91.3 million. The company attributes this drop to a slowdown in new launch sales, with only 1,889 new homes sold in the first half of 2024, representing a substantial 44.2% decrease from the previous year.

However, the company's performance was bolstered by growth in the secondary market. Private resale transactions increased by 16% compared to the first half of 2023, with 6,491 homes changing hands. The resale market for Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats also showed strength, with transactions rising 6.9% year-over-year to 14,420 units. This uptick in secondary market activity led to a modest 1.3% increase in commission income from real estate agency services, which reached $251.9 million.
PropNex's CEO, Ismail Gafoor, highlighted the significance of the private resale market, which accounted for 70.9% of all private residential transactions in the first half of 2024. He projected that resale transactions could reach between 13,000 and 14,000 units for the entire year.

Despite the challenges, PropNex has declared an interim cash dividend of 2.25 cents per share for the first half of fiscal year 2024.
Looking ahead, the company has revised its forecast for new private home sales in 2024, lowering expectations to between 5,500 and 6,000 units, down from its earlier projection of 6,000 to 6,500. This adjustment reflects the ongoing impact of cooling measures implemented in the previous year and the reduced number of new property launches.

PropNex anticipates a more modest increase in private home prices for 2024, projecting growth of 4% to 5%, compared to the 6.8% rise observed in 2023. The HDB resale market is expected to remain robust, with the company forecasting between 28,000 and 29,000 transactions for the year, surpassing the 26,735 units sold in 2023.