THE Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and the Housing & Development Board (HDB) on Thursday (Oct 17) released four residential land parcels under the second half of the 2024 Government Land Sales (GLS) programme.
These include an executive condominium (EC) site at Woodlands Drive 17, a residential plot at Lentor Gardens as well as sites at Marina Gardens Lane and River Valley Green (Parcel B) which are zoned residential with commercial on the first storey.
The sites at Lentor Gardens and River Valley Green (Parcel B) were launched for sale under the confirmed list, with the potential to yield 500 and 475 residential units respectively. These two sites are part of a total of 5,050 residential units set to be released via the confirmed list of the H2 2024 GLS programme.
The sites at Marina Gardens Lane and Woodlands Drive 17 are available for application under the reserve list, with potential to yield 390 residential units and 420 EC units respectively.
While confirmed list sites are launched according to schedule regardless of demand, a site on the reserve list is put up for tender when a developer makes an offer acceptable to the government.
The government said it will “continue to release a steady supply of private residential units in coming GLS programmes, with supply calibrated to account for prevailing economic and property market conditions”.
A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU
Tuesday, 12 pm
Property Insights
Get an exclusive analysis of real estate and property news in Singapore and beyond.
The tender for the River Valley Green (Parcel B) site closes at noon on Feb 7 next year, and that for the Lentor Gardens site at noon on Apr 3.
Potential demand
The 20,639.4 square metre (sq m) plot at Lentor Gardens is the seventh parcel to be released for sale in the Lentor residential area, and analysts anticipate muted demand amid cautious market conditions and no lack of new supply in the neighbourhood.
Five out of the six sites sold so far in the Lentor were acquired by either Guocoland, and/or Hong Leong Holdings and TID, or a consortium of the three developers, noted Nicholas Mak, chief research officer at Mogul.sg.
“There is little incentive for other developers to bid aggressively for the seventh GLS site at Lentor because they would be competing with these three developers who have strong market presence and more robust pricing power in that sub-market,” added Mak.
Marcus Chu, ERA Singapore’s chief executive officer, highlighted that previous Lentor GLS sites have recorded mostly one to two bids each in the last two years.
“We can expect the same number of around one bid for the upcoming Lentor Gardens site with slower market conditions expected to maintain its status quo,” he said.
Still, given that previous launches in the Lentor area have been well received by buyers, Chu anticipates that some developers may feel “confident enough” to pursue the site but believes the bids will not be aggressive, with the top bid coming in between S$945 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr) and S$995 psf ppr.
Huttons CEO Mark Yip noted that with this site, Lentor will have approximately 3,454 units – of which 2,477 units from five projects have already been launched, leaving just 352 units unsold as at Oct 17.
“This shows buyers’ receptiveness towards living in the Lentor private residential enclave, and should ease concerns of a supply overhang in Lentor,” he said.
For the River Valley Green (Parcel B) site, which sits in a prime residential district and will have direct access to the Great World MRT station, Huttons reckons there could be up to three bidders and a top bid between S$1,200 and S$1,300 psf ppr.
Despite the site’s attractive location and direct access to the station, Yip expects developers to possibly be cautious in their bidding notwithstanding the improved market sentiments and easing in interest rates.
Similarly, Chu expects a “muted outcome” for the River Valley site after factoring in current slower market conditions.
“Drawing from observations at the River Valley Green and Zion sites in the area, we can expect the site to attract a similarly low number of one to two bids, and a range of around S$485 million to S$529 million (S$1,100 to S$1,200 psf ppr),” he said.
An earlier tender in June for another plot at River Valley Green drew just two bids and was sold to Wing Tai Holdings for close to S$464 million or about S$1,325 psf ppr.
Of the reserve list sites, Yip believes the Woodlands Drive 17 site will likely be triggered for sale. It would be the first site to be made available for application in Woodlands South since 2013.
Previous EC land tenders have seen keen interest from developers, as the public-private hybrid projects generally sell well and quickly.
ECs are popular with buyers as they are priced cheaper than private condos in the same area; and in recent years, owners have enjoyed substantial capital gains when they sell their EC units after the five-year minimum occupation period, said Mak.
If triggered for sale, Huttons estimates four to six bidders for the site and a top bid between S$650 and S$700 psf ppr.
However, Yip believes the Marina Gardens Lane site is unlikely to be triggered for sale as there are other attractive sites such as Bayshore Road, Chencharu Close, Chuan Grove and Holland Link on the H2 2024 GLS confirmed list.
