Land for 14,000 homes up for sale
http://www.straitstimes.com/archive/...-sale-20121215
Land for 14,000 homes up for sale
Government earmarks 32 sites for release in the first half of next year
Published on Dec 15, 2012
By Esther Teo Property Reporter
THE Government is keeping up its rapid pace of land release in the first half of next year to meet unrelenting strong demand from home buyers.
It has earmarked a total of 32 sites for release under the Government Land Sales (GLS) programme in the six-month period.
These sites could yield 14,035 private homes, including 3,100 units of the increasingly popular executive condominiums (ECs).
The latest slate of sites is in line with supply from July to December this year, when sites able to accommodate 14,185 units were released.
Of the latest sites, 13 are on the confirmed list and go on sale regardless of interest, while 19 are reserve list sites put up for tender only if a developer makes an acceptable initial offer.
The Ministry of National Development (MND) said in a statement yesterday that this will provide an adequate supply of private housing to meet continued demand. A whopping 19,507 new private homes were sold in the first 10 months of this year - easily eclipsing the record of 16,292 sold in the whole of last year.
Most of the new sites are in suburban and city fringe areas such as Woodlands and Punggol, where more affordable private homes are set to be built, MND said.
Buying demand has been strongest, and private home prices have risen the most in these areas. Suburban home prices rose 3 per cent in the first nine months of the year, compared with an overall 1 per cent private market gain.
But the latest list also includes choice sites in areas like Mount Sophia and Coronation Road.
Experts say the Government has kept its foot on the supply pedal as land prices at recent tenders have kept inching upwards.
Almost 94,000 private homes are set to be completed in the next few years as at Sept 30 - raising fears of a possible oversupply.
But prices are not expected to fall with this new flood of supply as the market is still being held up by low interest rates and ample funds, property watchers noted.
Mr Nicholas Mak, head of research at SLP International, believes sites at Coronation Road, Mount Sophia and Siglap Road may attract high bids.
He expects prices to rise 1.5 per cent to 5 per cent next year.
Colliers International research and advisory director Chia Siew Chuin said the release of more generic mass market and EC sites will help to rein in price gains.
"However, the attractive sites will fuel interest and competitive bidding. This provides some level of support for the market, but prices are not expected to run away."
EL Development managing director Lim Yew Soon said in the light of the supply in the pipeline, it helps that many of the plots on the confirmed list are EC sites catering largely to genuine buyers. But he said that while there are well-located sites close to MRT stations, some are in the same area.
The GLS also includes commercial sites, with a potential 315,000 sq m in gross floor area of largely office and retail space and 1,740 hotel rooms to be pushed out.
This includes a new Havelock Road hotel reserve list site and two commercial and residential sites in Yishun and Potong Pasir.
MND said apart from the GLS, land and properties are also made available by various government agencies. These include localised retail facilities at parks, MRT stations and community centres.
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Choice sites in latest govt land sale
http://www.straitstimes.com/archive/...-sale-20121215
Choice sites in latest govt land sale
Keen bids likely for landed housing site in Coronation
Published on Dec 15, 2012
By Esther Teo Property Reporter
PLENTY of plum sites are nestled among the slate of new plots in the Government's latest land sale programme to whet the appetites of developers.
Some are mixed-use developments close to MRT stations that are expected to attract keen interest and high bids, while others are choice residential sites in prime areas such as Coronation Road and Mount Sophia.
A commercial and residential confirmed list site next to Yishun MRT station, for instance, will be put up for sale in June, while a similar site next to Potong Pasir MRT station sits on the reserve list.
Similar integrated developments in Punggol and Bedok have already proved to be a winning formula for developers and these new sites are likely to carry on the trend, experts said.
Confirmed list sites go on sale regardless of interest, while those on the reserve list are put up for tender only if a developer makes an acceptable initial offer.
Other choice confirmed list sites include a Mount Sophia site near Dhoby Ghaut MRT station, where three MRT lines intersect, and a rare landed housing site at the junction of Coronation and Victoria Park roads that can yield 140 homes. It is also close to the popular Nanyang Primary School.
Colliers International research and advisory director Chia Siew Chuin noted that it has been more than a year since a landed residential site has been made available on the confirmed list. The Coronation site could see "intensely competitive" bids, she added.
"This comes as a pleasant surprise to the market and offers a good opportunity to developers.
"Any stigma surrounding the site, which was previously a Chinese cemetery, is expected to ebb once it is sold and developed, especially since land resource for private landed residential development is fundamentally scarce in Singapore," Ms Chia said.
The reserve list also offers some sites with good locations, experts added. Sites next to MRT stations as well as sites in popular central regions might be triggered for tender.
Knight Frank research head Png Poh Soon picked Potong Pasir as a potential hot spot next year.
The area lacks commercial amenities, so the reserve list for a mixed-use development at the junction of Upper Serangoon and Meyappa Chettiar roads is timely.
"The traditionally quiet area has sprung alive in recent years following the launch of Nin Residence and a slew of other new residential developments such as Sant Ritz and Sennett Residence," he added.
"Coupled with limited land sites for such integrated developments, we expect strong interest from developers for this particular land site."
Colliers' Ms Chia added that the Toa Payoh residential site that can yield 550 units could also be triggered for sale.
"The site is in a popular housing estate that has a fairly central location. The host of amenities in Toa Payoh and the site's proximity to Braddell MRT station would make it an attractive one."
Tuan Sing Holdings chief financial officer Chong Chou Yuen said that the landed housing site in Coronation Road and the Potong Pasir site are the ones he would pick as the most attractive.
"Landed housing sites are rare and so the Coronation site is likely to be keenly contested.
"The Potong Pasir site is close to the MRT station and to our existing project, Sennett Residence... The area is likely to become a good residential hub."
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