URA releases 11 land plots under 1H2020 GLS programme

Charlene Chin

SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - Under the Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme for 1H2020, three Confirmed List sites and eight Reserve List sites have been released, the URA announced on Dec 3.

In total, the sites can yield about 6,490 private residential units, 114,000 sq m (1.2 million sq ft) gross floor area (GFA) of commercial space and 1,070 hotel rooms.

Sites under the Confirmed List comprise two private residential sites (including one executive condo or EC site), as well as one commercial and residential site. The Confirmed List sites can yield about 1,775 private residential units (including 600 EC units) and 236,806 sq ft GFA of commercial space.

Meanwhile, the Reserve List comprises four private residential sites (including one EC site), three white sites and one hotel site. These sites can yield about 4,715 private residential units (including 595 EC units), 990,280 sq ft GFA of commercial space, and 1,070 hotel rooms.


One of the sites is the Jalan Anak Bukit land plot in the Beauty World vicinity, where new launches include Daintree Residence (pictured) (Credit: Samuel Isaac Chua/ The Edge Singapore)


Private housing supply

The supply of private housing units in the pipeline remains high, at “around 39,000 currently”, the URA says. These include 34,000 unsold units from GLS and en-bloc sale sites with planning approval, and an additional 5,000 units from sites that are pending planning approval.

As at end-2018, the supply of private housing was around 45,000 units.

Property consultants believe that the chances of sites in the Reserve List being triggered are likely to be low. “Given the increasing supply of new homes and unsold units, developers are likely to be mindful of the increasing competition for potential buyers and are likely to exercise caution in their land banking strategies,” comments OrangeTee & Tie.

“Developers may likely prefer to pare down their existing stock. Even for developers with low housing stock, they may still prefer not to increase their land bank too excessively to avoid head-on competition with other developers,” it adds.

Christine Li, head of research, Singapore and Southeast Asia, Cushman & Wakefield, says: “Redas [Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore] is also concerned about the high supply pipeline, and has called for a sustainable approach in land purchases and capital allocation. We believe that developers will heed this call and be prudent in their bidding for residential land parcels.”

Meanwhile, the URA highlights: “While the demand for private housing units has increased in the past two quarters, the overall transaction volume has remained modest relative to the period leading up to the introduction of the property market cooling measures in July 2018.”

It has also observed “moderate” demand from developers for residential land and bidding interest for GLS tenders.

OrangeTee says: “The pace of price increase for private homes has slowed down substantially after the implementation of cooling measures and is now rising more in tandem with economic fundamentals ... The pertinent issue is to address the short- to mid-term oversupply situation. By maintaining the supply of new housing units for next year, the market may be better able to absorb the balance unsold units, thus further stabilising the private residential market.”


The 720-unit Grandeur Park Residences, opposite the site at Tanah Merah Kechil Link, has received healthy buyer demand, having sold 98% to date (Credit: Samuel Isaac Chua/ The Edge Singapore)

Pipeline of mixed-use sites

Notably, property consultants believe that the attractive mixed-use sites are the land parcels at Taman Merah Kechil Link and Jalan Anak Bukit, both located near MRT stations – Tanah Merah on the East-West Line, and Beauty World on the Downtown Line respectively.

As a testament to the popularity of the Tanah Merah locality, the 720-unit Grandeur Park Residences, opposite the site at Tanah Merah Kechil Link, has seen healthy buyer demand. It is 98% sold to date, fetching a median price of about $1,550 psf per plot ratio (psf ppr).

Cushman & Wakefield’s Li expects the Tanah Merah Kechil Link site to fetch bids in the range of $850 to $900 psf ppr.

On the other hand, the Jalan Anak Bukit land plot “will help to spruce up the Beauty World precinct, where there is a lack of office space and retail stock is predominantly aged”, says Desmond Sim, head of research, Southeast Asia, CBRE.

Conditions attached to the development of the plot include the requirement to build an integrated bus interchange (estimated to span around 53,820 sq ft of GFA), and up to 80,730 sq ft of GFA slated for retail.

Sim sees the commercial components to serve the residential catchment in the Beauty World neighbourhood as being in line with the URA’s plan to enhance street-level activities and add vibrancy to the area. In fact, the release of this site will kickstart the urban transformation of the Beauty World area as there will be more land parcels released in the area, as reflected in the URA Master Plan 2019, Sim adds.

New launches in the Beauty World vicinity include Daintree Residence, which has sold 69 units, and View at Kismis, which has sold 47 units at an average price of about $1,700 psf as at October 2019.

Under the Reserve List, there is a white site at Woodlands Avenue 2 for a mixed-use development. The site “will help to sustain the development momentum of Woodlands Regional Centre as a major commercial node outside the city, in line with the government’s objective of decentralising employment centres to bring job opportunities closer to homes”, URA states.

“Live, work, play” focus

OrangeTee believes that more mixed development sites are released this round – two of the three residential sites under the Confirmed List and all three white sites have mixed components – as a tie-in to the government’s focus on “live, work and play” within an integrated development.

Two sites at Marina View and River Valley Road have been carried over from the 2H2019 Reserve List, which the URA expects “will provide ample opportunities for developers to initiate additional supply of hotel rooms over and above the current pipeline supply”.

For price trends, recent transactions, other project info, check out these projects' research page: Grandeur Park Residences, Daintree Residence, View at Kismis,

Read also:

Check out the latest listings near Grandeur Park Residences, Daintree Residence, View at Kismis, MRT Stations and Schools

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