Singapore Tenders Rare East Coast Housing Site in Siglap, Analysts Predict Record Bids
Singapore's government has released a 99-year leasehold private housing site on East Coast Road in Siglap, the first such tender in the area in a decade. Analysts forecast bids of S$1,450 to S$1,650 per square foot, potentially topping the suburban land price record set in September.
Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Tuesday released two residential sites for tender under the Government Land Sales (GLS) programme, including the first private housing plot in the eastern Siglap neighbourhood in a decade. The East Coast Road site, which can yield about 85 homes, is expected to draw bids that could top the suburban land price record set four weeks ago.
The second plot, on Serangoon North View in the Hougang area, was placed on the reserve list, where it could be tendered if a developer submits an acceptable minimum bid. The East Coast Road tender closes at 12 noon on 3 December.
PropNex head of research and content Wong Siew Ying forecasts a top bid of S$1,550 to S$1,650 per square foot of permitted floor area, putting the land bill at S$146.9 million to S$156.4 million. Realion Group, parent of agency OrangeTee & ETC, forecasts a lower range of S$1,450 to S$1,550 per square foot. Even the low end of PropNex’s range would beat the S$1,537 per square foot bid on 1 September for a site at New Upper Changi Road, which set a new high for a pure residential GLS plot outside Singapore’s central region.
The East Coast plot comprises two parcels of 2,481.1 square metres and 3,021.9 square metres, with a maximum gross floor area of 8,805 square metres (94,776 square feet) on a 99-year lease. Homes on the site must average at least 100 square metres due to local traffic issues, capping the project at about 85 units. The tender terms also allow the winner to build long-stay serviced apartments on one of the two plots.
PropNex’s Wong expects the winner to build larger family homes aimed at downsizers from nearby landed estates. Justin Quek, deputy group chief executive of Realion, said the small project size could deter developers looking for economies of scale. The last residential GLS site in Siglap, at Siglap Road, drew eight bids in January 2016 and was won by a consortium of Frasers Centrepoint, Sekisui House and Keong Hong Holdings for S$624.18 million, or about S$858 per square foot. That site became the 841-unit Seaside Residences, which sold at least 70 per cent of its units at an average of about S$1,700 per square foot on its 2017 launch weekend.
The Serangoon North View site covers 8,085.9 square metres and allows up to 20,215 square metres of floor area on a 99-year lease, adding another 235 units to the URA’s pipeline. It is about 700 metres from the future Serangoon North station on the Cross Island Line, due for completion in 2030. PropNex’s Wong does not expect developers to trigger the site soon, as two awarded GLS sites at nearby Chuan Grove have not yet launched.
The East Coast Road site is one of nine confirmed list sites in the URA’s second-half programme, which together can yield 4,745 homes. The government said full-year confirmed list supply of 9,320 units is more than 50 per cent above the 10-year annual average, and the pipeline of private homes would rise to about 61,000 units.
