Government ramps up private housing supply; offers three EC sites on Confirmed List
To make certain that there suffices supply to satisfy housing need and to maintain market balance, the authorities has actually maintained the supply of nonpublic household units by offering 8,505 units in the upcoming Confirmed List and Reserved List of the 1H2025 GLS Government Land Sales (GLS) programme 1H2025.
10 plots are going to be offered under the Confirmed List, making up nine residential locations, three of which are executive condominium (EC) plots. The tenth plot is a residential cum commercial area. The 10 sites can yield an estimated 5,030 residential units, featuring the 980 EC units.
The ramp-up of supply from the GLS programs has actually added to the stabilisation of the private residential market, as reflected by the constraint in property rate momentum. Based on the URA private property price index, cost growth has moderated to 6.8% in 2023 from 10.6% in 2021 and 8.6% in 2022.
The Reserve List consists of 4 private residential locations, one commercial location, 3 White locations and one hotel site, which can probably yield an additional 3,475 private residential units and 199,900 sqm (2.15 million sq ft) gross floor area (GFA) of commercial place.
The 3,475 household units on the Reserve Checklist of 1H2025 are higher than the 3,090 units in 2H2024. Consisting Of the Reserve List, the general exclusive real estate supply of 8,505 units in 1H2025 is on a the same level with the 8,140 units in 2H2024.
In regards to residential units for sale, it’s in line with the 5,050 units provided in the Confirmed List of 2H2024. Nevertheless, it’s nearly 60% greater than the regular source on the Confirmed List in each GLS programme from 2021 to 2023.
Private residential rates are anticipated to see even more modest increases in 2024, with the collective rate surge over the first 3 quarters of the year at around 1.6%.
Following the progressive ramp-up of exclusive housing supply in the GLS programmes over the last three years, the supply of private housing units offered available for sale has actually increased progressively from 16,100 units at the end of 2021 to around 21,000 units as of end-November 2024.
In view of the stiff competition for EC locations amongst property developers and rising EC land prices, the state has ramped up the supply of EC sites, with three plots potentially yielding 980 units in the Confirmed Listing of 1H2025. This is a shift from previous GLS programmes since 2018, with just one EC spot presented in each of the half-yearly land sales programmes, notes PropNex.
The rise in the EC land source in 1H2025 can “go some way to lighten the opposition among developers in land tenders and assist to moderate EC land cost and prices accordingly”, says Ismail Gafoor, CEO of PropNex.
The last time three EC plots were launched for sale in a single GLS programme remained in 2H2014 when EC spots in Sembawang Road/Canberra Link, Anchorvale Crescent, and Woodlands Avenue 12 were released for tender. In 1H2014, four EC sites (2 in Yishun, one each in Sembawang and Choa Chu Kang) were released for sale using the GLS.
7 new plots will be introduced in the 1H2025 GLS program. They consist of a plot at Lakeside Drive nearby the Jurong Lake Gardens in Jurong Lake District, Dunearn Road in the new real estate development in Bukit Timah Turf City, and Telok Blangah Road on the former Keppel Golf Course site.
In addition to locations in two new housing precincts, the majority of the sites are near MRT stations, that can appeal to developers and buyers likewise, notes Gafoor. “In our view, the most attractive ones are the mixed-use site in Hougang Central (835 units) that will certainly be connected to the Hougang MRT station, the Telok Blangah Road plot (740 units) and Dunearn Road (370 units) site in brand-new real estate districts, and within mins’ walk to the MRT terminal, as well as the Lakeside Drive website (575 units) that is right alongside the Lakeside MRT terminal, Jurong Lake Gardens and the Jurong East business center.”
Also on the Confirmed List is the non commercial plot in Upper Thomson Road (Parcel A), which viewed no quotes when its tender closed in June 2024. Previously, the plot was to offer a mix of non commercial units and long-stay serviced apartments. Of note, the URA has provided even more versatility this time; it stated that serviced apartment/long-stay serviced apartment use would not be mandated for the location however can be allowed subject to approval from technical agencies, notes PropNex.
It was an unmatched year for GLS tenders. For the first time, URA did not award the tender for three plots – Marina Gardens Crescent, the Jurong Lake District master property developer location, and plots in Media Circle (for long-stay serviced apartment use). The URA rejected the proposals supplied because they were too low. These spots are currently listed on the 1H2025 Reserve Checklist.
The site of the former Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society on Dorsett Road, off Rangoon Road, that can generate around 430 units, will even be launched for sale in 1H2025. A residential and commercial site at Hougang Central, that can produce a brand-new mixed-use property development with 835 housing units and over 400,000 sq ft of commercial space, is offered for sale. It will likely be incorporated with the Hougang MRT Stop on the Northeast Line.
