Government ramps up private housing supply; offers three EC sites on Confirmed List
To make sure that there is adequate supply to fulfill housing need and to keep market balance, the state has actually sustained the supply of private 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 supplied under the Confirmed List, making up nine non commercial sites, three of which are executive condo (EC) plots. The tenth plot is a residential cum commercial area. The 10 sites can produce an approximated 5,030 household units, featuring the 980 EC units.
Along with spots in two new real estate districts, most of the sites are near MRT stops, that might interest builders and buyers alike, notes Gafoor. “In our view, the most attractive ones are the mixed-use site in Hougang Central (835 units) that will certainly be linked to the Hougang MRT terminal, the Telok Blangah Roadway plot (740 units) and Dunearn Road (370 units) site in brand-new real estate districts, and within minutes’ walk to the MRT station, along with the Lakeside Drive website (575 units) which is right next to the Lakeside MRT terminal, Jurong Lake Gardens and the Jurong East commercial hub.”
It was an unprecedented 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 developer site, and plots in Media Circle (for long-stay serviced apartment use). The URA declined the proposals provided because they were too low. These spots are now listed on the 1H2025 Reserve Listing.
Union Square Residences City Developments Limited
The 3,475 household units on the Reserve Listing of 1H2025 are higher than the 3,090 units in 2H2024. Including the Reserve Lineup, the total private real estate supply of 8,505 units in 1H2025 is on a par with the 8,140 units in 2H2024.
The last time three EC plots were released for sale in a single GLS programme was in 2H2014 when EC spots in Sembawang Road/Canberra Link, Anchorvale Crescent, and Woodlands Avenue 12 were introduced for tender. In 1H2014, 4 EC sites (2 in Yishun, one each in Sembawang and Choa Chu Kang) were released available for sale via the GLS.
Private residential prices are expected to see more small growths in 2024, with the collective rate increase over the first 3 quarters of the year at about 1.6%.
The site of the previous Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society on Dorsett Road, off Rangoon Road, which can yield around 430 units, will in addition be introduced for sale in 1H2025. A residential and commercial site at Hougang Central, that can generate a new mixed-use property development with 835 residence units and over 400,000 sq ft of commercial room, is marketed. It will likely be integrated with the Hougang MRT Terminal on the Northeast Line.
Additionally on the Confirmed Checklist is the non commercial plot in Upper Thomson Road (Parcel A), which observed no quotes when its tender closed in June 2024. In the past, the plot was to provide a blend of residential units and long-stay serviced apartments. Of note, the URA has actually provided even more flexibility this time around; it claimed that serviced apartment/long-stay serviced apartment use would not be mandated for the location but can be permitted subject to approval from technical firms, notes PropNex.
The Reserve List includes four private residential locations, one commercial location, three White sites and one hotel site, that can possibly generate an additional 3,475 private residential units and 199,900 sqm (2.15 million sq ft) gross floor area (GFA) of business place.
The increase in the EC land supply in 1H2025 could “go some way to soothe the opposition among developers in land tenders and assist to moderate EC land cost and prices as necessary”, claims Ismail Gafoor, CEO of PropNex.
Following the progressive ramp-up of exclusive housing supply in the GLS programmes over the last three years, the supply of exclusive housing units offered for sale has increased continuously from 16,100 units at the end of 2021 to around 21,000 units as of end-November 2024.
The ramp-up of supply from the GLS programmes has actually contributed to the stabilisation of the personal household market, as reflected by the constraint in property rate momentum. Based on the URA private residential property price index, price development has actually moderated to 6.8% in 2023 from 10.6% in 2021 and 8.6% in 2022.
In regards to household units for sale, it’s in line with the 5,050 units provided in the Confirmed List of 2H2024. Nevertheless, it’s just about 60% higher than the standard source on the Confirmed List in each GLS program from 2021 to 2023.
Seven new plots are going to be introduced in the 1H2025 GLS program. They include a plot at Lakeside Drive near the Jurong Lake Gardens in Jurong Lake District, Dunearn Road in the new real estate precinct in Bukit Timah Turf City, and Telok Blangah Road on the previous Keppel Golf Course area.
In view of the rigid competition for EC sites among developers and rising EC land costs, the authorities has increase the supply of EC sites, with 3 plots potentially generating 980 units in the Confirmed List of 1H2025. This is a change from previous GLS programs ever since 2018, with just one EC spot offered in each of the half-yearly land sales programmes, notes PropNex.
