More residential sites for land-hungry developers!

The ST reported today that four residential sites are being released for tender by the Government in a move to ramp up supply in Singapore's hot property market. These sites are expected to yield almost 2,000 new homes.

They include Punggol's first executive condominium (EC) site, to boast 615 homes, which will be released for tender early next month as a developer has already made a minimum bid of $147.7 million. This is in stark contrast to a previous Punggol EC site that was launched in September 2008 which saw no takers among developers. The Punggol EC plot, located at Punggol Field, is near the Punggol Town Centre.


The other three sites are for another EC - at Sengkang - and two private development sites at Sembawang and Yishun.

The Sengkang EC site, located at Sengkang East Avenue and Buangkok Drive, was triggered by a developer's bid of $103.8 million on April 1. It is served by the Sengkang LRT system and could yield 465 homes. This plot goes on sale today and the tender closes on May 25.


The Sembawang plot, at the junction of Sembawang Road/Canberra Drive and launched under the confirmed list, can be developed into strata-title landed housing or condominium units offering 290 homes. The site is likely to fetch  $95 - $105 million if a condo is built. This plot also goes on sale today and the tender closes on June 8.


The Yishun condo site, located at Yishun Avenue 2, will also be out for tender early next month. This is in the established Yishun Town and could generate 600 homes. A developer triggered the tender for the Yishun site with the minimum bid of $137.9 million.


This is the latest round in a slew of sites being released by the authorities to inject fresh supply into the market. Developers have been snapping up land to replenish landbanks as they scramble to meet dizzying levels of demand for new homes. The heightened level of activity is a drastic turnaround from the same period a year ago, when no sites were offered or sold by the Government amid a lacklustre property market.

Ngee Ann Polytechnic real estate lecturer Nicholas Mak said the Government is reinforcing the message that there is enough land. And by announcing more than one site at a time, it is also saying to developers that they do not need to bid so aggressively. The objective is to push out enough land supply so that prices can be moderated.

The wife and I sure hope that Mr. Mak is right. But to paraphrase from George Orwell...some land sites are more equal than others. So we reckon prices for "prime" sites will remain strong unless our government pushes more of such sites out for tender, or when home buyers finally come to their senses...

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