Government ramps up private housing supply; offers three EC sites on Confirmed List
Seven brand-new plots are going to be presented in the 1H2025 GLS programme. They consist of a plot at Lakeside Drive nearby the Jurong Lake Gardens in Jurong Lake District, Dunearn Road in the new housing precinct in Bukit Timah Turf City, and Telok Blangah Road on the previous Keppel Golf Course site.
Following the progressive ramp-up of private housing supply in the GLS programmes over the last three years, the stock of exclusive housing units available for sale has actually increased steadily from 16,100 units at the end of 2021 to around 21,000 units as of end-November 2024.
Along with locations in 2 new housing precincts, most of the sites are near MRT stops, that can interest property developers and buyers likewise, notes Gafoor. “In our sight, one of the most attractive ones are the mixed-use site in Hougang Central (835 units) that will be attached to the Hougang MRT station, the Telok Blangah Roadway plot (740 units) and Dunearn Road (370 units) site in brand-new housing districts, and within minutes’ walking to the MRT station, along with the Lakeside Drive website (575 units) which is right alongside the Lakeside MRT station, Jurong Lake Gardens and the Jurong East commercial center.”
Ten plots are going to be offered under the Confirmed List, comprising 9 residential sites, 3 of which are executive condominium (EC) plots. The tenth plot is a residential cum commercial area. The 10 sites can produce an approximated 5,030 housing units, consisting of the 980 EC units.
The site of the former Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society on Dorsett Road, off Rangoon Road, that can produce about 430 units, will even be introduced for sale in 1H2025. A residential and commercial site at Hougang Central, that can produce a brand-new mixed-use development with 835 housing units and over 400,000 sq ft of commercial room, is marketed. It will likely be incorporated with the Hougang MRT Terminal on the Northeast Line.
In view of the tight challenge for EC sites among developers and going up EC land rates, the authorities has actually ramped up the supply of EC sites, with three plots potentially producing 980 units in the Confirmed Listing of 1H2025. This is a change from previous GLS programmes ever since 2018, with just one EC site offered in each of the semiannual land sales programmes, notes PropNex.
The last time 3 EC plots were launched for sale in an one GLS program remained in 2H2014 when EC spots in Sembawang Road/Canberra Link, Anchorvale Crescent, and Woodlands Avenue 12 were released for tender. In 1H2014, 4 EC sites (2 in Yishun, one each in Sembawang and Choa Chu Kang) were released for sale via the GLS.
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 quotes provided because they were too low. These spots are now listed on the 1H2025 Reserve List.
The rise in the EC land source in 1H2025 can “go some way to ease the opposition among property developers in land tenders and assist to moderate EC land cost and prices accordingly”, states Ismail Gafoor, CEO of PropNex.
The Reserve Listing includes 4 private residence sites, one business site, three White locations and one hotel site, which can probably yield an extra 3,475 private residential units and 199,900 sqm (2.15 million sq ft) gross floor area (GFA) of commercial spot.
The 3,475 residential units on the Reserve List of 1H2025 are more than the 3,090 units in 2H2024. Including the Reserve Lineup, the total private housing supply of 8,505 units in 1H2025 is on a the same level with the 8,140 units in 2H2024.
Private non commercial rates are expected to see even more small growths in 2024, with the cumulative cost surge over the first three quarters of the year at around 1.6%.
In regards to household units for sale, it’s in line with the 5,050 units used in the Confirmed List of 2H2024. Nonetheless, it’s just about 60% greater than the average source on the Confirmed List in each GLS programme from 2021 to 2023.
The ramp-up of supply from the GLS programmes has contributed to the stabilisation of the private residential market, as reflected by the constraint in property rate drive. Based on the URA private property price index, price development has actually moderated to 6.8% in 2023 from 10.6% in 2021 and 8.6% in 2022.
Additionally on the Confirmed Checklist is the non commercial plot in Upper Thomson Road (Parcel A), that viewed no proposals when its tender shut in June 2024. In the past, the plot was to provide a blend of non commercial units and long-stay serviced apartments. Of note, the URA has actually offered more versatility this time; it claimed that serviced apartment/long-stay serviced apartment use would not be mandated for the spot however can be permitted subject to approval from technical companies, notes PropNex.
To make certain that there is adequate supply to fulfill housing demand and to keep market stability, the authorities has actually sustained the supply of private household units by using 8,505 units in the upcoming Confirmed List and Reserved List of the 1H2025 GLS Government Land Sales (GLS) programme 1H2025.
