Government ramps up private housing supply; offers three EC sites on Confirmed List
The last time 3 EC plots were released 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, 4 EC sites (2 in Yishun, one each in Sembawang and Choa Chu Kang) were released available for sale through the GLS.
In regards to household units for sale, it’s in line with the 5,050 units provided in the Confirmed List of 2H2024. However, it’s just about 60% greater than the regular supply 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 property market, as mirrored by the moderation in property price 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.
The 3,475 non commercial units on the Reserve Listing of 1H2025 are more than the 3,090 units in 2H2024. Consisting Of the Reserve List, the general exclusive housing supply of 8,505 units in 1H2025 is on a par with the 8,140 units in 2H2024.
Exclusive household costs are expected to see more small gains in 2024, with the cumulative cost increase over the first three quarters of the year at about 1.6%.
To make sure that there suffices supply to meet housing need and to keep market balance, the state has maintained the supply of nonpublic property units by using 8,505 units in the upcoming Confirmed List and Reserved List of the 1H2025 GLS Government Land Sales (GLS) programme 1H2025.
The Reserve Checklist includes four exclusive residence locations, one business site, three White locations and one hotel site, that can potentially yield an added 3,475 private residential units and 199,900 sqm (2.15 million sq ft) gross floor area (GFA) of business place.
In view of the stiff competition for EC sites amongst developers and going up EC land prices, the authorities has actually increase the supply of EC sites, with 3 plots potentially producing 980 units in the Confirmed Listing of 1H2025. This is a shift from previous GLS programmes ever since 2018, with just one EC area offered in each of the half-yearly land sales programmes, notes PropNex.
Ten plots will be offered under the Confirmed List, making up 9 non commercial locations, three of which are executive condo (EC) plots. The tenth plot is a residential cum commercial site. The 10 sites can generate an approximated 5,030 household units, featuring the 980 EC units.
The increase 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”, claims Ismail Gafoor, CEO of PropNex.
Following the progressing ramp-up of personal real estate supply in the GLS programs over the last three years, the supply of private housing units offered up for sale has increased continuously from 16,100 units at the end of 2021 to around 21,000 units since end-November 2024.
7 new plots will be presented in the 1H2025 GLS programme. They include a plot at Lakeside Drive near 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 area.
Also on the Confirmed List is the non commercial plot in Upper Thomson Road (Parcel A), which observed no bids when its tender shut in June 2024. Previously, the plot was to provide a mix of non commercial units and long-stay serviced apartments. Of note, the URA has actually supplied even more flexibility this moment; it stated that serviced apartment/long-stay serviced house usage would not be mandated for the spot but can be allowed subject to approval from technical companies, notes PropNex.
Along with locations in two new real estate precincts, most of the sites are near MRT stops, which can appeal to property developers and buyers as well, notes Gafoor. “In our view, one of 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 housing precincts, and within mins’ stroll to the MRT station, as well as the Lakeside Drive site (575 units) that is right next to the Lakeside MRT station, Jurong Lake Gardens and the Jurong East commercial center.”
The site of the previous Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society on Dorsett Road, off Rangoon Road, that can generate about 430 units, will in addition be launched for sale in 1H2025. A residential and commercial site at Hougang Central, that can produce a 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 integrated with the Hougang MRT Stop on the Northeast Line.
It was an extraordinary 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 site, and plots in Media Circle (for long-stay serviced apartment use). The URA rejected the bids offered because they were too reasonable. These locations are now listed on the 1H2025 Reserve Listing.
