Government ramps up private housing supply; offers three EC sites on Confirmed List
Following the progressive ramp-up of personal real estate supply in the GLS programs over the last three years, the stock of private housing units offered available for sale has increased steadily from 16,100 units at the end of 2021 to around 21,000 units as of end-November 2024.
The last time three EC plots were released 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 launched for tender. In 1H2014, four EC sites (2 in Yishun, one each in Sembawang and Choa Chu Kang) were introduced available for sale using the GLS.
The increase in the EC land source in 1H2025 might “go some way to ease the opposition among property developers in land tenders and guide to moderate EC land cost and prices accordingly”, claims Ismail Gafoor, CEO of PropNex.
To make certain that there suffices supply to fulfill housing demand and to preserve market balance, the state has sustained the supply of private household units by supplying 8,505 units in the upcoming Confirmed List and Reserved List of the 1H2025 GLS Government Land Sales (GLS) program 1H2025.
In view of the tight challenge for EC sites among property developers and going up EC land prices, the government has actually increase the supply of EC sites, with 3 plots potentially producing 980 units in the Confirmed Checklist of 1H2025. This is a shift from previous GLS programs ever since 2018, with only one EC spot presented in each of the half-yearly land sales programmes, notes PropNex.
Ten plots will be supplied under the Confirmed List, making up nine residential sites, three of which are executive condo (EC) plots. The tenth plot is a housing cum commercial area. The 10 sites can produce an approximated 5,030 household units, including the 980 EC units.
In terms of residential units for sale, it’s in line with the 5,050 units used in the Confirmed List of 2H2024. Nevertheless, it’s almost 60% higher than the regular source on the Confirmed List in each GLS program from 2021 to 2023.
The Reserve Checklist consists of 4 exclusive residence locations, one commercial site, 3 White sites 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 business place.
Private household rates are anticipated to see more modest gains in 2024, with the cumulative cost increase over the first 3 quarters of the year at around 1.6%.
The 3,475 household units on the Reserve Listing of 1H2025 are higher than the 3,090 units in 2H2024. Consisting Of the Reserve List, the total exclusive real estate supply of 8,505 units in 1H2025 is on a the same level with the 8,140 units in 2H2024.
The ramp-up of supply from the GLS programmes has contributed to the stabilisation of the exclusive property market, as reflected by the constraint in property rate drive. Based on the URA private residential property price index, cost development has actually moderated to 6.8% in 2023 from 10.6% in 2021 and 8.6% in 2022.
7 brand-new plots will be introduced 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 brand-new housing precinct in Bukit Timah Turf City, and Telok Blangah Road on the former Keppel Golf Course area.
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 developer site, and plots in Media Circle (for long-stay serviced apartment use). The URA turned down the bids offered because they were too low. These sites are currently listed on the 1H2025 Reserve Listing.
Also on the Confirmed List is the non commercial plot in Upper Thomson Road (Parcel A), that saw no bids when its tender closed 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 supplied even more flexibility this time; it said that serviced apartment/long-stay serviced house usage would not be mandated for the site however can be permitted subject to authorization from technical firms, notes PropNex.
Along with sites in two brand-new housing precincts, most of the sites are close to MRT stops, that might interest property developers and property buyers alike, notes Gafoor. “In our sight, one of the most attractive ones are the mixed-use site in Hougang Central (835 units) that will certainly be attached to the Hougang MRT terminal, the Telok Blangah Roadway plot (740 units) and Dunearn Road (370 units) site in new real estate districts, and within minutes’ stroll to the MRT stop, along with the Lakeside Drive website (575 units) that is right next to the Lakeside MRT station, Jurong Lake Gardens and the Jurong East business hub.”
The site of the former Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society on Dorsett Road, off Rangoon Road, that can yield around 430 units, will also be launched for sale in 1H2025. A residential and commercial site at Hougang Central, which can produce a brand-new mixed-use property development with 835 residence units and over 400,000 sq ft of commercial space, is sold. It will likely be integrated with the Hougang MRT Station on the Northeast Line.
