Government ramps up private housing supply; offers three EC sites on Confirmed List
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 provided because they were too reasonable. These sites are now listed on the 1H2025 Reserve Listing.
Ten plots will be supplied under the Confirmed List, making up nine residential sites, 3 of which are executive condominium (EC) plots. The tenth plot is a non commercial cum commercial area. The 10 sites can generate an estimated 5,030 household units, including the 980 EC units.
In terms of household units for sale, it’s in line with the 5,050 units used in the Confirmed List of 2H2024. However, it’s nearly 60% higher than the regular supply on the Confirmed List in each GLS programme from 2021 to 2023.
Exclusive household rates are expected to see even more small gains in 2024, with the collective price increase over the first three quarters of the year at around 1.6%.
Following the progressing ramp-up of private real estate supply in the GLS programs over the last 3 years, the stock of exclusive housing units available for sale has actually increased progressively from 16,100 units at the end of 2021 to around 21,000 units since end-November 2024.
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 overall private housing supply of 8,505 units in 1H2025 is on a the same level with the 8,140 units in 2H2024.
The increase in the EC land supply in 1H2025 might “go some way to soothe the competition among developers in land tenders and guide to moderate EC land cost and prices as necessary”, claims Ismail Gafoor, CEO of PropNex.
The spot of the previous Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society on Dorsett Road, off Rangoon Road, that can yield around 430 units, will even be introduced for sale in 1H2025. A residential and commercial site at Hougang Central, that can generate a brand-new mixed-use project with 835 residence units and over 400,000 sq ft of commercial room, is marketed. It will likely be integrated with the Hougang MRT Station on the Northeast Line.
The last time three EC plots were launched for sale in an one GLS program was in 2H2014 when EC spots in Sembawang Road/Canberra Link, Anchorvale Crescent, and Woodlands Avenue 12 were launched for tender. In 1H2014, 4 EC sites (2 in Yishun, one each in Sembawang and Choa Chu Kang) were introduced available for sale via the GLS.
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The ramp-up of supply from the GLS programmes has added to the stabilisation of the exclusive residential market, as reflected by the constraint in property price momentum. Based on the URA private residential property price index, rate development has regulated to 6.8% in 2023 from 10.6% in 2021 and 8.6% in 2022.
In view of the rigid competition for EC sites among property developers and increasing EC land prices, the state has ramped up the supply of EC sites, with three plots potentially yielding 980 units in the Confirmed Listing of 1H2025. This is a shift from previous GLS programs ever since 2018, with only one EC site presented in each of the semiannual land sales programmes, notes PropNex.
Along with locations in two new real estate districts, the majority of the sites are close to MRT stops, that might interest property developers and homebuyers 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 linked to the Hougang MRT terminal, the Telok Blangah Roadway plot (740 units) and Dunearn Road (370 units) site in new real estate precincts, and within minutes’ stroll to the MRT station, in addition to the Lakeside Drive site (575 units) which is right beside the Lakeside MRT terminal, Jurong Lake Gardens and the Jurong East business center.”
To make certain that there is adequate supply to satisfy housing demand and to keep market stability, the state has maintained the supply of exclusive household units by using 8,505 units in the upcoming Confirmed List and Reserved List of the 1H2025 GLS Government Land Sales (GLS) program 1H2025.
Seven new plots are going to be presented in the 1H2025 GLS program. They include 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 previous Keppel Golf Course site.
The Reserve Listing consists of 4 private residential sites, one business site, 3 White sites and one hotel site, which can potentially yield an extra 3,475 private residential units and 199,900 sqm (2.15 million sq ft) gross floor area (GFA) of business spot.
Also on the Confirmed Checklist is the residential plot in Upper Thomson Road (Parcel A), that viewed no quotes when its tender shut in June 2024. Previously, the plot was to offer a blend of residential units and long-stay serviced apartments. Of note, the URA has offered more versatility this moment; it said that serviced apartment/long-stay serviced apartment usage would not be mandated for the location however can be enabled based on approval from technical companies, notes PropNex.
