http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/...67940,00.html?
Published October 18, 2011
Four land parcels to be released this month
3 for private housing and one for EC units, yielding around 1,900 units in total
By UMA SHANKARI
THE government will release three land parcels for private housing and one for executive condominium units for sale this month.
The four sites can yield around 1,900 units in all, government agencies said yesterday.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) yesterday launched the first of the sites - a 99-year leasehold plot on Alexandra Road which can yield about 545 private homes.
The site is under the confirmed list of the government land sales (GLS) programme for the second half of 2011.
Three more housing sites will be released for sale on Oct 27.
Two of them are private housing sites - one for about 35 landed homes in Bukit Panjang and the other for about 540 apartments in Punggol - which will also be rolled out via the confirmed list.
The executive condominium (EC) site in Sengkang, on the other hand, will be offered under the reserve list. The EC site can yield around 770 flats.
Under the reserve list system, the government releases a site for sale only if an interested party submits an application with a minimum price that is deemed acceptable.
By contrast, land parcels under the confirmed list are sold according to scheduled dates.
The land parcel along Alexandra Road, which is located within an established residential estate in the central region, is one of the more attractive sites in the current GLS programme and will attract interest from developers, analysts say.
'The site could attract 8-12 bidders with the top bid coming in around $600-650 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr),' said Credo Real Estate executive director Ong Teck Hui.
However, as the tender is due to close only in December, interest in the site may be affected if market conditions soften, he added.
Nicholas Mak, research head of property consultancy SLP International, noted that the higher bids are likely to be from the larger developers with deep pockets and holding power.
'If the winning developer plans to sell the units in this project at prices above $1,350 psf, for example, in the near future, it could need more than a year to sell all the units in this development,' Mr Mak said.
The site has a maximum gross floor area of about 524,900 sq ft. The tender will close at noon on Dec 6.
The site is adjacent to the plot for Ascentia Sky, the site which was sold in December 2007 for $639 psf ppr to Wing Tai Holdings and United Engineers.
Units in that project have been selling for between $1,300 and $1,500 psf for the most part in the last six months.