URA tender pulls in 8 bids for Jalan Tembusu plot and 4 for Lentor site
Market watchers describe bids as more cautious and subdued in wake of December's cooling measures
Jan 19, 2022
THE maiden state tender for private housing sites, coming after the mid-December property cooling measures, has drawn mixed results.
The 8 bids received for a District 15 plot at the corner of Jalan Tembusu and Tanjong Katong Road, as well as the highest bid (from City Developments or CDL) of S$1,302 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr), were at the upper end of the range forecast by property consultants polled in the week before the tender closed on Tuesday (Jan 18). This took into account the impact of the cooling measures.
A plot near Lentor MRT station near Ang Mo Kio fetched 4 bids, with the highest (from a tie-up involving entities of Hong Leong Group Singapore and mainboard-listed GuocoLand) at S$1,060 psf ppr. This price is closer to the lower end of the S$980-1,200 psf ppr forecast by property consultants.
They had expected the site to fetch between 4 and 9 bids.
CBRE Research's head of research for South-east Asia, Tricia Song, said the results "largely reflect developers being more cautious and subdued".
"Compared to the 12 months preceding the cooling measures, when there were 9 to 15 bidders for each private residential GLS (Goverment Land Sales) tender site, the 2 relatively attractive subject sites saw only 4 to 8 bids, and we believe the top bid prices largely reflect a stable end-buyer market."
On a more positive note, Edmund Tie's head of research and consulting, Lam Chern Woon, said the latest tender results "attest to the continued confidence in the property market and interest shown by developers to beef up their land banks a month after fresh cooling measures were introduced".
Agreeing, JLL's senior director of research and consultancy, Ong Teck Hui, pointed to the relatively low unsold inventory which stood at 17,165 private housing units in Q3 2021, and the possibility of the market remaining stable and healthy in 2022.
The 210,622 sq ft Jalan Tembusu site is about 500 m from the upcoming Tanjong Katong MRT station along the Thomson-East Coast Line and can yield about 640 housing units. It is also near popular schools, eating outlets in Katong, East Coast Park and plentiful amenities. CDL's top bid was 7.8 per cent higher than the second-highest bid (from a tie-up involving 3 privately held companies in the Hong Leong Group Singapore stable).
CDL said on Tuesday evening: "Should CDL be awarded this site, the plan is to develop a residential project comprising 4 blocks of 20 to 21 storeys with a total of about 640 residential units. The proposed residential development will enjoy unobstructed views of the CBD skyline and the Singapore Sports Hub, as well as some sea views towards the south."
The group's CEO, Sherman Kwek, added: "Our residential projects have sold well over the past few years and the acquisition of the sizeable Jalan Tembusu government land sale site will bolster CDL's development inventory by over 600 units.
"While there will be some headwinds on the back of the property cooling measures, we believe that the market remains well-supported by resilient fundamentals such as an improving job market and strong household balance sheets."
As for Lentor Hills Road Parcel A, the top bid from a tie-up involving Intrepid Investments, GuocoLand and TID Residential, was 6.3 per cent higher than the second-highest bid from a partnership between Sim Lian Land and Sim Lian Development.
The 184,460 sq ft plot can yield about 595 private homes. The successful bidder for this site will have to include an early-childhood development centre in the development that is to be at least 500 sq m (about 5,382 sq ft) in gross floor area size.
Market watchers noted that the S$1,060 psf ppr top bid is 12 per cent below the S$1,204 psf ppr winning bid of the neighbouring plot in Lentor Central by GuocoLand in July last year. This is partly due to Lentor Hills Road Parcel A being slightly further away from Lentor station. Moreover, the Lentor Central site is zoned residential with commercial on the first storey.
An observer suggested that the latest Lentor plot drew just 4 bids as some deveopers reckoned that GuocoLand would defend its first-mover advantage in the locale by bidding aggressively.
"Nearby local and international schools include Presbyterian High School, Anderson Primary School, Ai Tong School, CHIJ St Nicholas Girls' School, Eunoia Junior College and Nanyang Polytechnic," said a spokesman of Hong Leong Holdings, parent company of Intrepid Investments.
ERA Realty Network's head of research and consultancy department, Nicholas Mak, said the new condo on the (Lentor) site could be launched at S$1,950-2,050 psf.
As for the new condo on the Jalan Tembusu plot, he said it could be launched at S$2,300-2,400 psf.