Singapore Launches Tenders for Residential Projects Yielding Up to 1,685 New Homes

Singapore’s Housing and Development Board on Friday launched a public tender for two residential sites in Tampines and Tengah, as the government seeks to correct an undersupply that has contributed to soaring home prices in Asia’s richest country.

The sites for the residential/commercial Tampines Avenue 11 in northeastern Singapore and the Plantation Close executive condominium project in the city-state’s west together can potentially yield 1,685 housing units, the HDB said in a release.

The 5.07 hectare (12.5 acre) Tampines plot, providing about 1,190 residential units, will inject much-needed new supply of private mass-market homes and help satisfy pent-up housing demand in the Outside Central Region, according to Wong Siew Ying, head of research and content at PropNex Realty.

“Given that it is a sizeable project, we expect developers to team up to bid for the Tampines Avenue 11 plot,” Wong said. “The site could potentially attract two to three bids, with the top bid projected at about S$1.2 billion to S$1.3 billion ($890 million to $960 million), which translates to a land rate of S$850 to S$950 per square foot per plot ratio.”

Transit Connectivity

Tampines Avenue 11 is situated near Pasir Ris MRT station on the East West Line and the future Tampines North MRT station on the under-development Cross Island Line. Retail landmarks in the area include Our Tampines Hub, Tampines Mall, Century Square and Tampines 1.

Wong said the neighbourhood could still use more retail offerings to serve the growing residential population, making it likely that a future integrated development will be built on the site to appeal to homebuyers.

The Plantation Close site, meanwhile, should get a boost from the recent success of the 639-unit Copen Grand, Tengah’s first-ever executive condominium (a type of public-private housing hybrid), which sold out within one month of the project’s launch in the western planning area.

Plantation Close can furnish an estimated 495 executive condo units at the 2 hectare plot in between the future Tengah Park and Bukit Batok West MRT stations on the Jurong Region Line.

With the low supply of new EC units on the market, PropNex expects Plantation Close to attract five or six bids, topping out in a range of S$297 million to S$322 million for a land rate of S$600 to S$650 per square foot per plot ratio.

June Deadline

The HDB will take bids for the two 99-year leasehold sites until 27 June 2023, the same deadline as the tender exercise for the 790-unit Marina Gardens Lane site launched by the Urban Redevelopment Authority on 5 December.

Located within several blocks of the Marina Bay Financial Centre, Marina Gardens Lane is within a few minutes’ walk of the Gardens by the Bay tourist attraction and offers unobstructed views of the city’s central business district, Marina Reservoir and the Straits of Singapore.

PropNex expects three or four bids for the project at S$1,500 to S$1,600 per square foot of built area, due to the rarity of the location.

Singapore’s new private home sales dropped to an eight-year low in November as developers depleted their inventories and home prices continued to rise across the city-state. With supply drying up, home prices in suburban districts have risen by nearly a quarter since the start of the year, with values jumping city-wide.