Singapore’s URA Launches Tenders for Three Residential Sites as Home Sales Perk Up

Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority on Tuesday released three residential sites under the Government Land Sales programme, aiming to capitalise on improving sentiment after newly launched projects saw strong demand.

The site at Bayshore Road on the southeastern coast can yield 515 homes, the URA said in a release, while Media Circle Parcels A and B in the One-North research and development hub in western Singapore’s Queenstown area can yield a respective 325 and 500 units.

With land to accommodate 5,050 homes scheduled for release under the GLS confirmed list during the July-December period, the government plans to calibrate supply to account for prevailing market conditions after new home sales hit an 11-month high of 738 units in October.

“While the robust sales take-up of recent project launches gave developers’ confidence to replenish their landbank, it also raises the probability of the government stepping in to stabilise the market,” said Huttons Asia CEO Mark Yip. “Thus developers are expected to be cautious so as to manage any downside risks.”

Site of Many Firsts

The Bayshore Road site can yield up to 474,419 square feet (44,075 square metres) of gross floor area at the foot of the recently opened Bayshore MRT station on the Thomson-East Coast Line, with units potentially commanding sea views towards the East Coast Park beach. The tender for the site will close on 18 March 2025.

“The Bayshore Road GLS is significant due to its many firsts,” Yip said. “It is the first private residential site in the upcoming Bayshore precinct. It is the first private residential site to have doorstep access to Bayshore MRT station. It may be the first private residential site offering both sea views and doorstep access to a MRT station.”

The last GLS site sold along the East Coast was Seaside Residences in January 2016 for S$858 per square foot of accommodation. Taking into account site characteristics and market conditions, the Bayshore Road site could attract up to four bidders with a top bid of S$1,200 per square foot or up to S$570 million ($423.4 million), per Huttons’ analysis.

The tenders for Media Circle Parcels A and B will close on 4 March 2025 and 29 April 2025, respectively, with the two different dates giving developers a chance to monitor interest in the area and formulate tender bids, according to Yip.

Since the last top bid for a Media Circle plot was S$1,191 per square foot in February of this year, Huttons expects each of Parcels A and B to attract up to three bidders with a top bid between S$1,000 and S$1,100 per square foot or up to S$494 million.

Faber Walk Awarded

Also Tuesday, the URA awarded the tender for the Faber Walk residential site in western Singapore’s Clementi area to a joint venture of entities associated with Malaysia’s GuocoLand, a unit of the Hong Kong-listed Guoco Group controlled by billionaire Quek Leng Chan.

The winning bid of nearly S$349.9 million ($259.9 million) translates to S$902 per square foot of the plot’s maximum permissible GFA of 388,728 square feet, the URA said in a release.

The 99-year leasehold site near the future Jurong Town Hall MRT station can yield about 400 homes. GuocoLand had not issued a statement on the tender award by the time of publication.