On the back of successful collective sales this year, 2 more private residential developments are trying their hand at the process. Tampines Court and Florence Regency are both previous HUDCs, similar to the 2 other properties which sold recently – Rio Casa and Eunosville.
The lack of land sites made available under the government land sales (GLS) programme may be the reason behind the success of these recent en bloc sales. Developers’ hunger for land has been reflected in the the high prices paid for recent en bloc deals, and the latter could also be precisely what is bolstering the courage of residents of Tampines Court and Florence Regency.
There are a total 18 HUDC projects built since the 1970s and all have been privatised, with 9 sold thus far, including Shunfu Ville and Raintree Gardens last year. Shunfu Ville could essentially be what got the en bloc ball rolling and more successes were recorded this year. Rio Casa sold for $575 million and Eunosville for $765 million.
Florence Regency is situated in H0ugang and has a land area of 389,000 sq ft. While it is still in the early stages of the en bloc process, Tampines Court on the other hand already has secured consent from 82 per cent of its residents. The asking price is currently set at $960 million for the 702,000 sq ft plot. At the moment, the property holds 432 maisonettes and 125 apartments. This is however not their first attempt at the collective sale process. The first attempt at $408 million was in 2008 and the second attempt in 2011. Property analysts expect home owners to seek higher prices following recent successes, but also warn against pricing too high as it may discourage developers from bidding.
