After holding back for the past few quarters, 16 new land sites will be released under the Government Land Sales (GLS) programme in the second half of this year. That is in addition to other private land sites which might go on sale as well during the same period.
Despite this ramped up supply of land plots, property analysts expect continued aggressive bidding from developers as they seem to be on the hunt for resources to replenish their land banks and especially as the demand for new homes has grown steadily in the last few months. As the nation’s population continues to grow, the authorities also recognise the need to keep up with the demand for new private housing in the years ahead.
The 16 sites from the GLS programme can potentially yield up to 8,125 private homes. And yet, analysts still consider this allocation inadequate in meeting developer demand. The sites most likely to draw the most number of bids are those in Jiak Kim Street, Fourth Avenue and Cuscaden Road due to their locations. New record high bids are expected for these sites.
With the possibilities of more joint ventures between developers and funds, the potential for higher bids for limited land plots may very well drive land prices up. Could that mean eventual increases in property prices, even if not now then sometime in the future? How would that then affect the market then?
