Sixteen developers vied for a residential site at Serangoon North Avenue 1. Keppel Land and Wing Tai units jointly submitted the top bid of $446.28 million, or $965 psf per plot ratio. The 1.72 ha site can yield around 505 housing units.
The top bid of $965 psf ppr is on par with the $960 psf ppr fetched for The Crest site and the $970 psf ppr for the Alex Residences site in Bukit Merah. The units could be launched at around $1,600 psf or upwards, reckons Ong Teck Hui, JLL’s national director of research and consultancy.
Lee Nai Jia, head of research at Edmund Tie & Company, says “There will be strong demand from HDB upgraders staying in the area, especially young families since the site is also within 1km to Rosyth Primary School. The site also offers unblocked views for those facing landed homes in Serangoon Garden Estate.”
Christine Li, director of research at Cushman & Wakefield, notes that the top bid is 14% higher than the $848.84 psf ppr paid for Stars of Kovan site, which is within walking distance from Kovan MRT station.
“The sell-out of Hundred Palms EC in seven hours last weekend has boosted developers’ confidence in the pricing power for mass-market homes in the locality. Separately, the former HUDC Serangoon Ville was just sold at $499 million, which translates to $825 psf ppr and some 25% above the reserve price. The residents could be looking for replacement homes or investment properties after cashing out at the en bloc,” Li says.
The top bid for the Serangoon North Avenue 1 site was 6.6% higher than the second highest bid submitted by Frasers Centrepoint. “The strong turnout by developers for the site could also be an indication that developers have accepted that the trough of the market is here,” says Desmond Sim, CBRE’s head of research for Singapore and Southeast Asia.
Developers have submitted bullish bids in state tenders since mid-2016 in response to tighter land supply released under the Government Land Sales (GLS) programme. Nearly 30 private housing sites were launched for sale in 2011, excluding executive condo sites. In comparison, fewer than 10 private housing sites were launched for sale in 2016. The lower supply of state land has also revived collective sale activities as developers pursue alternative land sources.
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Source: URA