Property Fever Here Starting To Cool

Source : TODAY, Friday, April 4, 2008

More signs of Singapore’s property market slowing: Tenders for a plot of government development land have closed, attracting one of the lowest bids in recent years.

The residential site bordering Choa Chu Kang Road and Woodlands Road on offer attracted just two bids. The highest offer came from an arm of Peak Properties, which is controlled by the Wee family. It offered $61 million, which works out to just $162 per sq ft (psf) per plot ratio.

Knight Frank research head Nicholas Mak said: “The current bid is one of the lowest in recent years.”

The low point came last month when just $78 psf was offered for land in Westwood Avenue. This was rejected by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).

The last time residential land bids fell below $200 psf was between 2000 and 2002, at the height of Singapore’s decade-long property slump. It is not yet known whether the URA will accept the Peal Properties’ offer.

The Choa Chu Kang Road site can be potentially used to develop up to 240 condominium units or serviced apartments.

This tender may serve as a good benchmark for another nearby site in Choa Chu Kang Drive. Bids for this site close in May. Prices of completed units in nearby Maysprings condominium recently transacted at an average price of $530 to $630 psf.