Govt To Offer 13 New Land Sites In Second Half

Source : The Straits Times, June 19, 2008

THIRTEEN new sites have been added to the Government Land Sale (GLS) programme in the second half, adding more homes, hotels and office space to meet an expected increase in demand and a surge in tourist arrivals.

The new parcels comprise six residential, three commercial, three hotel and one white sites, said the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) in a statement on Thursday.

Together with another 27 unsold sites from the first half year and which will be carried forward, they will produce 400,000 square meters of commercial space and as many as 7,960 homes and 5,750 hotel rooms,

This means that there will be 40 sites comprising 21 residential, six commercial, 11 hotel and two white sites in the second half year.

'The total supply has been assessed to be sufficient to meet the demand for the various types of properties over the medium term,' said the URA statement.

Home prices and office rents in Singapore are cooling after rising to records last year, as a global credit squeeze damped economic growth this year.

High prices had prompted developers to tear down old apartment blocks at a record pace last year, and most of the new homes will be built in 2010 and 2011.

As many as 56,500 homes and 1.1 million square meters of office space will be finished by 2011, according to the URA data.

Most of the new supply for offices will be completed in the next two to three years, the ministry said.

Singapore expects the number of tourists to reach 17 million in 2015 from 10.3 million last year with new attractions such as the two integrated resorts.