Wednesday, March 26, 2008

HDB Releases 2 Land Parcels Under Reserve List For Condominium Development

Source : Channel NewsAsia, 25 March 2008

The Housing and Development Board is releasing two parcels of land for condominium housing under the Reserve List of the Government Land Sales programme.

One of them, at Jurong West Street 42, is for executive condominium housing, while the other at Chestnut Avenue is for private apartments.

Among the two sites, the one at Chestnut Avenue is expected to get more attention from developers.

Analysts said this is because of its attractive location, compared to the site at Jurong West Street 42, which is some 1.2 kilometres away from the nearest train station.

The proposed condominium project at Chestnut Avenue could yield about 400 to 450 units, which will be sold at between S$720 and S$750 per square foot on average.

Nicholas Mak, Director, Knight Frank, said, "This particular parcel at Chestnut Avenue...I think the developers might want to make it not so much mass market, but they may make it slightly mass to mid market and they may play on the fact that it is quite near to a park, so they may try to sell on its greenery aspect."

The plot at Jurong West for executive condominium housing is projected to yield about 420 to 460 units.

Both sites, with lease terms of 99 years, are on the Reserve List. This means they will only be released for sale by tender if developers commit to a minimum bid acceptable to the HDB.

However, market watchers expect rising construction costs to put pressure on the land price.

Mr Mak said, "For the executive condominium site, we can expect bids ranging from S$120 to S$160 per square foot per plot ratio, while for the private 99-year leasehold site, we could see a range of bids of about S$220 to about S$270 per square foot per plot ratio."

The potential developments are unlikely to have any immediate impact on property prices in the surrounding areas until the units are ready to be launched.

Industry watchers said the demand from developers for the two land parcels will be soft and it will depend on whether they are able to sell their current stock of inventory.

In addition, the developers are also expected to take a wait-and-see approach when it comes to bidding for the two sites, as they are on the Reserve List.

Separately, the HDB also released the provisional tender results for a 99-year leasehold condominium site at the junction of Yishun Avenue 1 and 2.

MCL Land put in the highest of the five bids at over S$213 million, some 68 percent more than the next bid from Peak Green.

Analysts said the bid reflected the confidence of developers in the mass market in 2009.

They added that there is a potential for the building of 15- to 18-storey apartments at the site, which could be marketed at around S$800 per square foot. - CNA/ms

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