Government Land Sales (GLS) programme is one of the most important measures to regulate the State land sales to the private developers for residential, office, retail, industrial and other developments in line with market demand. It’s actually regarded as a leading indicator to monitor the market cycle.
In Dec 13, 2017, the Government released the first half 2018 GLS Programme, which comprises six Confirmed List sites and nine Reserve List sites. These sites can yield about 8,045 private residential units and 63,960 sqm gross floor area (GFA) of commercial space.
The six Confirmed List sites are private residential sites (including one Executive Condominium (EC) site) which can yield 2,775 private residential units (including 450 EC units) and 4,450 sqm GFA of commercial space. Residential sites on the Confirmed List include sites at Silat Avenue, Cuscaden Road, Dairy Farm Road, Jalan Jurong Kechi and an EC site at Canberra Link.
The Reserve List comprises eight private residential sites (including two EC sites) and one commercial site. These sites can yield 5,270 private dwelling units (including 1,255 EC units) and 59,510 sqm GFA of commercial space, mostly for office use. Residential sites on the Reserve List include sites at Canberra Drive, Sims Drive, Clementi Avenue 1, Peck Seah Street, Yishun Avenue 9 and two EC sites at Tampines Avenue 10 and Anchorvale Crescent.
There are several factors considered by the Government to work out supply of private housing for the 1st half 2018.
1) Strong demand for sites by real estate developers, and a pick-up in transaction volumes.
2) A large potential supply of around 20,000 units from awarded en-bloc sale and GLS sites that have not yet been granted planning approval,
3) Around 18,000 unsold units that already have planning approval. Moreover, there are more than 30,000 existing private housing units that remain vacant.
Therefore, on balance, the Government has decided to keep the total supply of units for 1st half 2018 at about the same level as the supply of units from the 2nd half 2017 GLS Programme. The demand for new housing from prospective home-buyers has remained healthy in 2017. The continued supply of residential sites through the GLS Programme will ensure that there is a steady pipeline of new private housing units to meet the needs of our resident population.
When we add up collective sales transactiosn to the top of GLS land sales, it’s naturally enlighten us to think how will the total residential land supply affect the private home price. According to a recent research by Collier International, overall housing land transaction volume has historically increased in line with the residential prices as shown in the chart below.
Want to know more details about Government Land Sales in the recetn years? Kindly pleaserefer to the following table which summerize the GLS sales sites from 2011 to 2017.
Source: URA website