The Urban Development Authority (URA) is braving out against the weak market as they offer two 99-year leasehold sites—residential and commercial-residential.
These sites are in the reserve list, which means that they will only be sold out if developers show interest to buy them. However, property consultants are not positive about this idea, thinking that the market has a low buying capacity as of press time. For this very reason, the offer may not be a tempting one.
URA released its monthly data this week, figures showed that developers were able to sell only 112 units this month, and this data is comparable to the sales record during the Sars outbreak in 2003. There were also 50 home buyers who did not complete their deals last month.
The first site is at the Dakota Cresent. It is near the upcoming Singapore Sports Hub and the soon-to-come Dakota MRT station.
The second project is at the Seletar Road which is for a mixed commercial and residential development. It is located in a residential area at Seletar Hills near the coming Seletar Aerospace Park. It has a gross floor area of 226,042 sq. ft.
However, the government had to cancel two of the three confirmed sites for the rest of the year. Just like the project for an executive condo in Punggol which was pursued but gained no bids.
With this period’s economic crunch, developers are taking a break from land banking. Mr. Nicholas Mak, Knight Frank’s director of research and consultancy, confirms, “The current cautious mood and slow sale activity in the residential market have diminished developers’ appetite for development sites.”