Aerial view of the site at Lorong 1 Realty Park in Hougang. (Photo: URA)
UPDATED: The tender for a rare landed property site at Lorong 1 Realty Park in Hougang closed on Thursday (1 June) after attracting 11 bids, revealed the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).
China-based developer Fantasia Investment (Singapore), together with individuals Sun Renwang and Yang Xinping, submitted the top bid of $75.8 million for the approximately 144,221 sq ft site. This works out to a land price of about $526 psf.
The second-highest bid of $62 million ($430 psf) came from Singhaiyi Investments and Haiyi Wealth, followed by EL Development with $60.1 million ($417 psf).
The 99-year leasehold plot was launched for sale on 20 April via the confirmed list of the first half 2017 Government Land Sales programme. It is expected to yield an estimated 50 landed homes.
Several shopping malls including Heartland Mall and Hougang Mall are located within the area, while the nearest MRT station is the Hougang station on the North-East Line.
Ong Teck Hui, National Director, Research & Consultancy at JLL, noted that tender participation for the site was not particularly keen, with most of the bids on the conservative side.
“Only the top bidder demonstrated stronger optimism in the tender, with a 22.2 percent higher bid than the second, suggesting the likelihood of pricing the units more optimistically when launched,” he said.
But he pointed out that the site poses some challenges due to its location along “busy and noisy Hougang Avenue 2″.
“This will not be appealing to many buyers so demand may be more hesitant, and this would be reflected in less optimistic sale prices. This would probably account for the moderate bidding of the second-highest bidder at $430 psf and downwards.”
A decision on the award of the tender will be made after the bids have been evaluated, said the URA.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
