S P Setia may win in a bidding ‘war’ in Singapore

Thinking about property investment in Singapore? Foreigners can buy in Sentosa island and prices for some do appear more attractive compared to the booming times just a few years ago. An image from propertyguru.com.sg showing some listings from Sentosa Cove. Perhaps not for most of us but for the ultra-high net-worth individuals, it may be. Property prices in Singapore has been inching downwards. Many industry stakeholders have been directly and indirectly urging the Singaporean government to ease some of the cooling measure. In fact, it has recently eased the cooling measures very slightly. Article here: Singapore has started easing cooling measures Unemployment rate in Singapore has inched up as well. It’s now at 2.2 percent in Q4 2016 from 2.1 percent the previous two quarters. Please note that this is definitely still a very healthy number compared to the world. As for the property market movements, it remains very positive as per the latest bidding for a land parcel at Toh Tuck Road, Singapore.

The article in StraitsTimes here.  That piece of land received a record 24 bids which was the highest for a non-landed government land sale site. The tender has closed on 11 April 2017 and the top bidder is SP Setia International from Malaysia. (Yes, we are top) The bid is SGD265 million (RM833 million). This is for a piece of land which is 18,721 sqm (4.62acre) which may be used to build up to 324 private homes. (Sometimes you do wonder if the economy is really not doing well, right?) The top bid translates into a price per sq of SGD939 (RM2,953). (Well, when we look at the price per sq ft, it’s certainly comparable to some land deals within the prime areas in KL.)  The top bid price was however unexpected as analysts were only expecting between SGD600 to SGD700 per sq ft. In other words, it’s over 50 percent higher than the lower range estimates! The report also said that the last residential site to be launched in the area was in Jalan Jurong Kechil in 2012. This was the The Hilford which is a 60-year leasehold development.
From this bidding war, it’s quite certain that the confidence level of developers for residential developments within Singapore is still very high. In fact, any piece of land which is considered prime will always be attractive because the demand will always be high. Many upgraders who has made it would want to be staying in more convenient places instead of at the far end and having to take the public transportation for over an hour just to reach the office. Even if they are driving, they would want a more centralised location too. The same situation is applicable to the prime or hotspots here in the Klang Valley too. That’s the reason why I think prices are well supported by many of hotspot supporters, including many of my friends and even my ex-CTO too. 🙂  Happy buying.
written on 14 April 2017
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