GLS sites in Clementi Avenue and Jalan Jurong could lure heated competition

The Clementi estate's proximity to amenities and schools will make it more attractive.

The residential sites in Clementi Avenue 1 and Jalan Jurong launched under the H1 2018 Government Land Sales (GLS) programme could attract more investors compared to the other released sites, according to experts from Huttons Asia and OrangeTee and Tie.

“Location-wise, the site at Clementi is in a mature estate with plenty of amenities and good schools,” Huttons Asia research head Sze Teck Lee commented. “There is potential demand from upgraders and investors.”
 

Source: Housing and Development Board (HDB)

Lee thinks that it could be triggered for sale within the next few months and attract a top bid between $950 and $1,050 psf ppr. He mentioned that the nearby Clement Canopy is almost sold out which proves the strong demand for private homes in the area.

For OrangeTee and Tie research and consultancy head Christine Sun, the Jalan Jurong site could be the most attractive with around 10 developers and a bid price of about $1,000 to $1,100 psf ppr.

“Developers may find the site at Jalan Jurong Kechil attractive as there has not been a GLS site launched in the West for a while and going by past track records, the take-up of new launches in the West has been strong,” Sun said. She mentioned that the current stock is also quite low in the region which indicates that demand for new homes will be healthy for that area.

Meanwhile, Lee also sees the Canberra Link site to likely lure developers due to its proximity to the future Canberra MRT station. “There are not many sites for executive condominium (EC) developments that are within walking distance to MRT stations,” Lee said.

He also mentioned the strong demand for ECs in the market with only around 40 units unsold as of 28 June. “The one and only EC launch in 2018, Rivercove Residences is almost sold-out,” he explained.

Lee thinks that prospective buyers of EC will either have to choose amongst the unsold units or wait for the Sumang Walk EC in 2019 because there are no new launches of EC projects in 2018.

“Because of the low supply of EC available and the overwhelming demand for EC, the top bid for the Canberra site might come up to between $450 and $500 psf ppr,” Lee noted.

However, Sun believes the opposite. “Although Canberra Link EC is near the MRT station, there are already many EC projects launched in the area.” Sun commented. “Many HDB upgraders may have already bought ECs in the area.”

She mentioned Parc Life that has a low stock of about 30 balance unsold units as at May 18 and Signature at Yishun which is fully sold in April 2018.

“Sales take-up of EC units in the area is considered slow as Parc Life took about 2 years to almost sell-out whilst Signature at Yishun about 2.5 years to be fully sold,” she explained.

In general, Sun thinks that developers may not get interested with sites from the Reserve List because of many en bloc sites available for sale. She mentioned that the Stirling Road, Fourth Avenue, Jiak Kim Street sites that were triggered in 2017 had unique attributes and were mostly located in the prime districts.