Land sales to hit $14b, a sign of property market resurgence

Pearlbank Apartments in Outram is a 37-storey horse-shoe shaped building that comprises 280 apartments and eight commercial units. (Photo: Colliers International)

More than $3.3 billion worth of land deals, including en bloc sales, are expected to be completed in Singapore during this quarter, boosting the total for the whole year to $14 billion, reported Bloomberg, citing data from Cushman & Wakefield Inc.

This is the highest figure since 2011, said the property consultancy, adding that this indicates that the city-state’s real estate sector is set to recover significantly by next year.

“Singapore’s residential and office market has passed its inflecion point, embarking on an exciting recovery journey,” said Cushman & Wakefield’s Research Director Christine Li.

“With brighter economic prospects and improved market sentiment in the next two to three years, developers are increasingly sourcing land sites to ride the wave of growth for the rest of the decade.”

Among the top land deals set to be closed in Q4 2017 is the ‘Reserve List’ site in Jiak Kim site formerly occupied by iconic nightclub Zouk. Zoned residential with first-storey commercial use, the site has a maximum gross floor area of 51,231 sq m and can yield 525 houses.

The government is offering the land for a minimum bid price of $689.353 million, but Cushman & Wakefield estimates that it could fetch $870 million.

Another is the anticipated collective sale of the 288-unit Pearlbank Apartments in Outram for a reserve price of $728 million. This translates to a land cost of $1,505 psf ppr after factoring in a $195 million premium for topping up the lease for the site with a GFA of around 57,000 sq m.

In addition, the 33,358 sq m Reserve List site in Fourth Avenue is expected to yield about 445 homes. The state is selling it for at least $448.8 million, but Cushman & Wakefield believes that the winning buyer could get it for $505 million.

The public tender for the Jiak Kim and Fourth Avenue sites will close on 5 December, while the Pearlbank Apartments en bloc sale is expected to be transacted by year-end.

Meanwhile, experts from BNP Paribas, Morgan Stanley and UOB Kay Hian forecast that residential prices here could increase by up to 10 percent in 2018.

JLL Singapore’s Research Head Tay Huey Ying is also confident that residential units and Grade A office space in the city-state will remain sought-after by investors next year.

 

This article was edited by Keshia Faculin.