S$1 Billion bids for prime land show Singapore's property market is still hot

Gardens by the Bay, from left, Marina Bay Sands, and the central business district in Singapore, on Sunday, Oct. 3, 2021. Photographer: Ore Huiying/Bloomberg (Bloomberg)

By Shubhangi Goel

(Bloomberg) — Two state land plots in Singapore offered for private housing and commercial use each fetched billion-dollar bids from developers, signaling continued robust demand in the property market amid cooling measures and recession fears.

Chinese developer Kingsford Hurray Development Pte. and two partners put in the leading bid of S$1.03 billion ($763 million) for the Marina Gardens Lane site, according to a statement from the Urban Redevelopment Authority on Tuesday. The land parcel is located next to some of the city-state’s prime attractions, including Gardens by the Bay and Marina Barrage.

Further out in the city’s suburbs of Tampines, a mixed-use site fetched the highest bid of S$1.2 billion from Topaz Residential Pte. and Topaz Commercial Pte., the Housing & Development Board said in a statement.

Both sites have a 99-year lease. While such hefty bids are not unprecedented in Singapore, it is a further sign of interest from developers in the still-buoyant property market, which has seen significant increases in rent and home prices in recent years.

—With assistance from Low De Wei.

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