As developers brace for tighter margins, it's time to rethink their traditional business models

THE latest Government Land Sales (GLS) tender closings point to a continuation of thin profit margins in the Singapore residential property development business.

The tenders for a private condo plot along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 and the maiden executive condominium (EC) housing plot in the Tengah estate drew intense competition from developers who are running out of land amid healthy home sales.

The top bids for both 99-year leasehold land parcels beat market expectations, with the plot in Tengah Garden Walk setting a record price for EC land. ECs are a public-private housing hybrid.