CDL, Hong Realty outbid 3 other bidders with S$542.4 million offer at S$1,865 psf ppr for Peck Hay plot

[SINGAPORE] A tie-up between City Developments Ltd (CDL) and Hong Realty has placed the top bid of S$542.4 million for a 99-year leasehold private housing site in Peck Hay Road, a short walk from Newton MRT interchange station.

The top bid works out to S$1,865.15 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr). It is 2.5 per cent higher than the nearly S$1,820 psf ppr fetched for a nearby site in Bukit Timah Road next to the Newton MRT station, at a tender that closed in November last year.

Both sites are part of the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) plans for a new neighbourhood in Newton unveiled last year.

The latest government land sales (GLS) tender, for the 59,347 sq ft Peck Hay Road site, closed on Thursday (Jun 11) with just four bids, against eight for the Bukit Timah Road plot.

The top bid at about S$1,865 psf ppr was 8.4 per cent higher than the second highest of about S$1,720 psf ppr from a tie-up between Sunway MCL and CSC Land Group (Singapore).

The third-highest bid at S$1,582.69 psf ppr came from a unit of China Overseas Land & Investment.

The lowest bid, from an Intrepid Investments and TID Residential tie-up, was about S$1,580 psf ppr.

Analysts polled by The Business Times earlier this week had expected the Peck Hay Road site to garner three to eight bids. They had forecast the top bid at S$1,600 psf ppr to S$1,850 psf ppr.

The site can yield about 315 private homes, offering developers the “opportunity to enter the Core Central Region (CCR) market at a manageable scale”, said ERA Singapore chief executive officer Marcus Chu.

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The site is near Anglo-Chinese School (Junior), St Joseph’s Institution Junior, Singapore Chinese Girls’ School (Primary), River Valley Primary School, St Margaret’s School (Primary) and Farrer Park Primary School.

The Newton MRT interchange offers proximity to the Orchard Road shopping belt via the North-South Line, and to the Central Business District via the Downtown Line.

PropNex head of research and content Wong Siew Ying said the Peck Hay Road site offers a combination of attractive attributes in its central location, MRT connectivity and proximity to amenities at Orchard Road and the Newton Food Centre. Healthcare services are nearby in the Novena medical cluster, which is one MRT stop from Newton.

The Peck Hay Road site is in the confirmed list of the first-half 2026 GLS Programme.

There have been no recent launches of 99-year leasehold condominium projects near the Peck Hay Road site, which is in the Core Central Region (CCR). Some analysts pointed to sales evidence at 99-year projects in or around the Orchard area within the CCR that have been launched since last year – such as UpperHouse at Orchard Boulevard, and River Green and River Modern (both at the doorsteps of Great World MRT station).

URA Realis data on new sales in 2026 showed that at UpperHouse, which is being built next to Orchard Boulevard MRT station, 19 units have been transacted since the start of the year till Jun 10, at an average price of S$3,554 psf. At River Green, 11 units have been sold at an average price of S$3,488 psf. Both projects were launched last year.

At River Modern, which was launched earlier this year, 423 units have been sold at an average price of S$3,278 psf, as at Jun 10.

Huttons Asia CEO Mark Yip highlighted that the average number of bids received at GLS tenders for sites in the CCR rose from an average of three bids a site in 2024 to 5.7 bids a site from January 2025 to May 2026. “This strong interest from developers boiled down to the robust sales of CCR projects in 2025 and 2026,” he added.

In a similar vein, CBRE’s head of research for Singapore and South-east Asia Tricia Song noted that at their respective launch weekends last year, River Green and Skye at Holland sold like hot cakes, with 88 per cent and 99 per cent of their units taken up.

This year, 90 per cent of the units in River Modern and 57 per cent of Newport Residences found buyers during their launch weekends.

“Developers are hungry to replenish their depleted landbanks, and may place more competitive bids to secure sites they find attractive,” Song added.

The successful bidder of the Peck Hay Road site will have to build covered linkway access for pedestrians to Newton MRT station.

The winning bidder will also be required to build a proposed extension of Peck Hay Road, relocate an existing bus stop along Scotts Road and widen a part of Anthony Road. “All these will add to the development cost, especially when bitumen prices have gone up substantially,” noted Yip of Huttons.

The Peck Hay Road site is the second GLS plot launched for tender in the new Newton neighbourhood. URA has plans for about 5,000 new private homes to be introduced progressively over a 10 to 15-year period around Newton Circus, Scotts Road and Monk’s Hill.