Lakeside Drive, Dunearn Road, Woodlands residential sites released for sale
First Turf City plot and Lakeside parcel to yield about 1,000 new homes combined, Woodlands to offer 420 executive condo units
[SINGAPORE] The first residential site in Turf City along Dunearn Road has been put up for sale by the government on Tuesday (Apr 8), along with two other highly anticipated ones – a Jurong Lake area parcel, and an executive condominium plot in Woodlands.
The 13,492 square metre (sq m) Dunearn Road plot is expected to yield 380 homes in the prime Bukit Timah area, while the 13,485 sq m Lakeside Drive site could provide 575 units in the upcoming Jurong area. The Woodlands Drive 17 parcel, at 25,207 sq m in size, will yield some 420 new ECs.
While all three parcels are expected to see strong interest, Nicholas Mak, chief research officer at Mogul.sg, anticipates lower prices from some developers, given the upheaval caused by US President Donald Trump’s recent tariffs.
Mak projects stronger interest for the Lakeside Drive site, given its proximity to the Lakeside MRT station.
The commercial space allotment of about 1,000 sq m on the ground floor is also expected to draw a “large catchment of consumers”, given that the area has no supermarkets or eateries nearby, he noted.
Mark Yip, Huttons Asia’s chief executive, pointed out that the last plot sold in the area was Lake Grande in 2015.
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Similarly, ERA Singapore’s chief executive Marcus Chu said that there is a shortage of new private homes in Jurong. In the last two years, three new developments offering a total of 1,114 units were launched at J’den, The Lakegarden Residences and Sora, where 360 units remain unsold.
“A new launch in Lakeside Drive that will inject 575 new units could cater to the demand from this large district and support the growth of the Jurong Lake District,” he added.
The site could also attract demand from among upgraders; over 2,500 units in the vicinity of the land parcel have fulfilled their minimum occupation period (MOP), said Huttons’ Yip.
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Market watchers expect the Lakeside Drive plot to receive three to 10 bids, with a top bid at between S$900 and S$1,200 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr).
They also foresee keen interest in the Dunearn Road site.
The sale of the site “marks the start of the long-term rejuvenation plan of Bukit Timah Turf City”, said Justin Quek, chief executive of OrangeTee & Tie, adding that a first-mover advantage could prove a strong draw.
ERA’s Chu noted that the last launch in the area was Fourth Avenue Residences in 2017, which sold at a median price of S$2,406 psf. He expects “substantial pent-up demand” for homes in the area, given that it is near top-tier schools.
“Residents from future prime Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats in Turf City may become potential upgraders after fulfilling their 10-year MOP, boosting longer-term demand for private homes in this precinct,” he felt.
However, Yip also noted that the price points of developments in the prime Bukit Timah location should cater to the local market. With the 60 per cent Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty dampening foreign buying, Singaporeans now make up nearly 80 per cent of buyers in the Core Central Region.
With more sites in Turf City to be released over the upcoming years as redevelopment plans unfold, “some developers may adjust their interest in order to assess the demand for future land parcels”, said Quek. He expects to see a top bid of S$1,300 to S$1,400 psf ppr.
While EC sites have drawn solid bids from developers and project sales have been robust, ERA’s Chu thinks the Woodlands EC site will attract only moderate bidding, as it shares the same tender closing date as a Senja Close EC site launched in March. Still, the average land cost for EC sites stood at S$733 psf ppr in 2024.
“We could well see new benchmark prices for ECs. Prices will be a far cry from Northwave, the last EC sold in Woodlands, which was tendered for a land cost of S$566 psf ppr in 2015,” he added.
PropNex’s head of research and content Wong Siew Ying noted that the site could draw prospective upgraders, given the future developments in Woodlands. These include the upcoming Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System and the proposed relocation of the Singapore Sports School, which may free up sizeable land for redevelopment in the future.
“As EC demand tends to be resilient and a new EC project can only be launched 15 months from the site being awarded, it could potentially mitigate development risks and uncertainties in the near-term,” she said.
The three sites released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority and HDB are on the first-half schedule of the 2025 government land sales programme. The tenders for the Lakeside Drive, Dunearn Road and Woodlands Drive 17 sites will close on Jun 3, Jun 26 and Aug 5, respectively.
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