Playing it cool

DEVELOPERS sat out the latest round of government land sales in Singapore, which saw the two sites on offer drawing only one bid each at lower-than-expected levels. Property players are treading very carefully, with no appetite for risk as market cooling measures continue to cramp buying demand.  

Both parcels came with strings attached. The Zion Road plot, sitting on the edge of a prime residential neighbourhood, is the first state land site for the government’s new serviced apartment pilot. The scale of the project, which can yield about 1,100 units with 435 serviced apartments, would have deterred many. City Developments Ltd (CDL), tying up with longtime partner Mitsui Fudosan, was the only bidder for the plot. 

At the S$1.1 billion offer, the per square foot rate on total gross floor area came to S$1,202 psf, some 30 per cent lower than the price paid for the last state land site sold in the area in 2017. Are prime land rates gravitating towards “mass market” levels?