Singapore's land sales value hits six-year high at $13b

Total value of sold residential projects alone hit $6.34b, the highest in 10 years.

Singapore's land transactions have hit a six-year high at $13b YTD in 2017, Cushman & Wakefield revealed.

According to the firm's data, 2017 is set to end the year on a high note for land transactions, as the total volume is expected to surpass the total transaction volume achieved in 2011.

Should all the pipeline deals from both the public and private land deals materialise, Singapore’s total land transactions could be possibly boosted by another $3.4b by end of the year. This will bring the total land transactions to about $16.4b in 2017, the highest record in history.

The average premium paid for the top five residential sites over comparable sites is 22% in 2017 and that for commercial sites, the premium amounted to 36%.

"This does not come as a surprise as land-starved developers have been ravenous in acquiring well-located choice sites as investment sentiment has picked up substantially from a year ago," the firm said.

A total of 18 residential projects have been sold out this year for $6.34b, the highest in 10 years.

The sale of the Stirling Road GLS site is the largest residential transaction YTD, priced $1b, followed by Tampines Court, which was sold for $970m.

Cushman & Wakefield Singapore head of research Christine Li said, "Singapore’s residential and office market has passed its inflection point, embarking on an exciting recovery journey. With brighter economic prospect and improved market sentiment in the next two to three years, developers are increasingly sourcing for land sites to ride the wave of growth for the rest of the decade."