Big-name developers elbowed out of recent land sales programmes

Smaller players have more aggressive bids.

Lesser-known property developers have been more successful in Government Land Sales (GLS) programmes this year, according to a report by BNP Paribas.

The report noted that no “traditional” developers have won any sites year-to-date. These traditional names include City Dev, Fraser, UOL, Capitaland and Keppel Land, BNP Paribas said.

“This implies rising competition for land, given new players entering the land market and eager to expand market share, such as foreign developers, boutique local developers and construction-related companies,” the report noted.

So far this year, BNP Paribas noted that the competition for land remains strong, with more number of bidders per tender site, more non-traditional developers securing sites, plum sites attracting higher bids. 

“In particular, we see more developers entering the land market to restock their depleting land bank. They may also be anxious to do so, given the supply cut in the GLS programme since 2014,” the report said.