Government gives in to booming private residential demand

The teeming amount of private residential land in the new 2H12 GLS programme should sate the hunger of home purchasers, said Colliers.

"As expected, the government is unlikely to relent on the continued injection of land for private residential housing – given the strong demand from home purchasers and continued active participation of developers in land tenders, of which land bids are generally still bullish," according to Colliers after the government announced the sites that made it into the 2H12 GLS programme.

"The government cannot afford to significantly decrease the supply of private residential land, so long as housing prices remain high and demand for both private housing units and development land remains robust," it said.

"In line with Colliers International’s expectations and estimates, a total of 27 sites were introduced in both the Confirmed and Reserve Lists of the 2H 2012 GLS Programme for private residential development. This is comparable to the total supply of 14,195 units made available under the 1H 2012 GLS Programme and the 14,140 units under the 2H 2011 GLs Programme," it added.

"Notably, compared to 1H 2012, there are more residential sites on the 2H 2012 Confirmed List which have higher building densities, with proposed gross plot ratios of up to 4.9. These sites at Bishan Street 14 and Commonwealth Avenue could yield some 645 and 700 housing units, respectively," it said further.