Government land sales set benchmark prices in Q1

The highest bid for Sumang Walk at $583 psf ppr hit a record-high.

In the first quarter, the public investment sales segment fell 18% QoQ but grew 166% YoY to $1.24b (US$0.94b). According to Colliers International, some of the sales within the period drew benchmark prices.

The tender exercise for the Executive Condominium (EC) site at Sumang Walk in Punggol, in particular, drew strong interest from developers and attracted 17 bids in total.

The Sumang Walk site was eventually awarded to CDL Constellation and TID Residential for $509.3m (US$388m) or $583 (US$445) per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr), a record price on psf for an EC site.

The top bid for the site also has 4.8% premium over the second bidder and a 36.3% premium above the last bidder, Colliers noted.

CDL also beat nine other bidders for the prime District 9 Handy Road tender with $212.2m (US$162m) or $1,722 (US$1,314) psf ppr.

Colliers International research director and head Tricia Song noted that the psf price was a record for the location and 12.3% above the next highest bidder and 76.7% above the last bidder. “These reflect the developers' hunger for land as well as their confidence in the residential market across mass market to the high-end segments,” she added.

Meanwhile, the two other sites awarded through the Government Land Sales (GLS) at Chong Kuo Road and West Coast Vale drew eight and six very competitive bids with narrow winning margins of 0.1% and 0.7% respectively.