21-6-2023 (SINGAPORE) The city-state of Singapore has announced an increase in the private housing supply for the second half of the year, with 5,160 units added to the Confirmed List of the Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme. This figure marks a significant rise from the 4,090 units allocated in the first six months of the year.
The total number of units for the entire year of 2023, standing at 9,250, is the highest in the past decade. This figure is nearly 50 percent higher than the supply witnessed in 2022 and approximately 2.5 times that of 2021.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) revealed that the GLS for the second half of 2023 includes eight sites on the Confirmed List and nine sites on the Reserve List. All eight Confirmed List sites are dedicated to private residential development, including one site for an Executive Condominium (EC). In addition, these sites have the potential to yield around 4,900 square meters of commercial space. Notable locations among the newly introduced sites include Orchard Boulevard, Upper Thomson Road, and Zion Road.
The URA stated that this surge in housing supply aims to meet the resilient demand for housing and will contribute to a total pipeline supply of approximately 63,500 units, including Executive Condominiums. This figure comprises 50,200 units with planning approval, 13,300 units from GLS sites, and en-bloc sites that are yet to receive planning approval.
Out of the projected units, approximately 40,400 are expected to be completed between 2023 and 2025, more than doubling the number of units completed from 2020 to 2022. This forms part of a broader plan to complete around 100,000 public and private housing units between 2023 and 2025.
Lee Sze Teck, Huttons Asia’s senior director of research, expressed the belief that the sites on the Confirmed List will attract significant interest from developers. Notably, many of these sites are conveniently located near MRT stations or in new areas that have lacked housing supply for several years.
Christine Sun, senior vice president of research and analytics at OrangeTee & Tie, highlighted that the increased land supply reassures buyers that there is an ample private home supply. Sun believes that this boost in supply may help moderate price increases and bring stability to the market in the long term.
Mr. Lam Chern Woon, head of research and consulting at Edmund Tie, emphasized that the selection of prime sites was carefully calibrated to ensure that the supply does not become excessive. He added that this increased supply complements earlier measures aimed at raising public housing supply and reducing waiting times to meet the growing housing needs of the population.
Meanwhile, the Reserve List for the first half of 2023, which consists of nine sites, will be carried over to the 2H2023 GLS Programme. This includes six private residential sites, one commercial site, one white site, and one hotel site. These sites have the potential to yield an additional 3,430 private residential units (including 855 EC units), 93,350 square meters of commercial space, and 530 hotel rooms.
The URA has stated its commitment to closely monitor economic and property market conditions to calibrate future GLS Programmes accordingly. This approach aims to meet the demand for housing and promote market stability.
