GLS Tender closing for the residential site at Dorset Road

GLS Tender closing for the residential site at Dorset Road

Tender Closing for GLS Site

Residential site at Dorset Road
With nine bids submitted and a top bid of S$1,338 psf per plot ratio (ppr) at the Dorset Road plot, the amount of interest as well as the land rate comes in above expectations. While the number of participants was quite similar to the ten bidders at the nearby Northumberland Road site (the present Piccadilly Grand under development) that was awarded more than four years ago, the land rate is about 18.4% higher. This reflects robust interest by developers who are generally still confident in the strong homebuyer momentum, married with the strong site-specific attributes of a city-fringe location that is flushed with modern amenities and historical culture, despite economic uncertainty and elevated development costs. Singapore’s residential market remains resilient, supported by low unemployment and healthy household balance sheets. With most residents remaining employed, and given that strong domestic savings provide households with financial flexibility, sustained demand for new product in well located neighbourhoods with amenities currently persist, in turn incentivising developers to continue acquiring land.

Given the more than four years that have passed since the Northumberland Road in the heritage area of Little India was awarded, as well as the keen take-up when Piccadilly Grand was launched in May 2022, developers were willing to impute healthy premiums at today’s land tender close. The top bid of $524.3 million or $1,338 psf ppr is 19.2% above the lowest bid of $440.0 million or $1,123 psf ppr, highlighting the range of risk appetites that various developers have of homebuyer demand for the area in about a year’s time when the project is expected to be launch-ready. The likely selling price for the residential units here could start from $2,700 psf to average above $2,800 psf. When completed, this site would benefit from the convenience of being walking distance to Farrer Park MRT station, and the shopping options of City Square Mall and Mustafa Centre. Additionally, this project will also be walking distance to Connexion, an integrated medical centre and hotel development.

Local homebuyers supported activity in the prime home market segment, largely for their own occupation and for lease to foreign professionals working in Singapore, as the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) for foreign buyers continues to deter demand from non-Singapore residents. New citizens and permanent residents that favour high-rise living have also been acquiring homes in a stable Singapore, against the backdrop of a destabilising global environment. According to the Department of Statistics, there were 23,472 new citizens and 34,491 new permanent residents in 2023, the latest data available.

The recent upward revision of Seller’s Stamp Duty rates and the extension of the holding period to a fourth year did not hinder homebuyers, and in the first eight months of 2025, there is now an estimated 7,669 primary transactions, already falling within the 7,000 to 9,000 range forecasted by Knight Frank earlier this year with four months left to go. Taking into account that sales in September will decline due to most developers not launching projects during the Lunar Seventh month, and in December due to the year-end holidays, most new launches will likely take place in October and November. With August sales clearly showing that the appetite for new homes remains intact, notwithstanding the uncertainty global economy and trade conditions, new home sales should fall at the higher end of the original forecast range, close to or perhaps even moderately surpassing the 9,000-mark.