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[SINGAPORE] The Ministry of National Development (MND) on Friday (Jun 13) said that it will release land on the confirmed list for about 4,725 private housing units in the second half of the year, a drop of 6 per cent from the 5,030 units’ land supply in the first half.

These figures include an executive condominium (EC) supply of 990 units in H2, compared with 980 EC units in the H1 government land sales (GLS) programme.

ECs are a public-private housing hybrid, with initial buyer eligibility and resale restrictions that are completely lifted 10 years after an EC project has been completed.

Confirmed-list sites are launched for sale according to schedule, regardless of demand.

However, MND is upping the supply on the reserve list, where sites are launched for sale only upon successful application by a developer, or when there is sufficient market interest.

In H2, it will offer land that can potentially generate about 4,475 private homes (with no EC supply). This is 29 per cent higher than the supply in H1’s reserve list, where the government offered land that can potentially generate about 3,475 private homes (none of which is an EC unit).

Overall, the 10 confirmed-list sites and 12 reserve-list sites for the H2 2025 programme are expected to yield around 9,200 private residential units (including EC units),178,315 square metres (sq m) of gross floor area (GFA) of commercial space, and 880 hotel rooms, said the ministry. (See the full list of sites in the PDF attachment.)

This compares with the 8,505 private housing units (including EC units), 242,900 sq m GFA of commercial space, and 530 hotel rooms that can be generated on the confirmed and reserve lists for H1.

All 10 residential sites on the H2 confirmed list are new. They are in locations such as near the Newton MRT station (partly on a former transitional office site), Tanjong Rhu Road (beside the Singapore Swimming Club), Dunearn Road (next to an earlier GLS site for which the tender will close later this month), Lentor Central (near the Lentor MRT station), and Miltonia Close (fronting a park and reservoir).

“With ample attractive sites on the confirmed list, we do not expect the sites on the reserve list to be triggered for sale in the near term,” said Tricia Song, head of research for Singapore and South-east Asia at CBRE.

Of the 12 plots on the reserve list – comprising residential, commercial, white and hotel sites – just two are new.

One is a hotel site in Telok Ayer Street, planned for mixed-use development comprising hotel rooms, long-stay serviced apartments and retail spaces. The aim is to “foster a vibrant neighbourhood along Telok Ayer Street and enliven the Central Business District”, said MND.

The other new plot, in Cross Street, is for long-stay serviced apartment use only and imposed with a retail cap of 750 sq m GFA.

The remaining 10 sites on the H2 reserve list are not new.

Cut in minimum office quantum for JLD site

But market watchers spotted a noteworthy change for one of them, the Jurong Lake District (JLD) master developer site. The minimum office quantum for Phase 1 of the master developer site has been reduced from 70,000 sq m GFA to 40,000 sq m.

A spokesperson for the Urban Redevelopment Authority told The Business Times that the change to the minimum office quantum requirement was made in end-2024, following extensive engagements with industry stakeholders. “The engagements were intended to gather industry feedback on JLD’s plan and approach for the master developer site, including supply quantum and use mix.”

He noted: “The reduction was made to provide developers with more flexibility in determining the mix of uses and to better pace the roll-out of office space for the master developer site. This takes into account feedback received from the industry.”

The spokesperson added that the minimum office quantum for the entire site has been reduced from 140,000 sq m to 100,000 sq m.

Knight Frank Singapore research head Leonard Tay said that MND is continuing to keep the supply of private homes through the GLS programme at steady levels in H2. “Although the return of homebuyers that started as pent-up demand in late 2024 is still unfolding, the anticipated continued decline in interest rates, combined with tight national employment and strong household balance sheets, provides some support for private residences in the remainder of the year.”

That said, global political and economic uncertainty might lead to buyers turning cautious, especially if retrenchments increase, he added.

“Robust pipeline”

For the whole of 2025, the government will be supplying land for a total of 9,755 private housing units (including EC units) through the confirmed list.

MND said that this will bring the total pipeline supply of private housing (including EC) units to about 56,700 units. The figure comprises about 40,700 units with planning approval as well as about 16,000 units from GLS sites and awarded private-sector en-bloc sale sites that have yet to be granted planning approval.

“This robust pipeline of private residential units will help to meet the medium-term housing needs of Singapore’s population,” the ministry explained. “The supply consists of a good spread of sites across various geographical locations, supporting the development of both conventional private residential units and long-stay serviced apartments, to cater to both owner-occupation and rental housing demand.”

PropNex CEO Ismail Gafoor said: “We expect that many of the sites will generate keen interest among developers, who will be looking to replenish their land inventory with choice sites following robust primary market sales in Q4 2024 and Q1 2025, when new private home sales came in at 3,420 units and 3,375 units (excluding EC units), respectively.”

As at end-Q1 2025, the number of unsold, uncompleted private homes (excluding EC units) in the market stood at 18,125 units, the lowest in five quarters, PropNex noted.

“That said, we expect the ramp-up in private housing supply to cater to demand for homes and help to moderate home prices going forward,” added Gafoor.

He observed that developers’ sales (excluding EC units) in the past three years – at 6,469 units in 2024, 6,421 in 2023, and 7,099 in 2022 – have been measured, and that the total confirmed list supply at 7,785 units (excluding EC units) in 2025 is substantially higher than the five-year average supply (from 2020 to 2024) of 5,418 units offered.

In its release, MND said that “with the progressive ramp-up of private housing supply via the GLS programme over the last three years, property price momentum in the private residential market has moderated”.

The ministry highlighted that the total EC supply via the confirmed list for the whole of this year will be about 2,000 units, “the highest in a single year since 2014”.

Justin Quek, chief executive officer of OrangeTee & Tie, welcomed the increased supply of EC land. “This should give HDB upgraders or first-time homeowners more accessible alternatives between the public and private markets.”

MND said that the EC supply in the H2 confirmed list will help bolster the inventory of EC units available for sale. As at end-April, there were about 2,900 EC units available for sale, including units from GLS sites launched in H1 that have yet to be awarded. “With the 990 EC units from the H2 2025 confirmed list, there will be a total of close to 3,900 EC units in the supply pipeline available for sale in the near term,” noted MND, adding: “The government will continue to closely monitor economic and property market conditions, and, when necessary, we are ready to increase both public and private housing supply.”