Real estate experts predict cautious bids for Lentor and River Valley sites

The sites are likely to receive three bids at the most.

Despite improved market sentiments and eased interest rates, real estate experts believe developers will be cautious in bidding for the two new sites released under the Confirmed List of the H2 2024 Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme. 

"Generally, we expect developers to be cautious with their bids for the sites in Lentor and River Valley, taking into consideration the upcoming supply of new private homes, as well as the unsold inventory from existing projects in those areas," PropNex said.

When assessing the Lentor Garden site, PropNex said developers will likely consider the depth of demand for new private homes and the unsold inventory from existing launches in the estate.

There have been five launches in the Lentor Hilsls estate and 84% of the 2,477 units available.

"We think at the present level, the unsold stock looks to be relatively manageable and will be pared down further by the time the subject Lentor Gardens GLS site is ready to be put on the market," Propnex said,

"That being said, developers may be cautious since the existing launches have soaked up a fair bit of private housing demand for that area," PropNex added.

OrangeTee, for its part, said developers may shift their focus to other available land parcels given that six land parcels in Lentor Hills have already been sold.

"This could lead to increased interest in areas such as Bayshore and Lorong Chuan, as new land parcels are set to be released after a period of limited supply in recent years," OrangeTee added.

For the Lentor Site, OrangeTee expects one to three bidders, with the highest bid price coming at $950 to $1,050 psf per plot ratio (psf ppr).

PropNex had quite a similar forecast, expecting two to three bids with the top bid possibly ranging from $443m to $462m, or a land rate of $950 to $990 psf ppr.

Meanwhile, Huttons expects 1 to 3 bidders for the site, anticipating a top bid of $900 to $1,000 psf ppr.

For River Valley Green (Parcel B), Huttons also expects developers to bid cautiously.

PropNex echoed this, saying "Developers will be watchful of the oncoming supply of new private homes from various GLS sites nearby" including  Zion Road (Parcel A), Zion Road (Parcel B), and River Valley Green (Parcel A) which were all sold this year.

Still, PropNex believes that River Valler Green (parcel B) is one of the "plum sites under the GLS Confirmed List for 2H 2024 owing to its attractive locational attributes."

OrangeTee said the limited supply of new homes in the site's area will also drive demand for the new site when it is launched for sale to buyers.

OrangeTee anticipates between one and three bidders for the site, with the highest bid price at $1,300 to S$1,400 psf ppr. 

PropNex had a higher estimate at two to three bids, with the top bid potentially coming in at $553m  to $597m, or a land rate of $1,250 to $1,350 psf ppr.

Huttons had a similar estimate of one to three bidders for the site and a top bid between $1,200 and $1,300 psf ppr.