Following several rounds of cooling measures, and with sharply increased financing costs, bids for two 99 year leasehold sites revealed a markedly more risk-averse attitude among developers.

Six bids were submitted for a parcel on Champions Way in Woodlands. The offers came in lower than expected. Just two bids were received at Lentor Close. This is one more than the last site that was tendered, but it’s still far less than the nine offers the state received when they first opened up sites for development in Lentor Hills in 2021.

Wong Siew Ying is the head of research and content for PropNex Realty. She noted that a tender to build an executive condominium in Tengah which closed on June 27 attracted nine bids, and a land rate record of S$703 psf ppr.

Huttons Senior Director of Data Analytics Lee Sze Teck highlighted the increasing risks developers face. He said that these risks include high interest rates, costs and a decrease in the saleable area of non-landed residential developments due to changes in gross floor area definitions.

Analysts predict that the Champions Way project will be launched between S$1,750 to S$1,950 per sq. ft., based on the highest bidder for the site.

City Developments Limited placed the highest bid on the Woodlands plot. The bid was 8.3 percent higher than the second highest offer of S$272.3 Million or S$835 per square foot ppr by TID Residential. This joint venture is a joint effort between Hong Leong Holdings, Mitsui Fudosan and Hong Leong Holdings.

CDL Group Chief Executive Sherman Kwek stated in a press release released following the announcement of the results of the tender: “Following successful launches of projects in Singapore, we have seen a reduction of our launched project inventory. This site will replenish the landbank of CDL and provide a stable launch pipeline.

CDL plans to build four 11-storey buildings totaling around 350 private residences, a car park in the basement and an early childhood centre.

The joint venture of Hong Leong Holdings and GuocoLand, as well as China Construction (South Pacific Development Co.), submitted the highest bid, which was S$435.2m or S$982 per square foot per person.

This bid was in line with expectations and slightly lower than the S$985 per square foot ppr bid by GuocoLand & Hong Leong, the sole bidders for the final parcel of Lentor Hills tendered back in April. This was the lowest psf price among the five Lentor Hills Estate sites sold since July 20,21.

Find out more: Lentor Mansion

The average launch price of the Lentor Close is expected to range from S$1,950 per square foot to S$2,200 per square foot.

Hong Leong spokesman: “If we are awarded, we will build a private development of about 475 apartments in two high rise blocks. Residents will enjoy the conveniences of the nearby amenities, including the Lentor station MRT, which will add to the overall appeal for future buyers.

A Lentor Central plot was sold to China Communications Construction Company in September 2022 for S$1,108 per square foot per person. TID Residential purchased the Lentor Hills Road parcel B for S$1,130 per sq ft ppr.

GuocoLand’s 605-unit Lentor Modern sold 84% of its units in the first weekend following its launch, with prices ranging between S$1,856 and S$2,538 per square foot. According to URA data, only 8.1 percent or 49 unsold units are left as of July 2023.

GuocoLand purchased the site in July 2021 for S$784.1million or S$1,204 per square foot.

Lentor Hills Residences was the second project to see a cooling in response, following a series of cooling measures. Hong Leong, GuocoLand, and TID sold about half of its 598 units during its launch weekend at an average price S$2,080 per sq ft.