TODAY Online : Soon: Launch of 20k private homes?

Soon: Launch of 20k private homes?

05:55 AM Feb 27, 2010

by Leong Wee Keat

SINGAPORE - As the market waits to see the impact of recent cooling-off measures, private property hunters can expect 20,297 residential units to be launched "within a few months".

This number, shared by the Ministry for National Development (MND) in response to MediaCorp's queries, is based on uncompleted private residential developments being built on land sold under the Government's land sales scheme.

And it includes units private developers have stowed away in the pipeline for almost three years - sites bid for at the market's height in 2007.

According to the MND, developers of these units could launch a sale within five working days, which is the time needed to get a sale licence - or, if they have yet to obtain prior building plan approvals, seven working days at the minimum.

So, why are developers holding back?

On Thursday, the Real Estate Developers' Association of Singapore said they were eager to bring forward project launches to ride on the buoyant market, but were being held back by their limited land bank.

Examples of delayed projects are Allgreen Properties' two sites at Handy Road and Enggor Street, bought in March and November 2007 respectively. Both sites, which totalled 418 units, were slated to be launched before the onset of the financial crisis in late 2008. Allgreen Properties is now planning launches for both sites.

Meanwhile, The Vision at West Coast Crescent is slated to go on sale next month, two years after a Singapore unit of Cheung Kong Holdings won the bid in March 2008.

While industry observers reckon it the norm for launches to take two to three years after the successful bid, some believe developers are holding back due to the high land prices paid in 2007.

"If developers launched them last year when the market was in the doldrums, they would probably lose money," said Cushman and Wakefield Singapore managing director Donald Han. "What the developers are doing this year is to anticipate that prices of high-end luxury market properties will rise even further, and are waiting for the right timing to launch."

Some land sales require projects to be completed within six years. One developer felt the time frame was "about right" - two years for planning and sales, three years for construction. "There may be some delays, but no developer will want to hold on to land unnecessarily," he said.

The Government could speed up property launches through its land sales programme, Ngee Ann Polytechnic real estate lecturer Nicholas Mak said. "If it keeps bumping up land to the confirmed list (for the second half of this year), developers will feel the pressure and stop holding back. It could also moderate prices," he said.

The MND assured property buyers there is sufficient stock to meet immediate demand: 3,317 units which are launched but unsold, and 10,620 units that can be launched at once.

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