Property Herald: Faber Walk GLS Land Tender - Saving their Bullets forOther GLS Sites

Faber Walk GLS Land Tender

Written by Mogul.sg Research

Tuesday, 19 Nov 2024

Summary

(1) In view of the robust sales in the recent residential launches in November, the 3 bids for this land tender reflects that developers are still rather selective when it comes to replenishing their land bank. Some developers are saving their bullets for the other GLS land tenders

(2) Among the 10 GLS land parcels in the Confirmed List for the second half of 2024, this subject site at Faber Walk is one of the less attractive sites in terms of location attributes.

(3) The median transacted prices of the comparable newer condominium units vary between $2,089 and $2,190 psf. We estimate the launch price for the new development on the Faber Walk GLS site to be in the range of $2,100 psf to $2,200 psf.

Introduction

The Government Land Sale (GLS) tender for the 99-year leasehold residential site at Faber Walk closed today, attracting 3 bids from property developers.

Brief description of the land parcel

The 2.58-hectare site with a gross plot ratio of 1.4 times, can yield about 400 condominium units with a maximum building height of 5 storeys. The maximum number of housing units is capped at 403 units to manage the traffic in the neighbourhood.

Strengths of this site

Faber Walk is also about 900 metres from Nan Hua Primary School, a prestigious primary school. This distance of less than 1 kilometre would allow for residents on the Faber Walk site to have priority when it comes to obtaining a spot within Nan Hua Primary School itself, making it an appealing option for families.

In addition, the area surrounding Faber Walk is set to undergo significant development. With plans to transform the Jurong Lake District into one of Singapore's key regional centres, there is some upside for the real estate at Faber Walk.

Number of bids is within expectation

The three bids submitted for this GLS tender is within our expectation. However, in view of the robust sales in the recent residential launches in November, such as Chuan Park and Emerald of Katong, the 3 bids for this land tender reflects that developers are still rather selective when it comes to replenishing their land bank.

Based on the take-up rate of the different residential launches in the past two months, housing projects that are well-located and reasonable price would enjoy strong demand from homebuyers. Therefore, residential development sites with strong location attributes would attract stronger demand from both developers and homebuyers.

Among the 10 GLS land parcels in the Confirmed List that the government would launch for sale in the second half of 2024, this subject site at Faber Walk is one of the less attractive sites in terms of location attributes.

Among the ten GLS Confirmed List sites, the Faber Walk site is the furthest from the nearest MRT station. The subject site is situated approximately 1.5 kilometre (km) from the Clementi MRT station, which may pose some inconvenience for residents commuting to and from the station.  (Please see Table 1)

Therefore, some developers are saving their bullets for the other GLS land tenders. In other words, the developers are reserving their resources for the tenders of the other residential sites.

Table 1: GLS Confirmed List sites & distance to nearest MRT stations

Confirmed List GLS site for 2H 2024	Nearest MRT	Estimated distance from MRT station (metre)
Tampines Street 95 (EC)	Tampines West	450
Faber Walk	Clementi	1,500
Lentor Gardens	Lentor	550
River Valley Green (Parcel B)	Great World	230
Bayshore Road	Bayshore	100
Media Circle (Parcel A)	one-north	1,100
Media Circle (Parcel B)	Queenstown	1,100
Chuan Grove	Lorong Chuan	400
Holland Link	King Albert Park	950
Chencharu Close	Khatib	480

Source: Mogul.sg Research, URA

Furthermore, there is a shortage of retail amenities in the vicinity of the subject site. The nearest shopping centre, Clementi Mall, is also located near the MRT station, meaning residents would need to travel a fair distance to buy daily amenities.

Prices of comparable properties

The resale price of the completed condominium units in the Faber Walk area ranges from $1,640 per square foot (psf) to $1,881 psf. The floor price of the new residential development on the Faber Walk site is likely to be about $1,900 psf.

There are no uncompleted private residential developments in this location. The comparable new and uncompleted private residential developments are in the Jurong and Hillview area. The median transacted prices of these newer condominium units vary between $2,089 and $2,190 psf. Please see Table 2.

Table 2: Comparable condominiums to Faber Walk GLS site

Name of Project	Street Name	URA Planning Area	Tenure	Completion Date	Median price $psf
Sora	Yuan Ching Road	Jurong East	99 yrs	Uncompleted	$2,181
The Lakegarden Residences	Yuan Ching Road	Jurong East	99 yrs	Uncompleted	$2,185
Hillhaven	Hillview Rise	Bukit Batok	99 yrs	Uncompleted	$2,089
The Myst	Upper Bukit Timah Road	Bukit Panjang	99 yrs	Uncompleted	$2,109
Parc Riviera	West Coast Vale	Clementi	99 yrs	2019	$1,642
Twin Vew	West Coast Vale	Clementi	99 yrs	2021	$1,784
Whistler Grand	West Coast Vale	Clementi	99 yrs	2022	$1,881
Botannia	West Coast Park	Clementi	956 yrs	2009	$1,734

Source: Mogul.sg Research, URA

Note: The median prices are based on transactions from January 2024 to November 2024.

Estimated launch price of the subject site

The top bid of $349.86 million submitted by the consortium consisting of GuocoLand, TID Residential and Hong Leong Holdings translates to a land rate of $900.01 psf ppr.

The top bid is 8.9% more than the second highest bid of $826.56 psf ppr and 7% higher than the land rate for the comparable GLS residential site at De Souza Avenue, near Jalan Jurong Kechil. The land parcel at De Souza Avenue was sold in this August for $841.45 psf ppr to Sustained Land

Given that the Faber Walk site would be a newly launched development and expected to offer modern features and infrastructure, it is anticipated that its pricing would be slightly higher than the older projects in the immediate vicinity.

Taking into account the potential demand for newer residential properties from HDB upgraders and residents in the vicinity such as Clementi and Jurong, and the upcoming developments in the Jurong Lake District, we estimate the launch price for the new development on the Faber Walk GLS site to be in the range of $2,100 psf to $2,200 psf.

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