Property Herald: New GLS programme: Catalyst for further property price growth

Introduction

The Government Land Sale (GLS) programme is released twice a year. It details the development land parcels that the government plans to release for sale to real estate developers over a 6-month period.

The programme consists of two sections: the Confirmed List and the Reserve List.

Land parcels in the Confirmed List will be launched for sale according to a schedule, while those in the Reserve List will be available for interested developers to apply to the government for the sites to be released for sale.

Most Confirmed List sites expected to be hotly contested

In the GLS programme for the first half of 2026 (1H 2026), there will be 9 development sites in the Confirmed List and another 12 sites in the Reserve List.

Among the 9 Confirmed List sites, we expect 7 of them to be highly contested by developers due to the attractive locational attributes of these sites. These sites are typically located within a 5- to 10-minute walk to a MRT station or town centre. Furthermore, three of the sites are situated next to the MRT station, which will greatly increase the residents’ accessibility to public transportation.

These seven sites could potentially yield 3,845 housing units, which represents 84% of the 4,575 units that could be built on the nine Confirmed List sites in total. In other words, a high proportion of the private housing supply from the upcoming GLS programme will be from attractively located residential projects, which developers could sell at prices higher than older comparable properties.

The two less attractive sites in terms of their accessibility, are the ones at Holland Plain and Sembawang Drive. The latter is designated for a 450-unit Executive Condominium (EC) development. A total of 730 units or 16% of the housing supply from the Confirmed List sites could be built on these two sites.

Table 1: Confirmed List sites of 1H 2026 GLS programme

S/No.	Location	Planning area	Type of housing	Land area (hectare)	Est. No. of housing units
1	Holland Plain	Bukit Timah	Condominium	1.57	280
2	River Valley Green (Parcel C)	River Valley	Condominium	1.15	471
3	Peck Hay Road	Newton	Condominium	0.55	315
4	Berlayar Drive	Bukit Merah	Condominium	2.54	415
5	Canberra Drive	Sembawang	Exec. Condo	1.16	185
6	New Upper Changi Road	Bedok	Condominium	3.16	1,040
7	Lorong Puntong	Bishan	Condominium	0.43	140
8	Sembawang Drive	Sembawang	Exec. Condo	1.29	450
9	Bayshore Drive	Bedok	Apartment	5.74	1,280

Source: Mogul.sg Research, URA

In total, an estimated 3,940 private housing units and 635 EC units can be built on the nine Confirmed List sites. These 4,575 residential property units are expected to be ready for sale to homebuyers in 2027.

Catalyst for higher residential property prices

The Singapore residential property market has been on a tear for the past year. Buyers have been snapping up private residential units at many of the major new condominium launches. As a result, many developers would need to replenish their inventory of residential land. At the same time, other developers are eager to acquire development sites to capitalise on the current property bull market.

Hence, we can expect the aggressive bidding from developers for most of the GLS Confirmed List sites in 1H 2026, especially the seven well-located ones.

As these Confirmed List sites are located in all the three market segments, if they were sold at prices that are higher than recent transacted land parcels, these new land sales would form the catalyst for the continuing northward price trajectory of new private housing projects that are slated to be launched in the next year or two.

Although the new residential projects from the 1H 2026 GLS programme would only be launched for sale to homebuyers in 2027 or even in 2028, developers would still refer to the transacted land prices of these sites when they are formulating the launch prices of their upcoming residential project launches in 2026.

One to two Reserve List sites could be released for sale

There are 12 sites on the GLS Reserve List, including a commercial property site and two hotel land parcels.

If the current bullish sentiments in the housing market extend into the first half of 2026, there is a good chance that one or two Reserve List sites could be released for sale by tender. These land parcels are likely to be of smaller yield, such as fewer than 500 dwelling units each, and hence, more manageable for small and medium-size developers.

It has been 17 months since the last GLS reserve list site was triggered for sale by a developer. The reserve list site is Parcel B at Zion Road, which was subsequently developed into the 596-unit condominium “Promenade Peak”. The launch of Promenade Peak was a success because over half of the 596 units were sold in the first weekend of the launch. Therefore, it would not be surprising if another Reserve List site were triggered for sale in the coming months.