Release of second half 2015 Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme

On 11 June 2015, the Singapore Government announced the second half 2015 (2H2015) Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme, which comprises 4 Confirmed List sites and 13 Reserve List sites. These sites can yield up to 7,825 private residential units, including 1,340 Executive Condominium (EC) units, and 277,580 sqm gross floor area (GFA) of commercial space.

Among the Confirmed List sites, Alexandra, Clementi and Siglap are expected to generate the most interest since they are located in matured estates. The Siglap site alone will generates about 750 units. Overall, the Confirmed List comprises 4 private residential sites (including 1 EC site) which can yield about 2,130 private residential units (including 520 EC units).

For the Reserve List, the Stirling site is bound to attract competitive bids from developers as it is located at the popular Queenstown area. The site can accomodate more than 1110 units. The Bedok South Avenue 3 site is also expected to generate interests among buyers as it is located near the Tanah Merah MRT and Bedok Town Centre. The Reserve List comprises 8 private residential sites (including 1 EC site), 2 commercial & residential sites, 2 commercial sites and 1 White site. These sites can yield about 5,695 private residential units as well as 275,580 sqm GFA of commercial space, mostly for office use.

The supply of private housing and commercial space from the GLS Programme, together with supply from projects in the pipeline, will be adequate to meet the demand for private housing and commercial space over the next few years.

There is an existing pipeline supply of about 84,000 private residential units (including ECs). So this release of land sales for private residential units might be a litmus test for developers. Given that buying interests among have cooled down under the current investment climate, developers would be cautious in bidding for the projects to develop.

Investors seeking to build their wealth through accumulation of real assets would be better off buying bullion instead of real estates in Singapore. Through the Addition Buyer Stamp Duties (ABSD), it is evident that the Singapore government does not encourage Singapore to make money from property investment. In fact, due to the scarcity of land in Singapore, the government’s stance has always been that real estate is meant for living and not investment purposes.

In Singapore, you can buy gold and silver bullion from BullionStar, one of the largest bullion dealers based in Singapore which exempted investment grade precious metals from the goods and services tax (GST). Just like BullionStar, one of the the goals of SG Wealth Builder is to educate Singaporeans on the merits of owning gold and silver bullion as a means of wealth preservation.

Magically yours,

SG Wealth Builder