The government has put up for tender or triggering lots at Champions Way near Woodlands South MRT station and Lorong 1 Toa Payoh Lane for a total of about 1,125 residential units.

This is the first government land sale since the new round of cooling measures came into effect. Analysts believe that the development projects on these two lots are mainly targeted at locals who buy homes for self-occupation, rather than foreign buyers and investors, and are expected to be little affected by the cooling measures, and the response to the tender for the two lots will be quite enthusiastic.

The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) announced on Thursday (May 25) that it would invite tenders for the two lots. Champion Avenue is a positive list lot with an area of 14,432 square meters, which belongs to the 99-year land lease and is expected to build about 350 residential units. Tenders for this lot will close on September 12 at 12 noon.

Toa Payoh Lane 1 is a reserve list lot for developers to tick off. A lot will only be successfully triggered and put up for public tender if the developer commits to bidding for the lot at a certain price or higher, which is higher than the reserve price set by the authority.

The sale-ready lot, which is also under a 99-year lease, has an area of 15,743 square meters and can build 775 units.

ERA Industries chief executive officer Lim Dong Yong said the Champion Avenue lot, which is close to the Woodlands South MRT station, has a number of schools nearby and is surrounded by HDB flats, is likely to attract a lot of interest from HDB upgraders who intend to switch from HDB flats to private homes.

He also said, "The lot is located outside the Central District (OCR) and caters mainly to locals who buy homes for self-occupation, rather than investors and foreigners, so the impact of the cooling measures introduced last month that may have caused a slowdown in demand from buyers will be significantly minimized."

He predicted the lot could attract six to eight bids.

Orange Ease Industries (Orangetee & Tie) deputy chief executive officer Kwok Kin Ting pointed out that the Champion Avenue lot is the first private residential lot to be launched by the government in the Woodlands area in 12 years, since Parc Rosewood on Woodlands 2 Road in 2011.

"There is a pent-up demand from HDB upgraders in Woodlands due to the lack of supply of new private homes. These first private home buyers, who are not affected by the ABSD hike, are likely to come out and buy units in this new project."

He expects the lot to attract five to eight bids, with the highest bids ranging between $950 and $1,050 per square foot in plot ratio.

As for the Toa Payoh One Lane lot, analysts believe it is highly likely to be ticked off.

This lot is located in an established residential area in Toa Payoh," said Sidney Lee, senior research executive at Hopden Group. Five-room HDB flats at The Peak in Toa Payoh have already changed hands for more than $1 million, and a certain number of HDB flats priced above $800,000 have recently reached the five-year minimum age of residence (MOP). This all means there are quite a lot of potential HDB upgraders in this area."

If the lot is ticked off, he expects the highest bid could be more than $1,200 per square foot of plot ratio.

For her part, Wong Siew Ying, head of industry research and content at Bonaire, pointed out that the last time a private residential lot was launched in the Toa Payoh area was the Toa Payoh Lane 6 lot in 2015, which attracted bids from 14 parties at the time. The lot is now part of the Gem Residences private residential project.

As no new private homes have been launched in Toa Payoh for eight years, she reckons there will be interest from developers, and the lot development project will also attract a lot of buyers, including those who want to live close to their families in the Toa Payoh area.

In addition, in order to meet the demand for office space near their homes, the government has launched a short-term commercial lot on Punggol Walk under the Ready for Sale List, with a maximum gross floor area of 14,017 square meters and a lease term of 30 years.

Mak Chun-wing, chief research officer of MOGUL.sg, thinks it is unlikely that the commercial lot will be triggered. This is mainly because at least 60% or about 8,400 square meters of the lot development must be used for office space.

"There is currently ample supply of office space elsewhere and the overall office vacancy rate is about 11%. Therefore, in my opinion, it is unlikely that this lot will be ticked off and put on the market for public tender by the developer."