Property prices tick up but developers may face difficulty raising prices by much

SINGAPORE (Nov 13): Amber Park, a 31-year-old freehold condominium in east Singapore, was snapped up at an eye-watering $906.7 million in a collective sale early last month. Real estate industry commentators have now begun to herald in earnest the return of en bloc season, a decade after the last peak, and a turn of the housing market.

In 2007, 111 en bloc transactions worth nearly $11 billion took place. There have been 14 sales worth $5.4 billion in the five-month period to October this year, according to real estate consultants Colliers International Singapore. Its analysts believe the current wave will continue into 2019, with suburban deals giving way to prime luxury sites soon.

Bids for government land sales have not been too shabby either. In May, a residential site on Stirling Road was awarded to a record bid of $1 billion submitted jointly by units of China’s Nanshan Group and Hong Kong’s Logan Property Holdings Co. There were 13 bids for the site. The following month, a mixed commercial and residential site in Bidadari drew a top bid of $1.1 billion from Singapore Press Holdings. There were 12 bids for it.

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