Despite the challenging market conditions, the first private housing Government Land Sale (GLS) site in the upcoming Bayshore precinct received a total of eight bids upon its closing on March 18. Located on Bayshore Road, next to the Bayshore MRT Station, the 112,992 sq ft 99-year leasehold site has the potential to yield about 515 units.The top bid of $658.89 million, translating to a land rate of $1,388 psf per plot ratio (ppr), was submitted by SingHaiyi-Garnet, a joint venture between SingHaiyi Group and Haiyi Holdings. This bid is just 0.82% higher than the second-highest offer, which was submitted by Sing Holdings at $653.53 million ($1,377 psf ppr). City Developments had the third-highest bid of $620.8 million ($1,308 psf ppr), which was 5.3% lower than Sing Holdings’ bid. The highest bid prices exceeded initial expectations, indicating a strong confidence in the site, according to Justin Quek, CEO of OrangeTee & Tie.Read also: GuocoLand secures $367.1 mil green loan for Faber Walk developmentMark Yip, CEO of Huttons Asia, notes that the number of bids received for this site is the highest for a private housing GLS site since January 2022, when a Jalan Tembusu plot attracted eight bids. He believes that developers may have refrained from bidding for other GLS plots to focus on the Bayshore site. “The strong sales for the past few months have also increased the need [for developers] to replenish their land bank,” he adds.Other tenderers for the Bayshore Road site include a Frasers Property-led consortium, Kingsford Development and a Hoi Hup Realty-Sunway Developments joint venture. The bids ranged between $1,252 psf ppr and $1,285 psf ppr. The two lowest bids were submitted by a consortium comprising Hong Leong Holdings, TID and CSC Land Group at $500.68 million ($1,055 psf ppr), followed by Sim Lian Group at $485 million ($1,022 psf ppr).The significant difference of 36% between the lowest and highest bids reflects the mixed market sentiments among the bidders, according to Marcus Chu, CEO of ERA Singapore. He also mentioned that SingHaiyi’s bid establishes a new benchmark for Outside Central Region (OCR) land prices, surpassing the previous threshold of $1,250 psf ppr set by MCL Land and CSC Land Group in November 2023 for the site of the recently-launched Elta, located at Clementi Avenue 1.Wong Siew Ying, head of research and content at PropNex, adds that the new OCR benchmark rivals the land rates of some GLS plots in the Central Region. For example, last year, Zion Road Parcels A and B were awarded at $1,202 psf ppr and $1,304 psf ppr respectively in the Rest of Central Region. Similarly, the Holland Drive and River Valley Green sites in the Core Central Region were sold for $1,285 psf ppr and $1,325 psf ppr, respectively.The future project at the Bayshore Road site will be the first private residential development in the new Bayshore precinct, a 60-ha estate situated between East Coast Parkway (ECP) and Upper East Coast Road. With about 10,000 homes expected to be built in the Bayshore area, the site will benefit from various new amenities that are being constructed and long-term development plans such as the Long Island coastal protection project, which will add reservoirs and parks along the Bayshore area, according to Leonard Tay, Knight Frank Singapore’s head of research.According to PropNex’s Wong, there have been no significant private condo launches in the Bayshore area for many years. Presently, the area has a few existing condos, including The Bayshore, which was launched in the 1990s, and Costa Del Sol, which was launched in 2000. Hence, there could be pent-up demand for new private housing in the area, including demand from HDB upgraders who currently live in nearby Marine Parade and Bedok estates, Wong says. She also added that the recent positive sales momentum in the primary market and the expectation of healthy home buying interest for the future Bayshore project could have driven developers to participate in the GLS tender, hoping to obtain a first-mover advantage in the area.According to Wong, based on the top bid of $1,388 psf ppr, the future development at the Bayshore Road site could have an average selling price of over $2,600 psf. Meanwhile, Knight Frank’s Tay predicts prices at the upcoming project could start from $2,700 psf and average above $2,800 psf.