Govt sold less land last year

THE Government sold less land last year as the property market cooled and the financial crisis took hold but there are better expectations for the upcoming 12 months.

The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) raked in $7.3 billion in sales for the 12 months to March 31, down from the previous year's tally of $12.4 billion but up on the $6.2 billion collected two years ago.

The manager of state land and buildings said its revenue fell 8 per cent from $100.9 million in 2008 to $92.5 million.

'The current economic condition has adversely affected the property market segment, resulting in a significant drop in land sales agency service, titles registration and land information businesses,' said the SLA report out yesterday.

Apart from directly managing about 14,000ha of state land and about 5,000 state buildings, the SLA is also the national land registration authority for property transactions.

As in the 2008 financial year, most of its sales proceeds came from the private sector - $4.7 billion - while public sector sales contributed $2.6 billion.

A year ago, it collected a hefty $10.4 billion from the private sector but just $2 billion from the public.

The largest deal it made in the year to March 31 was the $840 million sale of Atrium@Orchard, a Grade A office building above Dhoby Ghaut MRT station.

Sales of land to the private sector made by other government agencies included plots for the new condominium projects The Peak and Trevista in Toa Payoh and Mi Casa at Choa Chu Kang Drive. But all these sales failed to live up to the levels seen in the 2008 financial year when the market was smoking hot.

The huge deals done then included the $2.02 billion sale of a plum site at Marina View and the $1.69 billion deal for the Beach Road plot for the South Beach project.

SLA also sold a lot of land to the Housing Board then.

However, 1996 remains the record year for the Government when sales of $13.9 billion were chalked up.

In the financial year just past, the SLA sold 28ha of land to private companies and 180ha to the public sector.

In the 2008 financial year, 33.5ha went to private developers and 300.77ha were sold to the public sector.

The SLA, whose main focus is on optimising land resources, said it maintained a 79 per cent utilisation rate of state land - a four-year high and up from 77.8 per cent a year ago.

Occupancy for state properties was steady at 86 per cent.

Last year, the SLA leased out the conserved former Bukit Timah Fire Station, which is now being used as an arts and adventure enrichment hub for nurturing artistic talents.

The SLA also opened up and improved 317 free-to-use state land sites - the equivalent of 920 football fields. This was up from 284 sites a year ago, it said.

It has been opening up state land for casual community and recreational use over the past five years.

Overall, it was a difficult 12 months, said the SLA.

But the worst seems to be over. The authority could do better this financial year because of the abrupt recovery in the property market that has resulted in developers' hunger for sites, said Ngee Ann Polytechnic adjunct lecturer Nicholas Mak.

Since April, the sales volume of homes has risen astronomically while government land parcels have recently been sold at higher-than-expected prices.

More government land will be released next year.

Source: Straits Times, 9 Oct 2009