The new pre-purchase of Lakeview Estate HDB flats is expected to be popular, while nearby Lakeview Estate apartment owners are concerned about the impact on collective sales | Lianhe Zaobao

The Lakeview Estate residential area near the Marymount MRT station on the upper section of Tangshen Road is set to launch a pre-purchase public housing project, marking the first new public housing construction in this area by the Housing and Development Board in over 40 years. Real estate analysts are optimistic about the subscription rates for these projects, believing they will be quite sought after. However, while some are pleased, others are worried. The privatized medium-income apartment (HUDC) Lakeview Estate, located next to the pre-purchase public housing, has several units for sale but has struggled to find buyers. Some homeowners are concerned that the new public housing will affect their collective sale plans. Reporters visited multiple homeowners and real estate agents at Lakeview Estate, who generally pointed out that the government's first new public housing construction in the Lakeview area in over 40 years is expected to enhance local amenities such as supermarkets, shops, and cafes, and could inject vitality into the area, potentially attracting future buyers looking to upgrade their public housing. At the same time, the construction of new public housing over the next few years will bring noise, dust, and traffic congestion, causing short-term negative impacts on private home sales. This could further affect the collective sale potential of Lakeview Estate. Lakeview's collective sale last year was priced at SGD 640 million, with each homeowner expected to receive SGD 2.54 million A homeowner, Mr. Lin, who wished to remain anonymous, told Lianhe Zaobao: "One major selling point here is its proximity to nature and the serene environment. However, the government's construction of public housing may disrupt the tranquility of this place. High-rise public housing will also obstruct some units' expansive views and beautiful scenery." ERA Realty's Senior Sales Director, Huang Zixuan, stated in an interview that the launch of new public housing near Lakeview Estate should logically attract buyers' interest in the project, indirectly increasing the chances of a collective sale. "However, many buyers view it from a short-term perspective, worrying about the negative impacts it may bring." Lakeview Estate was built in 1977 and is a 99-year leasehold project covering approximately 22,504 square feet, with a total of 240 units. In February, two units were resold at a transaction price of about SGD 1,050 per square foot. The project has undergone five collective sale attempts in the past eight years. According to Lianhe Zaobao, the most recent collective sale attempt was launched last year, with a price tag of SGD 640 million, and each homeowner is expected to receive SGD 2.54 million, equivalent to a price of SGD 1,574 per square foot However, that collective sale only received about 56% of homeowners' consent, failing to surpass the threshold of at least 80% homeowners' agreement, and could not be launched to the market for sale. In the first two months of this year, four collective sale projects are priced at a total of 2 billion SGD Extended Reading Tampines West Pinery Residences weekend preview starting from 2340 SGD per square foot Analysts: The location near the MacRitchie Reservoir is superior, new HDB flats are expected to be popular The local collective sale market has shown signs of recovery so far this year, with four projects launched to the market, priced at over 2 billion SGD in total. Among them, 132 retail and residential strata-titled units at The Centrepoint on Orchard Road successfully completed the collective sale, with a transaction price of 391.9 million SGD. The other three collective sale projects launched to the market are: Kewalram House, an industrial building in the Holland Road area, Serenity Park, a freehold private residential property on Yishun Avenue, and the industrial building Tan Boon Hiat Building, which can be converted for residential use; their asking prices are 120 million SGD, 550 million SGD, and 1 billion SGD, respectively. Cushman & Wakefield's head of research for Singapore and Southeast Asia, Huang Xianyang, pointed out that multiple factors have contributed to the activity in the collective sale market, including a low level of unsold units (with unsold units dropping to 15,007 in 2025, the lowest since 2021), declining interest rates, stabilizing construction costs, and strong performance in new home sales, which have boosted developers' enthusiasm for land acquisition. He said: "Although the Government Land Sale (GLS) program remains the preferred method for developers to reserve land, the collective sale market provides them with opportunities to acquire freehold or quality medium-sized plots The success of collective sales depends on multiple factors Although the collective sale market is more active, coupled with the successful collective sale transaction of Thomson View at the upper section of Thomson Road, which boosts the collective sale potential of Lakeview Estate. Huang Xianyang believes that the success of collective sales depends on multiple factors, including the potential for increased land use density, the premium between collective sales and resale, and the possible selling prices of new developments. He said, "While the pre-purchase of HDB flats may enhance the amenities in the area and help improve the collective sale potential of the project, it will not fundamentally change the developers' acquisition decisions." Xu Xiaofen, investment consulting director of ETC under Ruilian, reminded that although four collective sale projects were launched for bidding in the first two months of this year, only the project at Xian De Fang has successfully completed a collective sale so far. Looking ahead to the trends in the collective sale market this year, she believes that under the government's land sale plan, there has been a strong response to bidding for several large plots, indicating that developers are still actively seeking land to replenish their inventory. At the same time, some well-located and well-attributes plots can also attract developers' interest. However, she believes that the overall market is still difficult to fully recover. She said, "The launch of more bidding projects does not necessarily mean successful transactions, and I remain cautious about the current recovery of the collective sale market."