Jason is 37. He and his wife have been sitting on their HDB MOP for eight months, watching prices. Every few weeks he opens a new launch website, looks at the PSF, and says: "It's too expensive." Then he goes back to waiting. He read the Business Times on Saturday morning — the headline about $3,000 psf becoming the new normal — and for the first time he felt something shift. Not panic. Something closer to recognition. The price he is waiting for does not come down when land costs keep going up. The developer who bought the Dover Road site at $1,556 psf ppr in 2026 cannot launch at $2,200 psf. The arithmetic does not work. Jason called James that afternoon. "Tell me honestly — is $3,000 psf really where this is going?" James told him it depends entirely on which corridor, which project, and which land cost floor you are buying into. This article is that conversation.
The Business Times asked the question on June 2, 2026: will S$3,000 psf be the new normal for Singapore condos?
The answer is: it already is — in CCR and large parts of RCR. And it is coming for well-located OCR projects. Not because of speculation. Because of arithmetic. Average GLS land rates hit $1,397 psf ppr in the first five months of 2026. Up 13% year-on-year. Up 23% from 2024. When land costs $1,400, finished units cannot be sold below $2,500.
Here is what the data actually means for buyers deciding right now — in plain English, with every number sourced.
Every Major Launch Since March 2024 — The Full BT Data Table
The Business Times published this table on June 2, 2026 based on CBRE Research and URA caveats as at May 21, 2026. It tells a precise story about the relationship between land cost, launch price and buyer demand. Read it carefully — the pattern is in the numbers.
| Project | Segment | Launch | Units | Launch % | Median PSF | Land Cost (ppr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lentor Mansion | OCR | Mar 2024 | 533 | 75% | $2,262 | $985 |
| Norwood Grand | OCR | Oct 2024 | 348 | 84% | $2,078 | $904 |
| Emerald of Katong | RCR | Nov 2024 | 846 | 99% | $2,628 | $1,069 |
| The Orie | RCR | Jan 2025 | 777 | 86% | $2,723 | $1,360 |
| Parktown Residence | OCR | Feb 2025 | 1,193 | 87% | $2,361 | $885 |
| Lentor Central Residences | OCR | Mar 2025 | 477 | 93% | $2,214 | $982 |
| River Green | CCR | Aug 2025 | 524 | 88% | $3,128 | $1,326 |
| Springleaf Residence | OCR | Aug 2025 | 941 | 92% | $2,169 | $905 |
| Skye at Holland | CCR | Oct 2025 | 666 | 99% | $2,949 | $1,285 |
| Penrith | RCR | Oct 2025 | 462 | 97% | $2,793 | $1,154 |
| Faber Residence | OCR | Oct 2025 | 399 | 86% | $2,153 | $2,160 ⚠️ |
| Zyon Grand | RCR | Oct 2025 | 706 | 84% | $3,048 | $1,202 |
| River Modern | CCR | Mar 2026 | 455 | 90% | $3,228 | $1,420 |
| Pinery Residences | OCR | Mar 2026 | 588 | 93% | $2,548 | $1,004 |
| Tengah Garden Residences ★ | OCR | Apr 2026 | 863 | 99% | $2,111 | $821 ← Lowest |
| Vela Bay | OCR | Apr 2026 | 515 | 72% | $2,863 | $1,388 |
Source: CBRE Research · URA caveats as at 21 May 2026 · The Business Times · 2 June 2026
The Land Cost Ladder — What's Launching on Expensive Land Next
Every project in the table above was bought at a specific land cost. That land cost is the floor beneath the future launch price — developers need roughly 2.2x to 2.5x the land cost to cover construction, margin and sales. Here is the land cost progression from 2024 to 2027 — the pipeline that explains why prices can only go one direction.
📊 Land Cost Ladder — GLS Sites 2024 to 2027 · OCR and RCR Focus Sources: BT June 2, 2026 · PropNex Research · CBRE · URA GLS tender results 2024–2026What Rising Prices Actually Mean — For Each Type of Buyer
Based on This Data — Three Projects Worth Serious Attention Now
The BT data tells you which corridor, which land cost, and which price band to buy into. Here is how that translates to specific projects that are still open for purchase in June 2026.
I want to make one thing very clear about the Business Times data: it is not a prediction. It is a record. Fourteen projects launched since March 2024 with 70% or more sold on the first weekend. That includes projects at $2,100 psf and projects at $3,228 psf. The market is absorbing these prices — repeatedly, and across all three segments.
The number that I focus on is not the median PSF. It is the land cost. Because the land cost is the one number that cannot be negotiated after the GLS tender closes. When a developer pays $1,625 psf ppr for Dunearn Road, the new launch on that site will be priced to recover that cost. When Dover Drive closes at $1,556 ppr, same story. The $2,500–$2,900 psf range that feels expensive today is the floor beneath the projects that launch in 2028 and beyond.
The question I hear most often is: "Should I wait for prices to come down?" My honest answer is: wait for what catalyst? GLS land costs are up 13% year-on-year. Construction costs have not reversed. Household incomes in Singapore are still rising. The market sold 14 of 16 projects at over 70% on Day 1. What specific event would cause developers to price below their cost of land? There is none on the horizon.
This does not mean every project is a good buy at every price. Faber Residence with $2,160 ppr land cost selling at $2,153 psf is the anomaly in this table worth watching — the margin for capital appreciation is nearly zero at those numbers. That is the kind of thing I look at when I model a project for a buyer. The headline PSF is not the story. The land cost multiple is.
WhatsApp James with the project you are considering. He will tell you the land cost, the multiple to selling price, how it compares to the BT table, and whether the land cost floor provides genuine capital protection — or whether you are paying for margin that has already been squeezed. Free. No obligation. One WhatsApp.
- 📊 Land cost to PSF multiple check
- 🆚 Compare to BT launch table
- 💰 Capital floor analysis
- 📅 Upcoming launch calendar
- 🏠 Your TDSR at each price point
- ✅ No obligation · No script
The Business Times — "Rising land bids push new condo prices into focus — will S$3,000 psf be a new normal?" · Ry-Anne Lim · June 2, 2026
CBRE Research — New projects with launch sales over 70%; URA caveats as at May 21, 2026 — as published in BT June 2, 2026
PropNex Research — Average land rate for sites with residential component: $1,397 psf ppr Jan–May 2026 · PropNex data cited in BT
Savills — Alan Cheong · average land rates rose 12.1% from 2023 to $1,267 psf ppr · cited in BT June 2, 2026
CBRE — Tricia Song · average land rate for prime GLS sites 13.1% higher in 2025–2026 vs 2023–2024 · cited in BT June 2, 2026
URA GLS — Tender results 2024–2026 · individual land costs per project
