The Market Place | Singapore Real Estate

Singapore’s collective sale market recorded an estimated S$5.2 billion in transactions in 2025, the strongest since the last cycle, as developers — squeezed by a tight Government Land Sales supply — hunt for land. For owners in older leasehold developments, an en-bloc can mean a 20–80% premium over market value. It can also stall on a single technicality. Here’s the honest version.

An en-bloc, or collective sale, is when the owners of a strata development agree to sell the entire site to a single buyer, usually a developer who wants the land. Owners typically receive a premium of 20% to 80% over individual market value - which is why the word alone can change a coffee-shop conversation.

The cycles tell the story. Collective sales peaked around S$12.4 billion in 2007 before the global financial crisis, then ran again from 2017 to 2019, peaking at S$9.0 billion in 2018 — until a July 2018 tightening of developer ABSD conditions effectively halted it. Activity has been rebuilding since 2022, and 2025 reached an estimated S$5.2 billion. The driver this time is structural: with the GLS Confirmed List kept relatively tight, developers are turning to collective sales as an alternative route to land. Ageing leasehold stock plus land-hungry developers is the classic setup for an active cycle.

But en-bloc is not a lottery ticket, and owners should understand the mechanics before getting excited:

The 80% consent threshold.For developments more than ten years old, at least 80% of owners (by share value and floor area) must agree. Miss it — even at 75% - and the sale cannot proceed.
The 12-month clock.Consent must be gathered within 12 months of the first signature. If it lapses, the process restarts from scratch: new committee, new agreement, new consent exercise.
The reserve price.Set from an independent valuation based on the site’s allowable gross floor area, comparable land values, and the development charge a buyer must pay. It can be revised upward, but not downward, without restarting.

For an owner, the real question is not “will we go en-bloc?” It is “what is my unit worth in three scenarios — sell individually now, hold and wait for a collective sale that may or may not clear, or do nothing as the lease runs down?” Those are different numbers with different timelines and different risks. A collective sale can deliver a premium. It can also tie your unit up for a year and lapse.

If you own in a development where en-bloc talk is starting, the worst thing you can do is form a view on rumour. The right move is to model the outcomes — proceeds, timeline, your next purchase, and the ABSD and CPF implications of each path — before the committee asks for your signature.

The En-Bloc Window Is Reopening. If You Own in an Ageing Development, Read This.