Speech by 2M Indranee Rajah at the REDAS Real Estate Market Outlook Seminar

Jul 24, 2025

Introduction

Good morning. Thank you for inviting me to join you at this year’s Real Estate Market Outlook Seminar.

This year’s seminar is particularly meaningful – not just for the real estate community, but for Singapore as a whole – as we mark SG60, a significant milestone in our nation’s journey. It is a time to reflect, to celebrate, and to look forward.

Reflecting on the Past – A Legacy of Nation-Building

Over the last six decades, Singapore’s transformation has been nothing short of incredible. From kampongs to high-rise HDB flats, from shophouses to iconic skyscrapers, our built environment has evolved in tandem with our aspirations as a people.

We came from humble beginnings as a young nation with limited land and resources. We are today a vibrant global city – home to world-class infrastructure, innovative architecture, and a resilient, inclusive community.

Much of this success can be attributed to the strong public-private partnership between the Government and the stakeholders in the Built Environment (BE) sector. You have provided homes for our families, spaces for our businesses, and infrastructure for our communities. REDAS, as a longstanding partner, has been instrumental in this effort.

SG60 – A Milestone of Transformation

As we reflect on this shared journey, we must also look at where we are today – and the path ahead.

The real estate market, specifically price growth in the private property and HDB resale markets, is showing signs of stabilisation. This comes on the back of the Government’s sustained efforts to ensure a steady pipeline of housing supply:

Over 10,000 new flats, comprising about 5,500 Build-To-Order (BTO) flats and over 4,600 Sale of Balance Flats (SBF), have been put up for sale by the HDB in the ongoing July 2025 sales exercises. These efforts are part of our ongoing commitment to offer a variety of housing choices that cater to the diverse needs and financial circumstances of home buyers.

We also expect more flats to reach their Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) over the next few years, which will ease tightness in the HDB resale market.

In addition, we will release close to 10,000 units from the Confirmed List supply in the 2025 Government Land Sales (GLS) programme, which is around 50% higher than the average from 2021 to 2023.

We will continue to closely monitor the market and adjust our policies where necessary. For example, we recently increased the Sellers’ Stamp Duty (SSD) holding period and rates, due to the significant increase in number of private residential property transactions with short holding periods in recent years.

As we consider the outlook for the real estate market, it is equally important to examine the policies shaping the broader BE sector, which underpin its long-term resilience and growth. The BE sector must be able to navigate the challenges brought about by global economic uncertainties, as well as opportunities from rapid technological change.

The Government is committed to keeping the BE sector future-ready. To support the sector, we have recently introduced a number of policy moves, and we will continue to monitor closely and adjust our policies where necessary.

First, in response to developer feedback:

We have extended the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) remission timeline for developers, to support more complex projects and help smaller projects onboard CORENET X, which is our one-stop digital platform for regulatory submissions.

Second, we are driving talent development and workforce transformation.

The Taskforce for Architectural Engineering Consultants, co-chaired by Mr Chaly Mah and myself, has engaged over 400 stakeholders. We have heard challenges that firms face in project competition, technology investment, and talent attraction.

To build a future-ready BE sector, we must improve outreach, career development, and renumeration. These are closely tied to firms’ ability to grow through technology and value-added services. The Taskforce will release its final recommendations later this year to guide collective action across the sector.

Third, we are investing in technology and innovation.

Earlier this year, we introduced a $100 million Built Environment Technology and Capability (BETC) Grant to drive transformation in enterprise development, technology adoption, and manpower resilience. It provides up to 70% co-funding to help firms build long-term capabilities. I encourage you to tap on such schemes to develop and adopt innovative solutions.

We are already seeing several encouraging examples of industry leadership.

CapitaLand and CDL have been championing the use of Integrated Digital Delivery (IDD) and Building Information Models (BIM), working closely with their consultants and builders to embrace digital practices across several of their projects.

We are also heartened to see many developers such as CDL, Wing Tai, Allgreen, UOL, and GuocoLand stepping forward with voluntary submissions on CORENET X. This has given the developers and their consultants the opportunity to gain hands-on experience with CORENET X submissions. The feedback from stakeholders also has been invaluable in helping us refine the system and giving us confidence to move ahead with mandatory CORENET X submissions for larger projects from 1 October 2025.

These are just some tangible examples of the collaborative spirit between the public and private sector, and an indication of what is possible when we embrace innovation together.

The Road Ahead – Shared Responsibility in Shaping the Next 60 Years

As we look beyond SG60, we are also laying the foundations for the next phase of Singapore’s development.

The Draft Master Plan 2025 sets out our vision to make Singapore a more liveable, inclusive, and endearing home. Let me share some highlights:

We will be adding more public and private residential units in areas over the next 10-15 years such as the former Singapore Racecourse site at Kranji and Newton.

We are also studying more areas to meet our medium to long-term housing needs, including new towns at where Sembawang Shipyard and Paya Lebar Air Base are currently located.

Beyond housing, we will strengthen Singapore’s three economic gateways – Woodlands Regional Centre in the north, Changi Region in the East, as well as Tuas Port in the West – to bring jobs and amenities closer to homes. These regional nodes will complement our Central Business District (CBD) which remains our dynamic global hub.

Conclusion

REDAS and the BE sector will play a critical role as co-creators of this future. Once again, I would like to thank REDAS for your close partnership over the decades. You have been, and continue to be, an integral part of Singapore’s nation-building story.

I invite REDAS and all your members to continue leading the transformation of the BE sector – to inspire, to innovate, and to shape the next 60 years of Singapore’s success. Thank you.