As 2025 draws to a close, Singapore’s real estate sector feels steadier than it did a year ago. The slowdown of 2024, marked by softer launches, subdued GLS participation and more restrained buying, has given way to a calmer environment in which developers are shaping strategy with clearer intent. Interest rates have stabilised, rental pressures have eased from pandemic peaks, and the most influential players have spent the year refining pipelines, deepening sustainability frameworks and clarifying the kinds of neighbourhoods and assets they want to build. Their moves now offer a sense of where the next cycle may head.
For City Developments Limited, the year’s Best Developer at the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards (Singapore) 2025, this shift played to longstanding strengths. In 2024, the group launched four residential projects totalling 1,502 units and sold 1,489 homes — about 19 per cent of private and EC transactions that year — setting a foundation for the activity that followed in 2025. CDL’s disciplined land strategy, coupled with a series of governance and transparency commendations, reinforced its role as one of the sector’s stabilising forces. Group General Manager Chia Ngiang Hong, recognised for the inaugural PropertyGuru Life Achievement Award, remains central to the company’s measured approach.
UOL Group’s trajectory looked different but no less influential. The company, which collected both the Best Sustainable Developer and Best Residential Developer titles this year, strengthened its position through a combination of financial performance and sustainability-led progress. Revenue rose to S$2.8 billion in 2024, and operating profit increased 13 per cent, supported by S$1.26 billion in residential sales across key launches. Its hospitality arm became the first in Singapore to secure GSTC multi-site certification, while its “AAA” MSCI ESG rating upgrade signalled external confidence in its long-term environmental strategy. Pan Pacific Orchard, honoured internationally last year for its climate-responsive form, illustrated how that commitment translates into built work.
IOI Properties Group brought a transnational dimension to 2025’s landscape. Long rooted in both Malaysia and Singapore, the Best Transnational Developer oversees residential schemes such as Cape Royale, Seascape and South Beach Residences, along with around 1.8 million square feet of office space in South Beach Towers and IOI Central Boulevard Towers. Its next wave—W Residences Marina View and W Singapore – Marina View—continues its focus on large-scale, integrated waterfront projects. The breadth of this cross-border portfolio shows how the company’s regional reach now shapes the evolution of Marina Bay.
Frasers Property Singapore approached the year from a lifestyle perspective. Its recognition as Best Lifestyle Developer reflected a design philosophy centred on biophilia, energy performance and community programming rather than amenities alone. Sky Eden@Bedok — winner of Best Private Condo Development — is set to obtain TOP at the end of 2025 and exemplifies this approach with sky gardens adjoining every home. The Orie and The Robertson Opus saw strong launch response, while the revitalisation of the Jiak Kim Street warehouses underscored Frasers’ capacity to knit heritage, public realm and contemporary living together.
Allgreen Properties, crowned Best Luxury Developer, continued to practise the measured discipline that has defined its position for decades. Promenade Peak sustained market interest with its scale and design ambition, reinforcing the group’s long-standing standing in Singapore’s luxury segment. In a category often swayed by sentiment, Allgreen’s quiet consistency remained notable.
Jean Yip Developments, which earned this year’s Best Landed Developer award, stayed focused on finely detailed, small-scale residential work. University Road Developments—three detached houses shaped around passive cooling, natural materials and strong site orientation—anchored its local portfolio, while ongoing ventures in Japan and Australia reflected an expanding international footing. The emphasis, however, remained firmly on precise, design-led landed homes in Singapore.
Apex Asia Development’s rise was one of the year’s more striking storylines. Named Best Breakthrough Developer, the company moved from formation in late 2023 to a three-project pipeline in short order. Food Point @ Tai Seng responded to shifts in food-production demand; Artisan 8 reinterpreted a former mixed-use site in Sin Ming; and the Dairy Farm Walk GLS acquisition broadened its residential base. Supported by the operational scale of Apex Asia Management Group, the pace of diversification marked the company as one to watch.
The Assembly Place continued to shape Singapore’s co-living landscape while expanding into new modes of community and asset management. Its Best Co-Living Operator distinction reflected a period in which the company secured the MOHH tender for healthcare accommodation and took on the management of Hafary House and Serene Centre. The launch of Social on Outram, its new boutique hotel, and the development of the Springleaf Collection, a landed housing project, further signalled a broader operational model emerging beyond co-living alone.
Across these developers, certain themes recur. Sustainability moved from promise to verifiable practice. Land strategy became more selective, favouring depth over volume. Lifestyle and wellness shifted into structural design drivers. And diversified operating models—touching hospitality, retail and community management—began to frame how future developments will be planned.
Leadership shaped much of this evolution. CDL’s veteran steward Chia Ngiang Hong, recipient of the PropertyGuru Life Achievement Award, Real Estate Personality of the Year awardee Soon Su Lin of Frasers Property Singapore, and Rising Star awardee Oliver Siah of Fraxtor represent different generations of influence but a shared clarity of purpose: strategic discipline over market noise.
With 2025 ending on firmer ground than 2024, the question for 2026 is less about acceleration than about how developers use this period of stability. Supply remains tight, buyer sentiment steadier, and sustainability expectations are set to intensify. The decisions made this year—on pipeline design, placemaking, resilience and environmental performance—will shape not just the next round of launches, but the character of Singapore’s urban landscape in the years ahead.
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