Developers anticipating an upturn in the property market are hunting for new sites, with Singapore Exchange-listed Tuan Sing the latest to shore up its land bank.

The firm yesterday said it has agreed to buy a 4,046 sqm vacant plot in Hillview for $47.8 million through its unit Episcia Land from Andermatt Investments.

The purchase of the freehold land at 1 Jalan Remaja comes hot on the heels of a keenly-contested government land sales (GLS) site on Tuesday. The tender for the Toh Tuck Road site drew 24 bids, a record for a non-landed GLS site.

Malaysian developer S P Setia put in the top bid of $265 million for the 18,721.4 sqm site, which is expected to yield about 325 units.

Tuan Sing also put in a bid for the Toh Tuck site in a joint venture with KBD Ventures, but came in fourth place with its $241.68 million offer.

Tuan Sing senior vice-president of business development Nick Ng said the firm thought it had been bullish with the Toh Tuck bid, but said "we will still bid cautiously and monitor the market, not just purely for the replenishment of land".

For its Hillview site, Mr Ng said that it expects to pay more than $20 million on top of the purchase price in development charges - taxes levied to lift the value of land, such as through increasing the plot ratio.

The freehold Hillview site is its only residential plot. It is expected to yield 100 units, and will be launched in the second quarter of next year.

Mr Ng said developers are hungry for land as the GLS supply is limited, adding: "You will see more enbloc sales, and more reserve list sites will be triggered."