A SIM Lian group joint venture has bagged an executive condominium (EC) site in Tampines for S$543.28 million.

This translates to S$721 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr) rate for the plot.

Sim Lian’s winning bid was about 2.5 per cent higher than the S$703 psf ppr paid for an EC site in Plantation Close, which was awarded last month to Hoi Hup Realty and Sunway Developments. The Plantation Close tender had marked a new high for EC land sales, with nine bidders jumping in.

With a land rate of S$721 psf ppr, PropNex Realty’s head of research and content Wong Siew Ying estimates the average selling price for the Tampines EC site will likely exceed S$1,500 psf. 

The winning bid for the Tampines plot is also 9.4 per cent higher than the S$659 psf ppr paid for an adjacent plot at Tampines St 62 (Parcel A) – awarded in August 2021 – which is being developed as Tenet EC, said Wong. 

“The top bid of S$721 psf ppr speaks to the confidence the developer has for ECs in Tampines,” said Huttons Asia’s senior director of data analytics Lee Sze Teck. “Generally, EC sites in Tampines tend to have a slight premium over other locations,” he added. 

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“Past few EC launches have seen very strong sales (with) Copen Grand and Tenet fully sold, while Altura (in Bukit Batok) is close to 90 per cent sold,” said Lee.

The tender for the Tampines Street 62 (Parcel B) site, which closed on Jul 18, drew a total of seven bids from various heavyweights such as City Developments Limited, CSC Land Group (Singapore), and a tie-up between Frasers Property and MCL Land.

Other bidders included a group comprising Forsea Residence, Qingjian Realty and Santarli Realty; and a consortium comprising Intrepid Investments, TID Residential, Apricot Capital and SLB Development. Hoi Hup Realty also teamed up with its long-standing partner Sunway Developments for a bid.  

The Housing and Development Board (HDB) on Monday (Oct 9) awarded the tender to the Sim Lian Land and Sim Lian Development joint venture, which had submitted the highest bid. No details were provided for the other bids.

The tender was evaluated under a modified concept-and-price revenue system, and only proposals with feasible concepts would be reviewed during the second stage, which would be based on pricing, according to HDB. 

With uncertainties still hanging over the market, Wong expects “developers to continue to gravitate towards EC government land sales tenders, as ECs are generally seen as a safer bet among developers, given the more stable demand pool for ECs”.

But strong interest for such plots could continue to drive up land prices of ECs, which in turn could impact their affordability to the “sandwiched class” for whom such housing is meant, Wong said.

Transacted prices of new ECs touched new highs when the recently launched Altura EC in Bukit Batok clocked an average price of S$1,474 psf, according to caveats lodged, she added.

Still, with prices of new private residential launches in suburban Outside Central Region areas at around S$2,070 psf this year, Wong sees ECs offering “a value proposition for eligible buyers even if prices hover at around S$1,500 psf”.

The Tampines land parcel has a site area of 28,000.2 square metres (sq m), with a maximum gross floor area of 70,001 sq m. Some 700 housing units can be built on the plot, which sits close to the upcoming Tampines North MRT station as well as a future commercial and residential project at Tampines Avenue 11.

The area also has more than 2,000 HDB flats, generating a pool of potential upgraders when these reach the five-year minimum occupation period in 2024 and 2025, said Lee.