Extracts from a Kim Eng report:maybe not
EC gap to fill, or maybe not
"
A land parcel designated for executive condominium (EC) development in Tampines was recently sold for
$278.8m, or $392.4 psf ppr, erasing the record that was set just a few weeks earlier by an EC site in Choa
Chu Kang. Based on the amount forked out by the developer, we reckon the average selling price will have
to be around $820 psf. As far as ECs go, and there are only 27 such projects in Singapore, only Bishan Loft,
which was completed in 2004, has ever convincingly surpassed this price level. A top
‐floor unit was sold for
$1.88m, or $944 psf, in 2010, making it the most expensive EC to
‐date. Interestingly, the estimated ASP of
$820 psf for the Tampines site was the highest price achieved by Esparina Residences, the EC in Sengkang
which rekindled market interest in this housing type when it was launched in 4Q10 after a five
‐year hiatus.
The EC scheme is essentially a hybrid of public and private housing development. Theoretically, prices
should fall in the gap between the two. But with tender prices for EC sites setting new highs, there would
seem to be no in
‐between choices for upgraders and the “sandwich class” alike. In our view, the proposed
Tampines EC would probably be priced at $650
‐950 psf, almost mirroring the $650‐1,105 psf range
(excluding penthouse units) fetched by The Waterview, a nearby private condominium. But all is not lost.
In other places like Sengkang, the ECs are more reasonably priced between the higher end of the HDB
segment and the lower end of the private condo segment. Here, perhaps, buyers may be able to find an
alternative despite the various resale restrictions on EC units in their first 10 years."