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Thread: For tender: EC site in Choa Chu Kang

  1. #1
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    Default For tender: EC site in Choa Chu Kang

    http://www.straitstimes.com/archive/...-kang-20150520

    For tender: EC site in Choa Chu Kang

    Limited amenities and distance from MRT station drawbacks, analysts say

    Published on May 20, 2015 1:43 AM

    By Rachel Tan


    AN EXECUTIVE condominium (EC) land parcel in Choa Chu Kang was put up for sale yesterday, with analysts not expecting fierce bidding among developers.

    They cite the limited amenities in the area and its distance - about 1.8km - from Choa Chu Kang MRT station, the nearest such, as reasons for the expected weak interest in the site.

    Sandwiched between Brickland Road and Choa Chu Kang Avenue 5, the 99-year leasehold site can yield about 490 residential units.

    The tender for the 16,386 sq m parcel will close on June 30.

    Property consultants offered a lukewarm response on prospects for the EC site.

    ECs are a hybrid of public and private housing.

    Mr Wong Xian Yang, manager for research and consultancy at OrangeTee, said: "There are limited pull factors for this site, with few nearby amenities. Accessibility is low, considering that there are no nearby LRT or MRT stations."

    Mr Ong Teck Hui, national director for research and consultancy at Jones Lang LaSalle, expects four to seven bidders for the "mediocre" site.

    He said the key factors against the site include "the significant supply in the Choa Chu Kang vicinity amounting to nearly 2,000 units" and "the slow sales take-up in most EC projects launched since late last year".

    The number of EC units launched and unsold has been rising - from 372 in the first quarter of 2013 to 2,129 in the first three months of this year.

    But the site does have some redeeming features.

    Executive director of SLP International Property Consultants, Mr Nicholas Mak, said that despite its drawbacks, it is "close to amenities such as hawker centres, eateries and supermarkets" and is "easily accessible via public transport".

    He was referring to bus services 301 and 983.

    Analysts expect tender bids in the range of $250 to $330 per sq ft per plot ratio for this site.

    Two sites sold to MCL Land which built Sol Acres, an EC in the same vicinity, at Choa Chu Kang Grove, went for $375 and $339 per sq ft per plot ratio last year.

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  2. #2
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    Default Moderate bids seen for EC plot in Choa Chu Kang

    http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real...-choa-chu-kang

    Moderate bids seen for EC plot in Choa Chu Kang

    Consultants point to location of sale parcel, sluggish sales in EC market, constrained affordability

    By Kalpana Rashiwala

    [email protected]@KalpanaBT

    May 20, 2015


    AN executive condominium (EC) site along Choa Chu Kang Avenue 5 launched on Tuesday is expected to fetch moderate land bid prices, due to a combination of factors.

    These include the site's far-flung location, some 1.8 km (road distance) from Choa Chu Kang MRT Station and mounting supply of ECs in general as well as a significant build-up in Choa Chu Kang. Also at play is the generally slow take-up for most EC project launches since late last year, say property consultants.

    The tender for the site will close on June 30. Property consultants expect the site to fetch between three and seven bids. Their forecast of the top bid is in the S$250-330 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr) range.

    The 4.9-hectare, 99-year leasehold EC site is estimated to generate some 490 units, said the Housing & Development Board, which released the site. ECs are a public-private housing hybrid.

    The last EC site to be sold in the area was in a much more choice location, along Choa Chu Kang Drive, next to the completed The Rainforest EC and about 600 metres from Choa Chu Kang Station. It fetched a winning bid of S$361 psf ppr from Sim Lian Land at a tender last September. The group is planning a 538-unit project, expected to be launched early next year.

    In February last year, MCL Land picked up two adjacent sites along Choa Chu Kang Grove, about 1.5 km from Choa Chu Kang Station, for S$375 psf ppr and S$339 psf ppr. The group is developing the amalgamated site into the 1,327-unit Sol Acres project, which will be the biggest EC project so far. E-applications are expected to open in the second half of July, with sales bookings likely to begin in August.

    In March 2011, City Developments paid S$321 psf ppr for The Rainforest site, about 550m from Choa Chu Kang Station. The fully sold project obtained Temporary Occupation Permit in the first quarter of this year.

    Commenting on the latest site offered on Tuesday, SLP International executive director Nicholas Mak said: "This is not the most attractive site. It is almost 2km by road to the nearest MRT station. There are no major retail facilities in the vicinity and there is a lack of attractive scenery around the site."

    JLL national director Ong Teck Hui said bidders for the site will take into account the slow sales for most EC projects launched since late last year. "The number of uncompleted EC units with pre-requisites for sale that have been launched but unsold has been increasing. It was 2,129 units as at Q1 2015, up from 874 units in Q1 2014 and 372 units in Q1 2013 - reflecting the increasing challenge in moving new EC sales."

    Supply in the Choa Chu Kang area is steadily increasing, amounting to 1,865 units from the Sim Lian and MCL Land projects.

    Yet another factor that bidders will bear in mind is the softening in winning bids for EC sites this year to S$280 psf ppr for a plot in Anchorvale Crescent in Sengkang and S$278 psf ppr for a site in Woodlands Avenue 12. These are the lowest levels since July 2011.

    Market watchers note that of the five EC projects launched since late last year, only Lake Life in Tao Ching Road has had good sales - riding on the bullish sentiment in the Jurong Lake District as well as the 17-year gap since the previous new EC launch in Jurong. The other four EC projects still had substantial chunks of unsold stock based on URA data as at end-April: Bellewaters in Anchorvale Crescent (416 units), Bellewoods in Woodlands Avenue 5 (413 units), The Amore and The Terrace - both in Edgedale Plains, with 277 and 574 units respectively.

    R'ST Research director Ong Kah Seng highlighted that the sluggish EC sales currently in the market is due not to a severe oversupply but rather "developers holding on to the sticky S$800 psf average selling price", which can no longer be supported as the 30 per cent mortgage servicing ratio introduced in December 2013 continues to constrain buyers' ability to secure big loan quantums for the purchase of new ECs. "This is especially so for EC projects in mediocre locations and which have substantial new ECs in the vicinity...

    "If developers were to cut prices to about S$750-780 psf as an average, sales would definitely improve."

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