The tender for a land parcel at Yishun Avenue 7/Canberra Drive closed on Tuesday with a total of eight bids.
The 99-year lease property received a top bid of S$213 million from MCC Land, according to a release by the Housing and Development Board (HDB).
The second highest bid of S$197.5 million came from Sunmaster Holdings, while the S$190 million joint bid from Russville Pte Ltd and Low Keng Huat (Singapore) was third highest.
The site is slated for executive condominium (EC) development and analysts say the strong showing from developers reveals their continued interest in mass-market housing.
Recent policy changes, which saw the income ceiling raised from S$10,000 to S$12,000, have also allowed more buyers to qualify for ECs.
The top bid is “the highest unit land price achieved for an EC site in second half of 2011, particularly after market sentiments have been rocked by the debt crisis in the Western countries,” said Ms Chia Siew Chuin, director of research & advisory at Colliers International.
She added that it is also about four per cent above the S$281 per sq ft per plot ratio received for The Canopy EC site located at Yishun Avenue 11 in March 2010.
CBRE research executive director Li Hiaw Ho said the top bid translates to a break-even cost of around S$600 psf.
He said units in the new executive condominium will likely be priced in the S$600-S$700 psf range.
The land parcel was launched for tender on August 25. HDB said it will evaluate the bids and will announce the decision on the tender award at a later date.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 25 Oct 2011