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EC site at Yishun Avenue 9 launched for sale

/ EdgeProp Singapore |

April 30, 2020 4:45 PM SGT

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SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - HDB has released an executive condominium (EC) site at Yishun Avenue 9 for sale by public tender. The 231,575 sq ft site is under the Confirmed List of the 1H2020 Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme.

The 99-year leasehold site can potentially yield about 600 units with a maximum gross floor area of 648,417 sq ft.

Lee Sze Teck, director of research at Huttons Asia, says: “At more than 2ha in size, this is one of the largest sites for EC development since the sale of a site at Tampines Avenue 10 in October 2018.” The upcoming project there is Parc Central Residences by Hoi Hup Realty and Sunway Developments.

Lee says that the response for the site is unlikely to be affected by the Covid-19 outbreak as the project launch could be in 2022. “The uncertainty over the economy will have been cleared by then. There is potentially pent-up demand for an EC [in the area] as the launch of Signature at Yishun and The Criterion was in 2015.”

Graphic: HDB

The tender closes on Oct 29, about six months after the launch. Historically, the tender periods for EC sites are closed within a month or two after it is launched, observes Nicholas Mak, head of research & consultancy at ERA Realty.

“A possible reason for the record tender period of this Yishun site is to obtain a higher land bid. The authorities may be hoping that when the tender closes near the end of October, the Covid-19 pandemic may already be contained, and the market sentiments would have improved,” he says.

There is also a “growing possibility” that the supply of land under the Confirmed List of the 2H2020 GLS Programme will be reduced, given the expected lower housing demand due to the pandemic. Thus, upcoming EC sites may only be found in the Reserve List instead, says Mak.

“Since developers are unlikely to trigger any sites in the Reserve List when the market is uncertain, this Yishun Avenue 9 EC site could be the only EC site to be sold this year,” Mak says. He adds that similarly, there was only one EC development land parcel sold in 2016 and also in 2017, due to the weak market sentiment at the time.

For the Yishun site, Mak expects to see between seven and 10 bids, and top bids of between $500 and $540 psf per plot ratio (ppr). Lee says that the site could pull in top offers of between $520 and $550 psf ppr, and six to eight bidders.

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