A 99-year leasehold residential site at Anchorvale Crescent has been triggered for launch of tender, as announced by HDB. The site will be used for an executive condominium (EC) housing development.

HDB has accepted an application from an unnamed developer to put up the site for sale by public tender, at a minimum bid of $225 million. This translates into a land rate of $460.80 psf per plot ratio (ppr). Despite the government’s property cooling measures, this could indicate that some developers believe that the EC market will still enjoy strong demand, notes Nicholas Mak, executive director of ZACD Group.

The land parcel was first made available for sale on the Reserve List of the 1H2018 government land sales programme on June 28. The EC site is 184,461 sq ft and can yield a maximum gross floor area (GFA) of 553,383 sq ft. Up to 550 housing units can be developed on the site.

As buyers of new EC units must not own any other residential properties, this would mean that they will not be subject to the additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD). Also, with the strong buying demand and shortage of ECs in the past year, an EC project may be considered a “safer bet” by some developers, notes Mak. The public tender will be launched in about three weeks. The tender period for the site will be about five weeks.

The estimated land price would range from $257 million to $305 million ($465 to $551 psf ppr), says Mak. Due to the limited supply of EC sites and the recent brisk sales at Rivercove Residences, which was the most recent EC launch, this tender could draw strong interest from many developers, he adds. Mak reckons that the tender could attract 11 to 18 bids.