4 Cautious Bids For Tengah EC Land Sales Site At Plantation Close

The tender for the Tengah EC Land Sales site drew only four bids, which was at the lower end of the usual four to nine bids expected for EC land sales. 

The top bid price of S$701 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr) was however within most analysts’ expectations.

The $423.4 million bid came from Hoi Hup Realty and Sunway Developments, which had also been awarded an adjacent EC site in Plantation Close at $703 psf ppr in 2023.

PropNex’s Ms Wong believes the bid was a “strategic move to defend the earlier site they won”. She noted that their bid in this latest tender was only 1.6 per cent higher than the second-highest bid of $690 psf ppr by Qingjian Realty and Forsea Residence.

Ms Chia said that the 2023 award of the adjacent Plantation Close parcel – which can yield 495 new EC units – to Hoi Hup and Sunway, could have discouraged some developers from participating in the latest EC site tender.

“The future project on the earlier-awarded Plantation Close site would benefit from being the first to capitalise on existing demand in the area,” she said.

Ms Tricia Song, CBRE’s head of research for Singapore and South-east Asia, said Hoi Hup and Sunway would likely “capitalise on economies of scale by amalgamating the sites to form a single mega project of over 1,000 units”.

Interest for this site was subdued, partly because of competition from nearby Bukit Batok West Avenue projects Altura and Lumina Grand, she said.

But she said that the bids reflect developers’ confidence in the EC market, as this segment is not as affected by the cooling measures due to the higher proportion of owner-occupiers and first-time buyers. There is also a limited supply of new EC units, she added.

The launch price for the new EC project is estimated to be between $1,400 psf and $1,500 psf, analysts say.