Developers cautious in sembawang EC site tender

SINGAPORE - Only four bids were tabled for an Executive Condominium (EC) site in Sembawang Avenue, in another sign that the repeated rounds of cooling measures and loan curbs are taking their toll on the property market here.

FCL Tampines Court and KH Capital placed the top bid of S$214.08 million, or about S$320 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr), the Housing and Development Board (HDB) said.

The 238,848 sq ft site has a plot ratio of 2.8 and can yield about 620 dwelling units.

Mr Nicholas Mak, executive director of SLP International Property Consultants, said: “The low number of bids tender illustrates the more cautious outlook among some developers on the EC market, especially after the Government implemented the Mortgage Servicing Ratio for EC purchases. Buyers of this EC project who are HDB upgraders will also be subject to the HDB resale levy.”

Under rules announced last December, the Mortgage Servicing Ratio for new EC units is now capped at 30 per cent of a buyer’s gross monthly income, while second-time applicants who buy such units from developers will have to pay a resale levy.

Mr Mak added that the lacklustre sales at an adjacent EC project, Skypark Residences, could have contributed to the low participation rate. Seven months after its launch, Skypark Residences still has 200 unsold units.