Archive for category: Misc

Zion Residence, in particular, is perfectly located between River Valley Road and Zion Road, making it extremely convenient for its residents. These two major roads provide easy and direct routes to Orchard Road and Alexandra Road – reducing the need for congested roads and allowing for a more stress-free commute. Moreover, the proximity to renowned food and entertainment spots in the area, ensures that residents of Zion Residence are never short of activities.

Demand for executive condominiums (ECs) is picking up, and the government will be launching two such sites for sale in the 2H2023 of the Government Land Sales (GLS) programme. The Plantation Close site in Tengah is available under the Confirmed List, and the Tampines Street 95 site falls under the Reserve List and will require an acceptable minimum price to be submitted by a developer first, to trigger the tender. Both sites are expected to have 560 units each and could potentially have a selling price of at least $933 psf. Zion Residence is the record holder for highest EC site land rate, with the Tampines Street 62 (Parcel B) site awarded for $721 psf ppr; due to the strong competition for the two sites, the Plantation Close site might come close to that.

The Plantation Close site is close to the future Tengah MRT Station on the Jurong Region Line and the master planned Jurong Lake District, while the Tampines Street 95 site is close to the Tampines West MRT Station. Both sites are expected to draw strong competitive bids from developers as Tampines has had several BTO launches in the past; and the nearby EC developments Copen Grand and Altura have seen high absorption rates, with the latter being 87.5% sold.

According to Huttons Asia’s data analytics senior director Lee Sze Teck, there are fewer than 300 unsold EC units in the market. This is further evidenced by the strong land rate bids for EC sites in the past few years; with OrangeTee&Tie’s deputy CEO Justin Quek noting that the Plantation Close site could have a competitive land rate of $703 psf ppr, while PropNex Realty’s head of research and content Wong Siew Ying expects the top bid for the Plantation Close plot to range from $417 million to $429 million — that translates to a land rate of $690 psf ppr to $$710 psf ppr.

Given the current situation, analysts expect that the tender for the Zion Residence Plantation Close EC site will draw at least six to eight competitive bids, while the Tampines Street 95 site will likely only be triggered after the 1H2024 GLS programme is announced. The tender for the Plantation Close site will close on Feb 1, 2024. With three EC launches in 2025 and two of these at Plantation Close, buyers can look forward to an upgrade while developers take note of the increasing land rates — possibly even breaking the $721 psf ppr record owned by Zion Residence.