Exec condo prices have risen 63% in last two years: CB Richard Ellis
By Jonathan Peeris, 938LIVE | Posted: 23 November 2009 1932 hrs

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SINGAPORE: The median resale prices of executive condominiums (ECs) have increased 63 per cent in the last two years, riding on the bull-run in the private residential market.

Property consultancy CB Richard Ellis said caveats lodged for ECs in the resale market in October this year showed prices at S$519 per square foot.

This is 63 per cent higher from the bottom of the market in the third quarter of 2006 when ECs in the resale market were sold at S$319 per square foot.

Li Hiaw Ho, executive director at CBRE Research said the analysis shows that buyers who bought new ECs at various periods from 1996 should benefit from the price appreciation in the last two years.

Currently, a 14 per cent price gap exists between the median prices of ECs and mass-market non-landed projects in the resale market.

In the recently announced Government Land Sales programme for the first half of 2010, the government placed two executive condominium sites on the confirmed list and three others on the reserve list.

CBRE said it is a clear signal that the government wants to provide the EC as an alternative housing choice for homebuyers from next year.

The last EC launched was La Casa in May 2005 and it was completed in early 2008.

Going forward, CBRE expects the tender bids for the two new EC sites on the confirmed list, at Buangkok Drive and Yishun Avenue 11, will be a function of developers' confidence in the EC market and their pricing strategy.

If the price gap between the next new EC project and a new private non- landed leasehold project in the same location is attractive enough, homebuyer demand for EC development will surely return. - 938LIVE/vm