Malaysian developer Eco World tops bids for Sin Ming area housing plot with S$1,612 psf ppr offer
Tender draws 7 bids in total; Eco World’s S$208.1 million offer is higher than expected
[SINGAPORE] A private housing site that is a stone’s throw from Bright Hill MRT station and the popular Ai Tong School drew a robust response at a state tender that closed on Tuesday (Sep 15), with the top bid coming in higher than expected.
Surpassing six other bidders, Eco World Development came in first with its bid of S$208.1 million, which works out to nearly S$1,612 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr).
This sets a new record for a 99-year government land sale (GLS) pure private residential site in the city fringe or Rest of Central Region (RCR), surpassing the S$1,515 psf ppr set for the Berlayar Drive site in August by 6.4 per cent.
Eco World’s offer was about 11 per cent over the second-highest bid, a tie-up between Intrepid Investments and TID Residential. Their bid worked out to about S$1,451 psf ppr.
Also bidding were Sunway MCL, EL Development, JBE Capital and a consortium that includes Santarli Realty, Heeton Holdings, the family behind Sunray Woodcraft Construction, and Kay Lim Realty.
The lowest offer, from a unit of the Wee family’s privately held Kheng Leong Company, was about S$1,256 psf ppr.
Property consultants polled by The Business Times had expected the small 99-year leasehold site to draw four to 12 bids, with the leading bid in the range of S$1,400 to S$1,600 psf ppr.
Knight Frank Singapore research head Leonard Tay said: “The top bid came in above expectations, some 28.3 per cent higher than the lowest bid. This suggests that the top bidder attributes a much stronger strategic value to the location than the rest of the field.”
The 46,106 square foot (sq ft) plot in the Thomson-Bishan area can generate about 140 private housing units.
Recent government land sales in the RCR have fetched top bids near the S$1,500 psf ppr mark. Prior to the bid for the Berlayar site, a Kallang Close plot was sold for S$1,415 psf ppr in April.
Wong Shanting, head of research for Singapore at Newmark, observed that land costs have risen significantly on the back of bullish bidding at recent tenders.
Developers may have been “compelled to bid aggressively for this site as well”, which will in turn drive up new home prices in the area.
“At the same time, job-market weakness and the possibility of higher interest rates in the short-to-medium term could dampen buyer appetite for units at benchmark pricing levels, risking a mismatch between pricing and demand when the project eventually launches,” she added.
In a similar vein, ERA Singapore CEO Marcus Chu said: “The smaller project size limits the number of homes the developer needs to sell, but the land rate still requires careful pricing. The eventual test will be whether the unit sizes and total purchase prices match the budgets of buyers who want to live in this neighbourhood.”
Wong of Newmark estimated that pricing of the project could be from S$3,000 psf onwards.
Many pull factors
Bright Hill MRT station – on the Thomson-East Coast Line – will become an interchange station on the Cross Island Line when the new line opens in 2030. This will further enhance the area’s connectivity, noted market watchers.
Ai Tong School is directly opposite the plot, while Ang Mo Kio Primary School, Catholic High School and CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ School are within 1 to 2 km from the site, according to PropNex head of research and content Wong Siew Ying.
Tricia Song, CBRE head of research for Singapore and South-east Asia, noted that other pull factors of the site include its proximity to green spaces at Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park, Lower Peirce Reservoir Park, Windsor Nature Park and MacRitchie Reservoir. The Singapore Island Country Club is also nearby, she added.
The most recent comparable land sale in the area was the collective sale of Thomson View Condominium in November 2024 for S$1,178 psf ppr, said Knight Frank’s Tay.
Coming up on that Bright Hill Drive site is the 1,268-unit Thomson Reserve development next to the Upper Thomson MRT station, which Huttons Asia CEO Mark Yip reckoned could prove to be potential competition for the future project on the Lorong Puntong site.
As Wong of PropNex put it: “Thomson Reserve will likely get first dibs on the pent-up demand for private housing in that area.”
Yip pointed out that one challenge for the developer of the Lorong Puntong site is that the small size may not offer economies of scale with regard to construction costs or full-condo facilities.
Some property consultants said that for the Lorong Puntong site, the most recent comparable new launches in the area would be the freehold boutique project Artisan 8 in Sin Ming Road and the 99-year leasehold Chuan Park condo being developed by Kingsford on a collective sale site.
Since its launch in August 2025, 22 out of Artisan 8’s 34 units have been sold at an average price of S$2,388 psf, noted Justin Quek, deputy group CEO of Realion (OrangeTee & ETC) Group.
Chuan Park, a 916-unit condo launched in November 2024, has sold 893 units so far, including 83 that have been moved this year at an average price of S$2,626 psf, added Quek.
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