EXECUTIVE condominiums (ECs) were originally introduced to cater to the aspirations and needs of the so called “sandwiched” class – those whose household incomes exceed the ceiling for public housing, but are not yet able to comfortably afford a private condominium.
Currently, the monthly household income ceiling to qualify for an EC purchase is set at S$14,000, while it is S$12,000 for those purchasing the Housing and Development Board’s (HDB) Build-to-Order (BTO) flats. Over the years, 66 ECs have been successfully launched. To date, 63 of them have been completed.
However, ECs have become somewhat of a rare commodity, driving up their prices in recent years. As of the end of the fourth quarter,there were just five unsold units in launched EC developments.
The Piermont Grand EC launch @ Sumang Walk is expected to be in July this year. Due to the low supply, EC prices have steadily increased. A unit at Northwave was sold in January for S$864 per square foot (psf), a 15 per cent increase from the project’s median price of S$751 psf when it was launched back in July 2016.
For developers, the shortage in EC supply has accordingly pushed up land prices of EC plots to new highs. The past four EC sites have breached S$500 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr), with the Sumang Walk site sold at a record S$583 psf ppr to City Developments Limited (CDL) and TID Residential. Reports have estimated the breakeven price for the development to be almost S$1,000 psf.