The tender for the Canberra Drive executive condominium site closed on 1 October with 13 bids. A consortium of Santarli, Heeton, Kay Lim and Sunray topped it at $163,903,000, or $825 psf per plot ratio.
That is a new record for EC land. The previous high was $794, set by Sim Lian at Woodlands Drive 17 in January.
Analysts had expected 3 to 6 bids and a top price of $630 to $750. They got more than double the bidders and a winning number above their entire range.
Here is the full Canberra Drive tender result from HDB, which sells EC land for the Government.
| # | Tenderer | Bid | $ psf ppr |
| 1 | Santarli, Heeton, Kay Lim, Sunray | $163,903,000 | $825 |
| 2 | Intrepid Investments (Hong Leong) and TID | $159,434,000 | $803 |
| 3 | Apex Asia, BHCC and HSB Developments | $158,600,000 | $798 |
| 4 | CRF Land | $153,000,000 | $770 |
| 5 | CDL | $146,099,000 | $735 |
| 6 | Peak Valley (Kheng Leong) | $141,050,000 | $710 |
| 7 | EL Development | $135,100,000 | $680 |
| 8 | Evia, Arc Canberra and H10 | $130,500,999 | $657 |
| 9 | MCS Thomson | $129,330,000 | $651 |
| 10 | Macly, Roxy and partners | $127,198,889 | $640 |
| 11 | JBE Capital | $124,365,280 | $626 |
| 12 | Forsea, Qingjian and Jianan | $123,777,000 | $623 |
| 13 | Sim Lian | $71,718,787 | $361 |
2 things stand out.
The top 3 bids sit within 3.4% of each other, $798 to $825. When 3 separate developers land that close, the price is not one bidder’s mistake. That is what the market now thinks EC land in Sembawang is worth.
And the turnout. The last EC site to draw more was Sumang Walk in 2018, with 17 bids. It became Piermont Grand, the first EC to launch above $1,000 psf.
The plot is small for an EC. 11,535.4 sqm of land, a maximum gross floor area of 18,457 sqm, and a plot ratio of 1.6. HDB expects about 185 homes on a 99-year lease, with a 40m height cap.
What the Canberra Drive site has going for it:
That last point matters. This is the sixth EC site sold around Canberra. Buyers here already know what an EC in this pocket resells for, which takes some guesswork out of pricing.
Look at what developers have paid for land within about 700m of the Canberra Drive site.
| Site | Became | Type | Tender | $ psf ppr |
| Canberra Drive (Parcel A) | The Commodore | Private | Mar 2020 | 644 |
| Canberra Drive (Parcel B) | The Watergardens at Canberra | Private | Mar 2020 | 650 |
| Canberra Crescent | Canberra Crescent Residences | Private | Jul 2024 | 793 |
| Sembawang Road | Not yet named | EC | Sep 2025 | 692 |
| Canberra Drive | Not yet named | EC | Oct 2026 | 825 |
ECs are meant to be the cheaper option. The land usually costs less because the buyer pool is restricted and the developer cannot sell to foreigners.
Canberra Drive just flipped that. The EC land cost 4% more than the private Canberra Crescent site sold 2 years earlier, and 19% more than the Sembawang Road EC site sold last year.
Part of that is time. Land prices across the board have risen since 2024. But a 13-bid fight on a 185-unit site says developers expect to sell these homes at prices that sit close to private.
A land bid is not a price list, but it sets a floor. The cleanest read is the gap between what a developer paid for EC land and the average price of every new sale in its first 3 months on the market.
| EC | Land ($ psf ppr) | First 3 months avg psf | Gap |
| Copen Grand | 603 | 1,333 | 730 |
| Tenet | 659 | 1,378 | 719 |
| Altura | 662 | 1,475 | 813 |
| Lumina Grand | 626 | 1,515 | 889 |
| Novo Place | 703 | 1,655 | 952 |
| Aurelle of Tampines | 721 | 1,766 | 1,045 |
| Otto Place | 701 | 1,758 | 1,057 |
| Coastal Cabana | 729 | 1,788 | 1,059 |
| Rivelle Tampines | 768 | 1,933 | 1,165 |
The gap is not random. It has widened every year, from about $720 at the 2022 launches to $1,165 at Rivelle Tampines this year, as building costs and buyer budgets both rose.
Canberra Drive will not launch before 2028. Using the 4 most recent gaps, $1,045 to $1,165, puts the Canberra Drive EC at roughly $1,870 to $1,990 psf. PropNex’s estimate of about $1,900 sits inside that band.
Now set that against the neighbours. Canberra Crescent Residences, a private 99-year condo 700m away, has averaged about $2,000 psf on new sales this year. At $1,870 to $1,990, the EC discount to private would be between 1% and 7% here.
Weighing an EC against a private launch in the north? Send me a message on WhatsApp and I will lay out both on your budget.
This was the first EC site to close under the rules announced in May, and they were expected to scare developers off:
Then in August, the EC income ceiling rose from $16,000 to $18,000. That widened the pool of families who can buy.
3 reasons the Canberra Drive site still drew a crowd.
It is small. 185 units is easy to sell even if demand under the new rules turns out softer. A 600-unit EC carries far more risk of unsold stock.
It is near an MRT. The next EC site, Admiralty Walk, closes on 17 December with about 450 homes and is further from a station.
Developers need land. CRF Land appears to be bidding for EC land for the first time, and Master Contract Services had not won an EC site since 2013. Small sites are where newer players get in.
The risk is supply. Wynwood Grand, the Sembawang Road, Woodlands Drive 17 and Miltonia Close sites, plus Canberra Drive itself, add about 1,860 EC homes to the north, by ERA’s count. That is a lot of first-timers to find with a 10-year commitment.
A. The resale ECs next door just got a benchmark. The Visionaire averaged $1,529 psf on resales in the first half of 2026 and The Brownstone $1,533 psf. Both sit within 200m of the Canberra Drive site. A new EC at $1,900 makes them look like the value way into the same address, without a 10-year lock.
B. The EC trade-off is changing. You used to accept a 5-year wait for a large discount to private. Now the wait is 10 years and the discount may be small. That still works for a young family planning to stay, and less well for anyone counting on an early exit. The EC owner’s guide covers what to plan for.
C. Watch Admiralty Walk on 17 December. It is the second EC site under the new rules. If it also clears $800, the Canberra Drive price is the new normal. If it comes in well below, Canberra was about a small site near a station.
For the wider picture, the 2026 GLS land bids piece tracks every site sold this year, and the Lorong Puntong result shows the same bidding pressure on the private side.
A consortium of Santarli, Heeton, Kay Lim and Sunray, bidding through SNC3 Realty, HS Invesco and Kay Lim Realty. The bid was $163,903,000, or $825 psf per plot ratio, the highest of 13. HDB’s results are provisional until the award is announced.
About 185 on a 99-year lease, on 11,535.4 sqm of land with a maximum gross floor area of 18,457 sqm.
Yes. It beats the $794 Sim Lian paid for Woodlands Drive 17 in January 2026 by 3.9%.
Nothing is priced yet. On the gap between land cost and early sales at recent EC launches, roughly $1,870 to $1,990 psf is the planning band.
No date has been set. A site awarded in late 2026 would normally preview in 2028 at the earliest.
Only for 10% of units in the first 2 years of the launch. The other 90% are reserved for first-timer families under the May 2026 rules.
Source for the Canberra Drive tender result: Housing & Development Board. 13 developers just told you what EC land in Sembawang is worth, and it is more than the private land down the road — the question for buyers is whether the EC discount is still big enough to justify a 10-year stay. If you want to test that on your own numbers, message me on WhatsApp.
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