13 bids and about $825 psf ppr for Canberra Drive: what the first $18,000-ceiling EC site means for buyers
A small executive condo plot drew far more bidders than recent EC sites. It is the first EC land sold under both of this year’s rule changes, which makes this the first price on the new kind of EC.
The short version. HDB’s tender for the Canberra Drive EC site closed on Thu 1 Oct 2026 with 13 bids. The top bid was $163,903,000, or $8,880.26 per sqm of floor area (about $825 psf ppr). It is the first EC site sold under both the May 2026 rules (10-year MOP, no deferred payment) and the $18,000 income ceiling.
My read: developers paid more, not less, for EC land that comes with tighter rules. For households earning $16,000 to $18,000 a month, this is the first new EC they will qualify for. Everyone else should compare it with the old-rules ECs that launch first.
Update, Thu 15 Oct 2026: awarded. HDB has gone with the top bid. On Thu 15 Oct 2026 it awarded the Canberra Drive site to SNC3 Realty, HS Invesco and Kay Lim Realty at $163,903,000, which is still $8,880.26 per sqm of gross floor area, or about $825 psf ppr on my conversion. You can read HDB’s final tender result for yourself. Everything below is as I wrote it on Thu 8 Oct 2026, from the provisional results; what I am watching for now is the project name, design and launch date.
Since August, people have asked me which EC is the first under the new rules, and what it will cost. The first question now has an answer. The second does not yet. Facts below are from HDB, MND and URA; my own views are labelled.
13
Bids, closed Thu 1 Oct 2026
~$825
psf ppr, top bid
~185
Homes, HDB estimate
$18,000
Income ceiling that applies
The result
What did the Canberra Drive EC site sell for?
HDB, the Government’s land sales agent for EC sites, closed the tender at noon on Thu 1 Oct 2026. The plot is 11,535.4 sqm, with a maximum gross floor area of 18,457 sqm, a 40m height limit and a 99-year lease, for about 185 homes on HDB’s estimate. The results are provisional, and HDB has not yet said which bid it will accept.
Canberra Drive EC site, selected bids · Source: HDB provisional tender results, Thu 1 Oct 2026 · psf ppr is my conversion ($ psm GFA ÷ 10.7639); “Pte. Ltd.” dropped from names
| Rank | Tenderer, as listed by HDB | Bid | $ psm GFA | ≈ $ psf ppr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SNC3 Realty, HS Invesco and Kay Lim Realty | $163,903,000 | $8,880.26 | $825 |
| 2 | Intrepid Investments and TID Residential | $159,434,000 | $8,638.13 | $803 |
| 3 | Apex Asia Beta Investment Three, BHCC Development (Project 2) and HSB Developments | $158,600,000 | $8,592.95 | $798 |
| 4 | CRF Land | $153,000,000 | $8,289.54 | $770 |
| 13 | Sim Lian Land and Sim Lian Development | $71,718,787 | $3,885.72 | $361 |
Swipe to see the full table →
The top three bids are within 3.3% of each other, and the winner beat the runner-up by $4,469,000 (about 2.8%). Bids 4 to 12 run from about $770 down to $623 psf ppr, and the lowest is about $361. My read: the top of the range is the useful signal, because three separate groups arrived at nearly the same number.
In context
How does $825 psf ppr compare with recent EC land?
I lined it up against five EC tenders HDB closed between August 2025 and April 2026, all of them sold under the old rules.
EC land tenders, top bid · Source: HDB provisional tender results on the dates shown · psf ppr is my conversion
| Site (project today) | Tender closed | Bids | Top $ psm GFA | ≈ $ psf ppr | Rules |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canberra Drive | Thu 1 Oct 2026 | 13 | $8,880.26 | $825 | New: 10-yr MOP, $18,000 |
| Miltonia Close | Tue 14 Apr 2026 | 3 | $7,878.37 | $732 | Old: 5-yr MOP, $16,000 |
| Woodlands Drive 17 (Clovelle of Woodlands) | Tue 13 Jan 2026 | 3 | $8,542.48 | $794 | Old |
| Sembawang Road | Thu 11 Sep 2025 | 4 | $7,447.83 | $692 | Old |
| Woodlands Drive 17 (Wynwood Grand) | Tue 5 Aug 2025 | 5 | $8,421.79 | $782 | Old |
| Senja Close (Solano Grand) | Tue 5 Aug 2025 | 5 | $8,297.76 | $771 | Old |
Swipe to see the full table →
Among these six, Canberra Drive has both the most bids and the highest rate. Its top bid is about 4% above the January Woodlands Drive 17 bid, 13% above Miltonia Close and 19% above Sembawang Road. EdgeProp has reported it as a new high for EC land and the most bids for an EC site in eight years. My table supports the first claim for the tenders I checked, but I have not gone through every EC tender ever held, so “record” is EdgeProp’s word, not mine.
The rules
Why is this site different from the ECs launching now?
Both of this year’s EC changes are triggered by the date a land tender closes, and Canberra Drive is the first EC site to close after both cutoffs. HDB’s 2026 releases list only two other EC tender results this year, Woodlands Drive 17 in January and Miltonia Close in April, and both closed before the first cutoff.
- MND, Fri 8 May 2026. For tenders closing on or after that date, the MOP goes from five years to 10, and the unit can be sold to any buyer only after year 15 instead of year 10. The Deferred Payment Scheme ends. The first-timer quota goes from 70% for one month to 90% for two years.
- HDB, Sun 23 Aug 2026. For tenders closing on or after Mon 24 Aug 2026, buyers of new units from the developer face an $18,000 monthly household income ceiling instead of $16,000. Balance units in existing ECs, and ECs on land awarded before 24 August, stay at $16,000.
Every EC on sale today follows the old rules. Canberra Drive is the first of the new kind. For the two rulebooks side by side, see my guide to the $18,000 EC cohort and EC vs condo.
My read
What does it change for buyers and sellers?
Households on $16,000 to $18,000
This is the first new EC you will qualify for. Until now, you earned too much to buy any new EC unit from a developer. The price is a 10-year MOP and no deferred payment. If you planned to stay a decade anyway, that costs you little. If a posting abroad is likely, it costs a lot.
Second-timers
For the first two years after launch, 90% of the units are reserved for first-timers. On about 185 homes that is roughly 166, which leaves around 18 for everyone else. I would not build a plan around those odds. Look at old-rules ECs and at ECs past their MOP alongside this one.
EC owners thinking of selling
Buyers of new-rules ECs must wait ten years before selling, while existing ECs carry five-year MOPs. My read is that this makes existing ECs look comparatively flexible to upgraders. That is not a price forecast, just a reason to get a proper valuation before you list.
One number, used carefully. $163.9 million spread over HDB’s estimate of 185 homes is about $886,000 of land per home. That is before construction, financing, charges or profit, and the unit count may change. MND says ECs are generally priced about 20 to 30% below comparable private condos. I will not put a launch price on a project that has not been designed.
Still open
What happens next
I will update this page as each of these is published.
1. The award: done, Thu 15 Oct 2026
HDB awarded the site on Thu 15 Oct 2026 to SNC3 Realty, HS Invesco and Kay Lim Realty at $163,903,000. The project name, design, unit mix and launch date still have to come from the developers, and I will add them here when they do. From acceptance, they have 60 months to complete the project.
2. Admiralty Walk, Thu 17 Dec 2026
HDB’s other EC site from the first half of 2026, called Sembawang Drive in the original programme, has about 450 homes. Its tender closes at noon on Thu 17 Dec 2026. That result will show whether $825 was a premium for a small plot or the new normal for EC land.
3. More EC land in the second half
URA’s 2H 2026 Confirmed List, released Wed 3 Jun 2026, includes 735 EC units. For where each EC project stands today, see the EC launch pipeline. On the private side, the contrast came on Thu 15 Oct 2026, when URA’s Marina Gardens Lane site drew only one bid.
Questions people are asking me about Canberra Drive EC
HDB's tender closed on 1 October 2026 with 13 bids. The highest was $163,903,000, or $8,880.26 per square metre of gross floor area, which is about $825 per square foot per plot ratio. HDB awarded the site at that price on 15 October 2026 to SNC3 Realty, HS Invesco and Kay Lim Realty.
Yes. HDB applies the $18,000 ceiling to new units in ECs whose land tender closed on or after 24 August 2026, and Canberra Drive's tender closed on 1 October 2026. It is the first EC site to qualify. Balance units in existing ECs, and ECs on land awarded before 24 August, stay at $16,000.
MND announced three changes on 8 May 2026 for EC sites whose tenders close on or after that date. The MOP goes from five years to 10, and the flat can be sold to any buyer only after year 15. Developers can no longer offer the Deferred Payment Scheme. The first-timer quota rises from 70% for one month to 90% for two years. Canberra Drive is the first EC site sold under these rules.
No launch date has been announced, and the project has no name or design yet. The developer has 60 months from the date its tender is accepted to complete the project. I will not guess a launch month. I will update this page when the award and the developer's plans are public.
In principle, yes. But for the first two years after launch, 90% of the units are reserved for first-timers. On HDB's estimate of about 185 homes, that leaves roughly 18 units for everyone else during that window. If you are a second-timer, keep other options open as well.
Land is one input, alongside construction, financing and the developer's margin, and nothing has been designed yet. The top bid works out to about $886,000 of land per estimated home, but I am not going to put a launch price on it. For context, MND says ECs are generally priced about 20 to 30% below comparable private condos.
The next is Admiralty Walk, which the 1H 2026 programme called Sembawang Drive. It has about 450 homes, and its tender closes at noon on 17 December 2026. Because it closes after 24 August 2026, it carries the $18,000 ceiling and the May 2026 rules. URA's 2H 2026 Confirmed List adds a further 735 EC units, and I will cover those sites as their tenders open.
Earning $16,000 to $18,000 and wondering where you stand? Ask me.
Tell me your household income band, whether you are a first-timer, and when you need to move. I will tell you which ECs you can actually buy, under which rules, and what I would do in your position.
Sources and dates
The facts below are the agencies’, restated in my own words. The psf ppr conversions, percentages and per-home land figure are my calculations. Opinion is labelled “my read”. Figures are as at Thu 8 Oct 2026, and the tender results are provisional. The award (Thu 15 Oct 2026) was added on Tue 27 Oct 2026.
- HDB, Provisional Tender Results for Executive Condominium Development Site at Canberra Drive, Thu 1 Oct 2026. Source for all 13 bids, prices and $ psm GFA, site area, GFA, height, the ~185 estimated units, the 99-year lease and the 60-month completion period.
- HDB, Final Tender Result for Land Parcel at Canberra Drive for Executive Condominium Housing Development, Thu 15 Oct 2026. Source for the award date, the awardees (SNC3 Realty, HS Invesco and Kay Lim Realty) and the $163,903,000 tender price; opened Tue 27 Oct 2026.
- HDB, HDB Launches Tender for Sale Site at Canberra Drive, Tue 26 May 2026. Source for the tender launch and the 1 Oct closing date.
- HDB provisional tender results for the comparison sites: Miltonia Close (Tue 14 Apr 2026), Woodlands Drive 17 (Tue 13 Jan 2026), Sembawang Road (Thu 11 Sep 2025) and Senja Close and Woodlands Drive 17 (Tue 5 Aug 2025). The project names in brackets are the developers’ later names, taken from my project pages.
- HDB, HDB Launches Tender for Sale Site at Admiralty Walk, Tue 30 Jun 2026. Source for the ~450 units, the Thu 17 Dec 2026 closing date and the former name, Sembawang Drive.
- HDB, Increase in Income Ceilings and Greater Support for Families with Children, Sun 23 Aug 2026. Source for the $16,000 to $18,000 EC ceiling, the 24 Aug tender-closing trigger and the exclusions.
- MND, Strengthening The Executive Condominium Housing Scheme and Supporting First-Time Home Buyers, Fri 8 May 2026. Source for the 10-year MOP, sale to any buyer after year 15, the end of the Deferred Payment Scheme, the 90% two-year first-timer quota and the 20 to 30% pricing gap.
- URA, 1H 2026 Government Land Sales Programme, Tue 2 Dec 2025, and its Appendix 1 (Canberra Drive: 1.16 ha, plot ratio 1.6, 185 units; 635 EC units on the Confirmed List). URA, 2H 2026 Government Land Sales Programme, Wed 3 Jun 2026 (735 EC units on the Confirmed List).
- Reported, not checked by me in full: EdgeProp, “Canberra Drive EC site draws most bids in eight years, sets new record land price of $825 psf ppr”, October 2026. It is the source of the “record” and “eight years” claims, which I attribute to it. I checked its $825 and its previous-high figure ($794, Woodlands Drive 17) against HDB’s own numbers, and both match my conversions.
- My own analysis, not reported fact: the psf ppr conversions (dividing $ psm GFA by 10.7639), the percentage gaps, the $886,000 land per estimated home, the roughly 18 non-first-timer units, and every “my read”.
This article is general commentary on public data. It is not financial advice and not a forecast of any property’s price. VionaPropnex is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or speaking for HDB, MND or URA. For the authoritative figures, use their own releases.