An Executive Condo Just Sold For $3.05m: Is This An Outlier Or A Sign Of Things To Come?

Hundred Palms is likely the first Executive Condo to breach the $3 million mark ($3,058,888) for a resale, non-penthouse unit, with the Option secured as we write this. This is for a 1,528 sq. ft. unit on the 13th floor, which comes to about $2,001 psf (breaking a record not just for the quantum, but the psf as well). It probably isn’t surprising that Hundred Palms is the first, as some might call it the EC equivalent of Pinnacle @ Duxton or Sky Dawson: a project known for producing high quantum resale units. But is this an outlier, or does it mean more for the wider property market?

What made the pricing palatable?

First, Hundred Palms has seen good demand since its launch in 2017, when it sold out in around seven hours. We also covered the strength of its mature location here a while back, when we noticed it was near the end of its MOP. While it’s not the nearest condo to an MRT station (though the launch of the Serangoon North MRT station in 2029 might help a bit), it’s one of the ECs that are surrounded by heartland amenities. 

Here’s a look at recent prices at Hundred Palms, with an equivalent-sized unit on a lower floor selling for $2.718m or $1,778 psf. In any case, this has already been a cash cow for many of the original owners, with the lowest profit so far (since MOP), being at “just” $772,000. There have already been 9 (including this one) that have hit more than a million dollars in profit. 

That said, while $1.7m in profit is an impressive gain, our findings suggest it’s not unprecedented, and we even found some that went higher:

Bishan Loft, for instance, saw a resale-to-resale gain of $1,305,000 over 15 years, for a unit. For a new-to-resale unit, we noted a transaction with a gain of $1,729,300 over 23 years.

And we even found some that went higher:

Another simple issue is the resale supply crunch, coupled with new launch prices. As we explained in this earlier article, there’s a struggle to find resale condo options right now; particularly in mature areas. This is due to sellers struggling to bridge the gap with new launch prices, and deciding not to sell because replacement property costs would be unmanageable.

The second factor is the cost of new launch properties, which have priced out some buyers. If we were to look for a new launch unit in a mature area that comes close to 1,500 sq. ft., for instance, we might look at a project such as ELTA in Clementi right now: the five-bedders here (around 1,776 sq. ft.) are around 250 sq. ft. larger, but would fetch a price of around $3.88 million (approx. $2,189 psf). 

In fact, the cheapest 5-bedder new launch that you would be able to find right now already reaches a price of $2,310,000.

Then consider that, with around 14 of the remaining 22 launches this year being in the CCR, the exclusivity and prices of new condos will only heighten. In effect, many buyers who want large units in 2025, such as 1,500 sq. ft. or over, are going to be at the mercy of resale sellers. 

Hundred Palms may be a bellwether, indicating coming demand in the resale market

As the selling agents themselves pointed out, the resale price of the EC unit managed to beat even nearby private condo Affinity at Serangoon, where prices range from around $1,750 to $1,850 psf…to which Hundred Palms may have just added the words “for now.”

Surrounding resale condos may soon see upward momentum, both from transactions like the one at Hundred Palms, to the growing awareness of limited resale supply. While this isn’t to say all of them will see the same success as this particular Hundred Palms unit, it does show there are a lot of motivated buyers – and it won’t be long before sellers realise how motivated they are.

Finally, this may show that the five-year mark is all that really matters for ECs, and no longer full privatisation

It’s long been assumed that ECs are at their best after the 10-year mark, when they’re fully privatised. But given the demand for five-year-old ECs (i.e., just out of MOP), it may be that the 10-year mark is irrelevant, and owners can expect most of their gains as soon as the EC can join the resale market. 

After all, consider the supposed advantages of reaching full privatisation: the project can go en bloc, but this is something that’s still much further down the road. The project can be bought by entities or foreigners, but what use is that, in an age where entities face 65 per cent ABSD, and foreigners pay 60 per cent? It has, in any case, become clear that foreigners very rarely care for ECs anyway, preferring the ritzy CCR properties.

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