AN executive condominium (EC) site in Woodlands Avenue 5 drew seven bids at the close of tender on Thursday.

China-based Qingjian Realty (South Pacific) Group topped the bids with an offer of $216 million or $341.2 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr).

The 2.1 ha site is expected to yield 590 homes.

This is the first new plot allocated for ECs since the property cooling measures in January, which restricted the size of EC units, a hybrid of public and private housing.

The top bid came in on the high side of market expectations of between $300 and $340 psf ppr.

CBRE research associate director Desmond Sim noted the latest top bid was higher than the previous bids of nearby plots - $318 psf ppr and $302 psf ppr last year.

"The relatively higher bid reflects developers' renewed confidence in the area following the government's announcement on Woodlands as Singapore's new commercial hub in the land-use plan in January 2013," he said.

The highest bid for an EC site is $392 psf ppr for a plot in Tampines Central in April 2011.