Online applications for The Criterion executive condo (EC) in Yishun open today.
The Criterion is the second EC to be launched after the income ceiling for the public-private housing hybrid was raised from $12,000 to $14,000 last month. The first was JBE Holdings' Signature at Yishun, a 525-unit project that sits right next door to the 505-unit Criterion in Yishun Street 51.
Signature at Yishun, which releases its prices today, has touted itself as the most affordable EC to be launched this year.
But PropNex Realty chief executive Mohamed Ismail, whose firm is marketing The Criterion, has also promised "attractive" prices.
These will be announced prior to the booking date of Oct 10. The land price of The Criterion was $330.13 per square foot (psf), and that of Signature at Yishun $334.57 psf.
Research houses have indicated a price band of $750 psf to 780 psf for new ECs in today's market, down from an average level of $800 psf last year.
Developer City Developments Limited (CDL) did not give a price range for The Criterion, saying only that units of its last EC, The Brownstone in Sembawang, sold at an average of $810 psf during the launch, but this project commands a "premium" as it is next to an upcoming MRT station.
Mr Ismail cited an oversupply of ECs and competition from developers, which has resulted in recent projects - such as The Brownstone, The Vales in Anchorvale Crescent and Sol Acres in Choa Chu Kang Grove - making sales of only 20 to 30 per cent over their launch weekends.
The Criterion, which is being developed by CDL and TID Residential, comprises 10 13-storey blocks, and overlooks the Lower Seletar Reservoir and Orchid Country Club. It has a 99-year leasehold, and is expected to be completed in 2018. The Criterion will also be the first EC to provide an air-conditioning system with air purifying function in all units.
