13 developers bid for the Canberra Drive EC site, with a top bid of $825 psf ppr setting a record land price for an EC plot. It is the first EC site under the 10-year MOP. When the government land tender for an Executive Condominium (EC) site in Canberra closed on Oct 1, developer participation and the top bid price far exceeded market analysts' initial expectations. In the lead-up to the close of this tender, market watchers had broadly expected a relatively tepid response by developers. This is because the eventual project is the first new EC that will go to market under tightened EC rules. This includes a doubling of the minimum occupation period (MOP) to ten years, the removal of the deferred payment scheme, and an increase in the first-timer priority to 90%. In addition, it will also be the first EC project under the higher $18,000 monthly household income ceiling, announced during this year's National Day Rally....