The problem is that the china developers bid aggressively for the projects, bid high and they can afford to sell lower than singaporean developers (maybe they got lobang or DIY the materials to build)
due to lack of land, for local developers, no land to build = no business, no business = jialat, and since government is not introducing measures or control to stop foreign developers, local ones are forced to bid higher lor, or as a workaround, enbloc for land, its a vicious cycle
at least for rivercove, hoi hup will not be afraid of unsold units, its the only EC till next year, first timers who are fed up with lousy luck on BTO queue number or gave up (and became 2nd timers) will pay a more premium price to buy this project, and when sumang or the other 3 future ecs launch, rivercove will still remain as the cheapest project around
the only issue with rivercove is, this project is only good for homestay, for singaporeans who wish to flip, who are you gonna sell to, you have to wait 10 years to sell to foreigners, singaporeans are smart enough not to buy this project resale after 5 years, so many other projects around going at a simliar or cheaper price like esparina, luxurie, or the whole stretch of ECs slightly north (the vales, terrace, lush acres) who are going to compete with you