El Development is rolling out its condominium launch of the 200-unit Rosewood Suites, a 99-year leasehold located in Woodlands, this weekend. This is a rare and optimistic launch as the property market proves to be gloomy these days. The developer is hoping that discounted prices will draw buyers.
In the recent months, launches have been few and far between as most developers continue to delay them because of the unstable market.
“We tested the market…and we were pleasantly surprised that the response was good, so we are going ahead with the launch,” Lim Yew Soon, EL Development managing director, a unit of Evan Lim & Co , a local builder, said.
“Our earlier price expectations were higher. We benchmarked current prices against the prices of older condos in the area,” Lim Yew Soon added. Buyers at the soft launch were given a 2% discount. Also, according to Lim Yew Soon, buyers were mostly residents of nearby condominiums and flats.
“It is a fair value in today’s market,” said Nicholas Mak, director of consultancy and research of Knight Frank. He also added, “There has not been a major development launch in the area for a long time so there will be some latent HDB upgrader demand.”
Rosewood Suites was bought by El Development from the Singapore Land Authority when prices were strong in November last year. Back then, Lim Yew Soon said that they are planning to launch the project in the Q3 of 2009. They did, only later.