The recent sale-out sale of the newly opened condo Alexis @ Alexandra was swarmed not just by buyers but speculators as well, being able to sell all of the 293 units. The 712-unit Caspian in Jurong, meanwhile, managed to sell about 515 units almost simultaneously.
Both of these launches were followed by “for sale” ads the previous month, though sub-sale buyers seemed to need some time to ponder as of the moment.
Another launch happened the other day and saw quite a good amount of people of no less than 300, where developer Hiap Hoe presented its The Beverly in Toh Tuck Road. A Hiap Hoe spokesman, however, failed to disclose the status of the sales for the newly released 31 apartments in the development, which consists of 118 flats at an average price of $750 per sq ft (psf).
Signs of “flipping” are seen by some of property agents, though, according to them, a small number of sub-sale buyers are showing interests. They have also noticed that in Caspian’s and Alexis’s cases, ads for sub-sales start to appear just a short time following their releases. There are around 10 percent of the 293-unit Alexis that are being flipped, according to an agent who refused to be identified.
Relatively low pricing are noted by some property agents as the main reason why buyers want to do some flipping. Caspian apartments’ prices are initially offered at $580 psf on average. Alexis @ Alexandra, meanwhile, are offered at a median price of $850 – $1,100 psf.
K.L. Goh, a property agent who is currently in-charge of the marketing of a pair of sub-sale units at Alexis, stated, “Although the market is bad, Alexis is located near Queenstown MRT station and is highly sought after.”
A two-bedroom apartment is currently being sold by its owners for $880,000, though its original price was $760,000.
Leslie Yap, another property agent who now aids a buyer to promote his two-bedroom apartment for $580,000 at Caspian, said, “She bought it at $527,400 and even if she can make a little profit, I think it’s quite good in such a short time.”
Agents, meanwhile, stated that the sub-sale buyers’ response was rather cautious. Last Friday, Mr. Yap said that, for that day, he had only a single call for the unit at Caspian.
“Even though this is a very popular project, the response is still very bad and it may be difficult for buyers to make a profit right now,” said Mr. Yap.
Forty-one-year-old EMC employee, John Murray, was present at The Beverly’s launch. “I’ve noticed that the prices are down from when I went house-hunting five or six months ago. This is actually a great time to buy,” he said. However, Mr. Murray did not purchase a unit.