In Singapore, the latest signs of perky suburban property industry are starting to show up. In Ang Mo Kio area, many homebuyers have been sending cheques to purchase properties at rarely seen prices outside prime central areas of Singapore.
In the upcoming 329-unit Centro Residences by Far East Organisation, home buyers are said to be yielding prices beginning from $1,150 per sq ft. This means three-bedroom flats will cost $1.1 million or over, while two-bedroom units will cost more than $800,000.
The Centro Residences project is one of the few 99-year leasehold projects in Singapore’s suburban areas to reach this level, Consultants said.
Dr. Chua Yang Liang, Jones Lang LaSalle’s head of South-east Asia research, said that he was “a bit shocked” at the cost of properties. “I’m afraid at this moment there’s a lot of euphoria, so there will be demand for this project even at this price.”
The project’s location is one of its plus points as it is situated near the international schools and in a famous mature estate right next to the Ang Mo Kio MRT station.
However, Dr Chua is concerned over its “long-term sustainability of this pricing”, indicating that the pricing may not be affordable to upgraders.
Meanwhile, a showflat in Optima, situated near the Tanah Merah MRT station, are queued by about 40 buyers who are claiming yesterday on the 297 units for sale, though the original schedule of showflat launching is on Friday.
Most of those buyers who queued in the Optima showflat are property agents, keeping areas for their customers with blank cheques in hand. However, some of those who queued are probably property agents with an outlook to buy properties for their own investment intentions.
According to developer TID, a tie-up between Japan’s Mitsui Fudosan and Hong Leong Group, rating or pricing for the 99-year leasehold project has not even been settled.
Property agents figure property prices will be about $750-$850 per sq ft, with three-bedroom units going for about $700,000 to over $800,000 and two-bedroom units for about $600,000 to $700,000.
The developers say that buyers are so keen on the units-for-sale that they even sent blank cheques for the buyers to put in the amounts once a price list becomes available.
At about 5pm yesterday, TID was alarmed to the existence of the queue. TID representatives told those who were queuing to just go home, as the queue would not be accepted. The queue then dispersed shortly.
A Hong Leong spokesperson said earlier, “We’re not going to sell anything until Friday”. On Thursday, a preview would be held for TID and Hong Leong staff.
Hong Leong said in a press release last week that over 1,000 inquiries for the Optima showflat were received.
As home developers began to raise prices for projects behind the strong demand, Dr. Chua advised that the price increase “need to be supported by economic growth or wage growth in the long term”, or else they might lead to a property bubble and “excess inflation”.