While the demand for units at several other developments appeared to waver, last week’s sales at Hundred Trees Condominium exceeded expectations by leaps and bounds as the West Coast condo sold an astonishing 316 units, about 25 percent of which were transacted under the interest absorption scheme (IAS).
“Hundred Trees is amongst the last few developments where buyers may opt for IAS,” City Development Limited (CDL), the condo’s developer, said at yesterday’s press release. CDL has increased the 956-year lease condominium’s average selling price from $895 per square foot initially to around $910 per square foot. Home seekers who opt to purchase on IAS have to pay a price premium of 2.5 percent.
CDL also reported yesterday that 85 percent of the unit buyers at Hundred Trees were Singaporeans.
“There was a balanced mix of HDB upgraders and buyers who hold private property addresses,” added CDL. “All 22 one-bedroom units, priced from $500,000, and 66 two-bedroom apartments, priced from $701,000, have been sold.”
All of the condo’s six penthouses priced from $2.4 million to $2.6 million have also already been sold. Thus far, the developer soft launched 350 out of 396 units at Hundred Trees.
CDL will be releasing the remaining condo units this coming weekend, when it officially launches the condo with an ad campaign.
Meanwhile, other projects were not even close to being as productive sales-wise as Hundred Trees. Analysts say that this may be because home buyers are pondering the implications and effects of the government’s measures to counter excessive speculation in the property market to somehow cool it down. Two of the said “cooling measures” are the junking of the IAS and the restarting of the government’s confirmed list of land sales in H1 2010.
A property adviser even went so far as to venture that “a pull-back in demand of 10 per cent is not unrealistic”.
Last week, CapitaLand and its business partners were able to sell less than 20 condo units at The InterLace which will be replace Gillman Heights. The previous week, 233 units were sold at the said 99-year leasehold condominium. The InterLace does not offer IAS.
Property analysts also remark that the selling prices at The InterLace are not compelling. CapitaLand is selling its project’s units from $850 per square foot to $1,150 per square foot, although market watchers note that the average price is approximately $1,000 per square foot. Analysts also commented that The InterLace’s unique architectural design may be appealing to some, but definitely not to everybody.