To date, over 900 private homes have been sold by developers this month, based on a survey conducted on property agents and developers. With another week to go, it is expected to cross 1,000 units by the end of the month.
Besides Holland Residences by Allgreen Properties, Wing Tai is believed to be at an advanced stage of preparation for its forthcoming preview of L’Viv at Newton Road. The average price will range at around $1,900-$2,000 per sq ft (psf) – exceeding the average price of $1,700 psf at which Ho Bee is selling its nearby Trilight condo.
Wing Tai is offering smaller units, as it is looking for a higher per sq ft price, thereby keeping the lump sum price per unit ‘affordable’ to prospective buyers. The developer is said to be packaging its project with a Deferred Payment Scheme, as it had secured approval for it just before the scheme was scrapped in 2007.
L’Viv is comprised of 147 units — three three-bedroom penthouses; 72 one-bedroom units with a study and these come in two sizes, both 600-sq ft plus; and another 72 two-bedroom units with a study (all about 1,000 sq ft).
Trilight includes two, three and four-bedroom units, as well as penthouses. Two bedders range from 1,100 to 1,200 square feet.
Also scheduled to begin its preview this week is RV Edge by Fortune Development, located at the River Valley/Shanghai Road vicinity. Huttons is the marketing agent of this 108-unit freehold project, which is comprised mostly of small apartments ranging from one-bedders to two-bedders with study units.
City Developments Ltd (CDL) announced yesterday evening that it has sold about 150 or around 85 percent of the total 177 units at its Cube 8 condo at Thomson Road, which started its preview last week.
Seventy-five percent of the sold units were bought by Singaporeans, whereas the other 25 percent were picked up by permanent residents (PRs) and other foreigners – mainly from Hong Kong, Malaysia, Korea, Indonesia, China, India and Europe.
According to Chia Ngiang Hong, Group General Manager of CDL, the buyers were an “equal mix of owner-occupiers and investors” and that this pointed to the development’s appeal to both investors and home owners.
However, some market observers suggest that the project has possibly drawn a reasonable number of specuvestors.
In addition to the buying buzz which started this month due to the launch of new projects, several developers have been pleasantly surprised with a steady stream of activity even for existing projects that have been on the market for the past few months.
“Sentiment has picked-up in the mid and high-end markets because of the improvement in the economy and the imminent opening of the two integrated resorts (IRs) which may have given a psychological boost to foreign buying interest, which seems to be returning,” said Ong Chong Hua, Executive Director of Ho Bee.
“We’re seeing a bigger variety of buyers from the region this round – including markets like Myanmar and Laos,” said a fellow developer.
Questioned if the authorities are likely to come up with fresh measures to cool the property market, should there be another wave of buying frenzy, Mr. Tan said: “Frankly, it’s very hard to deter people from buying, if you look at how strong the HDB resale market is. There’s very strong bottom-up support.”