As property developers launched more upmarket projects, the average private home transaction value sold in the market rose to $1.78 million per unit in the first two months of 2010, according to a study conducted by CB Richard Ellis.
This is higher by 37 percent than the $1.3 million average price of homes sold for the whole of 2009. But according to CBRE’s analysis of URA Realis caveats data lodged on March 5, the figure for the first two months of the year is still way under the $1.97 million average price of homes sold in 2007.
Reflecting the pattern of developers in releasing higher-end projects in end-2009, the priciest transaction in the primary market was $33.41 million for the junior penthouse at the Boulevard Vue project. The 8,051-sq-ft unit worked out at an average price of $4,150 psf. The penthouse unit, which occupies the 30th and 31st floor of the 33-storey building, was purchased by Linda Wijaya Limantara, the non-executive chairwoman of Nippecraft.
The absolute price of the unit exceeded that of the most expensive transaction in the primary market in 2007, when a unit on the 19th floor of The Marq on Paterson Hill was sold for $31.4 million in July 2007, which worked out to $5,100 psf.
As for 2009, another high-priced transaction in the primary market was a $14.43-million bungalow at Kasara The Lake in Sentosa Cove.
In January 2010, the most expensive deal in the primary market was a condo unit at Marina Collection on Sentosa Cove. The selling price worked out to $10.43 million or $2,213 psf.
Li Hiaw Ho, executive director at CBRE, expects that the average dollar value of transactions in the primary market for 2010 is likely to exceed the figure seen last year, as more luxury projects are slated for launch this year.
Tan Tiong Cheng, chairman of Knight Frank, reckons bigger units will be a hit again as property developers launch high-end projects this year, a trend seen during the 2007 peak.
“However, a lot will depend on how rentals fare for large units,” he said.
According to CBRE, some high-end projects scheduled for release this year include The Residences at W and Seascape at Sentosa Cove, a project at 76 Shenton Way and Phase 2 of Marina Bay Suites. In the Orchard Road area, the Ardmore III projects, and the developments on the former Anderson 18, Beverly Mai, Grangeford and Parisian are among the expected launches in 2010.
Mr. Tan added that at “the other end of the spectrum – shoebox units could be launched, which could drag down slightly the average absolute price per unit” this year. But its impact will not be as significant as the number of units compared with the total number of units launched by property developers.
Mr. Li said that the average value of homes sold this 2010 will likely exceed the 2009 figure, and more 99-year leasehold projects on the Government Land Sale sites will be released at higher prices due to its location and higher land costs.
The study also showed that since January 2007, the highest average price in dollar terms on a monthly basis was achieved in March 2008 at $3.87 million, and the lowest figure was $761,082 in February last year.