As property launches continue to buzz, UOL Group is anticipated to preview the Waterbank at Dakota condo project this week. The asking price for this project ranges from above $1,000 psf to around $1,300 psf.
Over the weekend, CapitaLand sold 110 units at The InterLace in the Alexandra Road area at $850 psf to $1,300 psf. To date, the property developer has sold more than 390 units of the 490 released units for the 1,040-unit, 99-year leasehold condo project.
A spokesperson of CapitaLand said that units in the latest phase of its project are priced at about three percent to five percent higher than the released units of Phase One, as more units in the latest launch were situated with a better facing or on higher floors.
TID Pte Ltd, a joint venture project between Japan’s Mitsui Fudosan and Hong Leong Group Singapore, also sold 23 of the 40 released units for the 65-unit Nathan Suites project. The units worked out to $2,000 psf – $2,300 psf.
Additionally, IOI and Ho Bee sold six units at The Seascape at Sentosa Cove, while City Developments Ltd (CDL) sold five more units at The Residences at W Singapore Sentosa Cove. Units at The Seascape worked out at around $2,619 psf to $2,880 psf, while CDL is selling its units for about $2,500 psf to 3,000 psf.
Tiong Aik group is also expected to preview the Starlight Suites at River Valley Close next week. The 35-storey freehold condo project could be priced at around $2,000 psf.
The highlight for the week, though, will be seen along the Geylang River, where UOL will preview its Waterbank at Dakota project. Many market watchers said that this will be the first residential project to be released in the market without planter boxes and bay windows, leaving more net liveable area for residents.
UOL is expected to initially release 200 units for the 616-unit project. Unit sizes of the project range from 484 sq ft for a one-room unit to 2,820 sq ft for a penthouse.
Next to Waterbank at Dakota, Ho Bee and NTUC Choice Homes are left with about 50 units at Dakota Residences comprising mostly of four-room units facing the river. The property developers began selling the 348-unit project in June 2008 at around $970 psf but cut prices down by about five percent to eight percent during its relaunch last year.
Joseph Tan, executive director (residential), CB Richard Ellis, said that many property developers have revved up foreign marketing campaigns in locations like Jakarta, Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong to ride with the pick-up of foreign buying frenzy.
Ong Choon Fah, DTZ executive director (consulting), said that several developers’ launch strategies in the upcoming months will vary depending on the market segment they cater to.
On the other hand, developers of the mass and mid-market projects would be more inclined to releasing projects, as the buying interest remains high in these segments.
Developers also face intense competition in the mass market sector, as the government releases more new land sites, while new land supply in the luxury sector will be released at a much slower pace, given the huge price gap between buyers’ and sellers’ expectations for en bloc sales.