While transactions of new home sales have fallen, prices appear to have held up.
At Choa Chu Kang, several condominium units are being offered at the price range of $600 psf. For instance, the 553-unit 99-year leasehold Regent Grove condo at Choa Chu Kang North 7 has attracted homebuyers who are looking for reasonably priced mass market condos in the suburbs. From June 8 to June 15, five transactions took place at prices ranging between $590 psf to $665 psf, according to caveats lodged with URA Realis.
With the condo’s proximity to Yew Tee MRT station, current prices at the ten-year-old development by Far East Organization (FEO) are regarded attractive to homebuyers looking to purchase a property that fits their budget. Affordability, as well as proximity to the MRT station, has been the two major attractions for buyers at Regent Grove, said Steven Chen, a property agent at PropNex.
In the most recent transactions, the highest psf price reached at Regent Grove was $665 psf, when a 926-sq-ft two-bedroom unit located on the 11th floor of Block 54 went for $616,000. The transaction represents a 14 percent gain for the seller, who acquired the unit for $541,000 ($584 psf) from FEO in November 1999.
Regent Grove is among the few remaining projects in the area where the average asking prices for units remain at below $650 psf, said Kelly Yu, marketing director of ERA.
Other developments in the Choa Chu Kang district include The Warren and Northvale. Transaction prices at the 12-year-old Northvale over the past two months were in the $648 psf to $731 psf range. At The Warren, which was completed in 2004/5, transaction prices ranged from $560 psf to $668 psf, based on caveats lodged with URA Realis.
At the 457-unit Mi Casa, which was launched last year, more than 420 units were snapped up at end-May at an average price of $794 psf, based on the monthly new home sales of URA.
According to the latest research report released by Citi, new mass-market condo prices are expected to remain solid, considering the low mortgage rates and the support of capital gains from current HDB flats at a seven-year-high. Investment demand for mass-market condos will also be fuelled by the rental yield of 4.25 percent compared with mortgage rates of less than two percent. Citi also expects prices in the mass market segment to be capped between $900 psf and $1,000 psf levels.