Sales of upscale houses in Sentosa Cove is starting to pick up despite reports of many unoccupied units and home owners selling their homes houses at huge losses, reported The Straits Times.
So far this year, caveats have been lodged for seven bungalows at the posh enclave collectively worth S$102.7 million compared to four in 2016 with a combined value of $64.5 million, statistics from CBRE revealed.
While Sentosa Cove is the only place in the city-state where foreigners who are not permanent residents are allowed to purchase landed houses, six of the seven bungalow transactions year-to-date involved Singaporeans.
According to CBRE Realty Associates’ Vice President for resale Steve Tay, bungalows there have piqued the interest of locals and permanent residents after prices have started declining since mid-2015.
“One of the main reasons for the return in interest is that the gap between buyers’ and sellers’ expectations has narrowed.”
So far this year, the priciest bungalow sold was at Lakeshore View at Sentosa Cove. Sited on a 11,270 sq ft land, the house was reportedly bought for S$21.25 million by Takao Yasuda, the founder of Japanese discount retail group Don Quijote.
Meanwhile, sales of condos in Sentosa Cove are improving despite a report from Knight Frank that showed 16 out of 30 sales in the year to May suffered losses.
Citing URA Realis data, Colliers International Research Head Tricia Song noted that 21 condos have been sold year-to-date, and this is expected to surpass the annual sales of 24 to 26 units between 2013 and 2016.
This article was edited by Denise Djong.
