Westvale Condo sold in collective sale exercise for S$77.5m
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: RL West Pte Ltd, a wholly-owned unit of Roxy Pacific Holdings Ltd, has acquired Westvale Condominium (pictured) for S$77.5 million in a collective sale, according to a statement by marketing agent Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL). The sale translates to around S$883 psf ppr with...
Continue Reading • 25 Jun 2012
Singapore developers turning to foreign architects to lure buyers
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: Local developers looking to add value to their new projects are turning to world-renowned overseas architects, with 14 developments being backed by 12 foreign designers. Since the mid-80s, Singapore’s residential property market has been welcoming architects...
Continue Reading • 25 Jun 2012
Buy a condo and get free club membership
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: Property developer Far East Organization is offering a new deal to lure more buyers. With the purchase of an apartment at its upcoming Seastrand project (pictured), buyers will get a free country club term membership worth more than S$16,000. Purchasers of...
Continue Reading • 22 Jun 2012
Farrer Drive site attracts top bid of S$113.2m
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: A residential site (pictured) at Farrer Drive has received a total of six bids with the highest offer of S$113.2 million coming from SingLand Development. The 99-year leasehold site, launched under the reserve list of the Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme, was...
Continue Reading • 22 Jun 2012
Rebound seen in big-ticket property sales
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: Property investment deals covering big-ticket developments rose to around S$6.4 billion in Q2 2012, according to preliminary figures released by Savills Singapore.In the first quarter of this year, such transactions fell to S$4.8 billion, compared to S$7.9 billion in Q4...
Continue Reading • 21 Jun 2012
Indonesian tycoon's Singapore home worth S$100m
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: The Singapore home of the late Liem Sioe Liong (pictured), one of Indonesia’s richest men, is valued at approximately S$100 million, according to a report in Indonesia’s TEMPO Interactive.The 96-year old Indonesian tycoon passed away in Singapore on June 10...
Continue Reading • 20 Jun 2012
150 private homes returned last month
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: Home buyers returned a total of 150 private homes to property developers last month, according to Square Foot Research. The units were bought in April and accounted for 5.7 percent of the more than 2,600 non-landed homes, including executive condominiums (ECs) sold...
Continue Reading • 20 Jun 2012
Two land sites to yield 820 homes
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and Housing and Development Board (HDB) have launched two residential sites at Tanah Merah Kechil Road (pictured) and Bright Hill Drive that will provide developers and home buyers with more private housing options. In total, the...
Continue Reading • 20 Jun 2012
Kemaman View sold en bloc for S$45.5m
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: Aylesbury Pte Ltd, a privately held developer, has successfully acquired Kemaman View (pictured), a freehold residential development off Balestier Road in a collective sale for S$45.5 million. Jeffrey Goh, Head of Investment Sales at HSR, which brokered the deal, said:...
Continue Reading • 19 Jun 2012
Sky Habitat's high price spurs interest in other projects
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: Sky Habitat (pictured), which made headlines in April for its record prices of around S$1,700 psf, rekindled buyer demand in some other projects that were launched before the 509-unit development hit the market. While sales of units at Sky Habitat have been tepid, its...
Continue Reading • 18 Jun 2012
Entire estate under the hammer
By Andrew Batt:Property buyers will get the chance to buy land and 14 houses at an auction in Ireland next month – with the starting price set at just S$80,000.The land and houses are located in the village of Castlemaine, Country Kerry, in the Republic of Ireland, in an area which has been...
Continue Reading • 18 Jun 2012
Sentosa Cove home sales fell 50% in 2011
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: Sentosa Cove (pictured) failed to deliver good home sales numbers on the back of a general slowdown in the luxury property sector. According to consultants, the changing trend is due to attractive deals being offered in other areas, a lack of new launches on...
Continue Reading • 18 Jun 2012
Buangkok Drive site awarded for S$301m
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: A residential site (pictured) at Buangkok Drive / Sengkang Central has been awarded to White Haven Properties Pte Ltd, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). The firm submitted the highest bid of S$301 million for the plot. The 99-year leasehold site has a...
Continue Reading • 18 Jun 2012
Far East to give special discounts
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: To celebrate its strong sales, property developer Far East Organization will be offering small discounts this month, ranging from one to three percent for several projects, including euHabitat. Far East achieved a new sales record of 2,200 units for the first...
Continue Reading • 18 Jun 2012
Singapore home sales plunge 32%
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: TOP NEWS: Private home sales in Singapore saw a big decline of 23 percent month-on-month in May.Excluding executive condominiums (ECs), the drop in sales was even more significant at 32 percent from the previous month. In the CCR (Core Central Region), 135 new homes, or...
Continue Reading • 15 Jun 2012
Luxury property market has 'practically collapsed' - economist
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: Given present market conditions, it is less likely that the government will roll out new property cooling measures, said economist Chua Hak Bin from Bank of America Merrill Lynch (Singapore). “A fragile economic outlook and softness in the broader property market...
Continue Reading • 15 Jun 2012
GLS sites to boost affordable housing: experts
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: Following the announcement of the 2H2012 Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme yesterday, it appears that the government is committed to satisfy demand for more affordable private homes. The majority of sites in the confirmed list are located in the Outside Central...
Continue Reading • 14 Jun 2012
Developers see healthy sales figures over the weekend
By Romesh NavaratnarajahUpscale and mass-market projects have recorded healthy take up rates over the weekend.After selling 68 of its 75 black-and-white apartments on offer, high-end 1919 development on Mount Sophia is now over 90 percent sold. The freehold development, which sees completion...
Continue Reading • 13 Jun 2012
Buangkok Drive site tender gets S$301m top bid
By Romesh NavaratnarajahA residential site at the junction of Buangkok Drive and Sengkang Central has attracted a highest bid of S$301 million from White Haven Properties, in a public tender that closed on 12 June 2012.This works out to around S$508 psf ppr and reflects a breakeven cost of...
Continue Reading • 13 Jun 2012
Tender for Pasir Ris site awarded to Capital Development
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: The tender for a residential site (pictured) at Pasir Ris Drive 3 has been awarded to Capital Development after it submitted the highest bid of S$211.0 million in a public tender that closed on 5 June 2012.Joseph Tan, Executive Director for Residential at CBRE, said the...
Continue Reading • 12 Jun 2012