More properties sold for $4,000 psf in July
Developers managed to sell 72 homes for more than $4,000 per square foot last month - four-and-a-half times the 16 homes they sold at this price in June, latest figures show but prices are much lower at some projects in other market segments. According to Knight Frank's analysis of official data released yesterday, the big jump came as a result of the launch of Scotts Square by Wheelock Properties (Singapore). Sixty-four of the total 150 units in the project sold by the developer in July were in the above $4,000 to $4,500 psf price band, while the other 86 units were sold in the above $3,500 to $4,000 psf range.
The median price for the 150 units sold at Scotts Square was $3,959 psf, with the lowest price being $3,638 psf and the highest $4,428 psf, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA) data on the number of homes in uncompleted projects launched and sold by developers in July. Other projects that saw primary market sales at above $4,000 psf last month include The Orchard Residences, The Marq On Paterson Hill and Cliveden at Grange. 'These were the same developments that contributed to the number of units that were sold above $4,000 psf in June,' Knight Frank said.
The median price for the 25 units sold by City Developments for Cliveden in July was $3,729 psf, with the range of prices being $3,265 psf to $4,162 psf. SC Global sold two units at The Marq in July, at $4,908 psf and $4,978 psf.
The Orchard Residences saw six primary market transactions last month at prices ranging from $2,808 psf to $4,577 psf, with a median price of $4,047 psf. Soon Su Lin, chief executive of Orchard Turn Developments, the project's developer, confirmed that the company has sold a penthouse for $5,500 psf - a new record for a condo in Singapore - but that the transaction was registered only in early August.
Examples of projects with primary market transactions at median prices above $3,000 psf in July include The Lumos at Leonie Hill, Parkview Eclat at Grange Road and Paterson Suites at Paterson Road/Lengkok Angsa. The URA data also showed there were some projects with transactions at much lower prices in other segments of the real estate market. GuocoLand sold 19 units at The Quartz in Buangkok at a median price of $648 psf, with the actual prices ranging from $554 to $749 psf.
Five homes at Suffolk Premier were sold at $481 to $753 psf and six units at La Casa in Woodlands fetched $506-561 psf. Far East Organization sold 13 units at The Lakeshore near Boon Lay MRT Station at $684-866 psf. Brisbane Development sold six cluster landed homes at the freehold Illoura project at Old Holland Road at $970 to $1,175 psf while Clydesbuilt Capital found buyers for two freehold strata-titled detached homes at Lornie 18 at $1,150 psf each. Grensburg Investment sold 65 units at Fontaine Parry at Poh Huat Road at $591-994 psf.
United Engineers sold 365 homes at The Rochester in the one-north precinct at $905 to $1,680 psf.
CapitaLand sold 55 units at The Seafront On Meyer at $1,364-$2,182 psf. Knight Frank's analysis shows that developers sold a total of 1,378 uncompleted homes in July, up nearly 20 per cent from the figure for June. The total number of uncompleted homes launched in July increased 15.7 per cent to 1,315 units over the same period.
Source: Business Times, 16 August 2007
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Soleil @ Sinaran condo units 37% sold
Frasers Centrepoint says it has sold 37 per cent of the 417-unit condo, Soleil @ Sinaran near Novena MRT Station, at staff and VIP previews last week. The average price is understood to be around the $1,400 to $1,500 psf range. The average price for the 99-year leasehold project is understood to be somewhere in the $1,400 psf to $1,500 psf range. Frasers Centrepoint declined to comment on the pricing yesterday, ahead of a soft launch tomorrow for those who have indicated interest in the project.
BT understands the project is being marketed by Savills Singapore and Knight Frank. The condo has two 36-storey blocks including units with one, two, three and four bedrooms. Some of the two-bedders come with lofts. The project's four penthouses will each have five bedrooms.
'Soleil @ Sinaran will feature a flagship partnership with Aramsa Spas under which residents will be able to enjoy private spa treatments at their doorstep,' Frasers Centrepoint announced. The condos, designed by Architects 61, will feature spa cabanas as well as entertainment pavilions where parties can be held in a poolside setting.
The entire 20th floor will be dedicated to a sky terrace with an outdoor and indoor gym and a sky garden. Soleil is being developed on a site that Frasers Centrepoint clinched at a state tender that closed in July last year. Its top bid of $238 million worked out to a unit land price of $507 per square foot of potential gross floor area.
Source: Business Times, 15 August 2007
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Hitachi Tower, Chevron House attract record bids
The office market continues to sizzle, with an expression of interest for Hitachi Tower at Collyer Quay said to have resulted in a top indicative bid of over $3,200 per sq ft based on existing net lettable area, sources say. Offer of over $3,200 psf for Hitachi Tower will mark new high.
The figure is a record for office space, surpassing the figure of about $2,650 psf set earlier this year for 1 Finlayson Green. Shortlisted bidders for the 999-year leasehold Hitachi Tower are now likely to conduct due diligence before finalising their offers, observers reckon. Bids are believed to have been received mostly from overseas parties. The 37-storey building has about 280,000 sq ft net lettable area. So assuming a top bid of say $3,200 psf, the price would work out to around $900 million.
CapitaLand owns 50 per cent of Hitachi Tower and National University of Singapore the other half. A similar exercise is said to be going on for Chevron House next door, which is believed to have attracted a top bid of about $2,800 psf.
The 99-year leasehold Chevron House - formerly known as Caltex House - is owned by CapitaLand (50 per cent), IP Property Fund Asia (25 per cent) and NTUC Income Insurance Co-operative (25 per cent). The former Pidemco, now part of Capitaland, bought the two buildings from entities linked to Ong Beng Seng in 1999.
The spread in top bids between Chevron House and Hitachi Tower is due to the difference in tenure and the orientation of the properties. Also, some leases at Chevron House are believed to have caps on rental increases, which limits the ability of the building's owner to take advantage of booming office rentals. More office blocks continue to be offered for sale. Colliers International yesterday launched a tender for The Globe at Cecil Street, with an indicative price of $100 million.
The property, being offered for sale by owner Prosper Realty, is being pitched for its redevelopment potential. The $100 million price tag reflects a unit land price of $1,178 psf of potential gross floor area, including two payments the buyer will have to make to the state - an estimated $12.5 million differential premium to build a bigger project on the site and a premium of $9.6 million to top up the 9,080 sq ft site's lease to 99 years from the remaining 75 years.
Under Master Plan 2003, the site is zoned for commercial use with an 11.2-plus plot ratio. Colliers says the successful buyer can apply for additional gross floor area (GFA) of up to 2 per cent. This will boost the plot ratio to around 11.42, allowing a 30-storey office block with 103,694 sq ft of GFA. Colliers has also been marketing Keck Seng Tower in Cecil Street. The tender closed last week, attracting three bids above $200 million or $1,700 psf based on the existing net lettable area. The property is on a 17,322 sq ft site with a lease balance of 72 years.
Yesterday Colliers launched a tender exercise for Cassia View, a 20-storey freehold apartment block in Guillemard Road completed about eight years ago. Owner Melody Development is offering the property - comprising 68 apartments and four penthouses - with vacant possession. The indicative pricing is $80 million or close to $900 psf based on the total strata floor area of 89,361 sq ft. 'The buyer could refurbish the property into a serviced residence or hostel. The location is popular among expats and travellers looking for affordable accommodation,' Colliers executive director (investment sales) Ho Eng Joo says. The tenders for Cassia View and The Globe close on Sept 12.
Source: Business Times, 15 August 2007
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HK's Hillcrest Capital makes foray into S'pore
It is expected to launch luxury project on Anderson Road next month. HK based property developer Hillcrest Capital will make its maiden move into Singapore with 21 Anderson, a luxury residential development on Anderson Road. The project, which is expected to be launched early next month, will have 34 units spread over 10 floors. 'We are very bullish on the property market in Singapore,' Hillcrest's managing director Lyon Lau told BT.
The company bought the Anderson Road site in February this year from Habitat Properties for about $112 million. This is thought to have worked out to $1,519 per square foot (psf) based on a total strata area of about 73,710 square feet. In an unusual move, Hillcrest decided not to tear down the old apartment block on the site. Instead, it is keeping the main structure but changing the building's facade, layout and interior design and increasing the floor area. This means it can have 21 Anderson ready for occupation as soon as mid-2008. Usually, developers take two or three years to demolish and rebuild a project. 'We will have a time-to-market advantage,' Mr Lau said. He expects the project to attract interest from people who have sold their homes in collective sales and need replacement properties quickly. Prices at 21 Anderson will be 'competitive', Mr Lau said. Units could go for about $3,000 psf, BT understands.
Hillcrest is looking for other projects in Singapore - residential developments in the prime districts and commercial buildings. At 21 Anderson - designed by local firm Eco.id Architects and Design Consultancy - each unit will have its own balcony and lift and will be equipped with designer furnishing and appliances.
Source: Business Times, 14 August 2007
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Hong Leong sells about 60 units of Aalto
Hong Leong Group is said to have sold close to 60 units at its freehold Aalto condo on the former Eastern Mansion site on Meyer Road. The project is priced at around $1,950 per square foot (psf) on average, and so far the development has been marketed mostly overseas - in Indonesia and Hong Kong. Former apartment owners of Eastern Mansion have also bought some units in Aalto, which will have 196 apartments in two 27-storey blocks.
So far, slightly more than 100 units have been released, according to industry sources. The 60 or so units sold vary widely in pricing, from around $1,400 psf to $2,200 psf. Market watchers note the pricing is broadly in line with that of CapitaLand's The Seafront On Meyer launched earlier this year. Caveats have ben lodged for CapitaLand's condo at prices ranging from $1,190-1,950 psf, although industry sources say some units have lately been transacted at above $2,000 psf. Aalto has three and four-bedroom apartments.
Hong Leong is also expected to develop another condo along Meyer Road, on a site it bought earlier this year from Della Suantio Lee, wife of Lee Seng Gee of the Lee Foundation. The group bought Eastern Mansion in a collective sale and an adjoining site at a combined unit land price of about $410 psf per plot ratio in 2005.
Source: Business Times, 14 August 2007
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Ong Beng Seng and family buy condo block
Hotel Properties managing director Ong Beng Seng and his family members have bought an entire block of 180 apartments at Costa del Sol on Bayshore Road, for about $200.77 million or $820 per square foot, BT understands. They pay over $200m for 180 units at Costa del Sol in Bayshore area.
The units were sold by the 99-year leasehold project's developer, Japura Development Pte Ltd, a unit of Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing's Cheung Kong Holdings. The 906-unit condo is now fully sold, concluding a 10-year episode for Japura. It bought the site for the condo in early 1997. The shareholders in the entities that bought Costa del Sol's final block are said to include Mr Ong, his wife Christina, her brother David Fu and his wife. Mr Ong's brother, Beng Huat, also has a small stake.
The deal is said to have been driven by Mr Fu. All the 180 units in Block 70 boast unobstructed views of East Coast Park and the sea. They were sold for between $700 psf and $950 psf. The 180 apartments have a combined floor area of nearly 245,000 sq ft. 'The apartments are leased, which means the Ongs and Fus can enjoy immediate rental return on their investment; plus they can look forward to reaping capital appreciation in the not-too-distant future as this segment of the market has not gone up much,' said a seasoned market watcher.
Going by two recent deals in two other blocks in the development - $844 psf for a low-floor apartment and $1,108 psf for a higher-floor unit - the Ong/Fu consortium seems to be already in the money on its investment. The sale of the 180 apartments means that Japura has now fully sold the 906-unit condo, seven long years after it began marketing the project in May 2000. Japura's initial average price was $765 psf but by February 2005, it had trimmed this to $650 psf for a relaunch of about 600 available units then. The project, comprising seven 30-storey blocks, received Temporary Occupation Permit between 2003 and 2004.
Japura paid $683 million or $456 psf of potential gross floor area for the 427,300 sq ft site in January 1997, before the Asian financial crisis hit. Its bid was considered aggressive then, at least 30 per cent above market expectations. The second highest bid in that tender was $351 psf per plot ratio, made by a joint venture between Pidemco Land (now part of CapitaLand) and Malayan Credit (now known as MCL Land).
Source: Business Times, 11 August 2007
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Fortune believed to have sold M21 en bloc
Residential project's buyer believed to be a fund representing US, UK investors IN the latest en bloc sale of a new residential project, Fortune Development group is believed to have sold its entire M21 freehold apartment development at Mandalay Road to a group of overseas investors for around $100 million or an average $1,400 per square foot (psf).
M21's showflat was opened for a briefing for sales agents and a small party was held there on Aug 2, but before the weekend was out potential home buyers were told that the whole project had been sold, BT understands. The buyer is believed to be a fund representing US and UK investors. Savills, the project's sole marketing agent, declined to comment on the deal when contacted by BT. The M21 development will be 17 storeys high when it is completed around late-2009 and will have a total of 61 units. These comprise one, two, three and four bedders - all with study rooms/family rooms - and three penthouses. Market watchers reckon the new owner is probably planning to sell the apartments individually in the sub-sale market to ride on the current firm market.
BT understands that in May, Novena Capital (whose shareholders include Fission Development) sold all 24 freehold apartments in its Novelis project at Sinaran Drive near Novena MRT to a Middle Eastern-registered company, for about $25 million or $1,500 psf on average. And the Middle Eastern party is offering the units for sale at about $1,650-$1,700 psf in the sub-sale market. It is understood to have sold four units so far. Last week, Keppel Corp and Keppel Land sold two villa apartment blocks in their Reflections at Keppel Bay condo to the Al-Nibras Islamic Real Estate Fund - a joint venture between Kuwait Finance House and Amanah Raya Berhad - for about $286 million. The 56 waterfront homes in the two blocks were believed to have been sold for $2,000-$2,500 psf. Market watchers note that bulk purchases of apartments by investors have been gathering pace this year, with a view to selling the units for a quick gain and/or renting out the units (particularly for completed developments). In June, seven units at the completed JC Draycott were sold at one go, for $1,825 psf. In late March, Thai tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi bought 47 of the 48 apartments at Hoi Hup's Suites @ Cairnhill for $205 million or about $2,550 psf.
Individuals shopping for homes may be miffed if they are denied a chance to buy a unit in a new project directly from a developer because the developer has sold a whole stack of units or even the whole project to bulk buyers. Such individual buyers may then have to buy their dream homes in these projects from these bulk purchasers in the subsale market - at higher prices. However, market watchers say that from the developers' standpoint, the appeal of bulk purchases is that they reduce the risks to developers if an investor is willing to take a chunk of units in a project.
In addition, with the current buoyant property market, developers don't have to give any extra discount to bulk buyers. 'From a developer's viewpoint, it makes no difference whether they sell 50 units to 50 individual buyers or one buyer. The price is the same these days. The bulk buyer, or en bloc buyer, must accept the fact that because of the state of the market, it is difficult to get discounts on bulk purchases,' explains CB Richard Ellis executive director (residential) Joseph Tan.
Source: Business Times, 9 August 2007
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A JOINT venture between Chip Eng Seng and Lehman Brothers has sold about 70 per cent of their 659-unit freehold project, The Parc Condominium, at West Coast Walk, over the past week. The developers began selling the project on Aug 1 at an initial average price in the low-$800 psf range but this had increased to the high-$800 psf range by yesterday evening, according to the project's sole marketing agent Savills Singapore.
As of 7pm yesterday, about 460 units had been sold and sales were still going on. The Parc Condo's pricing is slightly higher than that of the nearby Botannia condo, where units are going for just over $800 psf on average, up from the initial $700 psf when the project was released around March/April. The 493-unit condo, being developed by a City Developments-CapitaLand tie-up, is about 70 per cent sold. It is being built on a 956-year leasehold site.
Chip Eng Seng and Lehman Brothers are developing The Parc on the former Westpeak site. The acquisition cost of the site in April last year was $206.09 million, reflecting a unit land price of $348 psf of potential gross floor area inclusive of an estimated development charge of $21.5 million then. Savills said that most of those who have bought units in The Parc Condo over the past week are locals, while foreign buyers made up only a small number. 'The local buyers seem to be buying mostly for their own use; we're seeing a lot of young families. Some purchasers also picked up units for their children. Those who sold their Westpeak homes through the collective sale last year were given the first bite of selecting units,' a Savills spokesman added.
The development comprises seven 24-storey blocks. Units range from one bedders (plus study) to five bedders. There are nine five-bedroom apartments of 2,433 sq ft each. Penthouses come with either three or four bedrooms, the majority above 3,000 sq ft, inclusive of roof gardens. A typical three-bedroom apartment costs around $1.1 million.
Source: Business Times, 9 August 2007
Posted by Property Wizkid
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