Residential Market News Extract - 23 July 2012

Over 60% of Parc Centros sold; location a strong pull

Parc Centros blazed the trail in private homes sales last week.

More than 370 of the condominium project's 618 units are said to have found buyers. This means that that over 60 per cent of the 99-year leasehold project, released at a $950 psf average price last week, has been taken up.

Word on the ground is that unlike typical mass-market condo launches, it was the project's three- and four-bedders which were the fastest to move - whereas one-bedders have been selling at a slower pace.

The 16-storey condo has one to five-bedroom units in addition to penthouses. Absolute prices start from $550,000 for a one-bedroom apartment. Two bedders are priced from $750,000, while three and four bedders start from $880,000 and $1.22 million respectively.

Market watchers attribute Parc Centros' strong sales to the current popularity of Punggol, especially the project's proximity to the MRT station and future shopping facilities (at the upcoming Waterway Point mall). Most importantly, Parc Centros' $950 psf average price is considered relatively attractive compared with the Watertown condo, which was released in January achieving a median price of $1,169 psf in the initial month, quickly rising to $1,341 psf the following month. As at end-June, 943 of the Watertown's 992 homes had been sold, according to developer sales data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority.

However, Watertown comprises mostly one and two-bedders, and typically smaller units sell at higher psf prices. Watertown and Waterway Point are being developed by a Far East Organization, Frasers Centrepoint and Sekisui House joint venture. Parc Centros is being developed by construction and property group Wee Hur Holdings.

Meanwhile at Flora Drive in the Upper Changi Road vicinity, Koh Brothers is said to have sold more than 170 units at its Parc Olympia condo project as at early yesterday evening. The project has been on the market for over a week.

Koh Brothers released 234 of the project's 486 units in two stages the previous week - 118 units on July 12 at an average price of $820 psf after a 16 per cent early-bird discount, followed by 116 units released on July 15 with the discount clipped to 15 per cent.

Parc Olympia, which will be developed next to the Japanese School, has six blocks of eight storeys and two seven-storey blocks. Meanwhile, United Industrial Corporation has begun selling its 99-year leasehold V on Shenton condo on the former UIC Building site at Shenton Way since Friday to business associates, ex-tenants and minority owners of the site and VIPs.

As at yesterday evening, 90-plus units are said to have been sold out of about 130 released on 10 levels (anywhere from the 17th to 46th floors of the 54-level project). The average price is around $2,200 psf. UIC has closed the showflat, which is at The Gateway on Beach Road, and is expected to re-open it this weekend.

Source: Business Times – 23 July 2012

 

Modest sales for Reflections condo units

It might be a glittery new condominium dotting the skyline of Keppel Bay, but some buyers of Reflections are not looking at a particularly shiny picture.

Property consultants said the 1,129-unit Reflections at Keppel Bay has turned in a 'modest performance' over the five years since its launch in 2007. Residents started moving into the completed condo early this year.

As of last month, the high-end project by Keppel Land had sold 853 units out of 950 launched, at a median price of $1,828 per sq ft (psf), going by the Urban Redevelopment Authority's data. Another 154 units have been kept by the developer as corporate residences.

A three-bedder of between 1,378 sq ft and 2,271 sq ft costs $2.5 million to $4.5 million.

Prices appear to have softened.

Average prices there in the first half of this year were $1,870 psf, down from $1,937 psf in the same period last year.

Primary sales have also slowed to less than 15 units for the last three quarters.

But the 50 subsales in the last six months reveals ongoing buyer interest in the project, which was completed last year.

Experts say rental yields for both Reflections and Caribbean should hover around 3 per cent. Caribbean is the cheaper choice.

Rents at Reflections are in the $4.50 to $5 psf per month range, while Caribbean is priced below that, possibly boosting the latter's rental demand.

Source: The Straits Times – 21 July 2012

 

Property investment transactions up on low interest rate

Low interest rates helped send investment spending on property rocketing in the second quarter, with the residential and commercial segments thriving.

Investors stumped up $7.4 billion during the three months to June 30, 52.4 per cent over the $4.9 billion laid out in the first quarter, according to Savills Singapore yesterday.

The public sector accounted for $3.1 billion in the second quarter. This includes private developers buying land through the Government Land Sales (GLS) programme. There were 15 sites - 11 residential, three industrial and one hotel - sold through the GLS, reaping about $2.9 billion.

Private sales volume swelled nearly 60 per cent in the second quarter from the first, reaching $4.3 billion.

Investment sales in the private, divided by segments, residential took the lead with $4 billion, or 54 per cent, of overall investment sales.

The participation level in recent GLS tenders show developers have become more selective due to the ample supply of land released by the Government, and sensitive to competition from existing (or in the pipeline) projects in the vicinity.

Commercial investment sales amounted to $2.3 billion, a two-fold increase from the first quarter's $1 billion.

The segment, which includes strata-titled offices and shophouses, is luring investors from the residential sector, which has been hit with cooling measures.

Source: The Straits Times – 21 July 2012