Residential Market News Extract - 3 October 2012

Frasers pushes dual-key homes

Developer Frasers Centrepoint has created a new brand for its collection of dual-key units, on the back of strong demand.

These homes have several uses, such as allowing grandparents to live in the same dwelling as the rest of the family but with a separate key and entrance.

Called Trio by Frasers, the brand, launched yesterday, will focus on developing and marketing the dual-key concept.

They have been on offer since 2009, when it launched Caspian at Lakeside and 8@Woodleigh.

Several recent launches, such as River Isles and executive condo (EC) 1 Canberra, also boast the units. Analysts say they can cost about 5 per cent more than ordinary units. Typically, studio apartments are attached to one, two, three, four or five-bedders.

Speaking to The Straits Times yesterday, Frasers Centrepoint Homes chief executive Cheang Kok Kheong said the firm wanted to create a sense of ownership for the concept, which it pioneered.

"It positions us as the leader in this new and growing market segment and signifies our commitment to further developing the market," he added in a statement.

Trio refers to three options the units can be used for: multi-generational living, leasing out the space or using it as a home office.

Since 2009, more than 1,000 dual-key units have been launched, he said. He estimated that developers could launch some 1,000 such units every year.

He added that about 20 per cent of units at a new condo in Tampines - to be launched next year - would be dual-key ones.

Separately, MCC Land (Singapore), behind the 1 Canberra EC, decided to convert an extra 47 units there into dual-key ones not originally marketed when the Yishun EC hit the market in April.

Mr Richard Nah, senior manager of MCC Land, said almost all the 95 dual-key units there sold out within a month.

It reacted swiftly by redesigning part of the project, he said.

Experts said while these units are popular, they are not a "must have" for condos to sell well.

A CapitaLand Residential spokesman said the dual key units at The Metropolitan and The Interlace were "especially for families who choose to live close to aged parents while still enjoying a certain amount of privacy".

Ms Betsy Chng, head of sales and marketing at Hong Leong Holdings said such homes "could become commonplace in tandem with changing family dynamics and the evolving needs of modern families today". It has 14 fully-sold units at the upcoming Bartley Residences, and another 65 dual-key units in projects yet to launched.

Source: The Straits Times – 3 October 2012