Homebuyers are starting to show reluctance to make a deal following the stockmarket rout. Observers noted that while buyer interest remains strong, new releases to the property market are less sought after than expected.
(Buyers seem more hesitant to purchase condominiums)
For instance, the first week of August saw the release of Boathouse Residences, a 99-year leasehold private condominium situated at Upper Serangoon View, by Frasers Centrepoint, Sekisui House and Far East Organisation. The launch saw about 90 of the 200 released units sold at an average price of $880 per sq ft (psf). The project has a total of 493 apartments. Its cheapest unit is a 624 sq ft one-room flat located on the second floor, which went for $570,000. Around 80% of its buyers were Singaporeans, the rest made up of permanent residents and foreigners.
Compare these figures with those of April just this year, when Frasers and Far East released another condominium, Eight Courtyards at Yishun. The development sold about 202 units within the first four days, at an average price of $795 psf.
Yet Frasers Ceontrepoint Homes CEO Cheang Kok Kheong claimed that the results for Boathouse Residences was not too far off another recently released project: Seastrand condominium at Pasir Ris, which sold off 103 units in four days during its preview in June. Cheang added that things have been generally quieter in the local property scene recently as most people are on an extended National Day holiday. He told the Business Times that while turnout was “very good”, buyers are now taking a longer time to decide.
“With more uncertainty and cautiousness, they’re thinking twice, maybe three times, to relook the whole thing – their finances and their needs. Those who were previously looking at purchasing a four-bedroom apartment may now settle for a three-bedder, for instance.”
According to the Business Times, the Boathouse Residences’ average price of $880 psf is slightly lower than the $900-920 psf average price that developers have projected to prospective buyers just a month ago.
Global Property Strategic Alliance chief executive Jeffrey Hong echoed Cheang’s sentiments, noting that crowds at showflats for suburban projects are still quite thick because buyers are mostly HDB upgraders and “more genuine”.
“But the stockmarket rout has had some impact even on this sector, with many house hunters now adopting a wait-and-see approach,” he observed, adding that “on the other hand, things have been a lot quieter in the luxury segment, where there are more investors and they’re more sensitive to volatility in the financial markets.”
Apartments in Boathouse Residences are either one or two-bedroom Soho-concept units housed in two 15-storey blocks and two, three and four-bedroom units in four 18-storey blocks. The one and two-roomers are priced between $880 psf and $1,040 psf; the three and four-roomers cost $800-930 psf.
Last week, the Seastrand sold off nine more units, bringing the total sales to 239 units. Currently, 269 of its 475 units have been released to the market. The average Seastrand price has shot up from $877 psf to its current price of $924 psf.
On the other hand, things are much brighter on the executive condominium (EC) front. Blossom Residences by City Developments Ltd (CDL) has had 115 of its Segar Road units snapped up last Sunday, when the remaining units of the projects were then opened to second-time buyers and upgraders. Governmental rules dictate that developers have to set aside at least 95% of units in an EC project for first-time homebuyers during the first month of its launch. CDL began selling the EC for an average price of $685 psf on July 7, pushing total sales for the 602-unit strong project to 319 units.
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Related Categories: General, Private Residential
Tags: BLossom Residences, Boathouse Residences, condominiums in Singapore, EC, Eight Courtyards, exec condo, Executive Condominiums, Far East Organisation, Frasiers Centrepoint, Pasir Ris, private housing prices in Singapore, Seastrand, Segar Road, Serangoon, singapore condo, Singapore condominium, singapore condos, Yishun
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anonymous said...
Hello
October 01, 2011 8:55:00 PM
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