Private property launches: they’re still… HOT, HOT, HOT
SALES of private property kept sizzling over the weekend as buyers, undeterred by the rainy weather and recent government policies to cool the market, packed showflats.Demand was strong for mass market and prime projects, with buyers especially keen on The Laurels, an upmarket 229-unit project in Cairnhill Road.
Developer Sing Holdings has sold 135 of the 179 units so far, with around 40 – comprising mostly two-, three- and four-bedders – going over the weekend and two more taken up yesterday.
More than 90 units had already been sold at private previews for business associates and owners, where the development now sits.
Prices at the project ranged from $2,800 to $3,200 per sq foot (psf).
All four penthouses have also been bought, for between $8 million and $10 million each, and the 45 one-bedroom units are also gone, a DMG & Partners report said.
‘We had a good mix of buyers with strong take-up rates across the different unit sizes. Mostly two- and three-bedroom units are left but we have no plans to release the remaining 50 units yet,’ the spokesman said.
DMG & Partners property analyst Brandon Lee said turnout for The Laurels preview was healthy, with 20 to 40 people in the showflat at any one point.
Locals made up a good proportion of the buyers, although there were some Indonesians as well, the Sing Holdings spokesman said.
Mr Lee expects 30 to 50 units to be retained for future launches so as to ride on continued rising prices within the high-end segment.
The Vision at West Coast – marketed as a high-end project in a suburban location – was also popular.
As of yesterday, 160 out of the 295 units in the Cheung Kong Holdings development had been sold, including the 100 that went during the initial preview.
This is in spite of record prices – from $1,000 to $1,200 psf – for a mass market project.
The Vision, a 99-year leasehold condominium located across the road from West Coast Park, has 281 apartments and 14 strata terrace units. It is next to Blue Horizon, where units in the resale market have gone for $764 to $841 psf this year.
UOB Kay Hian analyst Vikrant Pandey said the strong demand for The Vision served to reinforce positive views about the sustainability of the property market’s recovery, with turnout strong despite Sunday’s rain.
He expects demand to remain strong for other upcoming launches.
‘We believe the turnaround in the property segment is well supported by favourable demand-supply dynamics, high liquidity and a low interest rate environment,’ Mr Pandey added.
Tiong Aik’s Coralis near Marine Parade has also seen strong sales, with more than 50 out of its 127 units taken up at its weekend preview in Raffles Hotel. Prices were between $1,350 and $1,550 psf. It is expected to be launched this weekend.
Coralis is a freehold condominium featuring one-bedders as small as 495 sq ft and penthouses of up to 3,089 sq ft.
Mr Dennis Yong, head of special projects at HSR International Realtors – a co-marketing agent of the project – said strong demand was seen mostly from local people with the ‘perspective of home ownership’. Investors made up only about 20 per cent of buyers, he said.
Mr Yong expects continued demand in the next two to four weeks as there is still genuine demand from home buyers.
But he tips prices to continue increasing, given developers’ depleting landbanks and that new site tenders are attracting high bids.
‘Developers are not in a rush to sell. They can still push up their prices to maximise their value and to increase the average price of each unit,’ he said.
‘They are not sure how high to price their units, (so) every four to five units sold, they adjust their prices again.’
City Developments has said it plans to launch the 228-unit Residences at W Singapore Sentosa Cove this month while it hopes to release a 429-unit project in Chestnut Avenue next month. A spokesman said that while it has not launched any new projects as yet, there has been buying interest.
Local developer Hiap Hoe Group will preview its 61-unit Skyline 360 at St Thomas Walk and its 48-unit Treasure on Balmoral – a luxury development costing at least $4 million per unit – at Raffles Hotel this weekend.
CB Richard Ellis executive director of residential services Joseph Tan said he has seen ‘decent sales’ even for some of the ongoing projects such as Centennia Suites in Kim Seng Road over the past weekend.
‘Sales are still okay even for the older launches…All (projects) are moving, some are faster, some are slower but even if sales are slower, it could be the marketing strategy of the developer. Prices might still go up and with a developer having a depleting landbank, it is not in its interest to sell fast,’ he said.
Source : Straits Times – 16 Mar 2010
CUBE 8 -
Sesdaq firm pays big bucks for Cairnhill plot
July 29, 2007
A TINY-TOT firm worth just $97 million is making a $361 million bet on the Orchard area property market by buying a prime Cairnhill Road estate.
Sing Holdings is clearly counting on prices in the coveted area to keep soaring, to ensure its massive investment in freehold Hillcourt Apartments pays off.
‘The buzz is in Orchard,’ said managing director Lee Sze Hao. ‘It is hard to get such a site, just a three-minute walk to Orchard Road.’
But the numbers are daunting. Sing Holdings will fork out a mind-boggling $1,542 per sq ft (psf) per plot ratio for the estate, well above the $1,107 psf that property giant CapitaLand paid last year for Silver Tower next door.
Hillcourt has 102 units. Owners will each get $3.46 million, with the owners of the two 4,241 sq ft penthouses each collecting $7.26 million.
Sing Holdings will spread the risk by recruiting partners – perhaps from the United States or Hong Kong – to shoulder about half the deal, said Mr Lee, who is confident his gamble will pay off.
‘I am very bullish about the area. There will also be two new malls coming up in Somerset,’ he said.
Sing Holdings, a long-time but recently listed developer, is capitalised at about $97 million on Sesdaq. It plans to launch a high-end project with 160 to 180 two- to three- bedroom units next year.
Mr Lee said his break-even cost is around $2,000 psf to $2,100 psf, which will allow him to easily achieve a minimum sale price of $2,300 psf to make it worth his while.
Mr Steven Ming of Savills Singapore, which brokered the $361 million sale, said Sing Holdings could sell a new development on the site for about $2,500 to $2,600 psf.
‘This won’t be too difficult to achieve,’ said Mr Lee.
‘There’s a lot of potential in the area. In the vicinity, developers like SC Global and WingTai will be pitching prices of $2,500 to $2,800 psf.’
The area’s boom feel is a far cry from last June when the tender for Silver Tower closed with only four bids and all below the reserve price.
Sing Holdings’ purchase will allow it to participate in the bull run of a prime area normally reserved for the property world’s big guns.
Wing Tai could soon launch its Phoenix Mansion site, next to The Light @ Cairnhill, for about $2,500 psf, market sources said.
High-end developer SC Global, for example, will launch its Hilltops condo this year with prices perhaps reaching as high as $3,000 psf. It bought the site for under $1,000 psf last April.
Sing Holdings has two potential partners in the wings to help it spread the risk.
United States-based fund Forum Asian Realty Income II, which holds 4.8 per cent of Sing Holdings, is expected to invest and could take up to 40 per cent, said Mr Lee.
The fund, which has bought a block of flats in a prime Draycott condo, previously linked up with Sing Holdings to buy two sites, taking a 30 per cent stake in each. A Hong Kong property investment firm has also indicated an interest in taking a 20 per cent share, though its final stake, if any, could be less.
Sing Holdings has sold its Shanghai operations, resulting in a cash inflow of $81 million, which it is investing in the market here, said Mr Lee.
Other small local developers have joined with foreign funds to buy costly sites in order to cash in on a hot market.
Chip Eng Seng, for one, tied up with US investment bank Lehman Brothers and US-based hedge fund Citadel Investment Group to develop properties here.
There could be more ventures with funds in future, said Credo Real Estate managing director Karamjit Singh.
‘There are foreign funds from the US and Middle East, which are looking to participate in the local property development market.’
Source : Straits Times – 23 Mar 2007
Sing Holdings is clearly counting on prices in the coveted area to keep soaring, to ensure its massive investment in freehold Hillcourt Apartments pays off.
‘The buzz is in Orchard,’ said managing director Lee Sze Hao. ‘It is hard to get such a site, just a three-minute walk to Orchard Road.’
But the numbers are daunting. Sing Holdings will fork out a mind-boggling $1,542 per sq ft (psf) per plot ratio for the estate, well above the $1,107 psf that property giant CapitaLand paid last year for Silver Tower next door.
Hillcourt has 102 units. Owners will each get $3.46 million, with the owners of the two 4,241 sq ft penthouses each collecting $7.26 million.
Sing Holdings will spread the risk by recruiting partners – perhaps from the United States or Hong Kong – to shoulder about half the deal, said Mr Lee, who is confident his gamble will pay off.
‘I am very bullish about the area. There will also be two new malls coming up in Somerset,’ he said.
Sing Holdings, a long-time but recently listed developer, is capitalised at about $97 million on Sesdaq. It plans to launch a high-end project with 160 to 180 two- to three- bedroom units next year.
Mr Lee said his break-even cost is around $2,000 psf to $2,100 psf, which will allow him to easily achieve a minimum sale price of $2,300 psf to make it worth his while.
Mr Steven Ming of Savills Singapore, which brokered the $361 million sale, said Sing Holdings could sell a new development on the site for about $2,500 to $2,600 psf.
‘This won’t be too difficult to achieve,’ said Mr Lee.
‘There’s a lot of potential in the area. In the vicinity, developers like SC Global and WingTai will be pitching prices of $2,500 to $2,800 psf.’
The area’s boom feel is a far cry from last June when the tender for Silver Tower closed with only four bids and all below the reserve price.
Sing Holdings’ purchase will allow it to participate in the bull run of a prime area normally reserved for the property world’s big guns.
Wing Tai could soon launch its Phoenix Mansion site, next to The Light @ Cairnhill, for about $2,500 psf, market sources said.
High-end developer SC Global, for example, will launch its Hilltops condo this year with prices perhaps reaching as high as $3,000 psf. It bought the site for under $1,000 psf last April.
Sing Holdings has two potential partners in the wings to help it spread the risk.
United States-based fund Forum Asian Realty Income II, which holds 4.8 per cent of Sing Holdings, is expected to invest and could take up to 40 per cent, said Mr Lee.
The fund, which has bought a block of flats in a prime Draycott condo, previously linked up with Sing Holdings to buy two sites, taking a 30 per cent stake in each. A Hong Kong property investment firm has also indicated an interest in taking a 20 per cent share, though its final stake, if any, could be less.
Sing Holdings has sold its Shanghai operations, resulting in a cash inflow of $81 million, which it is investing in the market here, said Mr Lee.
Other small local developers have joined with foreign funds to buy costly sites in order to cash in on a hot market.
Chip Eng Seng, for one, tied up with US investment bank Lehman Brothers and US-based hedge fund Citadel Investment Group to develop properties here.
There could be more ventures with funds in future, said Credo Real Estate managing director Karamjit Singh.
‘There are foreign funds from the US and Middle East, which are looking to participate in the local property development market.’
Source : Straits Times – 23 Mar 2007
Sing Hldgs inks deal to buy Hillcourt Apts for $361m
July 29, 2007
SING Holdings has signed a conditional agreement to buy the freehold Hillcourt Apartments on Cairnhill Road for $361 million or about $1,542 per square foot (psf) of potential gross floor area (GFA).
The price is about 75 per cent higher than the $880 psf per plot ratio (ppr) that SC Global paid in H1 2006 for Hilltops Apartments at Cairnhill Circle and 16 adjoining terrace houses, reflecting the surge in prime land values in Singapore over the past year.
The unit land price for Hillcourt Apartments also beats the $1,107 psf ppr that CapitaLand paid for the next-door Silver Tower in September last year. Both the Silver Tower and Hillcourt en bloc sales were handled by Savills Singapore.
Sing Holdings will not have to pay a development charge (DC) for the Hillcourt site up to the existing development’s GFA of 234,095 square feet, which works out to 3.0778 times the land area of 76,059 sq ft. However, if Sing Holdings decides to tap an additional 10 per cent GFA allowed for balcony space, it will have to pay a DC.
Nonetheless, this will lower Sing Holdings’ unit land price to $1,444 psf ppr, according to Sing Holdings managing director Lee Sze Hao.
Mr Lee also said the group will once again team up with US-based fund Forum for its acquisition of Hillcourt Apartments, although the respective stakes of the two parties have yet to be finalised.
The companies worked together for the earlier purchase of Finland Gardens in the East Coast and Bellerive at Keng Chin Road.
Sing Holdings’ break even cost for a new condo project on the Hillcourt site could be about $2,000 psf, factoring in rising construction costs, BT understands.
Mr Lee said the company is looking to develop a new 20-storey condo with about 180 units ranging from 1,500 to 1,800 sq ft. The project could be launched around the final quarter of next year.
The tender for Hillcourt Apartments closed on Wednesday, attracting several bids, Savills said yesterday. The highest was from Sing Holdings.
Owners of Hillcourt’s existing 100 apartments and two penthouses will receive $3.46 million per apartment and $7.26 million per penthouse.
These sums are about 60 per cent higher than if the units had been sold individually.
Sing Holdings said in its release to the Singapore Exchange that its purchase of Hillcourt Apartments is subject to a permissible GFA of 234,095 sq ft, and approval from the Strata Titles Board.
Source : Business Times – 23 Mar 2007
The price is about 75 per cent higher than the $880 psf per plot ratio (ppr) that SC Global paid in H1 2006 for Hilltops Apartments at Cairnhill Circle and 16 adjoining terrace houses, reflecting the surge in prime land values in Singapore over the past year.
The unit land price for Hillcourt Apartments also beats the $1,107 psf ppr that CapitaLand paid for the next-door Silver Tower in September last year. Both the Silver Tower and Hillcourt en bloc sales were handled by Savills Singapore.
Sing Holdings will not have to pay a development charge (DC) for the Hillcourt site up to the existing development’s GFA of 234,095 square feet, which works out to 3.0778 times the land area of 76,059 sq ft. However, if Sing Holdings decides to tap an additional 10 per cent GFA allowed for balcony space, it will have to pay a DC.
Nonetheless, this will lower Sing Holdings’ unit land price to $1,444 psf ppr, according to Sing Holdings managing director Lee Sze Hao.
Mr Lee also said the group will once again team up with US-based fund Forum for its acquisition of Hillcourt Apartments, although the respective stakes of the two parties have yet to be finalised.
The companies worked together for the earlier purchase of Finland Gardens in the East Coast and Bellerive at Keng Chin Road.
Sing Holdings’ break even cost for a new condo project on the Hillcourt site could be about $2,000 psf, factoring in rising construction costs, BT understands.
Mr Lee said the company is looking to develop a new 20-storey condo with about 180 units ranging from 1,500 to 1,800 sq ft. The project could be launched around the final quarter of next year.
The tender for Hillcourt Apartments closed on Wednesday, attracting several bids, Savills said yesterday. The highest was from Sing Holdings.
Owners of Hillcourt’s existing 100 apartments and two penthouses will receive $3.46 million per apartment and $7.26 million per penthouse.
These sums are about 60 per cent higher than if the units had been sold individually.
Sing Holdings said in its release to the Singapore Exchange that its purchase of Hillcourt Apartments is subject to a permissible GFA of 234,095 sq ft, and approval from the Strata Titles Board.
Source : Business Times – 23 Mar 2007
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