http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real...erage-s760-psf

Hao Yuan's Northwave EC likely to be priced at average S$760 psf

E-application will open from Saturday till July 7, booking is expected to begin on July 9

By Lynette Khoo

[email protected]

@LynetteKhooBT

Jun 23, 2016


HAO Yuan Investment is expected to price its executive condominium (EC) project Northwave at an average S$760 per square foot (psf), according to sources.

This is the Chinese developer's fourth residential project in Singapore since the launch of The Nautical in 2012 and its third EC project after Forestville and Sea Horizon.

The developer said on Wednesday that the e-application will open from this Saturday till July 7 and booking of the units is expected to begin on July 9.

Singapore-based Chinese developer MCC Land (Singapore) is the project manager of Northwave. With a total of 358 units, Northwave offers two to five-bedroom units and penthouses of which most will enjoy pool views.

Located at Woodlands Avenue 12, Northwave is near existing and new industrial clusters along Gambas Avenue. It is a 10-minute walk to Sembawang MRT Station - two stops away from Woodlands Regional Centre, which is poised to have 700,000 sq m of new commercial space and more than 100 hectares of land available for expansion.

The price list will be released two days before balloting day, in line with the current rules for ECs. Hao Yuan acquired the 1.24-hectare site at S$103.79 million or nearly S$278 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr) in February last year.

Property consultants deem the said average pricing at Northwave to be reasonable.

SLP International executive director Nicholas Mak noted that anything above S$800 psf will face buyers' resistance. "EC buyers in this location are price sensitive. With a strong steady upcoming supply of ECs, the development must be price competitive," he said. Given the smaller scale of the project, the risk of an inventory overhang for the developer is lower.

Other EC projects nearer to Sembawang MRT station were priced higher. The Brownstone project launched last year has moved units at an average S$816 psf; units at The Visionaire this year have been sold at an average S$815 psf; Parc Life units have been moved at S$779 psf on average based on URA data. In Woodlands, units at Bellewoods launched in late 2014 have been sold at an average S$781 psf.

R'ST Research director Ong Kah Seng said that S$750-S$780 psf is a reasonable price range in today's market as the EC market is saddled with notable unsold inventory.

"Notwithstanding large supply of unsold and unlaunched EC stock, we must note that there was an improvement in the volume of EC sales by developers in the second half last year after they trimmed average prices to around S$750-S$780 psf from S$800 psf or more during 2014 and first-half 2015," Mr Ong said.

"EC sales are very much a matter of pricing and how developers scale back on their expected profits," he added. He also believes the full impact on EC demand from last August's hike in household income ceiling has yet to flow through.

Hao Yuan noted that the Woodlands Regional Centre is slated to be transformed into a major transport hub with the upcoming Thomson-East Coast MRT line, the existing North-South MRT Line and the planned cross-border rail to Johor. Northwave is expected to obtain Temporary Occupation Permit in February 2019.

Tan Zhiyong, managing director of MCC Land (Singapore). said this regional centre is rapidly transforming into a vibrant live-work-play business hub. "Riding on the wave of infrastructural developments currently sweeping across this northern part of Singapore, we have aptly named the project Northwave," he said.

Northwave's facilities are resort-inspired and, according to the developer, marks Singapore's first EC to provide an air-conditioned indoor badminton court that can also double-up as function space for events, basketball/futsal court and skate park.

In response to recent reminders by HDB to ensure that the e-applicants are eligible for this class of housing and have genuine buying interest, a spokesman at Hao Yuan had told BT that the developer will conduct e-applications "in a manner that complies with the Executive Condominium Housing Scheme Act".

E-applicants will be required to submit their personal documents so that their identities, relationship and income level can be assessed for eligibility. "The e-application will culminate in a balloting exercise, overseen and witnessed by external auditors on-site, which will determine the order these successful applicants get to select their units for purchase."