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Malaysian buys three units at Three Balmoral

By Tan Chee Yuen / The Edge Property | January 7, 2017 8:00 AM MYT


The 40-unit freehold Three Balmoral condominium on Balmoral Road has seen a steady trickle of sales since its completion last March. A month ago, four units were sold, of which three went to a single buyer, believed to be a Malaysian buying for his children.

The three units are identical one-bedroom-plus-study apartments measuring 614 sq ft each. They were bought at $1.3 million ($2,119 psf), according to caveats lodged on Dec 19.

Prior to that, another unit of the same size and type but located on the 10th floor was sold on Dec 2 at a higher price of $1.47 million ($2,398 psf), according to a caveat lodged then.

To date, 20 units have been sold, according to a Tong Eng Group spokesperson. The project is a 50/50 joint development between the Teo family of Tong Eng Group and Clarus Corp, controlled by the Ng family of Pan United Corp, one of Singapore’s largest cement and concrete suppliers. The 12-storey project consists of a mix of one-bedroom-plus-study units and three-bedroom units above 1,500 sq ft.

Across the road is the 72-unit Goodwood Grand, which is expected to be completed sometime at the end of 2Q2017. The freehold project is a joint development by Tong Eng Group (50%), the Ng family of Clarus Corp (20%) and listed construction group Tiong Seng Holdings (30%). Spanning 12 storeys, it contains 65 condominium units and eight strata bungalows.

The Goodwood Grand is 44% sold to date. Last year, five units were sold at prices ranging from $1.89 million ($2,442 psf) for a 775 sq ft unit on the ninth floor to $2.8 million ($2,282 psf) for a 1,227 sq ft unit on the third floor.

Goodwood Grand also saw a bulk purchase of four units on the ninth floor in February last year. Two are 775 sq ft two-bedroom units that fetched $1.89 million ($2,442 psf) and $1.93 million ($2,490 psf), according to caveats lodged then. The remaining two units are 1,044 sq ft three-bedroom units that were sold for $2.54 million ($2,428 psf) and $2.59 million ($2,478 psf). The buyer was believed to be an Indonesian.

The buyers of Goodwood Grand and Three Balmoral are a mix of locals and foreigners, with some buying for investment and others for their own use. The two projects are in prime District 10. “The purchases show that foreigners are seeing value in the prime districts,” says the Tong Eng spokesperson.

As the joint developers of Three Balmoral and Goodwood Grand are not affected by the conditions of the Qualifying Certificate requiring them to sell all the units within two years of completion, they are holding on to their asking prices.

Next to Three Balmoral is Hong Leong Holdings’ One Balmoral. Nine units there have been sold since the developer offered a 13% discount for units at project last November upon its completion. Nine units were sold that month, bringing the total to 18 as at end-November. They ranged from a 592 sq ft one-bedroom unit sold for $1.34 million ($2,258 psf) to a 1,658 sq ft four-bedroom unit sold for $3.87 million ($2.332 psf), according to caveats lodged then.

This article appeared in The Edge Property Pullout, Issue 761 (Jan 6, 2017) of The Edge Singapore.