Plenty of sales at Watertown over CNY break

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http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/news/story/0,4574,474879-1327521540,00.html?

Published January 25, 2012

Plenty of sales at Watertown over CNY break

215 residential units sold; so far over 500 homes taken up


THE Chinese New Year festivities did not dampen home-buying fervour at the Watertown project. About 215 residential units were sold at Watertown over the four-day Chinese New Year break, taking total sales in the 99-year leasehold project in Punggol to slightly over 500 units.

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Unique project: Watertown, which will have 11 residential towers of 13 or 14 storeys, is part of a $1.6b mixed development that will also include a retail mall

Sales in the project began last Wednesday. To date 596 of the project's 992 units have been released.

The approximately 500 units sold upto yesterday fetched prices ranging from $980 per square foot (psf) to $1,500 psf.

About 90 per cent of the buyers are Singaporeans, with permanent residents and foreigners making up the rest.

Watertown, which will have 11 residential towers of 13 or 14 storeys, is part of a $1.6 billion mixed development that will also include a four-level retail mall, Waterway Point, which will be linked to Punggol MRT Station.

The mall, spanning two basement levels and two levels above ground, will have about 370,000 sq ft net lettable area including a Shaw Theatres Imax cinema.

The tenant mix will be 40 per cent retail, 30 per cent food and beverage, and 15 per cent entertainment. The remainder will be dedicated to educational institutions, banks and community amenities.

The retail-and-residential project is being developed by Far East, Frasers Centrepoint and Japanese firm Sekisui House. The retail portion will be managed by Frasers Centrepoint.

It will also be the first mall to integrate a town square and a visitors' centre, where visitors can learn more about the area's heritage.

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http://www.straitstimes.com/Money/Story/STIStory_759487.html

CNY cheer for condo launches

Buyers throng showflats, snap up 224 units at Watertown over the weekend

Published on Jan 26, 2012

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(From right) Sekisui House chairman and CEO Isami Wada, Far East Organization CEO Philip Ng and Frasers Centrepoint CEO Lim Ee Seng, looking at a model of the Watertown in Punggol. The joint development by the three companies was open for bookings over the Chinese New Year weekend and managed to sell 224 units, a sign that the idea of a low season for selling homes may be a thing of the past. -- ST PHOTO: LIM SIN THAI

By Esther Teo, Property Reporter


THE notion that buyers avoid the property market during the Chinese New Year was shot down in flames over the weekend when 224 homes were sold at Watertown in Punggol Central.

Other projects also held open days over the festive weekend, with many willing buyers heading to showflats.

The so-called seasonal effect - namely that sales slow during the December school holidays, the Hungry Ghost Festival and Chinese New Year - has long dampened real estate activity.

But things have been changing in recent years.

Local home-seekers are more willing to buy all year round while there is also an increasing share of foreigners in the market who might be less superstitious.

Developers keen to shift property in what could be a slow year also seem happy to take their chances.

It added up to a bumper weekend at the 992-unit mixed-development project - a joint venture between Far East Organization, Frasers Centrepoint and Japanese firm Sekisui House.

The project has now moved more than 550 units since last week's preview, with prices ranging from $980 to $1,500 per sq ft (psf).

Far East also opened 15 other showflats throughout the weekend, including The Hillier in Upper Bukit Timah, with about 4,900 visitors passing through.

The privately held developer had launched the 748-unit euHabitat in Jalan Eunos during the Hungry Ghost Festival last year.

Mr Chia Boon Kuah, Far East's chief operating officer of property sales, said changing lifestyles and interests, coupled with smaller family units, mean many people found themselves with more free time during the Chinese New Year holidays.

'One of the activities that occupy their time would be to get up to speed on the latest property launches by visiting show galleries that are open during this period,' he added.

'Moreover, inbound tourist numbers have also been optimistic. This makes it a good opportunity for us to showcase our residential products to the regional community and to better serve this market.'

Far East even threw in a special festive treat in the form of an additional 1 per cent discount during the eve and the first three days of the New Year at all its projects, except Watertown, subject to certain conditions.

Far East also said it sold 21 units from its other projects such as The Hillier, The Greenwich, The Sound, Woodhaven and The Shore Residences.

UOL Group's Archipelago in Bedok Reservoir and City Developments' executive condo project The Rainforest in Chua Chu Kang also opened on at least one of the two New Year public holidays.

Mr Tan Kok Keong, OrangeTee's head of research and consultancy, said developers are less particular about when launches are staged, relying more on feedback from agents about market sentiment.

'It's also project-dependent, whether a project does well or not during a traditionally slower period. If your project is not well located, it might not do as well,' Mr Tan added.

Mr Alan Cheong, director of research and consultancy at Savills Singapore, said new home sales have held firm over the past two years as buying momentum from genuine demand is still strong.

In 2010, there were 1,202 homes sold in the Chinese New Year month of February, 1,259 new private homes sold in August - the month of the inauspicious Hungry Ghost Festival - and 1,332 in December. This was close to the average of 1,358 units per month for the year.

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