New projects enjoy strong weekend sales

[mr funny]

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/suite/story/0,4574,338787,00.html?

Published June 23, 2009

New projects enjoy strong weekend sales

8@ Woodleigh drew mostly S'poreans, specu-vestors due to its location

By KALPANA RASHIWALA


(SINGAPORE) There seems to be no let-up in home sales.

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/mnt/media/image/launched/2009-06-23/BT_IMAGES_KRWOOD23.jpg
Selling like hotcakes: 302 of the total 330 units in the 8@ Woodleigh condo were sold between Friday and Sunday. The average price of the 99-year leasehold project near Potong Pasir MRT Station is about $780 per square foot

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/mnt/media/image/launched/2009-06-23/BT_IMAGES_KRWOOD23-H3W.jpg
The Gale: A Facebook page for Tripartite Developers' project will be launched to help market it. It is expected to be launched to the public in July

Frasers Centrepoint is said to have sold 302 of the total 330 units in its 8@Woodleigh condo since Friday. The average price of the 99-year leasehold project near Potong Pasir MRT Station is about $780 per square foot. Buyers who opt for an interest absorption scheme (IAS) offered by the developer have to pay 3 per cent more.

The 15-storey development comprises five blocks. About 40 per cent of the units are studios, two-bedders as well as apartments with two-bedrooms plus study. The remaining 60 per cent are three- and four-bedders.

The average price of a studio unit is around $400,000 while a two-bedder typically costs between $650,000 and $670,000.

The project drew mostly Singaporean buyers. In addition to attracting those who bought units for their own occupation, the project is said to have drawn a fair bit of specu-vestors.

8@Woodleigh's location next to the future Stamford American International School gives it a strong investment appeal.

'Some people bought with a view to leasing the units to expat families (for the bigger units) or to the single teachers at the school (for studios and two-bedders),' a market watcher said.

The project is being marketed by DTZ and ERA.

Over at Devonshire Road, Allgreen Properties sold 130 units last week at One Devonshire, a 36-storey freehold condo with a total 152 units.

The average price of the units sold is understood to be $1,800 psf, assuming a normal progress payment scheme.

Allgreen is charging buyers a 2 per cent price premium for IAS. For those who opt for the deferred payment scheme, the price premium is 3 per cent.

Around 65 per cent of the 130 buyers have opted for normal progress payment. Knight Frank is marketing the development.

Chip Eng Seng group's Oasis @ Elias condo is expected to be released soon, as early as this week. The 99-year project has a total 388 units and should give some competition to City Developments' Livia condo nearby.

Over at Flora Road, in the Upper Changi area, Tripartite Developers is getting ready to launch its freehold condo, The Gale. A Facebook page for the project will be launched to help market the project.

The Gale comprises 329 units in nine blocks. The eight-storey project has a range of unit sizes, from one-bedders to four-bedroom apartments with a roof terrace.

Buyers will have the option of signing up for IAS. Buyers and current owners of a Tripartite property will enjoy a loyalty bonus (a 0.5 per cent price discount) if they buy a unit at The Gale, and a referral fee (0.5 per cent of purchase price) if they get a friend or family member to buy a unit in the condo.

Tripartite is a joint venture involving Hong Leong Holdings, City Developments and TID Pte Ltd. Hong Leong Holdings, which issued a press statement on the project yesterday, did not give an indication of pricing. 'The project is expected to be launched to the public in July,' it added.

[mr funny]

http://www.straitstimes.com/Money/Story/STIStory_394025.html

June 23, 2009 Tuesday

Buyers throng showflats

Frasers Centrepoint sells 302 out of 330 units at Woodleigh Close in 3 days

By Joyce Teo, Property Correspondent


BUYERS continued to throng showflats over the weekend as the craze to pick up a new home shows no signs of abating.

Within three days of its Friday launch, Frasers Centrepoint managed to sell 302 out of 330 units at its 99-year leasehold Woodleigh Close project 8@Woodleigh. The average transacted price of the mass-market project was $790 per sq ft.

The buyers' profile was overwhelmingly Singaporean - just 3 per cent were foreigners and permanent residents, said Frasers Centrepoint chief executive Lim Ee Seng.

He said the strong response took him by surprise, though he was quick to add that 8@Woodleigh had help from the improving market sentiment and strong project-specific attributes.

Apart from location - near Potong Pasir MRT station and the yet-to-open Woodleigh MRT station on the North-East Line - a major attraction was the small, affordable units, he said.

The developer had earlier tweaked the mix of bigger and smaller flats from a ratio of 60:40 to 40:60, which added an extra 30 units to the development. It also reduced the size of the larger units slightly.

About 60 per cent of the units were one- and two-bedders. Although the 400 sq ft one-bedders cost a seemingly high $930 psf to $1,070 psf, the absolute price worked out to a more appetising $370,000 to $440,000.

Buyers could be drawn to a 'speculative element', said Mr Lim, as 8@Woodleigh is next to the Stamford American International School and some buyers are hoping to rent out units to expatriate families.

Half of the buyers have HDB addresses. About a third of them are aged 30 to 39, another one-third aged 40 to 49, with 22 per cent in their 50s.

The response has been so positive that Frasers Centrepoint, which sold 50 units at a Friday special preview, will dispense with an originally planned main launch this coming weekend as under 30 - mostly three-bedders - are left.

'We will release everything to capitalise on the momentum,' said Mr Lim.

Another project, Parc Seabreeze in Marine Parade, also saw demand after it apparently brought forward its launch. It sold about 50 units over three days since Friday at prices ranging from $1,050 psf to $1,550 psf, said agents.

The price is down from $1,600 psf to $1,700 psf quoted at the preview in May last year, which drew a lacklustre response then.

Even as mass-market projects did well, the upper-mid market also appears to be flourishing.

Investors have been flocking to the 152-unit One Devonshire in the Killiney Road area, with 130 units sold so far at an average price of $1,800 psf since a special preview over a week ago.

The recession-defying market exuberance has led some analysts to question its sustainability.

HSR Property Group executive director Eric Cheng said the buying interest stems from those afraid to lose out. Some people also made money in the stock market, while HDB valuations have been rising, boosting confidence in the market, he said.

But 'it's still a buyers' market', said Mr Lim. Though there is demand, buyers are selective.

With more competition amid the financial crisis, developers have taken to working with more property agencies to market their projects.

Instead of just one as was the norm during the 2007 boom, they now work with two or three agencies to ensure a wider reach, said Mr Cheng.

Mr Lim said the company did a pre-marketing test or survey about three months before the launch of its Jurong project Caspian. The wider the reach, the greater the chance of success in getting buyers hooked.

And that is what Hong Leong Holdings hopes to achieve by launching a page on social networking site Facebook to market its 329-unit The Gale in Upper Changi. It said this will enable them to disseminate information to Web-savvy property watchers and to engage with a wider audience.

[email protected]

HOT PROPERTY BUYS

8@Woodleigh : 302 out of 330 units at the 99-year leasehold project sold since Friday. The average transacted price was $790 per sq ft.

Parc Seabreeze: Sold about 50 units over three days since Friday at prices ranging from $1,050 psf to $1,550 psf, said agents, down from $1,600 psf to $1,700 psf.

One Devonshire: 130 units out of 152 sold at an average price of $1,800 psf since a special preview over a week ago.