http://www.straitstimes.com/archive/...sales-20141007

Early-bird discounts lift Marina One sales

Another project, 546-unit Lake Life EC in Jurong, draws over 1,200 applications

Published on Oct 7, 2014 1:13 AM

By Melissa Tan And Rennie Whang


DISCOUNTS for early-bird buyers helped sales take flight at the Marina One integrated development over the weekend.

Of the 1,042 private homes in the project, about 100 have been sold in bulk sales of three or more units since Friday, said real estate agents yesterday.

Developer M+S enticed early buyers with a 10 per cent discount, bringing prices down to between $1,960 and $3,100 per sq ft (psf).

It said last week that it would initially sell units from the first residential block at the Marina Bay development. The second block will be released only after the project is completed in 2017.

Sales to people wanting two apartments are expected to begin tomorrow, while single-unit buyers will have to wait until Friday.

Over at Lake Life, an executive condominium (EC) in the Jurong Lake District, more than 1,200 applications came in over the weekend for its 546 units.

One in three applicants is a first-time homebuyer, according to a statement yesterday by Lake Life's consortium of developers.

The sales of these two projects come amid a narrowing price gap between private homes in the city centre and those in the city fringe.

Price growth in the city centre has been lagging that in other regions, said property consultancy HSR in a report last week.

HSR expects the gap between city centre and city fringe resale values to continue shrinking as property prices keep falling.

During the global financial crisis, the price difference narrowed from a peak of $643 psf in the fourth quarter of 2007 to $367 psf in the first quarter of 2009.

The gap expanded to a high of $610 psf in the fourth quarter of 2011 before shrinking to $461 psf in the second quarter of this year, said HSR, adding: "As prices continue to fall, we believe this gap will continue to shrink by another $50 to $100 psf."

The gap between city centre and suburban resale values has also narrowed, falling from a high of $870 psf in the fourth quarter of 2011 to $712 psf in the second quarter this year.

These narrowing gaps between city centre resale values and those in the city fringe and suburbs could be due to their different rates of price growth, HSR said.

City centre prices climbed 52.5 per cent from the first quarter of 2007 to the second quarter of this year. This lagged the city fringe, where values shot up 103.3 per cent, and in the suburbs, where prices rose 94.6 per cent over the same period.

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