Two Serangoon condos garner healthy first-weekend sales

Mon, Jun 04, 2018

Lee Meixian


TWO property launches in Serangoon over the weekend garnered good response, testament to the still-improving sentiments in the residential property market, despite the fact that both projects were located just couple of hundred metres apart from each other.

Affinity at Serangoon by Oxley Holdings, to be constructed on the former HUDC estate Serangoon Ville site, sold 112 units out of the 300 that were launched in its phase one.

Oxley's director of marketing and sales Eugene Lim said that the transacted units were spread evenly across various configurations - from one-bedders to four-bedders-plus-study apartments.

Selling prices for the condominium units started from S$1,475 per sq ft (psf), and averaged S$1,575 psf.

Prices of strata houses began from S$2.33 million. A total of three out of 10 strata houses launched were sold. The entire 1,052-unit project has 40 strata houses altogether.

Just nearby, The Garden Residences, which is built on a government land sales site clinched by developers Wing Tai and Keppel Land, also launched for sale over the weekend.

When queried on its sales performance, a spokesperson from Gardens Development, the joint venture company between Keppel Land and Wing Tai Asia, said the project received "positive response", with more than 60 units sold over the weekend at an average selling price of S$1,660 psf.

"We have confidence in the market, and believe that discerning buyers will appreciate the convenient location, attractive design, quality fittings and finishes as well as the lifestyle offerings at The Garden Residences."

It declined to reveal how many units were launched in all, and what configurations of units were most popular among buyers. The entire project has 613 units altogether.

Commenting on the slightly higher price point of units at The Garden Residences, ZACD Group executive director Nicholas Mak said this could be because the developers are larger firms with longer track records than Oxley.

It does appear to be head-on competition for both projects to launch around the same time, more so given their proximity. But Mr Mak reckoned that the developers could be looking to push out inventory sooner to avoid hitting a supply-glut situation later on, as many more projects are lined up to be launched in the pipeline.

One way developers can avoid going head to head is by not embarking on a price war. In this case, he guessed that Affinity at Serangoon could have sold better as it has engaged three agencies - ERA Realty, Huttons, Knight Frank - to sell the project, while the developers of The Garden Residences appointed two - PropNex and OrangeTee.