Qing Dao puts in top bid for Upper Serangoon residential site

[mr funny]

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stori...060629/1/.html

Qing Dao puts in top bid for Upper Serangoon residential site

By Janice Teo | Posted: 02 June 2010 1946 hrs


SINGAPORE : Developer Qing Dao Construction has put in a top bid of S$113.7 million for a residential land parcel in Upper Serangoon. That works out to about S$607 per square foot.

Consultants Colliers International said this is also the second highest price recorded for a 99-year leasehold land parcel sold by the government for non-landed housing in the city fringe area.

The tender by the Urban Redevelopment Authority received 15 bids in all.

The site at Upper Serangoon Road and Pheng Geck Avenue has a lease term of 99 years and is meant for residential development.

The second highest bid came from SP Setia International, which put in a bid of S$110.6 million.

Realty Consortium rounded off the top three bids with an offer of S$95.3 million.

The minimum offer price for the site was S$60 million.

Property consultancy CB Richard Ellis said based on the top bid, units in this new project could possibly sell above S$1,000 per square foot.

The consultancy also noted that the bullish bids showed that developers are confident of sites that are located close to MRT stations.

In the first quarter of this year, units at nearby developments like 8 @ Woodleigh and Woodsville 28 were transacted in the sub-sale market at between S$880 and S$1,130 per square foot.

- CNA/al

[jlrx]

the bullish bids showed that developers are confident of sites that are located close to MRT stations.l

A more appropriate paragraph would be "the bullish bids showed that developers are not scared of the Greek Crisis or Eurozone Crisis or Korean War Crisis or China Cooling crisis".

Looks like the scaremongers in this and other forums had not been successful in scaring developers.

Or could it be that developers are too busy bidding for land that they didn't have time to visit these forums?

[mr funny]

http://www.straitstimes.com/Money/St...ry_534708.html

Jun 3, 2010

China firm places bullish top bid for Upper Serangoon site

By Joyce Teo, Property Correspondent


THE tender for a plum 0.5ha residential development site near Potong Pasir MRT station yesterday drew 15 bidders and a higher-than-expected top bid.

This keen interest came despite a recent announcement by the Government that it would release a record amount of development land in the second half year.

China-based Qingdao Construction (Singapore) put in an aggressive bid of $607.20 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr) or $113.74 million. It came in just above the second highest bid of $590.50 psf ppr or $110.6 million from Malaysia's SP Setia International.

Apart from these two top foreign bids, the rest of the bids were largely within or even below expectations.

The 99-year leasehold site, sandwiched between Upper Serangoon Road and Pheng Geck Avenue, has a maximum gross floor area of 187,313 sq ft.

Analysts had said that it could fetch $450-$560 psf ppr or $84 million-$105 million. With its proximity to an MRT station, it was expected to be very popular.

It is the second land tender to close after the Government announced a record release of sites for sale in the second half.

The first - an executive condo (EC) plot in Sengkang - attracted a record top bid for EC land last week, though the other bids were within expectations.

Given the ample upcoming residential supply, the response of 15 bids is above market expectations and the quantums of the top few bids are bullish, said CBRE Research executive director Li Hiaw Ho.

'The relatively smaller size of the site, compared to the previous sites offered by the state, is an advantage because it does translate to a lower price quantum.'

Colliers International director for research and advisory Tay Huey Ying said the top bid is the second highest ever received for a non-landed housing plot in a city fringe area. It is just 5 per cent off the $639 psf ppr bid for the Ascentia Sky site in Alexandra Road in late 2007.

Other bidders included Koh Brothers, Far East Organization, Allgreen Properties and MCL Land. Hong Leong Holdings unit Kingston Development made the lowest bid of $320.70 psf ppr or $60.1 million.

Qingdao Construction, experts say, was a lot more aggressive as it had failed to win any sites in a few recent tenders.

Its managing director Zuo Hai Bin told The Straits Times it would have missed out had it made a lower bid. He said it plans to build about 150-160 units, mostly two- to three-bedroom units. The break-even cost is about $950 psf.

The Qingdao group has, through Qingjian Realty, previously developed Natura Loft, a HDB design, build and sell scheme project in Bishan. Apartments on the Upper Serangoon site could sell for possibly $1,100-$1,200 psf, experts said.

In January-April this year, sub-sale units in nearby 8@Woodleigh and Woodsville 28 went for $880-$1,130 psf.

'The top two bidders are foreign players eager to gain a foothold in Singapore's growing property market,' said DTZ's head of South-east Asia research, Ms Chua Chor Hoon. Local developers are unlikely to bid as keenly given that the property market has quietened down last month and with the record government land release, she added.

The Upper Serangoon site was on the confirmed list, which means that it was scheduled for tender without developers having to indicate interest first.