About Singapore Property » St Regis Residences

More high-end properties up for auction

aboutsingaporeproperty — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:00:00 +0000

They include Belmont Road bungalow, Fernhill Road site and condo units

(SINGAPORE) As action in the property market drifts up to the high end, more top-notch properties are surfacing at auctions.

A good-class bungalow (GCB) on Belmont Road, a 7,000-square-foot freehold site on Fernhill Road and condo units at St Regis Residences, Leonie Towers and Gallop Gables are among properties that will go under the hammer next week.

The GCB at 62 Belmont Road has been put up for sale at an indicative price of $26 million to $30 million. This works out to $797 to $919 per square foot (psf) based on the sprawling site of 32,627 square feet.

The existing single-storey bungalow, which will be offered at Knight Frank’s auction on June 23, is more than 30 years old.

‘The property can be rebuilt into a new two-storey bungalow with a basement. And there’s space for a tennis court and swimming pool,’ says Knight Frank executive director and auctioneer Mary Sai.

Colliers International’s auction on June 24 will feature a recently renovated two-storey freehold bungalow with six bedrooms and a maid’s room at 2 Branksome Road, off Tanjong Katong Road.

The property is being offered at an indicative price of $9 million or $815 psf of land area, says Colliers deputy managing director and auctioneer Grace Ng. The bungalow has a swimming pool and Balinese-style decor.

A trustee sale of a 7,232-sq-ft freehold vacant site in Fernhill Road is indicatively priced at $6.5 million to $7 million, which reflects a unit land price of $641 to $691 psf of potential gross floor area (GFA). This excludes any development charge that may be payable.

The site is zoned for residential use with a 1.4 plot ratio – the ratio of maximum potential GFA to site area. It can be developed into a small apartment project or a landed housing development.
Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) is auctioning the property on June 26.

Another property at the event will be a sheriff’s sale of a maisonette on the 12th floor of Leonie Towers, a freehold condo at Leonie Hill. The indicative price is $2.6 million to $2.8 million or $895-$964 psf of strata area.

The sheriff’s sale is being held to recover a debt owed by the owner, which is a company, to two individuals. The unit will be sold with vacant possession.

Colliers is also offering at its auction an apartment with four bedrooms plus a maid’s room on the 13th floor of St Regis Residences. It is also selling a two-bedroom unit with a utility room on the third level at Gallop Gables.

The Gallop Gables unit, which is leased until August 2013, has a prospective price of $1,400 to $1,500 psf of strata area, working out to $1.6 million to $1.7 million. That translates to a net annual yield of about 2.7 per cent.

The St Regis unit’s indicative pricing is $5 million or $2,358 psf. The property is subject to a two-year tenancy starting this month, with a monthly rental of $11,000.

If all of the above properties are sold at the various auctions next week, it would provide a fillip to auction sales this year, which totalled $47.7 million in the first five months.

The figure for the whole of last year was $83.7 million – an 11-year low.

JLL’s head of auctions Mok Sze Sze says ‘the competitive method of auction bidding is the best way to fetch the optimum price for owners of high-end properties, especially if they are rare and few in supply’.

Source: Business Times, 18 June 2009

High-end market hots up

aboutsingaporeproperty — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:41:00 +0000

SALES of private residential properties surged to their highest level in nearly two years in May.

According to the latest data by the Urban Redevelopment Authority released yesterday, overall home sales totalled 1,668 units last month, the highest monthly figure since the all-time record of 1,723 units was set in August 2007.

Purchases of private homes in the prime districts, which include Holland Road, River Valley and Newton, nearly doubled in May with 617 units sold, compared with 322 in April.

Market watchers said the spike in transaction volumes was due to the recent stock market rally, coupled with optimistic consumer confidence and liquidity.

Said Mr Donald Han, managing director of Cushman and Wakefield: “Back in late March and April, the regional stock markets went up by about one-third. This fuelled a lot of the liquidity that is coming back into the (property) market.”

CBRE Research’s executive director, Mr Li Hiaw Ho, said there was a significant amount of interest in high-end properties last month. “Five units of The Orange Grove were sold at the median price of $2,320 per square foot (psf), while one unit each of Boulevard Vue and St Regis Residences was sold at $2,602 psf and $2,200 psf respectively,” said Mr Li.

Mrs Ong Choon Fah, head of consulting at DTZ Debenham Tie Leung, said the May figures suggest that the bullish sentiment in the mass market projects has started to filter up to the luxury segment. “The momentum has certainly picked up. A few projects have seen very brisk sales,” she said.

According to URA data, the most popular developments were Martin Place Residences, The Wharf Residence, The Arte and The Mezzo. These four projects, located in the prime districts of 9, 10 and 11, as well as the city fringe areas, made up more than 30 per cent of the sales. The median prices of units there ranged from $903 to $1,423 psf.

Mr Desmond Sim, associate director of Research at Jones Lang LaSalle, said discounts given by the property developers and strong latent demand helped to boost sales.

Looking ahead, DTZ’s Mrs Ong said prices in the prime districts are likely to go up when more investors comes back into the market, prompting developers to launch the high-end properties in their inventories.

But analysts also warned that the current rebound in the property market may not be sustained.

“Activity remains confined within the residential market. This, in our view, is largely fuelled by softer prices and strong latent demand which alone will not be sufficient to sustain an overall recovery in the market,” said Mr Sim.

“Unless there are improvements in the overall economy, it may still take quite some time before we see the return of ‘super-luxury launches’ which may fetch an average $5,000 psf as affordability still remains the main factor to entice buyers.”

Source: Today, 16 June 2009

Private home sales keep defying caution

aboutsingaporeproperty — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 11:25:00 +0000

Developers sold year-high 1,668 units in May amid discounts and improved sentiment

(SINGAPORE) The buds of recovery sprouting in the private home market since February seem to have blossomed in May.

Developer sales for the month hit 1,668 units – a record for the year and 37 per cent more than the 1,214 in April. More transactions also occurred in the high-end sector at prices above $2,000 per square foot (psf).

However, some industry watchers continue to warn that the blooms may not last unless the economy improves decisively. They also remain concerned about weak rental demand and more residential supply coming on stream.

According to data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) yesterday, developer sales in May put on their strongest showing not just since January, but also since the sub-prime crisis began to rear its head. The 1,668 units sold last month were just 3 per cent shy of the last high of 1,723 units in August 2007.

‘The stockmarket rally which began in mid-March has resulted in positive sentiment that has driven private residential home sales,’ said CBRE Research executive director Li Hiaw Ho. Other consultants noted that lower home prices and immense liquidity searching for higher returns also kept home sales up.

In another sign that sentiment had improved, buying activity continued to return to the high-end core central region (CCR) in May. The launch of 32 units at Rochelle at Newton, for instance, was fully taken up.

Of the 1,668 units sold in May, 617 units or 37 per cent were from CCR. Colliers International pointed out that this proportion far exceeded the much lower 8 per cent seen in February.

Jones Lang LaSalle attributed the higher CCR sales to ‘discounted pricing from developers’, as seen in several projects such as Martin Place Residences, The Wharf Residence and Parc Centennial. At Martin Place Residences, for instance, units were first sold at a median price of $1,746 psf in January 2008. Last month, buyers took up 186 units at a median $1,423 psf.

Not only have sales increased in the high-end property market, more deals struck above $2,000 psf have emerged. According to Colliers, 14 units in May changed hands above that price level, compared with just one in February.

Notably, two apartments at The Orchard Residences went for $2,787 psf and $3,299 psf each last month. Other properties which saw median transaction prices of over $2,000 psf include Boulevard Vue, The Orange Grove, St Regis Residences and Vida.

The mid-market property sector also registered encouraging sales. Colliers noted that some 37 per cent, or 609 units of the 1,668 sold in May came from the rest of central region (RCR); the corresponding proportion in February was 29 per cent.

RCR saw the launch of the 26-unit Spring @ Langsat last month, of which nine units were taken up. Projects such as The Arte and The Mezzo continued to sell well.

Rosy sales aside, some buyers have returned units between April and May. URA data indicates, for instance, a return of 11 units at Mi Casa, three units at Verdure and three units at The Arte.

There are also industry watchers who remain guarded about the recent surge in home sales. This is ‘largely fuelled by softer prices and strong latent demand, which alone will not be sufficient to sustain an overall recovery in the market’, said Jones Lang LaSalle associate director of research Desmond Sim.

‘Unless there are improvements in the overall economy, it may still take quite some time before we see the return of ‘super-luxury launches’ . . . Affordability still remains the main factor to entice buyers.’

Citi and Nomura Singapore also said in research reports last week that the property upswing may not be sustainable. Nomura, in particular, expects to see a W-shaped recovery in asset prices because downside risks such as rising unemployment, falling rents and rising supply still exist.

Colliers deputy managing director Grace Ng noted that the Singapore market is ‘a bit peculiar’ because buying is largely spurred by sentiment; many people ‘actually come into the market because they see other people buying . . . rather than calculating yields’.

Even then, rental yields today are likely to be higher than what bank deposits can offer, she added.

Source: Business Times, 16 June 2009