Another week of brisk sales for private homes

Developers continued to do brisk private housing sales last week. In the CBD, United Industrial Corporation (UIC) is said to have moved close to 50 units at its V on Shenton project, taking total sales in the project to over 140 units. UIC began selling the project on July 20.

The average price for the 99-year-leasehold project is $2,200 per square foot (psf). UIC has released about 190 of V on Shenton's 510 residential units, which will be in a 54-storey tower.

Absolute prices start from just under a million dollars, for a city-facing studio unit of 441 sq ft on the 17th floor. UIC is said to have sold one of the project's six penthouses for $13.5 million.

Buyers are said to be mostly Singaporeans, with others from Indonesia, China and India.

Near Punggol MRT Station, Wee Hur Holdings is said to have found buyers for about another 100 units at the Parc Centros condo last week, the project's second week on the market.

This means that about 480 units in the 99-year project have been sold to date. Buyers are predominantly Singaporeans. The average price is $950 psf.

Absolute prices start from $550,000 for a one-bedroom apartment. Two bedders are priced from $750,000, while three and four bedders start from $880,000 and $1.22 million respectively.

Analysts have credited Parc Centros' strong sales to the current popularity of Punggol, especially the project's proximity to the MRT station and future Waterway Point mall.

In addition, Parc Centros' $950 psf average price is considered attractive compared with the Watertown condo, which was released in January and achieved a median price of $1,169 psf in the initial month, rising to $1,341 psf in the following month.

In the Upper Changi area, Koh Brothers is thought to have sold about 20-plus units last week at Parc Olympia, taking sales past the 200-unit level. It began selling the 99-year condo at Flora Drive on July 12 and to date has released 358 of the project's 486 units.

Parc Olympia was initially priced at $820 psf after a 16 per cent discount. Koh Brothers later clipped the discount to 15 per cent.

This, along with the release of choicer units in the latest phase, means that the average price is hovering around the $830-840 psf mark, BT understands.

At The Line@Tanjong Rhu, a freehold project of 107 units released last week, some 15 units are said to have been picked up. The average price is $2,100 psf. The project is developed by Lakeview Investments.

Meanwhile, the National University of Singapore yesterday released the June flash estimates for its Singapore Residential Price Index (SRPI) series, which tracks prices of completed apartments and condos.

The overall SRPI for June was flat from that in May. The May index reflected a 1.4 per cent month-on-month hike.

The sub-index for the Central Region (excluding small units of up to 506 sq ft) dipped 0.9 per cent in June over the preceding month, after rising 0.8 per cent month on month for May.

The sub-index for Non-Central Region (excluding small units) rose 0.7 per cent month on month in June, a slower rise than May's 1.9 per cent gain.

Prices of small units (up to 506 sq ft) islandwide registered a 1.4 per cent month-on-month dip in June, compared with a 0.7 per cent gain in May. The June sub-index for this category was down 1.5 per cent from the previous quarter.

The flash June sub-indices for the Central and Non-Central Regions (both excluding small units) were up 1.4 per cent and 2.6 per cent respectively from a quarter earlier.

Source: Business Times – 31 July 2012