60 Goodwood Residence units sold in past 2 weekends

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Published March 30, 2010

60 Goodwood Residence units sold in past 2 weekends

However, at Sentosa Cove, buyers spoilt for choice from 3 projects on offer

By KALPANA RASHIWALA


(SINGAPORE) Malaysian tycoon Quek Leng Chan's GuocoLand has sold 60 units at the freehold Goodwood Residence along prime Bukit Timah Road over the past two weekends at prices ranging from $2,355 psf to $2,555 psf for typical units.

Mr Quek himself picked up the biggest unit in the 12-storey project - a penthouse - for $18.8 million. His brother Leng Hai purchased another penthouse for slightly over $13.8 million and their sister Guat Kim bought an apartment on the eighth floor for about $6.03 million, according to statutory filings by Guoco-Land to the Singapore Exchange.

However, it was a mixed bag of results last week at Sentosa Cove for developers of three 99-year leasehold condo projects as they laboured to move units to savvy buyers who were comparing the relative merits of the three developments against their pricing.

Of the three Sentosa Cove projects, the best sales result was achieved by the joint venture between Ho Bee and Malaysia's IOI; it sold 25 of the 40 units released at the 151-unit condo The Seascape. The development has a better orientation - directly facing the sea and located in Sentosa Cove's choicer Southern Residential Precinct - than the other two projects on offer in the waterfront housing precinct.

The Seascape units sold comprise 18 three-bedroom apartments, six four-bedders and a penthouse. The Seascape does not have smaller units such as two bedders. The majority of the buyers were Singaporeans. About a quarter of the units were purchased by foreigners - from the US, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

The 25 units fetched an average price of about $2,700 psf, with achieved prices ranging from $2,619 psf to $2,880 psf. The sole penthouse sold was a four-bedroom unit of 4,252 sq ft on the sixth level; it sold for nearly $12 million. The Seascape is an eight-storey project with an attic level.

City Developments Ltd (CDL) said it has sold 14 of 56 units units released at the weekend at its 228-unit condo, The Residences at W Singapore Sentosa Cove. The units were released at $2,500-$3,000 psf. The condo comprises two- to four-bedroom apartments as well as penthouses. BT understands the units snapped up were mostly two and three bedders.

Lippo Group, which relaunched Marina Collection last week, is understood to have received expressions of interest from potential buyers but these have yet to translate into sales. Some potential buyers are said to have tried to seek discounts off Lippo's $2,500-2,700 psf pricing.

'This is the first time buyers have a choice of three new projects from developers at Sentosa Cove, whereas in the past, it was usually one launch at a time. So for now, buyers have the luxury of choice and the time to think about their purchase,' said a property agent.

Buyers who visited Goodwood Residence's showflat were drawn by the greenery of the location as well as within the proposed development, GuocoLand Singapore managing director Trina Loh told BT yesterday.

The site shares a 150-metre boundary with the Goodwood Hill tree conservation area. The development will also have about 500 trees planted to complement the existing 58 preserved tree. A manicured lawn of about 60 metres by 30 metres, greenwalls, two tennis courts and an Olympic-size swimming pool are among the other offerings.

GuocoLand has previewed the 12-storey project this month in Hong Kong and Singapore. Of the 60 units sold lately, 40 per cent were clinched by foreigners, led by Indonesians. Other foreign buyers include Malaysians, Australians, Indians and Europeans.

Two-bedroom apartments (of about 1,100 sq ft) in the development cost about $2.8 million on average, while the four-bedroom deluxe units - which have been popular - are priced at about $7.5 million on average. The average price of typical units among the 60 units transacted lately is $2,409 psf, according to Mrs Loh. In June 2008, Kuwait Finance House acquired 36 units in the condo at an average price of $2,800 psf. The project has a total 210 units.

Property giant Far East Organization sold a total 25 homes last week. The units span the group's portfolio of projects, from the upgrader market to the luxury segment, and last week's take-up was comparable to the preceding week, says the developer's chief operating officer, property sales, Chia Boon Kuah.

High-end properties were also in demand at property auctions last week. An auction conducted by DTZ saw a one-bedroom unit of 775 sq ft at the freehold Claymore Plaza sold for $1.55 million or about $2,000 psf. A fourth floor studio apartment of 882 sq ft at The Beaumont, a freehold development at Devonshire Road, changed hands for $2,131 psf or $1.88 million at the same auction. Colliers International at its auction sold a 16th floor, 5-plus-1 bedroom apartment, of 2,701 sq ft for about $2,007 psf or $5.42 million. The buyer is Malaysian.

This weekend, market watchers expect CapitaLand to release new units at The InterLace in the Alexandra Road area.