Frasers to start selling condos in Yishun project at end-March

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real...t-at-end-march

Frasers to start selling condos in Yishun project at end-March

By Lynette Khoo

[email protected]@LynetteKhooBT

11 Mar


NORTH Park Residences, Frasers Centrepoint Ltd's (FCL) newest condominium project in Yishun, is slated to begin sales at the end of this month, with a preview starting this weekend for buyers to express interest through placement of cheques.

Property consultants said they are expecting residential projects within integrated developments to outperform pure residential projects.

With more than half of the units being one to two bedders starting from 431 sq ft and the rest being three to five-bedroom units, the 920-unit project is targeting both investors and owner-occupiers, said Cheang Kok Kheong, FCL's CEO of development and property.

FCL is likely to initially release half of the total units for the project, which is marketed by PropNex and Huttons.

PropNex chief executive Mohamed Ismail said there is an estimated 30 per cent price premium associated with such integrated projects with a retail component and seamless underground access to a transport hub given that its construction costs are about 30 per cent higher than a pure residential project.

But the higher costs will eventually trickle down to higher yields and capital appreciation, which is why buyers are willing to fork out that premium, Mr Ismail said.

"All capital appreciation is a by-product of rental yield from an investment perspective."

North Park Residences is part of Northpoint City, the largest integrated development in the north of Singapore slated to complete in 2018. Northpoint City will also have over 500 retail shops and F&B outlets and covered walkways to an integrated transport hub comprising a new air-conditioned bus interchange and the existing Yishun MRT station.

FCL is integrating the existing Northpoint Shopping Centre with the new development, which has a total gross floor area of about 1.33 million sq ft in Yishun Central.

Mr Cheang said the developer has given due consideration for security given the high footfall of FCL's malls. Access to lift lobbies are private and secure, while the residents' carpark on the third floor is exclusive and separate from that of the mall. Residential units, which start from level 4, are also served by a main concierge lobby.

North Park Residences is in close proximity to the medical hub of Singapore's northern region comprising Khoo Teck Puat Hospital and community healthcare facilities, he said.

Donald Han, managing director of Chestertons, is expecting overall private residential prices to moderate up to 5 per cent this year amid interest rates normalisation and mounting supply of newly completed homes. But suburban projects near MRT, amenities, and retail centres will be "fairly resilient and may outperform the rest of the market", he said.

Suburban non-landed residential projects turned out to be more resilient last year amid falling prices, with the Outside Central Region (OCR) marking a smaller price decline of 2.2 per cent, compared to a 4.1 per cent fall in the Core Central Region (CCR) and a 5.3 per cent drop in the Rest of Central Region (RCR).

Looking at the performance of a few integrated residential developments like The Centris, Bedok Residences, The Hillier and Nine Residences, Mr Han said that these integrated residential developments garnered higher per square foot (psf) pricing than pure residential projects in their respective localities. These projects also saw an uptick in median prices in the first quarter.

For pure residential project RiverTrees Residences at Sengkang, FCL sold 67 per cent out of a total 495 units, as the group has been "pricing it at the right price", Mr Cheang said. Caveats lodged show a median price of around S$1,100 psf since the launch.

Mr Ismail noted that many prospective buyers are holding back their decision for fear that prices would drop further, but selected projects still do well. "We disqualify ourselves from selling some products because we know we will be hitting against the wall," he said. "In this current market, it is a buyers' market."