BLVD unit sets record $3,205 psf price for Orchard Rd area

Feb 13, 2007

BLVD unit sets record $3,205 psf price for Orchard Rd area

By Fiona Chan


TWO homes in the Orchard Road area have sold at prices that have broken past records in the prime district.
The Straits Times understands that a Singapore permanent resident has forked out more than $6.5 million for an apartment at The Boulevard Residence (BLVD).

The unidentified buyer paid $3,205 per sq ft (psf) for the 2,034 sq ft three-bedroom unit at Cuscaden Walk, said market sources.

This surpasses the price high set just a week earlier, by a unit in the Beaufort on Nassim at Nassim Hill that fetched $3,200 psf.

The prices achieved by these two sales outstrip the last-known Orchard Road record of $3,050 psf. That was held by City Developments' St Regis Residences, the first residential development here to cross the $3,000 psf mark.

But these pricey units still fall short of the $3,450 psf yardstick set by a penthouse unit at Marina Bay Residences late last year.

However, property consultants say that the latest sales lend weight to earlier predictions that Orchard Road homes will soar to new price heights this year.

'This year, most of the new launches in the Orchard Road area will start at $3,000 psf,' said Mr Ku Swee Yong, director of marketing and business development at property consultancy Savills Singapore.

He said that the high prices would be partially supported by the displaced owners of 'at least 40 different estates that have gone en bloc in the Orchard Road area'.

Mr Ku was unsurprised by the high price of the BLVD apartment, noting that the project's developer, SC Global, builds for the luxury end of the market.

The BLVD, for instance, includes imported marble finishings, concierge and valet services, as well as a private elevator for each unit.

The freehold development was completed in 2005 and is almost fully sold. Only two of its 42 units are left - one an individually customised super-penthouse that has not yet been released for sale.

Average prices of BLVD units transacted over the last 12 months have hovered at around $2,200 psf, with one apartment believed to have been sold earlier this year for $2,850 psf.

At the Beaufort on Nassim, 12 of its 30 units have been sold at prices starting from $2,300 psf.

The project is being developed by Hong Kong's HKR International, which also owns The Sentosa Resort and Spa, formerly known as The Beaufort, on Sentosa.