http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/arch...-private-homes

Published July 31, 2012

Another week of brisk sales for private homes

By Kalpana Rashiwala


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.

The duplex unit is spread across levels 52 and 53. Four bedrooms and the living area are on the lower level, while the upper level is mostly roof terrace except for a family room. The unit's strata area is 7,255 sq ft inclusive of the roof terrace.

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

The showflat is on the ground level of The Gateway on Beach Road.

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.

Wee Hur has yet to release the last 90-odd units in the 618-unit project. The 16-storey condo has one to five-bedroom units in addition to penthouses.

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.

By end-June, 943 of Watertown's 992 homes had been sold, government data showed. Watertown comprises mostly one and two-bedders and typically smaller units sell at higher psf prices.

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.

Parc Olympia, which will be developed next to the Japanese School, has six blocks of eight storeys and two seven-storey blocks.

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.

The Central Region is defined as Districts 1-4 (which include the financial district and Sentosa Cove) and the traditional prime residential districts of 9, 10 and 11.