Published June 12, 2007

Prices for Sentosa bungalow land hit new high

By ARTHUR SIM


LAND prices for bungalows have hit a new high of $1,472 psf at Sentosa Cove, beating the $1,308 psf price set in November 2006.

Four seafront bungalow plots were released for sale in March and all have been sold. Apart from the top price, a spokesman for Sentosa Cove Pte Ltd (SCPL) said the average selling price was $1,300 psf.

SCPL also said that it has sold 87.3 per cent of its total land area, and 79 per cent of the number of units available. 'There are currently 32 bungalows left - only a handful of seafront bungalow land parcels are left,' SCPL added.

The news follows SCPL's announcement yesterday that it has launched the second last condominium site at Sentosa Cove for sale.

Called the Beachfront Collection, the 113,797 sq ft site overlooks Sentosa's Tanjong Beach and has a maximum gross floor area of 149,074 sq ft. SCPL estimates that up to 88 luxury sized units can be built.

Donald Han, managing director of Cushman & Wakefield Singapore said he expects record prices of $1,400-1,600 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr) to be set for the site.

'Being the only beachfront condo site, developers are likely to build a resort-like development and will put a substantial premium on to the land price bid,' he said.

Mr Han estimates that the break-even price will be slightly under $2,000 psf ppr and that the successful bidder must sell completed units at around $2,200 psf.

Mr Han also believes Lippo's new residential development next to One Degree 15 will be sold for about $2,200 psf when it is launched.

Already, prices on the secondary market for developments on Sentosa Cove are rising. According to data analysed by CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), caveats lodged in the first five months of 2007 reveal that sub-sales of units at The Azure, The Oceanfront and The Coast are averaging $1,570 psf, $1,730 psf and $1,785 psf respectively.

The Coast was launched in October 2006 at about $1,600 psf. Li Hiaw Ho, executive director at CBRE Research, said the consultancy expects the Beachfront Collection to fetch between $160 million and $186 million. The size of the site could make it slightly less attractive.

Mr Li highlighted that while previous sites like The Seaview Collection can be developed into an eight-storey condominium with 200 units, the Beachfront Collection can only be developed into four-storey condominium of 88 units.

After Beachfront Collection, the last condo site at Sentosa Cove is expected to be launched around the end of this year.