http://www.straitstimes.com/archive/...-285m-20141204
Sentosa Cove homes sell for record $28.5m
Published on Dec 4, 2014 1:07 AM
An artist's impression of the Seven Palms condominium at Sentosa Cove - the only beachfront luxury development here. -- PHOTO: SC GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
By Rennie Whang
TWO Sentosa Cove condo units have been sold at $4,131 per sq ft (psf) in a record price for the island, said the Singapore Real Estate Exchange (SRX).
Spanish tycoon Ricardo Portabella Peralta is thought to be the buyer of two adjacent units, for a total of $28.55 million, at Seven Palms Sentosa Cove. Mr Peralta is chief executive of Luxembourg-based investment holding firm Ventos SA, and is a board member of Danone Spain.
Going by caveats lodged, 12 units have been sold at the 41-unit Seven Palms. Developer SC Global declined to comment.
The sales are good news for the island, quelling some concerns that prices there have been in freefall, said Savills Singapore research head Alan Cheong.
For example, two units at luxury condominium Turquoise in Sentosa Cove were sold at heavy losses by private treaty for $3.88 million and $4.026 million in July, or about $1,400 psf. They had been bought in 2009 for about $2,550 psf and were put up for sale by their mortgagees, understood to be DBS Bank.
Transactions have also been thinning. Just four Sentosa bungalows were sold in the first 11 months of this year, down from 18 last year.
But Seven Palms may have bucked this trend owing to the exclusivity of being the only beachfront luxury development here, said Newsman Realty associate director Steve Tay.
"Demand (for such homes) has been reduced with the Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty measures imposed, but it is a matter of time before it will return, as Sentosa Cove is still the premium residential precinct for discerning ultra-high-net-worth individuals," he said.
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