Singapore
June 1, 2006, 8.52 pm (Singapore time)
St. Regis Residences unit sets new record
SINGAPORE - A developer sold a luxury apartment in Singapore for a record price on Thursday, breaking an 11-year-old mark set in a property boom before the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis.
St. Regis Residences, at Tomlinson Road, is to date the most expensive private home, with a benchmark price of more than $3,000 per square foot for a unit of its serviced apartment project.
City Developments Ltd, Southeast Asia's second-biggest property developer, said it sold a serviced apartment in its recently launched St. Regis Residences unit for more than $3,000 (US$1,905) per square foot.
That beat the $2,882 per square foot paid in 1995 for an apartment on Orchard Road, property consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle said.
Singapore home prices in the first quarter of this year showed their biggest rise since 2000, but the gains have been led by high-end homes rather than mass-market apartments.
Executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng told reporters the buyer bought three units in the development, including a penthouse. He did not say which apartment went for the record price.
CityDev said the sale showed there was 'pent-up demand' for high-end homes in Singapore. The 173 apartments in the development, which come with optional butler and babysitting services, are being offered for between $4 million and $19 million. -- REUTERS