Singapore Companies
Published January 24, 2007

SC Global to set near record prices for marQ


SC GLOBAL Development Ltd, a builder of luxury apartments in Singapore, plans to price homes at its downtown project at 'north of $3,000 per square foot', chief executive Simon Cheong said.

The twin-tower development, called the marQ on Paterson Hill, will include 15-meter lap pools in every apartment for one block.

It is the latest residential offering in the area close to the Orchard Road shopping belt. In June, Kwek Leng Beng's City Developments Ltd set a record by selling units at its St Regis project at prices exceeding $3,000 per square foot.

'Property is a sentiment game, and one cannot predict the prices just through demand and supply,' Mr Cheong said in an interview yesterday.

The government has 'taken very major steps' to make Singapore into a global city. 'With that, you're looking at global pricing,' he added.

The developer plans to start selling homes in the downtown development in the second half, Mr Cheong said. SC Global said in March it bought the property for $266 million.

SC Global's shares have surged 70 per cent since the start of the year, the best performer on the Singapore property index. The stock lost 2 cents to close at $4.24 yesterday.

Singapore's private home prices rose for the 11th quarter in the last three months of 2006, the government said earlier this month.

'The Singapore market has been in the doldrums for so long that when fundamentals improve, prices start to run ahead,' said Leslie Chua, head of research at Jones Lang LaSalle. - Bloomberg