Good turnout at new DBSS project

[mr funny]

http://www.todayonline.com/articles/284772.asp

Weekend, November 1, 2008

Good turnout at new DBSS project

Tan Hui Leng

[email protected]


AT first glance, you might not have thought an economic slowdown was in the wind, with 1,000 visitors thronging the sale launch of the Housing and Development Board’s latest project at Bishan on Day One.

Natura Loft, a Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) project, features three 40-storey blocks of 160 four-room flats and 320 five-room units.

Describing the response as “enthusiastic”, developer Qingjian Realty’s deputy general manager, Mr Li Jun said: “In fact, online registrations started coming in at 8am ... There are interested buyers who have not even seen the show flat.”

The crowd was a mix of young couples and families looking to upgrade. IT professional Ashley Yong turned up with fiancee Rebecca Lim.

“We can’t afford a private property, and we like this location,” he said. His parents live in Bishan and the couple expects several Government grants to help them finance their first flat.

“Economic crisis or not, I don’t expect public housing prices to come down by, say, 50 per cent, especially in a prime location like Bishan where resale flat prices will still continue to be high,” added the 32-year-old.

One prospective upgrader was project manager Edmund Lim, 40.

“I am here to compare the differences between a DBSS flat and a private condominium,” said Mr Lim, who lives in a Pasir Ris executive flat with his wife and nine-year-old daughter.

Still, good turn-out aside, by the time the show-flats closed at 6pm on Friday, there were just 80-or-so applications.

So, has the weakening economy dampened the mood of property hunters — especially with Natura Loft units asking prices higher than DBSS flats at Boon Keng and Ang Mo Kio?

In January, more than 1,100 applied for 714 DBSS units at City View@Boon Keng on its first day of launch. In July, 130 applied for 578 DBSS units at Park Central@AMK within the first few hours after having been launched on a Wednesday.

Calling the first-day take-up at Natura Loft “normal”, Mr Li said the company expects a better response this weekend.

[great response!]

SINGAPORE News Archive
Updated: 3rd November 2008, 1740 hrs
Natura Loft saw 280 bookings on first weekend

The property market may not be as bubbly but more than half of the units being offered in Singapore’s fourth condo-style public housing project at Bishan, have been snapped up.

Natura Loft at Bishan's developer, Qianjian Realty, says it received more than 280 bookings on the first weekend following its launch last Friday.

The project under the Housing Board's Design, Build and Sell Scheme or DBSS, will feature three 40-storey blocks of 160 four-room units and 320 five-roomers.

The developer says the take up rates for both the 4-room and 5-room flats are on par.

China-based QianJian says more than 4,700 people visited the Showflat over a three-day period.

The four-room units of about 1,020 square feet each are priced from $465,000 to $586,000.

The five-roomers of 1,290 square feet will go from $600,000 to $739,000.

That works out to between 450 and 570 dollrs per square fott.

The prices are a notch higher than HDB's third DBSS project, Park Central at Ang Mo Kio.

This was priced between $400,000 and $500,000 each for four-roomers, and $600,000 and $670,000 for five-roomers.

[The Straits Times]

Spend If You Can
The Straits Times
Friday, 7 November 2008



'If you have sufficient savings and can afford to spend, you should continue to spend on life's little pleasures.

Take your family to the movies, shop, dine out at restaurants and hawker centres, go for your regular foot massage, indulge yourself at a spa, take a taxi, donate to charity and so on.

This way, we keep the economy going. In fact, I'd say that when times are a bit slow, we may get the best bargains.'

- Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, urging those with the means to continue spending, or the economy 'will really go into a recession'