Published January 12, 2006
Centrepoint's mass-market launch of Raintree tomorrow
It will release more properties this year, with 1,500 units up for sale
By ALEXANDRA HO
CENTREPOINT Properties is kicking off the year with a mass-market project launch tomorrow of the Raintree, near the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.
Centrepoint is looking to release most of the unsold units from its soft launch in mid-November. Of the total of 315 units, 75 were previously released, with about 70 per cent, or 51 units, snapped up.
Centrepoint's chief executive officer Lim Ee Seng said the price for the 99-year leasehold project will remain at $470 per square foot for the weekend and could be raised, depending on the response it receives.
The prices for its wildly popular The Azure at Sentosa Cove last year started at around $950 psf, before eventually rising about 10 per cent to hit $1,020 psf. The project is fully sold.
Centrepoint will release more properties this year - pegged at different market segments - with about 1,500 units available for sale.
Last year, it moved 1,200 units, making it the No. 2 player in the local private residential property market in terms of volume, behind City Developments Ltd's 2,300 units, Mr Lim said.
He hopes to exceed last year's sales figures this year. Over the longer term, he expects Centrepoint to sell an average of 1,200 units a year, capturing around 20 per cent of market share for private residential properties.
For the first half of the year, Centrepoint will launch the freehold 18-storey, 194-unit project at Woodsville, called One Leicester, at the price range of about $600 psf.
Another project planned for H1 at a similar price range is a 315-unit freehold condominium at Faber Hills.
In the second half of the year, Centrepoint is rolling out the higher-end Jervois Road project. The freehold, 275-unit project is targeted at those seeking to invest, as well as to live there.
Another luxurious property going on the market is at St Thomas Walk, near Killiney Road.
The condominium is slated to have 160-170 large units, with the smallest one starting at nearly 1,800 sf.
Japanese architect Miyake Masaki, an associate of the late Kenzo Tange, has been roped in to design the place that is targeted at both local and foreign buyers.
Mr Lim, however, declined to indicate the prices for the two higher-end projects.
Two other more modest projects in the $500-$600 psf price range to be launched in H2 are further north in Singapore - one at Ulu Sembawang and the other at the junction of St Michael's and Serangoon Roads, with the former being a 73-unit freehold project, while the latter is to comprise 140 freehold units.
Centrepoint is not adopting a specific land banking strategy, according to Mr Lim, as 'the Singapore market is so small; we cannot afford to be too choosy because we're focusing both on the high-end as well as the middle (market). So whatever is available, we will take'.
While reserving judgment on growth predictions for the high-end market, Mr Lim is expecting a growth of up to 10 per cent in the middle-tier residential market.
'I'd rather see a more gradual increase rather than a sudden increase, because it's the bread and butter, it's for the masses, not for speculators,' he said. 'For such a market, we are in it for the long term.'
Centrepoint has cast its eyes overseas and will be launching a Thai property here - its first - next month. Situated on the banks of Bangkok's Chao Praya river, The Pano is touted as the tallest condo development by the river with all units facing it.
The project is a 50/50 joint venture between Centrepoint's overseas arm, Frasers Property Group, and Thai developer Krungthep Land.
About 60 out of Phase 1's 397 units were sold in a recent soft launch, at a price of 87,000 Thai baht (S$3,570) per suare metre.
The target is to grow the development income from overseas projects to half of its total income by 2010, from last year's 20 per cent.
Source: Business Times