Several high-end condominium projects sited in the heart of Orchard Road will be officially launched this coming weekend.
Developers say close proximity to the premium shopping belt will attract investors and home-buyers from both overseas and Singapore.
A 100-year old banyan tree will be preserved and made a landmark for the freehold St Thomas Suites at St Thomas Walk.
Located just off Killiney Road – or a stone’s throw away from the busy Orchard Road – the luxurious twin 33-storey apartment blocks will stand on about 140,000 square feet of land.
Developer Frasers Centrepoint said it will preserve many of the existing trees and fauna, and reserve some 80 percent of the land for landscaping and greenery.
Expected to be completed by end 2010, the units are priced between S$1700 and S$2100 per square foot.
The smallest units are 1,800 square feet with 3 bedrooms – and they are expected to cost more than S$3m each.
“It’s not a question of chasing after the top prices but really at the end of it all, giving good value, great value and owners will eventually feel and know that there’s upside to the prices they are paying for right now,” said Cheang Kok Kheong, General Manager, Development and Property, Frasers Centrepoint.
Analysts estimate that about 4,000 units of high-end units within districts 9, 10 and 11 will hit the market this year.
Even with prices surging, they say, these units will still see strong interest – especially from overseas buyers.
“In terms of the high-end, what we’ve been seeing of late is a surge in foreign interest because if you look at general pricing in major cities like Singapore, you compare prices from London, New York, Japan and even in Hong Kong, Singapore is still deem to be lower then the rest of the market,” said Joseph Tan, Director Residential, CB Richard Ellis.
The new 20-storey Cairnhill Residences is one project that has seen good response.
It was launched in Jakarta and Hong Kong in November last year, and a sizeable portion of the units available for sale in one of the 20-storey tower blocks were snapped up by foreigners.
“We have done pretty well in two of our projects – we have sold 85 percent of Blossoms @ Woodleigh. Of the 180 units available we have sold more than 85 percent, and for Cairnhill Residences we have sold more than 80 percent of the units released in one of the tower blocks. So that gives us the impetus to launch our other projects because of encouraging response,” said Yong Voon Chen, General Manager, Allgreen Properties.
Sized from 904 square feet 2-bedrooms to 2443 square feet pent house, the units were earlier sold overseas at a preview price of between S$1162 to S$1237 per square foot.
Depending on market response this weekend, Allgreen Properties said it might consider raising prices by some 3 to 5 percent.
Analysts say they are fairly optimistic that this momentum will continue to 2010 when most of these properties are completed, and they say prices could reach S$4,000 per square foot by then.
Source: Channel NewsAsia, 24 January 2007