Is Sentosa Cove losing its appeal?

Only eight non-landed homes were sold during the first two months of 2011 in Sentosa Cove, once a hot spot for property investment in Singapore.

This represents a decrease from the 17 transactions in Q4 2010 and well below the 71 transactions in Q2 2010. The opening of City Developments’ (CDL) The Residences at W Singapore accounted for 19 of the total sales.

Considered an exclusive segment of the local property market, Sentosa Cove has been closely monitored by real estate watchers.

Agents believe that the prices of Sentosa Cove units have not moved much, with some units selling for more than S$2,000 psf.

The units, which are all leasehold, have failed to draw attention as property investors’ focus on other parts of the country. In comparison, new home sales elsewhere in Singapore in January and February came to over 1,000 units per month.

Other possible reasons include the lack of new launches and the presence of a large number of unsold units.

The eight sales recorded until March this year amount to S$44 million. This figure includes new, resale and subsale transactions. Some sales took place in the Seascape and Marina Collection properties, according to caveats lodged with the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).

While it seems that the appeal of condos in Sentosa Cove has been fading, with lesser people requesting viewings, landed homes there appear to be holding up.

Property experts believe that a segmented market might be on the rise in the area. Reasons for the slump in sales likely include the absence of new marketing and launching activities and the large supply of condos.

“Enquiries have slowed a little but that’s also a function of a lack of marketing activities since there haven’t been many ads recently. Once a new launch takes place, it creates a buzz and will bring about transactions in neighbouring projects as well,” said Tan Kok Keong, Head of Research and Consultancy at OrangeTee.

Source : PropertyGuru – 30 Mar 2011

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