Circuit-breaker deals in April
6th May 2020
The first weekend of April marked the launch of Kopar at Newton, where 77 units were sold at an average price of $2,350 psf. Other developers also used those first few days of April to push sales of their projects before the “circuit breaker” slammed the door on all sales and marketing activity, while sales galleries had to close from April 7.
Sales gallery of Kopar at Newton, where 77 units were sold on the first weekend of launch in early April
Sales gallery of Kopar at Newton, where 77 units were sold on the first weekend of launch in early April (Photo: CEL Development)
In the Core Central Region (CCR), two units were sold at luxury condo Boulevard 88 on Orchard Boulevard. The buyer was said to be an Indonesian and a “repeat buyer”, who snapped up two adjacent four-bedroom units on the seventh floor: one was purchased for $10.26 million ($3,711 psf), while the other went for $10.3 million ($3,714 psf). Both deals were brokered by PropNex. “The buyer had already seen the project before the circuit breaker,” says Dominic Lee, head of Luxury Team at PropNex. (See: Opportunistic buyers snap up deals amid circuit breaker lull)
Other projects that saw strong sales in April were those in the Rest of Central Region (RCR) and Outside Central Region (OCR). Most of these are the mega projects — above 1,000 units — that were launched in the 2018-2019 period, notes Ismail Gafoor, CEO of PropNex.
The project with the most number of sales in April (after Kopar at Newton) was Treasure at Tampines. Based on caveats lodged as at April 25, 22 units were sold at an average price of $1,340 psf, bringing total sales to 1,106 (50%) out of a total of 2,203 units.
Crowd at the preview of Treasure at Tampines in March last year. To date, over 50% of the 2,203-unit project has been taken up
This was followed by Riverfront Residences, whose developer is a consortium led by Oxley Holdings. In April, 14 units there were sold at an average of $1,278 psf, according to caveats lodged. The project is located at Hougang Avenue 7 in the northeast region in the OCR. This brings total sales in the project to 1,271, out of a total of 1,472 units, which means it is 86.3% sold as at April 25.
Another project that also saw strong buying momentum in March, and continued to see sales in April, even after the circuit-breaker, was JadeScape by Qingjian Realty. The project sold 76 units in March, and another 11 in April at an average of $1,745 psf, based on caveats lodged as at April 25. With 754 units taken up, the 1,206-unit JadeScape is 63% sold to date.
MCL Land’s Parc Esta sold close to 10 units as at April 25. It has sold 1,175 out of 1,399 units in the development, which means it is 84% spoken for, two years ahead of its scheduled completion. Parc Esta is located on Sims Avenue, near Eunos MRT Station.
Crowd at Stirling Residences on the first day of preview -on July 5, 2018, the eve of the ninth round of property cooling measures
Another sought-after project is Stirling Residences, a joint venture between Nanshan Group and Logan Property in the Queenstown area. The project also sold close to 10 units, based on caveats lodged as at April 25, bringing total sales to over 960 units, which means the 1,259-unit project is 76% sold.
Other developments that have also garnered some sales despite the circuit breaker include Logan Property’s 1,410-unit Florence Residences in the Hougang-Kovan area; Affinity at Serangoon at Serangoon North Avenue, where close to 700 units in the 1,052-unit development have been sold to date; and the 327-unit Daintree Residence at Toh Tuck Road, developed by SP Setia.
For PropNex, as the circuit breaker has been extended, it will continue to do “a lot more consumer education through webinars”, says Gafoor. “Developers are also likely to be more sensitive in their pricing given the current market.”