Strong demand for Forest Woods condo

Many home buyers were at the Forest Woods show-flat over the weekend to take advantage of the early bird discounts, which ranged from $6,000 to $12,000. All unit types enjoyed a good take-up rate.
Many home buyers were at the Forest Woods show-flat over the weekend to take advantage of the early bird discounts, which ranged from $6,000 to $12,000. All unit types enjoyed a good take-up rate. ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG

Home buyers turned up in droves at the Forest Woods show-flat over the weekend, snapping up 65 per cent of units available at the newly launched project.

City Developments (CDL) said 337 out of 519 units at the project, which is located in Lorong Lew Lian, were sold as at 5pm yesterday.

Forest Woods is being developed by CDL, Hong Leong Holdings and TID.

CDL said yesterday that all unit types enjoyed a good take-up rate, with all one-bedroom with study units and two-bedders selling out.

"Units sold have achieved an average pricing of $1,400 per square foot (psf) on its first weekend launch," noted Mr Chia Ngiang Hong, CDL group general manager, in a statement.

Early bird discounts ranging from $6,000 to $12,000 were offered to buyers over the weekend.

Unit sizes at Forest Woods range from 506 sq ft for a one-bedroom with study to 2,185 sq ft for the largest penthouse. CDL said that of the three penthouses available, one was sold at $2.85 million.

Mr Chia said the good demand for units was due to a "right mix of prime location, unique features, attractive pricing and great value".

Forest Woods is about five minutes from Serangoon MRT station and Nex shopping mall, and is slated to be completed in 2021.

Analysts said very few projects have done this well on the first launch weekend since the implementation of the total debt servicing ratio framework in June 2013.

The closest project in terms of sales was probably MCL Land's Lake Grande in Jurong, which sold about 450 out of a total of 710 units - or 63 per cent - in the first weekend in July.

CDL said 88 per cent of buyers are Singaporeans, while the remaining are permanent residents and foreigners from China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Switzerland, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Teacher Yeo Keng Yong was at the show-flat at 10am on Saturday. He waited for three hours during the balloting process.

"Prices have been falling for quite some time," said Mr Yeo, who bought a three-bedder premium unit for $1.36 million. "I don't think it will fall that much more."

Investor Adeline Chua bought a two-bedroom unit for $895,000 and is hoping to rent it out.

"The project will be completed in a few years, so I'll pray hard that the economy is better by then... I believe (if the location is) near MRT station, you can never go wrong," noted Ms Chua, a customer service officer.

Analysts said the project's location and developer's reputation played a part in wooing buyers.

Century 21 Singapore chief executive Ku Swee Yong said: "The developer also managed to keep the price quantum for many units well below the $1 million mark."

Ms Alice Tan, Knight Frank Singapore research head, noted: "There is still pent-up demand... but buyers remain very discerning, and they want a good deal in terms of location and price."

Meanwhile, MCC Land's project - The Alps Residences in Tampines - which was launched for sale on Oct 2, sold 300 out of 626 units as at noon on Sunday.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on October 10, 2016, with the headline Strong demand for Forest Woods condo. Subscribe