SINGAPORE - Two property launches saw mixed results from buyers over the weekend, with The LakeGarden Residences selling 71, or 23 per cent, of its total of 306 units, while the Altura executive condominium (EC) moved 220, or 61 per cent, of 360 units.
Units sold at Wing Tai’s The LakeGarden Residences launch in Jurong were transacted at an average selling price of $2,120 per sq ft (psf), the developer said in a release on Sunday. The 71 units sold made up 34 per cent of the number of units released during the launch.
The project houses 306 units in two towers, with nearly three-quarters of the units, or 227 units, in two- and three-bedroom configurations.
Mr Ismail Gafoor, chief executive of PropNex Realty, put the project’s comparatively modest launch performance down to “home buyers experiencing some degree of buyers’ fatigue”.
More than 2,500 new units across several major projects were launched in the past month.
“Buyers are probably taking the time to reassess and weigh the available options before committing to a purchase,” he said.
The jump in supply has also helped “dial down the Fomo – fear of missing out – factor” which spurred buyers to enter the market more quickly in previous years, Mr Gafoor added.
Huttons Asia CEO Mark Yip noted that buyers may be cautious due to the current economic conditions.
Apart from two- and three-bedroom types, the 99-year leasehold LakeGarden Residences also has four duplex penthouses of between 2,002 sq ft and 2,260 sq ft, and one-, four- and five-bedroom units.
Wing Tai acquired the plot at the collective sale of Lakeside Apartments for $273.9 million in May 2020, at a 14 per cent premium to the $240 million reserve price. This works out to a land rate of about $1,250 psf per plot ratio (ppr).
Based on transactions done by PropNex agents over the weekend, some residents from the former development purchased units at The LakeGarden Residences.
PropNex noted that two-bedroom and three-bedroom unit types accounted for more than 70 per cent of units sold at launch.
Ms Stacey Ow Yeong, head of marketing at Wing Tai Property Management, said: “The majority of the buyers of The LakeGarden Residences are families and upgraders living in the western part of Singapore.”
Out in force
Also over the weekend, Altura EC started booking sales at an average price of $1,433 psf, and sold 220 out of 360 units.
Qingjian Realty and Santarli Realty picked up the Bukit Batok EC site at a state land tender in March 2022 for $266 million, or $662 psf ppr, setting a new high for EC development land at the time.
Altura’s pricing marks a fresh record for an EC launch, said PropNex’s Mr Gafoor.
In comparison, Copen Grand and Tenet, launched in 2022, saw average prices of $1,300 psf and $1,360 psf respectively, he noted.
The Altura project is located within a 1km radius of the new Anglo-Chinese School (Primary) in Tengah.
The most popular unit type was the three- and four-bedroom premium, with more than 70 per cent of applicants and balloters being second-time applicants.
Qingjian Realty general manager Ouyang Jing said he was pleased to see the response from prospective buyers who “recognise the potential of Altura”, adding that the launch marks “another successful collaboration between Qingjian and Santarli”.
Huttons’ Mr Yip said: “Housing Board upgraders were out in force, snapping up all the units allocated to second-timers within the first three hours of sales booking.”
PropNex’s Mr Gafoor said the take-up rate was well within expectations, and “continues to affirm the resilient demand for ECs among Singaporean families, amid dwindling inventory of EC units and rising home prices”.
ERA Singapore CEO Marcus Chu said the robust demand was expected, as it is possibly the only EC launch in 2023. “Copen Grand EC, launched in the fourth quarter of 2022, was fully sold within just one month,” he said. THE BUSINESS TIMES
