SINGAPORE – Freehold condominium Island View in Pasir Panjang will be relaunched for collective sale on March 5. This time, plans are under way to lower the reserve price by 7.5 per cent to $532 million as market sentiment has softened, sole marketing agent PropNex said.
This follows the owners’ previous attempt in 2023, which closed with no bids in October.
The owners are now collecting signatures to get an 80 per cent mandate to cut the reserve price to $532 million, from $575 million previously. Currently, more than 60 per cent of them are in favour of the change.
The original reserve price of $575 million translates to a land rate of $1,634 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr), after factoring in the 7 per cent bonus gross floor area allowed for balconies and an estimated land betterment charge (LBC) of $183 million.
Based on the proposed reserve price of $532 million, the unit land rate will be reduced to $1,542 psf ppr, including the 7 per cent bonus for balconies and LBC.
PropNex collective sales head Laurence Wong said: “Since the previous collective sale tender launch for Island View, the general market sentiment has become more cautious.”
For instance, developers’ sales hit a 15-year low in 2023, financing cost remains high, and private home-buying interest has been “relatively tentative” recently, with some prospective buyers adopting a wait-and-see attitude, he said.
“The decision to lower the reserve price is a strategic move to make the development more attractive to potential buyers, in view of the prevailing market conditions,” he added.
Still, he believes that freehold properties such as Island View will remain “alluring” to home buyers since they tend to retain value better over time. For example, the freehold and newly launched Terra Hill condo sold three large units, ranging in size from 1,894 sq ft to 3,035 sq ft, at an average price of around $2,780 psf in February.
Built in 1984, Island View sits on a sprawling 309,543 sq ft plot along Jalan Mat Jambol in District 5.
Under the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Master Plan 2019, the site is zoned for residential use with a gross plot ratio of 1.4. This means there is potential to redevelop the condo up to five storeys high with 402 new units, based on an average unit size of about 1,075 sq ft.
The tender for the Island View condo closes at 2pm on April 16. THE BUSINESS TIMES
