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SOILBUILD will sell a ’sky villa’ and two penthouses in its freehold 44-unit Leonie Parc View through an auction by Christie’s and Colliers International, the developer said yesterday.

Leonie Parc View

‘We expect the sky villa and penthouses to appeal to both foreign and local investors, commanding prices in the region of $3,200 to $3,600 per square foot (psf),’ said Grace Ng, Colliers International’s auctioneer. Colliers will jointly conduct the auction with Christie’s Great Estates exclusive affiliate Ken Jacobs.

Leonie Parc View is located on Leonie Hill Road in the prime District 9. The development comprises one sky villa, three penthouses and 40 four-bedroom units.

The project has been previewing overseas since late April. Following roadshows in Hong Kong and Indonesia, 18 of the 20 units released were sold through private placements to overseas buyers, with prices ranging from $2,600 to $3,000 psf, said Jerry Tan, managing director of property firm JTResi, which is handling the preview sales. The rest of the units will be released at a later date, Soilbuild said.

The double-storey sky villa is an expansive 7,000 sq ft and comes with a private lap pool on its upper level. The other two penthouses are 2,900 and 3,000 sq ft. The by-invitation-only auction is slated for June 8 at 3pm at the Raffles Hotel.

Low Soon Sim, executive director of Soilbuild, said: ‘Through this auction, we intend to reach out to a wider group of international investors seeking a presence in a global city like Singapore.’

Source : Business Times - 22 May 2007

With Sentosa nearby, it could well be converted to a boutique hotel

Real estate services firm C B Richard Ellis has announced the public tender sale of Pasir Panjang Village.

Located at the junction of South Buona Vista Road and Pasir Panjang Road, the freehold Pasir Panjang Village consists of a row of 14 conserved two-and-a-half-storey shophouses that are adjacent to the Village Centre.

The 22,000-sq-ft site is zoned for both commercial and residential use. With a gross plot ratio of 3.0 in the 2003 Master Plan, there is a possibility of maximising the plot ratio to convert it into a boutique hotel, given its proximity to Sentosa.

Pasir Panjang Village is surrounded by residential developments and is across the road from Pasir Panjang Distripark. It is also a short drive from the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre, West Coast Car Mart, the Science Park and the National University of Singapore.

“The asking price of Pasir Panjang Village is $30 million. At this price, the potential buyer can expect a return of above 3-per-cent yield, which is quite attractive, compared to the banks’ fixed deposit rates and current yield payouts by some listed Reits,” said Mr Charles Hoon, director of investment properties at C B Richard Ellis.

The company has also announced the public tender sale of 18 Howard Road.

The freehold industrial 42,800-sq-ft site is located at the corner of Howard Road and MacTaggart Road, off MacPherson Road. Zoned for Business 1 in the 2003 Master Plan, it lies within a well-established industrial estate near the future site of the Tai Seng MRT station.

The asking price for 18 Howard Road is $18 million, or $164 per square foot (psf) per plot ratio. Potential developers can expect a breakeven price of slightly above $300psf.

“The industrial sector is currently laggard and has great potential for future growth, compared to the office, retail and industrial sectors where prices are close to the previous peak of 1996/1997.

“Optimism in the industrial sector is also fuelled by expectations that the economy is set to grow by five per cent for the next five years,” said Mr Hoon.

C B Richard Ellis is the sole marketing agent for both properties. The tender exercises for 18 Howard Road closes on June 12 at 3pm. The tender for Pasir Panjang Village closes on June 13 at 3pm.

Source : Weekend Today - 19 May 2007

Not a single property sold yesterday at a highly touted auction for owner-sales of apartments in the hot spots of Marina Bay/CBD and Sentosa Cove.

Twenty-one properties were offered. And in most cases the opening prices sought by the auctioneers were not even met. In a few cases there were some bids, but these were below the owners’ reserve prices.

However, CKS Property Consultants, which conducted the auction, is unfazed by the result and confident of selling the properties post-auction through private treaty deals.

CKS spokeswoman Valerie Ho attributed the poor response at yesterday’s auction to bidder shyness. ‘Bidders were predominantly local and they may still not be used to the idea of buying a home at an auction,’ she said. ‘And this is the first attempt to have an auction featuring solely properties put up for sale by owners.

‘There has been a lot of interest after the auction. We expect a lot of negotiations and transactions over the weekend for this batch of properties. We also have a few potential buyers from Indonesia who are coming to our office next week for discussions.’

Ms Ho reckons the asking prices set by owners are reasonable.

A long-time market watcher who attended yesterday’s auction generally agreed, pointing for instance to the $1.3 million or $1,050 psf opening price sought for a 40th floor two-bedroom unit with a study/loft at Icon at Tanjong Pagar, and the $2.5 million ($1,408 psf) opening asking price for a three-bedroom, 12th floor unit at The Oceanfront @ Sentosa Cove. ‘The thing to remember is that these are all sub-sale properties and usually their asking prices are lower than what is being charged by developers for newer project launches in the location,’ the market watcher said.

‘But the problem right now is that there are so many sub-sale units in these so called hot-spot locations that, frankly, you can easily pick one up from the classifieds. No need to come to an auction looking for such units - unless the pricing or facing is very attractive.’

Also, from a potential buyer’s perspective there is a disincentive in buying in the sub-sale market as developers will not extend deferred payment schemes they may have given to initial buyers to sub-sale buyers, the market watcher added.

Properties on offer yesterday included the entire 57th floor, comprising seven apartments, at The Sail @ Marina Bay Tower 2.

The auctioneer’s opening asking price was $10 million but there were no takers.

Three units at One Shenton were also offered.

Source : Business Times - 13 Apr 2007

BIDDING WAR: Auctions are gradually shredding the stigma of being associated with morgtgagee sales, says property agency CKS. It is arranging an auction next week for eight homes in high-end projects such as Icon.

A SMALL group of home owners are putting their luxury apartments up for auction, but not because they cannot afford them.

These sellers are hoping a bidding war will yield higher profits for their homes than if they go down the normal sales routes.

Eight homes go under the hammer next Thursday. All are in popular projects - The Sail @ Marina Bay, The Oceanfront and The Coast at Sentosa Cove, Caribbean at Keppel Bay and Icon at Tanjong Pagar - where several units have already changed hands.

All the condos are 99-year leasehold and are not yet ready for occupation.

These home sellers are the clients of property agency CKS Property Consultants, which hit on the idea of using an auction as a sales channel.

CKS said yesterday that this would be one of the first auctions in Singapore comprising only owners’ properties.

Usually, property auctions here are conducted regularly by bigger property firms and include both owners’ properties as well as repossessed assets.

But CKS believes that auctions are gradually shedding the stigma of being associated with mortgagee sales.

‘More Singaporeans are eager to utilise the mode of auction to fetch lucrative prices for their properties,’ it said in a statement.

Its clients see this auction as the best way to take advantage of the booming demand for high-end property, the agency added.

‘Though many of them have already attracted offers via open listings, they want to generate wider exposure for their properties so as to capture the highest, most competitive price possible,’ CKS told The Straits Times.

The agency will absorb the administrative fees of the auction, which amounts to $1,000 for each property.

The auction, which will be called ‘hot spots’, will be held next Thursday at 2.30pm on Level 6 of Raffles City Tower.

CKS is not the first to jump on the auction bandwagon.

Property auctioneers have been seeing an increasing number of owners’ sales, as more sellers turn to auctions as an alternative sales method for luxury homes.

Last weekend, developer Tuan Sing Holdings held the first auction of uncompleted condo units in Singapore.

It put 12 units at its high-end Botanika in Holland Road on offer and sold them all at prices within its expectations.

While the units fetched benchmark prices of up to $2,400 per sq ft, reports said the bidding was slow-going, partly because of the high value of the properties.

But while the Botanika auction was open only to invited bidders, the ‘hot spots’ auction is welcoming all interested buyers and investors.

Source : Straits Times - 05 Apr 2007

The fourth level of Heartland Mall near Kovan MRT Station was sold for $8.5 million on Thursday at a DTZ Debenham Tie Leung auction. According to some auction regulars present, the buyers are believed to be members of the Cheong family who developed International Plaza on Anson Road and who still have some units there.

The family members are believed to be cousins of Simon Cheong of SC Global Developments fame. The other star attraction at the auction - Jurong Reptile Park - was withdrawn after receiving a top offer of $860,000. But immediately after the auction, an individual is said to have made an offer of over $1 million and negotiations are expected to take place. The investor is expected to continue leasing out the retail outlets at the park. However, he may remove the reptiles and introduce some new sports and recreational attraction.

The 206,304-square-foot site has a remaining lease of about nine years. The park - formerly known as Jurong Crocodile Paradise - drew four bidders. The opening price of $1.8 million sought by DTZ auctioneer Shaun Poh found no takers. Instead, there was a counter offer by a bidder at $600,000, and bidding continued until it reached a high of $860,000, at which point the property was withdrawn.

The property was put up for sale by liquidator Stone Forest Corporate Advisory Pte Ltd.

The fourth floor of Heartland Mall drew just one bid - of $8.5 million - from the Cheong family. But that was good enough for seller Wang Lei Investment, understood to be linked to the company that owns karaoke chain Kbox. The space comprises six units adding up to 21,131 square feet of lettable area. Five of the units are leased until August 2012 to private schools, at a combined monthly rental of about $67,200. This reflects a net yield of just over 8 per cent. The four-storey mall stands on a site with a remaining lease of 76 years.

Wang Lei bought the six units for $6.8 million from mortgagee Maybank last year.

Source : Business Times - 31 Mar 2007