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FOREIGN buyers are flocking to The Arc at Draycott, another luxury freehold project with apartment prices starting from $1.9 million.

A Hong Kong buyer has already snapped up five three- to four-bedroom units of the 58-unit development in the Ardmore-Draycott area.

And a Pakistani investor has bought two units, including the penthouse on the top floor.

BS Capital, which is developing The Arc, said local and foreign buyers from Hong Kong, Britain, France, Germany, New Zealand and Indonesia have shown strong interest.

The 36-storey condominium, which was previewed in Hong Kong, will be launched this weekend. Units - which range from 1,130 to 4,144 sq ft - cost an average $1,800-$1,850 per sq ft (psf), said CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), which is jointly marketing the project with Savills.

Sources said that since last October, there have been 25 caveats lodged for The Arc at $1,800 psf on average, one of which was lodged in January. Lodging a caveat is a key legal step in buying a property.

BS Capital bought the condominium site - formerly Falcon Crest - in September 2004 through a collective sale for $40 million, or $671 psf of potential gross floor area.

Its maiden project - 16 good class bungalows carved out of a 276,118 sq ft site at Bishopsgate - has seen higher prices, with the most recent deal hitting $579 psf, a level not seen since 1996, said a CBRE statement yesterday.

Set up in 2003 by a former director of now-troubled Citiraya Industries, Mr Raymond Ng, BS Capital also bought HMC Building near Shenton Way, for $20.5 million last year.

The firm said its next project is a 43-storey residential development that will be among the first few in the central business district to offer home-office living concepts.

Source : Straits Times - 9 Mar 2006

The Arc sees strong foreign interest; Yishun houses also launched this week

BS Capital’s The Arc at Draycott luxury apartment project and Allgreen Properties’ The Shaughnessy cluster housing development in Yishun are being officially launched this weekend, marking the start of ad campaigns, following earlier previews.

BS Capital has sold 39 of the total 58 units at its freehold project, The Arc at Draycott, for about $1,700 per sq ft on average since November/December last year when it first marketed the project in Hong Kong and Jakarta.

It is now raising the average price for the remaining 19 units to about $1,800 psf.

Foreigners are understood to have bought about 60 per cent of the units sold so far in the 36-storey development.

The 4,144 sq ft duplex penthouse was sold for $7.25 million to a Pakistani investor, who also bought another apartment in the development. A Hong Kong family bought five units.

The project has also seen strong interest from British, French, German, New Zealand and Indonesian buyers.

‘We have received a very encouraging response from buyers around the globe during our soft preview,’ BS Capital’s CEO Chin Teck Chuan said in a statement yesterday. CB Richard Ellis and Savills are jointly marketing The Arc.

The remaining 19 apartments in the project are mostly two or three-bedroom units with prices ranging from $1.9 million to $2.5 million.

BS Capital is developing The Arc at Draycott on the former Falcon Crest site which it bought in 2004 for $40 million through a collective sale.

That price worked out to $671 psf of potential gross floor area inclusive of an estimated development charge of $11.25 million. The breakeven cost was reported at about $1,000 to $1,100 psf at the time.

Over in the Yishun area, Allgreen is also raising the average price of The Shaughnessy, a 99-year leasehold strata terrace housing project, from $245 psf during the preview in October last year to $250 psf for this weekend’s official launch.

It is releasing another 28 units now after selling all 50 units which it had earlier released during the preview.

The project comprises a total of 254 units of three-storey strata terrace houses which come with a roof garden plus a basement.

The strata areas of the units range from 3,250 sq ft to 4,300 sq ft, says marketing agent DTZ Debenham Tie Leung. Prices range from $790,000 to $890,000 per unit. The developer is offering buyers a deferred payment scheme.

BS Capital is also expected to release later this year a 43-storey development in the Shenton Way area called The Lumiere.

The CBD apartments will offer a ‘home-office living concept’. BS Capital will develop the project on the site currently occupied by the HMC Building at Mistri Road.

Source : Business Times - 9 Mar 2006

Bullish prices for higher-end units hark back to 1996 property boom

IN A sign that the high-end property market may be fast edging back to the boom-time price levels of 1996, six units at Cairnhill Crest have been sold for more than $2,000 per square foot (psf).

These prices are reminiscent of the heyday of the property boom, when luxury freehold projects such as Ardmore Parkcommanded record prices of above $2,000 psf.

Market watchers said the Cairnhill Crest figures were unexpected because even though the luxury market is heating up, such bullish prices tend to be seen only at ultra-posh niche developments.

The project, developed by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka Shing’s Cheung Kong Holdings, was launched last October and is regarded by some property experts as being as a notch below that in the luxury stakes.

SC Global’s The Ladyhill, for instance, sold two units for more than $2,000 psf in July and October last year. The 55-unit development in the exclusive Nassim Hill area has won a slew of architectural awards.

Another prestigious SC Global project, the 46-unit The Boulevard Residence at Cuscaden Walk, sold a 2,034 sq ft condominum in October at a record price of $2,200 psf, a level not seen since the late 1990s.

In contrast, Cairnhill Crest, with 248 units, is a ‘different category of product’, said Knight Frank’s director of research and consultancy, Mr Nicholas Mak.

‘It is surprising that Cairnhill Crest can reach the same prices as Ardmore Park, which is the benchmark of luxury condos.

‘If that area can sell at above $2,000 psf, then other areas would go even higher than that, which means we could see a 20 to 25 per cent rise in luxury home prices this quarter.’

Cheung Kong said yesterday that it has so far sold 180 units at an average price of $1,705 psf or $2.6 million per unit.

Of the six units sold at over $2,000 psf, two were four-bedroom units averaging 2,013 sq ft, while the rest were three-bedroom units at 1,733 sq ft, Cheung Kong said. The most expensive unit sold was a 3,057 sq ft penthouse, which went for $5.5 million.

The developer plans to release the remaining units in three batches over the next six months, with prices rising up to $2,300 psf for the remaining unsold penthouse, said Cheung Kong’s deputy chief manager of sales, Mr Francis Wong.

‘We actually planned a second launch but now we don’t need that because our sales are already 40 per cent above our initial target,’ he added.

The first batch of 20 new units, due to come on the market in mid-March, will be priced between $1,850 and $1,870 psf.

But the average price of the final batch of units, which will be released in the third quarter, should hit $2,000 psf, Mr Wong said.

That batch will also include the last of the condominum’s 10 penthouses, which Cheung Kong said it deliberately held back from sale in anticipation of a further increase in luxury home prices. The other nine penthouses, averaging 2,500 sq ft each, have been sold at an average price of $1,968 psf and were all snapped up by foreigners.

In fact, 72 per cent of the units at Cairnhill Crest were sold to foreigners from places such as Indonesia, Hong Kong, China and Australia, he said.

He said one unnamed Indian buyer from Mumbai splurged on four units over three months, paying $14.5 million in total. He kept two units for his own use and is planning to lease out the other two.

And although more than 10 buyers bought at least two units, Mr Wong said there is no evidence of speculative activity.

Source : Straits Times - 24 Feb 2006

HONG Kong-based developer Cheung Kong Holdings is resuming sales of its Cairnhill Crest project, with a launch planned next month.

Property consultants say a three-bedroom unit that went for $2,045 per square foot in January was a recent high. A Chinese national who purchased it paid around $3.5 million.

Last October, a record was set at $2,200 psf for a three-bedroom unit at The Boulevard Residence at Cuscaden Walk in the Orchard Road area.

Sixty-eight units, or 27.4 per cent, of Cairnhill Crest’s total of 248 remain unsold. They are one to four-bedroom units, ranging from 818 sq ft to 2,016 sq ft. A penthouse of over 2,500 sq ft is available; the other penthouses are off the market.

Cheung Kong is releasing the remaining units in batches of 20 or so over three phases from mid-March, with the aim of selling everything by the third quarter of this year.

While Cheung Kong’s management is still finalising pricing, deputy chief sales manager Francis Wong said that prices are likely to be increased by 5 per cent with each release. In the past few months, apartments were sold at between $1,248 psf and $2,045 psf.

For the batch in March, Mr Wong is expecting the average price to hit $1,800 psf. On average, the project’s prices have reached $1,705 psf, according to Mr Wong. He added that over 70 per cent of the units are sold at about $1,400 psf.

Over 70 per cent of the buyers are foreigners, led by the Indonesians. One customer - an Indian national - bought four units of the development, while another 10, from various countries, bought two units each, Mr Wong told BT.

Cairnhill Crest has an ‘investment plan’, where it pays the monthly mortgage for three years if the buyer agrees to delegate full authority on all leasing issues within that period. The scheme was taken up by 52 per cent of its buyers.

Property consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle, which is handling the leasing, said that the lease price is between $4.80 psf and $7 psf, depending on whether the units are furnished or not. JLL national director (residential) Jacqueline Wong said that a typical three-bedroom unit would cost about $7,000 to $9,000 monthly. The yield for owners is an average of 4.2 per cent annually.

Mr Wong said that Cheung Kong is constantly looking out for new land to purchase for residential development. ‘Our group is very optimistic about the future of Singapore,’ he said. ‘The recovery of the property market can last for three to five years.’

Source : Business Times - 24 Feb 2006

CDL may sell premium project at prices topping those of the last property boom

CITY Developments’ (CDL’s) super luxury St Regis Residences being built in the exclusive Cuscaden/Tomlinson area could be offered for sale at record-busting prices of $2,600 per sq ft (psf) - well above the top prices at the height of the property boom in 1996-1997.

That is according to Credit Suisse analysts, quoting sources in the know.

‘According to our sources, pricing could be as high as $2,600 psf, as the list of interested buyers continues to grow,’ said a Credit Suisse report yesterday. ‘We remain conservative and have only imputed an average price of $2,100 psf in our forecasts.’

St Regis Residences have been described by CDL as a premium product, with many large units of 400 sq m (4,310 sq ft) in size. It will have three- to four-bedroom units and penthouses.

Assuming the 400 sq m units are priced at $2,100 psf, each one will cost at least $9 million.

St Regis Residences will have all the perks of the St Regis Hotel, including access to St Regis’ much-touted 24-hour butler service, hotel-style room service and cleaning, but residents must pay ongoing fees for these.

Property watchers expect the property to set a new price benchmark in the market. If it is sold at $2,600 psf, it would be a new record for Singapore. Ardmore Park, long seen as having Singapore’s most expensive homes, achieved a high of $2,400 psf in the 1996-1997 peak.

‘St Regis is in a class of its own. If you have a very different product, you will set a new benchmark,’ said DTZ Debenham Tie Leung’s executive director, Mrs Ong Choon Fah.

An industry source said more foreign buyers were expected to buy for prestige reasons.

Prices in the luxury homes market climbed by about 20 per cent last year and could rise by 10 to 15 per cent this year, though the recovery has yet to filter down to the mass market, said property consultancy Savills.

St Regis Residences, which is on a 999-year leasehold site and next to the new six-star St Regis Hotel, could be launched next month. Both developments are jointly owned by CDL, Hong Leong Holdings and TID.

It will be the first of at least five projects that CDL has lined up for launch this year, as it looks to replicate its residential sales success last year, said the Credit Suisse report. Last year, CDL, together with Hong Leong Group, sold 2,300 residential units, taking the top spot with a 30 per cent market share.

The other projects lined up include its 264-unit Sentosa Cove condominium, which could be priced at $1,200 psf on average and launched in the middle of the year, said Credit Suisse.

A 214-unit condominium at the freehold King’s Centre site could be launched in the first half at $930 psf on average, followed by a 360-unit block at the 99-year leasehold 1, Shenton Way site in the third quarter and possibly priced at $1,100 psf on average.

By year-end, CDL may launch its 999-year leasehold Pasir Ris site, which could have 600 units priced at $580 psf on average.

Credit Suisse is forecasting that CDL, which will report its full-year results next Tuesday, will achieve a net profit of $207 million.

Source : Straits Times - 23 Feb 2006