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Straits Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Local buyers are key to recovery of prime district condo market
Find out what's new on ST website and app. The strong weekend showing also comes after two years of tepid sales of new prime district condos, which plummeted to a record low of 46 units sold in the second quarter of 2025. SINGAPORE – When Malaysia's IOI Properties began pre-sales for its 683-unit, 99-year leasehold condo W Residences Marina View in Singapore's Central Business District on July 13, only two units were reportedly booked. It was a sign of how foreign buyers, deterred by hefty taxes on their property purchases, were still giving the luxury housing segment a miss. But just a week later, two new prime district condos, UpperHouse at Orchard Boulevard and The Robertson Opus in Unity Street – the only 999-year residential project launch in District 9 this year – collectively sold 303 units over their July 19 launch weekend. This is above the 253 new units sold in the third quarter of 2023 after foreign buyers were slapped with a 60 per cent additional buyer's stamp duty (ABSD) in April 2023. The strong weekend showing also comes after two years of tepid sales of new prime district condos, which plummeted to a record low of 46 units sold in the second quarter of 2025, according to PropNex. The dry spell afflicting prime district condos appears to be lifting, with UpperHouse and The Robertson Opus poised to boost prime district transactions to a two-year quarterly high in the third quarter this year. These units have become more appealing as the price gap between prime district condos and those in the city fringe has narrowed substantially. As a result, they offer better value to local buyers, who were primarily behind the weekend's strong showing at the two launches. The gap between the median price per square foot (psf) of new homes in the prime district and city fringe areas has narrowed from a high of 56.5 per cent in 2018 to a mere 1.9 per cent in the first half of 2025, Huttons Asia chief executive Mark Yip noted. Furthermore, the three-month compounded Singapore Overnight Rate Average, or Sora rates, have dipped below 2 per cent in July 2025, lowering borrowing costs, he added. An artist's illustration of The Robertson Opus in Unity Street. PHOTO: FRASERS PROPERTY, SEKISUI HOUSE As a result, more than 93 per cent of new non-landed private homes in the prime district in the first half of the year were bought by Singapore Permanent Residents and Singaporeans. PropNex chief executive Kelvin Fong noted that the average $3,350 psf price transacted at UpperHouse is among the most competitive prices for a luxury condo launch in the prime Orchard Road area. In comparison, the 54-unit freehold Park Nova luxury condo in Tomlinson Road recorded a median price of $4,979 psf when it first launched in May 2021. On a quantum basis, transacted prices of UpperHouse's one-bedders began at nearly $1.4 million, while two-bedders ranged from $2.1 million to $2.7 million. At The Robertson Opus, some 41 per cent of its 348 units were sold on July 20. The units fetched an average price of $3,360 psf. Transacted prices of its one-bedders (495 sq ft) ranged from $1.59 million to $1.67 million, while two-bedders (689 to 721 sq ft) sold for between $2.17 million and $2.63 million, according to PropNex. In comparison, W Residences – which will sit atop the 360-room five-star W Singapore hotel – said it is offering selected units at special preview prices starting from just above $3,20 0 psf. That means prices of the cheapest one-bedroom units (538 sq ft to 570 sq ft) start at above $1.8 million. When asked how it plans to boost demand, IOI Properties said on July 22 that 'interest has been encouraging, with units already reserved or under negotiation'. A spokesman added that further release plans will be evaluated when the preview ends. With several more prime district and centrally located projects expected to be launched in the coming months, developers may become more strategic in their marketing plans and pricing, ERA key executive officer Eugene Lim said. This can be seen in the starting prices for River Green in the prime district of River Valley, and the nearby city fringe condo Promenade Peak at Zion Road. River Green's starting price of $2,846 psf and Promenade Peak's starting price of $2,680 psf appear to be a sweet spot for buyers of centrally located new launches. Both projects, which will launch on Aug 2, saw robust demand during July previews. Two more centrally located condos could begin pre-sales in October: prime district project Skye at Holland, and Zyon Grand at Zion Road, a city fringe project. Whether the rebound in new prime district condo sales can be sustained will depend on the take-up rates of the upcoming prime district and centrally located new launches. Mr Nicholas Mak, chief research officer at said this also hinges on whether prices of the new prime district launches are within 'an acceptable price range' – which appears to be the lower end of the $3,000 psf range for 99 year-leasehold launches, and between $3,250 and $3,500 psf for freehold developments. With the hefty ABSD still in place for residential property purchases by foreign buyers, the only way to keep local buyers interested in prime district properties is to ensure that prices are accessible to them , especially in the face of growing economic uncertainty.
The Star
13-07-2025
- Business
- The Star
Singapore's first home launch since new curbs sells over 90%
Singapore (Bloomberg): Singapore's first mass-market private residential project launched since new curbs were introduced saw the development almost all taken as homes were sold at lower-than-usual prices. The LyndenWoods development sold 324 units Saturday, the first day it started to accept bookings, CapitaLand Development said in a statement the same evening. That's about 94% of the 343 units to be built at a business park in the city's south. The launch came over a week after the introduction of surprise measures targeting speculators in the property market. Owners must now hold their homes for at least four years if they want to avoid paying a seller's tax, from three previously, while those who still choose to do so face higher levies than before. CapitaLand Development - part of CapitaLand Group that's owned by Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings Pte. - said LyndenWoods homes were sold at an average price of S$2,450 ($1,914) per square foot to mainly professionals, couples and families who were attracted by its long-term investment potential. That's lower than median rates for similar units across Singapore and the district. Another project about a mile away has sold less than half of its 358 units after its launch earlier this year. The early performance may validate policymakers' concerns about a trend of flipping properties for a quick profit, which had driven a renewed jump in home prices and risked affecting affordability in one of the world's most expensive residential markets. More than two blank checks were submitted for each unit at LyndenWoods - a step typically taken by interested buyers to ballot for units - and its sales show that "buyers are not concerned' about the extension of the sellers' tax, Mark Yip, chief executive officer of real estate agency Huttons Asia Pte., said in a statement. Private home prices grew for a third straight quarter in the three months ended June, although the pace slowed to 0.5%, preliminary data show. Not all projects have outperformed. High-end homes in the central business district have struggled since seperate curbs in 2023 raised levies on foreigner purchases, and the projects have been less popular among local buyers due to relatively higher pricing and a lack of amenities. One such luxury project boasting over 680 units, W Residences Marina View, was also slated to accept bookings on Saturday. IOI Properties Group Bhd., its Malaysian developer, has not publicly released data on its performance. More projects are lined up for sale in coming weeks, and may give further clues of how buyers are digesting the measures. The opening sales weekend for private projects usually sees the bulk of transactions, and is closely watched for an indication of market sentiment. -- ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
Malaysian Reserve
13-07-2025
- Business
- Malaysian Reserve
Singapore's first home launch since new curbs sells over 90%
SINGAPORE'S first mass-market private residential project launched since new curbs were introduced saw the development almost all taken as homes were sold at lower-than-usual prices. The LyndenWoods development sold 324 units Saturday, the first day it started to accept bookings, CapitaLand Development said in a statement the same evening. That's about 94% of the 343 units to be built at a business park in the city's south. The launch came over a week after the introduction of surprise measures targeting speculators in the property market. Owners must now hold their homes for at least four years if they want to avoid paying a seller's tax, from three previously, while those who still choose to do so face higher levies than before. CapitaLand Development — part of CapitaLand Group that's owned by Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings Pte. — said LyndenWoods homes were sold at an average price of S$2,450 ($1,914) per square foot to mainly professionals, couples and families who were attracted by its long-term investment potential. That's lower than median rates for similar units across Singapore and the district. Another project about a mile away has sold less than half of its 358 units after its launch earlier this year. The early performance may validate policymakers' concerns about a trend of flipping properties for a quick profit, which had driven a renewed jump in home prices and risked affecting affordability in one of the world's most expensive residential markets. More than two blank checks were submitted for each unit at LyndenWoods — a step typically taken by interested buyers to ballot for units — and its sales show that 'buyers are not concerned' about the extension of the sellers' tax, Mark Yip, chief executive officer of real estate agency Huttons Asia Pte., said in a statement. Private home prices grew for a third straight quarter in the three months ended June, although the pace slowed to 0.5%, preliminary data show. Not all projects have outperformed. High-end homes in the central business district have struggled since seperate curbs in 2023 raised levies on foreigner purchases, and the projects have been less popular among local buyers due to relatively higher pricing and a lack of amenities. One such luxury project boasting over 680 units, W Residences Marina View, was also slated to accept bookings on Saturday. IOI Properties Group Bhd., its Malaysian developer, has not publicly released data on its performance. More projects are lined up for sale in coming weeks, and may give further clues of how buyers are digesting the measures. The opening sales weekend for private projects usually sees the bulk of transactions, and is closely watched for an indication of market sentiment. –BLOOMBERG
Business Times
10-07-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Q3 wave of condo launches will test demand for Singapore prime projects above S$3,000 psf benchmark
[SINGAPORE] A wave of new condominium launches in the coming weeks will pose a litmus test of buyer appetite for prime properties, with prices pushing past S$3,000 per square foot (psf) for several projects. Some 10 new projects offering about 4,750 homes are expected to be marketed in July and August, before the start of the Hungry Ghost Festival. Beginning in the last week of August, the month-long event is a seasonally slow period for the property market. Four of these projects are in the prime Core Central Region (CCR): W Residences Marina View, The Robertson Opus, Upperhouse at Orchard Boulevard, and River Green. Another two – Amber House in the east and Promenade Peak at Zion Road – have Rest of Central Region (RCR) addresses, but will likely be priced close to CCR benchmarks due to their location. In September, two more centrally located condos could be launched: Skye at Holland at Holland Drive, and Zyon Grand at Zion Road. Within the CCR, some 1,857 homes will be marketed – the largest number of new units there since 2021, said Mark Yip, chief executive officer of Huttons Asia. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Tuesday, 12 pm Property Insights Get an exclusive analysis of real estate and property news in Singapore and beyond. Sign Up Sign Up PropNex chief executive officer Ismail Gafoor noted that for the whole of 2023, only two new prime condos totalling 258 units were launched; in 2024, three projects offered 571 units. There was just one CCR condo (the 367-unit The Collective at One Sophia) launched in the fourth quarter of 2024, and two smaller projects (the 188-unit Aurea and the 18-unit 21 Anderson) in the first half of 2025. Property players will be watching the upcoming launches closely, to determine strategies for a market where high-end condo sales have been squashed by cooling measures and overall sentiment is soft. Developers' sales of new projects fell sharply in Q2 2025 after a surge in buying in the two quarters before. Across all regions, total new sales were down 66 per cent at 1,124 units in Q2. The batch of CCR projects this quarter will bring not just a step-up in supply, but also higher price points than the mass-market condos that sold well in the past. Alan Cheong, executive director of research and consultancy at Savills Singapore, said: 'We don't expect demand to flood in, like what we saw for a few projects in the RCR and Outside Central Region (OCR) in 2024 and early 2025. Once developers have established S$3,000 psf as the benchmark, subsequent new launches in the CCR will build on that baseline.' While the boost in supply at the top of the market is raising some concerns, 'over time, if the pricing remains flexible, you will see take-up come in at a steady rate', he added. Palatable prices for local buyers IOI Properties' W Residences Marina View, a 683-unit branded residences project being built on top of a new W hotel, begins booking sales this Saturday (Jul 12), with prices starting above S$2.1 million for the smallest one-bedroom units. On a psf basis, prices are estimated to range from S$3,800 to S$6,000 psf. In the River Valley area, the first out of the gate is the 999-year leasehold The Robertson Opus, followed by three 99-year leasehold condos bunched around the River Valley Green and Zion Road locale. Prices for The Robertson Opus, a Frasers Property-Sekisui House project, start from S$3,150 psf. Wing Tai will begin previews for its 524-unit River Green on Jul 17. UOL and Singapore Land have also started marketing Upperhouse at Orchard Boulevard, with agents advertising indicative prices from just under S$3,000 psf to about S$3,500 psf. The last 99-year leasehold project launched in the Orchard area was Cuscaden Reserve, released in 2019 at prices ranging from S$3,300 to S$3,500 psf. The boost in new CCR supply, most of it coming out of government land sale sites, is likely to cap prices at levels palatable to local buyers. PropNex's Gafoor anticipates that 'developers will likely price units sensitively to try to get sales going during the initial stages of the project launch'. The current market is price-sensitive, especially with the broad line-up of launches available, added Justin Quek, Realion's deputy group chief executive officer. Demand in the CCR has been tepid since the government hiked additional buyer's stamp duty (ABSD) rates in April 2023. Foreign buyers, who typically account for a larger share of sales in the CCR compared with the city fringe and suburban areas, stayed away after ABSD for such purchasers was doubled to 60 per cent. Based on caveats data from Realis, foreigners now account for 6.9 per cent of new non-landed private home sales in Q1, and 7.1 per cent in Q2. These figures are among the lowest on a quarterly basis since 2021, said Gafoor. That said, Huttons' Yip noted there were buyers who picked up properties priced above S$4,000 psf in 21 Anderson and Park Nova in Q2 this year. Moreover, in June, a 3,326-square-foot (sq ft) unit at Sculptura Ardmore changed hands at S$20 million or S$6,013 psf, and a new 5,285 sq ft unit at Skywaters Residences was sold for S$30.9 million or S$5,841 psf. 'Window of opportunity' Yip said that as the price gap between properties in the CCR and RCR shrinks to one of the narrowest on record, buyers may view this as a 'window of opportunity' to enter the CCR market. Statistics from ERA research showed that with prices in other regions rising at a faster clip than those in prime areas, the median price difference in H1 2025 between the CCR and RCR has been whittled down to just S$59 psf; between the CCR and OCR, the gap is S$479 psf. Yip believes that with prices benchmarked around S$3,000 psf, new 99-year leasehold CCR condos could be 'very attractive' to buyers. In comparison, the average price of a new freehold or 999-year leasehold project in the CCR has risen 23.4 per cent to S$3,437 psf since 2020, he said. ERA's key executive officer, Eugene Lim, added that in the new Zion Road and River Valley cluster, prices are likely to be relatively competitive, even if neighbouring sites fall under different regions. These projects may also garner more interest from home upgraders, said Gafoor. They are not far from the Bukit Merah public housing estate, where resale values are high and numerous 'million-dollar' flat sales have been transacted. Savills' Cheong added that the government's latest seller's stamp duty (SSD) revisions are unlikely to affect those buying a unit for their own use or rental. 'It should also not affect prices of new launches, as developers (have already sewn up) their marketing strategies and pricing,' he said. 'Nevertheless, it may take the wind out of the sails of those who had crafted the narrative that buyers can flip (their properties) before they even need to draw down on their housing loans, or (need to rent them out), which they may now have to do with the extended SSD period.' Supply boost The increase in CCR supply in Q3 comes amid a significant boost in private housing supply. At least 10 projects are slated for launch, offering close to 5,000 new homes. In comparison, 3,251 units were marketed across six projects in Q1, and 1,526 units were pushed out through five projects in Q2. This upcoming wave of launches is larger than the bumper crop marketed in the last quarter of 2024. In November alone, six projects yielding a total of 3,551 units were launched – among them were Chuan Park, Nava Grove, Emerald of Katong, Novo Place Executive Condominium, and The Collective at One Sophia. The projects rolled out then were in popular residential estates that for some time had not had new launches, and some were attractively priced. Interest rates were also easing, and the economic outlook was brightening. 'You could say that the stars aligned in Q4 2024,' said Tricia Song, head of research for South-east Asia at CBRE. Developers sold about 4,000 new homes that quarter, and rang up another 4,240 units in new sales in the following three months as buying momentum continued – another large batch of new homes was released in Q1 2025. Three major projects – Lentor Central Residences, The Orie in Toa Payoh, and Parktown Residence in Tampines – all notched take-up rates of about 90 per cent over their launch weekends. But sentiment has since turned cautious, with growing tariff stress and geopolitical tensions, as well as fresh downside risks to the economy, said Gafoor of PropNex.
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
URA launches residential sites for sale in Dorset Road, Upper Thomson Road, Telok Blangah Road
SINGAPORE – The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on June 24 released three residential sites in Dorset Road, Upper Thomson Road (Parcel A) and Telok Blangah Road for sale under the H1 2025 Government Land Sales (GLS) programme. The three sites together can yield around 1,765 private homes. The site location area at Dorset Road is 10,399 sq m, with a maximum gross floor area (GFA) of 36,397 sq m and can yield around 425 residential units. As for the Upper Thomson Road (Parcel A) site, its size is 24,421.9 sq m and has a maximum GFA of 53,729 sq m. It can yield around 595 residential units. The Telok Blangah Road site's location area size is 13,688.9 sq m with a maximum GFA of 64,338 sq m, and can yield around 745 residential units. All three sites have a lease period of 99 years, and form part of the 5,030 residential units to be released via the confirmed list of the GLS programme for the first half of 2025. Mr Mark Yip, chief executive officer of Huttons Asia, said the Dorset Road site may see around three bidders and a top bid of $950 to $1,050 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr), thanks to its city fringe location within walking distance of Farrer Park MRT station. 'This area usually sees more boutique projects and there is strong demand for bigger projects. The last major project in the area, Piccadilly Grand sold 77 per cent of its units on launch weekend, reflecting strong interest from residential property buyers for both bigger projects and the area,' he added. He also said that the Upper Thomson Road (Parcel A) site may attract up to three bidders and a top bid between $900 and $950 psf ppr. As for the site in Telok Blangah Road, it could attract a top bid of $1,200 to $1,300 psf ppr, from four to six bidders, according to OrangeTee CEO Justin Quek. It is the first site to be launched for sale in the Greater Southern Waterfront, a transformation project for Singapore, that is part of the 120km southern coastline announced during the 2024 National Day Rally. Additionally, it is the first GLS site in Telok Blangah in 35 years. 'The project will form around 25 per cent of the private housing supply to be built in this area, resulting in limited remaining upcoming private developments at the former Keppel Golf Course site,' explained Mr Quek. The tender for the Dorset Road site will close at noon on Oct 9. As for the Upper Thomson Road (Parcel A) and Telok Blangah Road sites, their tenders will close at the same time on Oct 23 and Nov 4, respectively. URA said on June 24 that 4,725 private residential units will be launched via the second half of 2025 confirmed list, bringing the total confirmed list supply for 2025 to close to 10,000 units. THE BUSINESS TIMES Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction Discover how to enjoy other premium articles here
