UOL to preview Waterbank at Dakota

CapitaLand, meanwhile, sells 110 Interlace units over the weekend

THE property launch scene continues to buzz. UOL Group is expected to preview its 99-year leasehold Waterbank at Dakota condo this week at prices ranging from above $1,000 per square foot to around $1,300 psf.

Over the Good Friday weekend, CapitaLand sold a total 110 units at The InterLace in the Alexandra Road area at $850-1,300 psf. The property giant has sold more than 390 of the 490 units it has released to date in the 1,040-unit, 99-year leasehold condo.

A CapitaLand spokeswoman said yesterday that units in the latest phase are priced about 3-5 per cent higher than the phase one units released in September last year (at $850-1,150 psf) as there are more units in the recent batch on higher floors or with better facing.

TID Pte Ltd – a joint venture between Hong Leong Group Singapore and Japan’s Mitsui Fudosan – also found buyers for 23 of the 40 units it released last week at its 65-unit Nathan Suites. The units fetched prices ranging from slightly below $2,000 psf to $2,300 psf; the average price achieved is $2,100 psf.

The 24-storey freehold project at Nathan Road, opposite the Malaysian High Commission, comprises two, three and four-bedroom apartments as well as penthouses ranging from about 915 sq ft to 4,800 sq ft.

Meanwhile, at Sentosa Cove, Ho Bee and IOI sold six units at The Seascape last week, taking total sales in the project to 31, while City Developments Ltd (CDL) sold another five units of The Residences at W Singapore Sentosa Cove, taking sales to 19 units. CDL is selling its development at $2,500-3,000 psf while units at Seascape cost $2,619-2,880 psf, based on earlier reports.

Next week, Tiong Aik group is expected to preview Starlight Suites at River Valley Close. The freehold 35-storey condo could be priced at about $2,000 psf on average. Starlight Suites has a total of 105 units, comprising one bedders to a four-bedroom penthouse. Unit sizes range from 560 sq ft to 3,401 sq ft.

This week, though, the spotlight will fall along Geylang River, where UOL will preview its Waterbank at Dakota, which is next to the Dakota MRT Station that is slated to open later this month.

Market watchers say that this would be probably the first residential project to come on the market without bay windows and planter boxes, leaving more net liveable area for residents.

A ruling that took effect on Jan 1, 2009, scrapped the exemption of these features from gross floor area for submissions for provisional permission.

UOL is expected to release about 200 of the project’s total of 616 units initially. Unit sizes range from 484 sq ft for a one bedder to 2,820 sq ft for a penthouse. Next door, NTUC Choice Homes and Ho Bee are left with about 50 units at Dakota Residences comprising mostly four bedders facing the river. The developers began selling the project, which has a total of 348 units, in June 2008 at about $970 psf on average but trimmed prices by 5-8 per cent during last year’s relaunch.

Joseph Tan, CB Richard Ellis executive director (residential), notes that developers have revved up overseas marketing campaigns in places such as Hong Kong, Jakarta, Shanghai and Beijing of late to ride on a pick-up in foreign buying interest.

DTZ executive director (consulting) Ong Choon Fah says that developers’ launch strategies in the coming months will differ depending on the market segment they cater to.

For instance, demand from foreign buyers is more significant at the high end than in the other segments. Developers of such projects are more likely to calibrate launches, ensuring that supply keeps pace with a much smaller pool of buyers.

For mass and mid-market projects, on the other hand, developers would be more inclined to push out projects as buying interest remains strong in these segments.

Developers also face greater competition in the mass market category as the government releases new sites, whereas in the luxury sector, new land supply will be introduced at a slower clip, given the huge price gap between buyers’ and sellers’ expectations for en bloc sales.

Source: Business Times, 6 Apr 2010