Projects Spotlight: Ardmore Park, St. Regis Residences & Four Seasons Park

The luxury segment of the market started to see some activity in February and, based on a few of the transactions, it looks like some owners are willing to sell below purchase price.

At the 11-year-old, 330-unit Ardmore Park, for example, the apartment that hit a record price two years ago has changed hands again, albeit at a slightly reduced price. In early 2010, the 2,884sqft, four-bedroom apartment on the 27th level of one of the three towers was sold for $10.64 million, or $3,688psf, an all-time high for Ardmore Park. The unit recently changed hands again at $10.5 million ($3,640psf), which is still the second-highest unit price achieved at Ardmore Park condominium.

“That unit has the best view,” says Samuel Eyo, director of Savills Prestige Homes. “The draw of Ardmore Park is that it sits on one of the largest freehold plots in a prestigious address in the prime district, and it’s the only condominium that boasts two tennis courts and an Olympic-sized swimming pool. In addition, the condo’s design is classic.”

Prior to the transaction in February, there were two others last November. They were those of two lower-floor units in another tower, which are said to overlook a construction site, according to agents familiar with the location. As such, the units changed hands for $8 million ($2,773psf) and $8.3 million ($2,877psf) respectively.

At the 173-unit St Regis Residences on Tanglin Road, a 5,543sqft unit on the 20th level was transacted at $11.7 million ($2,111psf), or 24% lower than the seller’s purchase price of $15.4 million ($2,781psf) in 2006. According to property agents familiar with the deal, the owner was willing to let go of the unit at a lower price because the apartment was in need of renovation. “This is likely to be a one-off deal,” say an agent who declined to be named.

Whether this is likely to be a trend in the luxury segment is difficult to say as yet, concedes Savills’ Eyo. “It really depends on the individual owner’s holding power, and his or her perception of the market. Some owners may be willing to lower their price to facilitate a sale because they have spotted another investment opportunity or want to upgrade to a bigger place, and are therefore more prepared to cash out now,” he says.

At the 202-unit, freehold Four Seasons Park on Cuscaden Walk, a 2,260sqft unit on the 12th level of one of the three towers fetched $5.7 million ($2,522psf) in the resale market recently. There is no prior caveat lodged for this unit. In January, however, a 2,874sqft apartment on the sixth floor of another tower was sold for $7.1 million ($2,470psf). The price achieved is 9.3% higher than the previous transaction in 2009, when the same unit changed hands for $6.5 million ($2,262psf). Prior to that, the unit had changed hands in 1998 for $4.28 million ($1,489psf).

Since the government’s announcement of the additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD) on Dec 8, 2011, Eyo has seen a drop in demand from foreigners for condominiums in the prime districts. The fall has been offset to a certain extent by Singaporeans on the lookout for bargains.

“There is a lot of uncertainty in the market, so some sellers may want to cut losses and exit now because they are afraid that the bank interest rate may increase later on,” says an agent who declined to be named. “On the other hand, there are also buyers who want to enter at this point in the hope of seeing future capital upside.”

Source: THEEDGE SINGAPORE

When an apartment changes hands at a slightly reduced price a few years later, one will usually hear the seller’s lament about the “loss” he/she has incurred in the sale. Singaporeans are so used to the notion of “recouping all costs + making a profit” on their properties that they tend to conveniently forget about the rental that they will have to fork out if they do not own the property that they stay in, or the rental income that they have already enjoyed over the past years of leasing out the apartment.

So unless the apartment concerned had been left vacant all those years, one should really re-look at the concept of “loss” when selling below purchase price…
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Property Spotlight: Cuscaden/Tomlinson Road

The neighbourhood of Cuscaden Road and Tomlinson Road, off Tanglin Road, is attracting the interest of high-net-worth individuals again, largely owing to the upcoming 29-unit boutique luxury condominium development, Hana, by Pontiac Land. The units at the 99-year leasehold Kerry Hill-designed project are said to average 3,500sqft each.

Nearby, Hotel Properties Ltd (HPL), one of the biggest stakeholders in the prime neighbourhood, launched the 70-unit Tomlinson Heights (on the site where Beverly Mai used to stand) in Cuscaden Road in August last year. Of the 30 units launched, 29 have been sold to date. The most recent recorded transaction according to URA was for a 4,004sqft, five-bedroom apartment that was sold for $12.53 million ($3,129psf).

Existing high-end condos in the vicinity are also seeing renewed interest from buyers.

For instance, at the 150-unit freehold Cuscaden Residences, there were two transactions over the week of Sept 26 to 30, based on the latest caveats lodged and downloaded from URA Realis as at Oct 19. One was the sale of a three-bedroom, 1,485sqft unit on the 13th level, which changed hands for $3.33 million ($2,242psf). The seller had purchased it for $2.28 million ($1,533psf) in August 1999 when the project was first launched. The seller saw a price appreciation of about 46%.

The other transaction at Cuscaden Residences was for a 4,951sqft, four-bedroom penthouse, which was sold for $11.2 million ($2,262psf). The previous owner paid just $5.6 million ($1,131psf) for the penthouse in September 2000, seeing prices double in just over a decade. Cuscaden Residences is a twin-tower, 20-storey condo tower developed by HPL and was completed in 2002.

Apartments at Cuscaden Residences have traditionally attracted investors, given the prime Orchard Road location as units there tend to be popular with high-level expatriate executives. The asking prices today are considered “attractive” to buyers, says Ron Phua, a property agent from DWG. However, Phua feels that buying activity is low at the moment “as most investors are putting their property investments on hold owing to uncertainty of the global economy in recent months”. The low transaction level could also have contributed to the “sluggish prices”, he adds.

Adjacent to Cuscaden Residences is the 29-unit and freehold The Tomlinson by Wing Tai Holdings, which was also completed in 2003. A four-bedroom, 2,368sqft unit on the seventh level was sold last month for $4.8 million ($2,010psf). This was the third time the unit has changed hands on the resale market over the last five years. The unit last changed hands in 2007, at $5.2 million ($2,200psf). Prior to that, it was sold for $4.8 million ($2,027psf) in December 2006.

Across the road is the newest condo in the neighbourhood, the 173-unit luxury St Regis Residences by Singapore tycoon Kwek Leng Beng’s City Developments Ltd (CDL), Hong Leong Holdings and TID Pte Ltd (a joint venture between Hong Leong and Mitsui Fudosan). Kwek is one of the biggest stakeholders in the neighbourhood, and also owns the site of the former Boulevard Hotel, which will be redeveloped into another luxury project.

St Regis Residences is considered the first branded residence in Singapore when it was launched in mid-2006. It was completed in 2008 and is linked to the 299-room upscale St Regis Singapore hotel.

Two units on the 19th floor of St Regis Residences were recently sold for a total of $11.86 million ($2,776psf). The last time the units changed hands was in early 2009, at the start of the global financial crisis, when the units fetched $9.2 million ($2,153psf). The original owner who bought the units at the launch in 2006 paid $5.5 million ($2,576psf) for one unit and $6.1 million ($2,845psf) for the other.

Owners’ asking prices at St Regis Residences these days are said to be in the $2,500 to $2,800psf range, says Samuel Eyo, associate director of Savills Prestige Homes.

Even though the current economic climate has affected transaction volume in the high-end segment as investors stay on the sidelines, “interest for luxurious and exclusive condos in Singapore remain unaffected”, says David Neubronner, head of residential project sales at Jones Lang LaSalle.

Source: THEEDGE SINGAPORE

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