Hot off the 9.30 news: New property sales in May dropped 50%

It was reported that a total of 1,078 new units were transacted in May. This represented a 50% drop compared to April figures.

The two most popular projects in May were Waterbank @Dakota (52 units @average price of $1,092psf) and The Minton (204 units @average price of $849psf).

For the first five months of 2010, over 7,600 new units were sold. This is 4% more than the entire 1st half of 2009.

Property analysts expect a further drop in new property sale numbers by 25% in June, given the continual depressed market sentiments and the “World Cup” effect.

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New project sales update

Tree House
CDL has sold 360 units at its Tree House condo at Chestnut Avenue since previewing the project last week.
The 99-year leasehold project has an average price of about $820psf. To date, CDL has released 400 of the project’s 429 units.

Holland Collection

CLSA Capital Partners Real Estate Fund and Lippo sold 6 units at their Holland Collection project in Holland Road last week. This means that the developers have sold 8 units in the 26-unit project since its preview last month. Units sold last week include two penthouses (at about $6.3 million each) and a strata bungalow that fetched $6 million.
The buyers in the freehold project, which is four storeys high and has an attic level, are mostly foreigners. The eight units sold to date are priced between $1,850psf and $2,200psf.

Waterbank @Dakota
UOL Group is understood to have achieved further sales of about 50 units at its Waterbank at Dakota condo last week, taking total sales to 570 units in the 616-unit, 99-year leasehold project.

The Residences at W Sentosa Cove
CDL has to date sold about 25 units at The Residences at W Sentosa Cove. The 99-year leasehold project, priced at $2,500 – $3,000psf, has been on the market for nearly a month now. To date, CDL has released 56 of the project’s 228 units.

The Seascape
Ho Bee and IOI, which are developing The Seascape on a more attractive spot on Sentosa Cove, are said to have sold about 33 units to date. The project has an average price of $2,700psf, with achieved prices ranging from $2,619psf to $3,145psf. The Seascape came to market at about the same time as The Residences at W.


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WATERBANK @DAKOTA (Review)

A dear friend of ours has commented that our previous reviews were… well… too “chunky”. So the wife and I decided to take a slightly different tact on this one. Let us know if you like this better.

District:   14
Location:   Dakota Crescent
Address:   70 – 84 Dakota Crescent
Developer:    UOL Development (Dakota) Pte Ltd
Tenure:    99-year Leasehold
Site area:    185,000sqft
Expected TOP:    July 2014

Description: Total of 9 condominium blocks, comprising
• Four 20-storey blocks (Block 70, 72, 76 & 78),
• Three 19-Storey blocks (Block 80, 82 & 84)
• One 6-storey podium block with 5-levels of parking and 11 Cabana units on the 6th level.
• Total number of units: 616

Unit Types & Sizes:
• 1-Bedroom (77 units):   484 – 581sqft
• 1+1 Bedroom (98 units):   624 – 786sqft
• 2-Bedroom (78 units):   883 – 1087sqft
• 2-Bedroom Cabana (11 units):   1421sqft
• 3-Bedroom (271 units):   1141 – 1615sqft
• 2+1 “Dual Key” (39 units):   1281 – 1572sqft
• 4-Bedroom (37 units):   1572 – 1981sqft
• 4-Bedroom Penthouse (5 units):   2390 – 2820sqft

(1) The developer has combined a 1-bedder and a 2-bedder to form the “Dual-Key” unit. It has one main door that opens up into 2 separate apartment units, each with own living/dining and kitchen.
(2) The “Cabana” units are 2-bedroom apartment located on the 6th floor of the podium block. Each unit has a patio that faces the lap/wadding pool, and comes with its own dedicated parking space on the 5th level just below the unit.

Facilities:
WATERBANK @DAKOTA is a full-facility condominium. The facilities are spread across the ground level, 5th level of Block 78 (gym) and the 6th level of the podium block adjacent to the Cabana units. No tennis court is available in this development.


There are 5-level of multi-storey parking located in the podium block, with the already much publicized 554 parking spaces for the 616 apartment units. The multi-storey carpark is connected to Blocks 78 and 80 by overhead link-bridges, and to the rest of the blocks via covered walkways on the ground level.

There are 2 showflats in the sales gallery:

Showflat #1: 1981sqft, 4-bedroom ground-floor unit (Type EG)

• Living/Dining – rectangular shape, although seemed a tad small for an almost 2,00sqft unit. Comes with 60cm x 30cm marble-slab floors and 2.8m ceiling.

• Balcony – rectangular shape of almost 400sqft that stretches across the whole length of the living/dining room through to the 3 adjacent bedrooms. Functional enough for a 6 – 8-seater long dining table for outdoor dining.

• Dry Kitchen – divides the living area from the wet kitchen. Solid-surfaced top and sink.

• Wet Kitchen – L-shaped solid surfaced worktop, top/bottom-tier cabinets, “Electrolux” brand hob/hood/oven/microwave and “Grohe” kitchen faucets.

Wife and I were not impressed with the quality of kitchen furnishing and appliances provided.

• Yard – None, so dryer is a must else laundry can only be hung dry in the balcony.

• Utility Room – space enough to fit a single bed but nothing else thereafter.

• “Maid’ toilet – The door actually faces directly at the kitchen top. This is very bad Feng Shui (according to wife) as the kitchen is the “wealth” area of the house. So having the toilet facing the kitchen will drain away all wealth. On a hygiene aspect, it may also be unhealthy to have all the “bad air” from the toilet circulating in the kitchen when one is cooking.

• 2 Common Bedrooms – both are regular shaped, but one is rather small while the other can comfortably fit a “Queen” bed. They come with wood-strip floors and maroon coloured wardrobe with leather-like exterior finish – this looked nice from afar but on closer inspection, the quality of workmanship can certainly be improved.

• Common Bathroom – Decent size, with standing shower stall (no rain shower), “Grohe” bathroom fittings and non-descript toilet fittings. The bathroom sink is really old-fashioned looking, and in our opinion, quite ugly.

• Junior Suite – Decent size enough for a “Queen” bed and comes with the same maroon-coloured wardrobe. Attached bathroom is almost an exact replica of the common bathroom.

• Mater Bedroom – Again decent sized and should fit a “King” bed rather comfortably, with more than average wardrobe space. The Master Bathroom is very good sized, with 90cm x 30cm marble floors and walls. There is a long tub and an adjacent standing shower, but no rain shower option. The standard “Grohe” bathroom and non-descript toilet fittings apply.

Showflat #2: 1389sqft, 3-bedroom ground-floor unit (Type DG)

• Living/Dining – similarly shaped and furnished as the 4-bedder, and even smaller in size.

• Balcony – Again of rectangular shape about 400sqft that stretches across the living/dining area and across the adjacent Master and Common bedrooms. You probably will have to move the dining area out here given the small living area.

• Dry Kitchen – Nonee

Wet Kitchen – Irregular shaped and comes with the same kitchen furnishing and appliances as the 4-bedder.

• Yard – None, and separate washer/dryer will have to be stacked one on top of the other. Either that or take your chance on the combined washer/dryer and risk having damped clothes.

• Utility Room – similar size to the 4-bedder but odd-shaped.

• “Maid’ toilet – Again the door faces the kitchen, consolation is that it is tucked towards the back and thus slightly further away.

• 2 Common Bedrooms – looked to be similar sized and equally bad wardrobe workmanship as the 4-bedder.

• Common Bathroom – Decent size, with similar fittings as the 4-bedder, ugly bathroom sink inclusive.

• Mater Bedroom – Surprisingly large and seemed to be even more spacious than the one in the 4-bedder, with rather generous wardrobe space. The Master Bathroom is decent sized, with 90cm x 30cm marble floors and walls. There is only a standing shower (no tub), and again no rain shower option.

What we like:
• Location – Less than 10-minutes drive to CBD and city area, WATERBANK @DAKOTA is made even more convenient with the newly opened Dakota MRT station just 100m away. Good food galore at the Old Airport Road Food Centre across the road, and a choice of amenities in the HDB estate (wet markets, supermarts, clinics etc) and Leisure Park mall nearby.

• Riverfront Living – The Geylang River and Park Connector is right next to WATERBANK @DAKOTA. However, the river is still rather polluted and may emit some “interesting” smell during low tides.

• Cabana Units – These 2-bedders are rather interesting. They give owners the perception of living in “landed” property and comes with dedicated parking (1) underneath your unit. However, the parking space forms part of the unit’s total size. So the actual interior living area is only about 900+sqft, after deducting the parking and PES.

• “Dual-Key” Units – Again, this layout is rather nice. It comes with its own separate “granny flat” but still gives the impression of everyone living in the same household. It is ideal for multi-generation living, as it provides added privacy between you and your parents/in-laws. However, the combined-size of such unit, at 1281sqft, is really too small.

What we dislike:
• The quality of furnishings and fittings are quite disappointing. It reminded us of another UOL project we have seen – Meadows @Pierce – and frankly, the memories are not flattering.

• The toilet in the kitchen/yard area for most (if not all) the 3- and 4-bedder units faces directly at the kitchen. Although one should not be too obsessed over Feng Shui, the wife and I will rather err on the safe side.

• Given the long and narrow strip of land that WATERBANK @DAKOTA sits on, we are concerned that the blocks might be too close to each other for comfort. This is especially so for Blocks 70/72 and Block 82/84.

• Dakota Crescent is a rather narrow 2-lane road.  When WATERBANK @DAKOTA is ready for occupancy, residents of the 616 units will have to share this road with next-door neighbor Dakota Residences (348 units) and the existing HDB dwellers across the road. It may be a daily exercise in frustration getting in and out of the condo especially during rush hours. So either learn to be patient or brush up on those “swear” vocab.

• Although WATERBANK @DAKOTA is situated very close to Katong and East Coast area, its location classification of District 14 puts it in the “Balestier/Mcpherson/Geylang” district rather than East Coast (D15). It may be a minor point on purchase, but the “district difference” can become quite an issue when you decide to resell your unit later and have to compete with the likes of The Shore or Coralis – both of which are located in the “primer” D15.

• Although the marketing literature said that WATERBANK @DAKOTA is nearby to primary schools like Geylang Methodist and Tanjong Katong Primary, only one primary school is within 1-km to our knowledge – Kong Hwa Primary.

Pricing:
• #06-35 (1421sqft, 2-bedroom Cabana): $1.318 million, or $927psf
• #03-20 (1527sqft, 4-bedroom Unit): $1.799 million, or $1178psf
• #02-17 (1527sqft, 4-bedroom Unit): $1.706 million, or $1117psf

The monthly maintenance for the Cabana is about $300, while for the 4-Bedroom is $350.

As of last Sunday, only units on the low floors (i.e. below 6th) are left. The only high-floor units still available are found in Block 70 – stack #06 (3-bedders) and stack #05 (Dual-Key). But these units either face the HDB flats or have their views blocked by Dakota Residences next door.

In summary, the wife and I are not convinced that WATERBANK @DAKOTA is value for money, given the quality we have observed in the showflats, and the fact that we may have to fight over the 554 parking spaces for our two cars with the other 615 unit owners. However, we seemed to be proven wrong at least 550 times over, given that this is the number of units already sold. But whether is this really an indication of foolishness on our part and wisdom of others, only time will tell.

Click here to view slide show and floor plans
http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649

UOL Group: Waterbank & upcoming new launches

TheEdge this week has a featured report about UOL Group’s Waterbank @Dakota project and its upcoming new launches. Below are excerpts of the report.

Waterbank @Dakota

UOL has released 500 units of the 616-unit condo since the private preview of this project first started on April 9. About 380 units had been sold as at last Wednesday. Prices, which started from $1,100psf, hit a high of $1,400psf for the smaller units. In fact, the bestselling units turned out to be the 1+1 studio apartments, says Liam Wee Sin, chief operating officer of UOL Group. “These units boast fantastic views. Typically, small one-bedroom units in most condominium projects rarely have great views”, he says.
* Note: the sales info is somewhat outdated.

The profile of the buyers was “quite surprising” as it is not typical of a mass-market project. About 60% of the buyers have private addresses, while 40% had HDB addresses. More than 80% of the buyers are Singaporeans and permanent residents, and 12% are foreigners.

At Waterbank, even the largest units – the five penthouses measuring 2,842 to 3,089sqft – were snapped up in the first weekend of private previews at $3.3 million to $3.4 million. The showflat was closed last Tuesday and reopened for the official launch on April 17. The official launch was deliberately timed to capitalize on the scheduled opening of the Dakota MRT station on the same day.

The interesting thing about the Dakota area is that those who like it really do because of its central location and accessibility to the CBD via the ECP and Nicoll Highway. And the area is now even more convenient with the opening of the Dakota MRT station – part of the Circle Line – just a short walk away.

Dakota Crescent, where Waterbank is sited, is located off Old Airport Road and the neighborhood consists of mainly old HDB blocks. The exceptions are the upcoming Waterbank and the neighboring 348-unit Dakota Residences, by Ho Bee Group and NTUC Choice Homes, which is expected to obtain its TOP in June or July. The project has only 35 units available for sale. Caveats lodged with URA for sub-sales from January to March this year have ranged from $945 to $1,113psf, with the smaller units fetching higher price psf. These two new projects have kick started the renewal of the Dakota area.

The neighborhood will also benefits from the transformation of the Kallang Basin and Riverside into a waterfront lifestyle residential area and Paya Lebar into a commercial hub, notes UOL’s Liam.

Buying into an old neighborhood on the cusp of renewal is UOL’s forte, as demonstrated by its developments in the Newton-Novena area, where it developed Newton Suites, Novena Suites and 1 Moulmein Rise condominiums, and owns Novena Square (a mixed development with office towers and Velocity lifestyle mall) as well as United Square shopping mall. In recent years, it also transformed the Tiong Bahru area by buying the old apartment blocks en bloc and redeveloping them into condominium towers like Regency Suites, Twin regency and The Regency.

Likewise, its Southbank project on North Bridge Road comprises a 197-unit residential tower and a 20-storey, 60-unit SOHO (small office, home office) tower. Located on the site of the former Eng Cheong Towers, it was considered the first en-bloc sale of a 99-year leasehold project when UOL purchased the site in 2005. Overlooking the Kallang River, Southbank also benefits from the proximity to the Lavender MRT station. The project is expected to obtain its TOP in a month or two. Launched in June 2006, about 90% of the units were reportedly sold within a fortnight at an average price of $600psf. Most recently, according to caveats lodged with URA last month, the 614sqft units in the middle to high floors have achieved prices of $1,396 to $1,451psf in sub-sales.

UOL’s upcoming launches
Up for launch is the Rainbow Gardens en-bloc site, in which UOL acquired a 50% stake in 2008. The site was purchased by the LaSalle Asia Opportunity II fund in a collective sale a few years earlier. The new condo development on Toh Tuck Road will have 172 units and will be called Terrene at Bukit Timah. The site will capitalize on its proximity to the Bukit Timah Reserve as well as the upcoming Beauty World MRT station, which is also within walking distance. The project is likely to be launched in June.

Another project soon to be launched is the redevelopment of the Spottiswoode Apartments and Oakswood Heights en-bloc sites, which UOL purchased in 2007. The developer has purchased the 92-unit Spottiswoode Apartment en bloc for $79.5 million, or $732psf per plot ratio (psf ppr), in April 2007, followed by the neighboring Oakswood Heights a few months later for $132 million, or $740psf ppr. It will develop a 350-unit condo on the freehold site.

The wife and I (me rather) will be watching the Spottiswoode project with great interest… and special sentiments – I have spent a good number of my late-20 to early-30 years living in Oakswood Heights, while my folks were living in the same apartment until the condominium went en bloc.

April new property sales update and new launches

The BT yesterday reported that developers plan to launch more residential projects this weekend, despite home sales slowing in April after a strong showing in March.

A total of 1761 new private homes were sold in March – a 47% month-on-month increase. But sales have come off this month, although there have been exceptions.

UOL Group said that it sold more than 130 units in its 616-unit Waterbank at Dakota condominium from Friday to Sunday. This takes the number of apartments sold there to more than 500. Apartments went for $1000 – $1300psf. UOL said that it will release more units this weekend.

Would-be buyers can also look forward to two projects that will be launched for the first time this weekend – City Developments’ Tree House and The Holland Collection from Lippo Group and CLSA Capital Partners.

The Holland Collection’s 26 high-end luxury homes are being built on the site of former Aura Park condominium in Holland Road. Lippo bought the site in a collective sale deal in June 2007 for $1280psf of potential gross floor area – a high for the location. CLSA Capital Partners took a 50% stake in the project a few months later.

The Holland Collection’s 26 units will have 19 unique layout, size and space configurations. Apartment sizes range from 1281sqft to 3606sqft. Units will be launched this weekend at an average price of $2000psf.

Elsewhere, City Developments will launch its 429-unit Tree House on Chestnut Avenue. Prices start from around $600,000 for a 721sqft two-bedroom apartments.

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WATERBANK AT DAKOTA: 40% of units sold !

It was reported in the BT today that UOL Group has sold about 40% of its 616-unit Waterbank at Dakota condo by yesterday. By some analysts’ calculations, UOL stands to book pretax earnings of $135 million to $160 million progressively from the project as it is built once it is fully sold. Prices of typical units range from above $1,000sqft to above $1,300psf. Buyers were predominantly Singaporeans.

Smaller units were first to be snapped up in the 99-year leasehold project, next to the soon-to-open Dakota MRT Station and fronting Geylang River.

In absolute price quantum, the cheapest one-bedroom unit cost $570,000, for a 484sqft unit on the second level. Two-bedders start from $979,000 for an 883sqft unit. All five penthouses (2,390sqft to 2,820sqft) have also been sold at $2.8 million to $3.4 million.

UOL has released more than 300 of the total 616 units in the development, which is due for completion in 2014. The group is expected to save some units for the project’s official launch next Saturday, the same day as the opening of Dakota Station.

The developer opened the showflat to staff and associates and consultants earlier this week before inviting other buyers yesterday.

Unit sizes range from 484sqft for a one-bedder to 2,820sqft for a penthouse. The project has 175 one-bedroom and one-bedroom + study units, 78 two-bedders, 271 three-bedders, 37 four-bedders and 5 penthouses. There are 11 cabana units, which are two-bedroom units perched on a landscaped deck overlooking the swimming pool and with their own carpark lots.

(* Did you notice that the maths for the unit distribution as reported in the BT do not add up to 616 units? For the sake of accuracy, the wife and I had done a web search and managed to find an alternate source of information that we believe is a more accurate representation of the distribution of units at Waterbank at Dakota – see table below *)

UOL’s preview of the project comes just seven months after it was awarded the site last September at $508 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr). City Developments is due to release later this month a 429-unit project at Chestnut Avenue. It will build the 24-storey condo on a site bought at a state tender last August for $280psf ppr.

The short turnaround time reflects developers’ strategy of riding the current buying momentum for mass and mid-market homes. It also suggests that projects on sites sold by the government from January to May this year stand a good chance of being launch-ready before the year runs out.

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Sales status of new projects and new launches

Following are extracted from BT today:

The Interlace
Over the Good Friday weekend, CapitaLand sold a total of 110 units at $850 – $1300psf. The property giant has sold more than 390 of the 490 units it has released to date in the 1040-unit, 99-year leasehold project.

The latest phase are priced about 3 – 5% higher than the phase one units released in September last year (at $850 – $1150psf) as there are more units in the recent batch on higher floors or with better facing.

Nathan Suites
TID Pte Ltd – a joint venture between Hong Leong Group Singapore and Japan’s Mitusi Fudosan – has sold 23 of the 40 units it released last week at its 65-unit Nathan Suites. The units fetched prices ranging from slightly below $2000psf to $2300psf; the average price achieved is $2100psf.

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 915sqft to 4800sqft.

The Seascape at Sentosa Cove
Ho Bee and IOI have sold 6 units at The Seascape last week, taking total sales in the project to 31. The units cost $2619 – $2880psf.

The Residences at W Singapore
City Developments Ltd (CDL) sold another 5 units of The Residences at W Singapore Sentosa Cove, taking sales to 19 units. CDL is selling its development at $2500 – $3000psf.

Dakota Residences
NTUC Choice Homes and Ho Bee are left with about 50 units at Dakota Residences, comprising mostly four-bedders facing the Geylang River. The developers began selling the project, which has a total of 348 units, in June 2008 at about $970psf on average but trimmed prices by 5 – 8% during last year’s re-launch.

Waterbank at Dakota

UOL Group is expected preview its 99-year leasehold Waterbank at Dakota condo this week, which is also located along the Geylang River and next to the Dakota MRT Station that is slated to open later this month.

Prices are expected to range from above $1000psf to around $1300psf.

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 484sqft for a one-bedder to 2820sqft for a penthouse.

Starlight Suites
Tiong Aik group is expected to preview Starlight Suites at River Valley Close next week. The freehold 35-storey condo could be priced at about $2000psf on average. Starlight Suites has a total of 105 units, comprising one-bedders to a four-bedroom penthouse. Unit sizes range from 560sqft to 3401sqft.

And the property launch scene keeps on buzzing…

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