In the wake of the recent property cooling measures by the government, some developers who had planned previews in the coming weekends have chosen to defer them.
Word on the street is that City Developments Ltd (CDL), which was expected to preview its luxury project South Beach Residences on July 13, has chosen to postpone the event. The 190-unit, 99-year leasehold luxury development sits on top of the JW Marriott Singapore and is part of the South Beach integrated development.
However, CDL has held firm to prices at the 124-unit New Futura at Leonie Hill Road in prime District 9. The freehold project was launched in January and is substantially sold, with many of the recent units sold at prices above $3,500 psf.
In contrast, YTL Singapore has previewed its luxury project 3 Orchard By-the-Park. The 77-unit luxury condo on Orchard Boulevard is priced from $3,490 psf.
M+S has also proceeded with the launch of the new Garden Tower at Marina One Residences. The project was launched on July 5, the same evening the property cooling measures were announced.
“There isn’t a lot of supply coming up in the Core Central Region (CCR) in the near term,” notes Dominic Lee, PropNex Realty head of luxury team. “Most of the buyers of these new projects in the CCR are permanent residents and foreigners.”
The first penthouse at Marina One Residences that was sold for $18 million ($2,782 psf) last month was brokered by an agent at SRI. For foreigners, the additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD) is now 20%, up from 15% before.
However, Bruce Lye, SRI managing partner, points out that the stamp duty is still lower than in Hong Kong, where overseas buyers are subject to a 30% stamp duty.
In the light of the strong sales figures at the showflats of projects that have brought forward their launches amid the property cooling measures introduced recently — Riverfront Residences, Stirling Residences and Park Colonial — Malaysian developer S P Setia is going ahead with its preview of Daintree Residences on July 14.
The 327-unit development is located on Toh Tuck Road in District 21 in the Rest of Central Region (RCR).