CDL: It's not the time to buy yet!

Choose a condominium, most important is the developer. As it determines the quality of the project. No doubt that City Development (CDL) is one of the best. The CDL executive chairman Mr Quek says today: "The buyer-seller price gap is too wide still, so it's not the time to by, earlier next year could be better"! End 09 or early next year could be better.

So lets take a look at the projects that CDL has launched so far this year:
Livia (at Pasir Ris): 724 units
The Arte (at Thomson): 336 units
The Quayside Isle (at Sentosa Cove)

Current, the group has 142 unsold units from projects previously launched. With less than 10% of those high-end.

CDL is holding back its South Beach project. Saying there was no impairment required for the development. And Mr Kwek (the chairman of CDL) refuted rumours that the consortium partners pulling out of the project.

The company is planning to issue the second Islamic Sukuk in the first quarter this year. It is likely to be 3 or 4 times larger than the first one. In Jan, CDL issued $100 million worth of notes under its $1-billion Islamic note programme.


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Residential: Sales momentum gaining in the mass and mid market segments

According to The Business Times, GuocoLand sold around 160 units at the relaunch of its 625-unit 99-year leasehold The Quartz project located next to Buangkok MRT last week. The 160 units were sold at an ASP of S$595 psf, 10% below ASP of S$ 650 psf fetched at the peak in the middle of 2007. The bulk of the units sold were three bedroom appartments with an average size of 1,100 sqf costing around S$650,000. Locals living in the vicinity formed the majority of the buyers accounting for nearly 80% of purchases. Majority of these buyers were HDB upgraders. Besides the attractive pricing, design, layout and the near MRT location, the nearing project completion drove demand for the project.

We view the selling prices for The Quartz as a good data point supporting base formation for the mass market adding to the gaining sales momentum in the mass and mid market segments. Supported by the successful launches of Caspian and Alexis projects developers have sold more than 1000 units this month alone which is nearly a quarter of the full year developer sales last year. More such transactions would help in restoring the homebuying sentiment and could potentially act as a re-rating catalyst for the sector.

Units Sold in Feb for selected projects (best view with Firefox, IE may run into over length)

------+------------+---------------+--------+---------+-----------
Region  Project      Location     Units   Avg psf  Remarks  
                                   sold    (S$)             
------+------------+---------------+--------+---------+-----------
Mass  The Quartz  Near Buangkok    160      595   10% below 
                  MRT                             S$650 peak
                                                  in mid 07 
------+------------+---------------+--------+---------+-----------
Mass  Caspian     Next to          515      600   Comparable
                  Lakeside MRT                    LakeHolmz 
------+------------+---------------+--------+---------+-----------
Mid   Alexis      Near QueensTown  293   850-1100 Comparable
                  MRT                             Anchorage 
                                                  S$891 psf 
------+------------+---------------+--------+---------+-----------
Mid   D'Chateau   Bukit Timah       18   1000-110020% below 
      Shelford                                    Sep 2008  
                                                  launch    
                                                  S$1,350   
------+------------+---------------+--------+---------+-----------
High  RV Suites   River Valley      48     1300   15% below 
                                                  S$1600 psf
                                                  for Wharf 
                                                  Residences
------+------------+---------------+--------+---------+-----------

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Make sure you check this MRT map before buying any house in Singapore

Compared with Japan, London, New York or even Hong Kong, Singapore public train services (or MRT) is still far from complete. This is the plan of the future train line. No doubt that, your house will have much higher return or rental value if it is within walking distance to any of these train station. No one would like to take an extra ride of bus.

There is an investment guru once said that "buy the house at the most expensive area that you can afford, rather than buy the biggest house at the rural area". No matter be it for investment, for rent, or for self stay. It is good to stay close to city and be convenience.


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January Singapore Property Sales Report: weak sales on Jan 2009

Sales data remain weak in January. Sale of new units of non-landed property (NLP) by property developers remained weak for the month of January. According to the latest monthly data released by URA, new NLP launches increased by 30.2% MoM to 177 units in January. All of the new launches are located in the Rest of Central Region (RCR) (88 units launched) and the Outside Central Region (OCR) (89 units) and no new NLP launches took place in the Core Central Region (CCR) for the month as sentiments towards the mid and high end property projects remained weak.

Mass market properties continue to dominate sales. New sales of NLP fell by 22.1% MoM, from 122 units in December 2008 to 95 units in January 2009. Mass market properties (less than S$1,000 psf) continued to dominate sales in January, with 83 of the new units sold in January priced within the mass market range. Projects that generated the most new sales in January are Nova 88 (16 units sold), The Aristo @ Amber (14 units sold) and Palmera Residence (11 units sold).

Expecting better sales data for February. We are now expecting a significantly better set of sales data for the month of February which will be underpinned by the recent success of some of the new mass market launches (Caspian: ~460 units out of 712 units sold at S$580-600 psf, Alexis: fully sold (293 units) at ~S$850-1,000 psf). The recent success of mass market launches in the midst of an unprecedented economic downturn came as a surprise but it also highlighted the strong pent-up demand for mass market properties coming from HDB upgraders.


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List of new condo projects in Singapore

Here I provide a list of condo projects, with their location and price information for your reference. It will be updated time to time.

Project (Year, Developer): Location, Launch Date, PSF, Unit Sold (Unit unsold), TOP.

East:

Livia (99, CDL): Paris Ris, July 2008, $650 psf, 340 units
Livia (99, CDL): Paris Ris, Feb 2009, $620 psf, 60 units (384 unsold), 2011.

Quartz: Buang Kok, Mid 2007, $650 psf
Quartz: Buang Kok, Early 2009, $595 psf, 160 units.

Waterfrount Waves: Bedok, Jan 2008, $600 to $620 psf, 169 units (240 unsold), Q4 2012.

Coastal Breeze Residences: Loyang Besar, Feb 2009, $610 to $620 psf, 20 units (23 unsold), Q1 2011.

East Coast Residences: East Coast, Feb 2009, $810 psf, 15 units (44 unsold), Dec 2010.

Poshgrove East: East Coast, July 2006, $810 to $880 psf, 68 units (8 unsold), Dec 2008.


Central:

Alexis (free): Queenstown, Feb 2009, $850 to $1150 psf, 150 units (150 unsold)

St Patricks Residences: St Patrics, Feb 2009, $675 to $900 psf, 17 units (13 unsold), Dec 2012.

Nova 88: Bhamo Road, Jan 2009, $950 psf, 35 units (53 unsold), Q2 2012.

Nova 48: Prome Road, Feb 2009, $950 psf, 17 untis (31 unsold), Q2 2012.

Ferraria Park: Flora Park, End 2006, $600 to $630 psf, 451 units (21 unsold), Q3 2009.

Woodsville 28: Woodsville Close, July 2008, $850 psf, 22 (90 unsold), Q1 2012.


West:

Caspian (99, Fraser): Lakeside, Feb 2009, $580 to $600 psf, 527 units (712 unsold), Mid 2013.

Centris: Boon Lay, 1Q 2009, $550 psf

Lakeholmz: Lakeside, 3Q 2008, $564 to $626 psf

Lakeshore: Lakeside, 3Q 2008, $750 psf



DBSS:

Natura Loft (QingJian) : Bishan, $418 psf
The Peak @ Tao Payoh (HoiHup): Tao Payoh, $450 psf
Parc Lumiere (Simlian): Simei

Last Update: 17 Apr 2009.



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CDL offers 5% Valentine discount for its Pasir Ris Livia project

City Developments Limited (CDL) is giving 5% discount for selected units at Livia, a mass-market condominum in Paris Ris.

July 2008 - $650 psf, 340 sold out of 360 units.
Feb 2009 - $620 psf, discounted price for 60 units.

However, there are still 384 units remained unsold. This is a 99-year leashold project.

A three-bedroom unit at Livia will now cost:
July 2008 - $752,000
Feb 2009 - $793,000

It's more likely the developers will roll out more competitive pricing marketing strategy.


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Frasers Centrepoint sells 300 units of Jurong West condo

The first major condominium launch this year attracted very strong interest at its preview, with crowds packing its Jurong West showflat three days beginning last Friday. Property developer Frasers Centrepoint said it had sold 300 units at the 712-unit Caspian by 9pm yesterday. It sold out the first batch of 250 units at the condo, which was priced at $580 per square foot (psf), by the afternoon. It subsequently released another 100 units with better facing, and priced them at $20 psf more.

The 300 units were sold at between $340,000 and $990,000. Most of the buyers were Singaporean HDB upgraders. Foreigners and permanent residents accounted for just 6 per cent of the sales. About 31 per cent of the buyers opted for the interest absorption scheme. They paid 3 per cent more on the purchase price. The developer said the response to the private preview last Friday was so keen it kept the Caspian showflat open past midnight, and sold 80 units. It sold another 120 units last Saturday. A market watcher said the $580 psf price for Caspian is not exactly very cheap but some buyers are probably hoping that the development plans for the Jurong area will help to raise the value of their properties in the future.

The 99-year leasehold condo is near Lakeside MRT station in Jurong, a new growth area in Singapore. Caspian was also priced cheaper than nearby condos Lakeholmz and Lakeshore. Caveats lodged show Lakeholmz units were traded in the third quarter of last year, at $564 to $626 psf. Lakeshore units were going for around $750 psf. Recent deals for The Centris at Boon Lay, one MRT station away, were done at an average of $550 psf, according to caveats lodged last month. Frasers Centrepoint chief executive Lim Ee Seng said the brisk sales for Caspian showed there is demand for mass market projects at the right price. He said: 'A well-located, reasonably-priced mid-market development always has its following.'


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Residential: Overwhelming response to the launch of Caspian project

According to The Business Times, Frasers Centrepoint sold over 300 units out of a total 712 units in its 99-year leasehold Caspian project located next to Lakeside MRT during phase 1 launch over the weekend. The initial 200 units were sold at ASP of S$580 psf and the next batch of 100 units were sold at an ASP of S$ 600 psf. Locals living in the Western part of Singapore formed the majority of the buyers accounting for more than 90% of purchases. Around 78% of these buyers were HDB upgraders. Of the total units sold thus far, about 30% have been sold under the interest absorption scheme at a price 3% above the regular scheme.

The site was bought by Frasers Centrepoint in late 2007 for S$248 psf per plot ratio. We estimate breakeven to be around S$540 psf, with Frasers Centrepoint making a slim profit. Next to Caspian, units at Lakeholmz are selling at about S$600 psf on average in the resale market. Further away, units at The Lakeshore are fetching about S$750 psf on average.

We believe that astute pricing and the government's plans for the development of the Jurong Lakeside district drove demand for the units at Caspian. We view the selling prices for Caspian as a good data point supporting base formation for the mass market.


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