Developers Rolling Out Fresh Projects as Year Ends

The property market usually puts its feet up as Christmas and New Year approach, but this year looks to be an exception with a string of new launches planned.

Forget the school holidays and festive wind-down; developers are keen to push out their projects while the housing market is still healthy.

They have prepared landed and non-landed projects with thousands of units slated for release.

Launches that could be pushed out by the year end, market conditions willing, include The Whitley Residences in Whitley Road, Liberte in Sarkies Road, Kingsford @Hillview Peak, Village @ Pasir Panjang, Echelon near Redhill MRT station, Michaels' Residences in Chestnut Avenue, Trilinq in Clementi and Spottiswoode Suites in Spottiswoode Park Road.

At least three other executive condominium projects - CityLife @ Tampines, Forestville in Woodlands and The Topiary in Sengkang - are also expected this month alone.

The launches range from landed to non-landed homes, and mass market to high-end apartments, so home buyers with a range of budgets and preferences will be spoilt for choice.

Marketing materials for freehold strata-landed housing project The Whitley Residences in district 11, for instance, put prices at $850 per sq ft (psf) and above.

The Hoi Hup Realty development consists of 58 semi-detached homes of 5,199 sq ft to 7,104 sq ft and three terraced houses of between 4,801 sq ft and 6,620 sq ft.

The 700-unit suburban executive condominium project The Topiary will have units ranging from 753 sq ft to 2,476 sq ft. Prices range from $580,000 for a two-bedroom unit while penthouses are expected to fetch at least $1.28 million.

Online applications opened last Friday while sales will start on Friday.

SP Setia's 483-unit Eco Sanctuary along Chestnut Avenue in Bukit Panjang recorded almost 200 sales since its preview two weekends ago, and is expected to be officially launched over the weekend. Prices start from $900 psf, say marketing agents.

But some developers have chosen to delay their launches until next year.

Tuan Sing Holdings' Sennett Residence in Potong Pasir will be released next month, said chief financial officer Chong Chou Yuen, although marketing agents are already collecting interest.

He cited the slower festive and school holiday period as part of the reason for the later launch.

Sennett Residence will have 338 units comprising one- to five-bedders and penthouses. It will also have three 18-storey towers and a five-storey block with an Olympic-size pool at the top. Market watchers expect prices to start from about $1,400 psf.

Experts note that developers are keen to ride on the wave of robust new home sales this year.

There were 19,507 private homes sold in the first 10 months of this year - easily eclipsing the record of 16,292 sold in the whole of last year.

Source: The Straits Times –3 December 2012