Category Archives: Developers

Developers lure buyers with diamonds and sports cars

In a bid to generate sales amidst a sluggish residential market, developers are offering coveted prizes to lucky home buyers, such as diamonds and sports cars, according to media reports.

For example, Qingjian Realty will be giving away one-carat diamonds to 20 valid e-applicants for its Bellewoods Executive Condominium (EC) project. The winners will be chosen randomly on 15 November.

About 1,000 potential buyers have applied for Bellewoods, which comes with 561 units with indicative price ranging from $750 to $820 psf.

“The EC market has many first and second timers, and we felt a diamond would be appropriate – for a fiancee, for example,” said Qingjian Realty’s Head of Sales and Marketing Donald Ng.

At UIC and SingLand’s Mon Jervois, buyers of three-bedders or bigger units in October can purchase Aston Martins at a discounted rate.

So far, 32 percent of the project’s 109 units have been taken up at an average price of $2,059 psf. But about half of its unsold units are three-bedders and above.

Over at Highline Residences by Keppel Land, buyers are entitled to a free three-year ‘lifestyle membership’, which includes biannual complimentary golfing at Ria Bintan Golf Club and two single-trip limousine services per year.

The developer also offered similar incentives for its other projects such as Reflections at Keppel Bay and Caribbean at Keppel Bay.

Experts explained that these promos have become a part of the marketing campaign for new launches. They also rekindle the buyers’ interest in completed projects which may have lost their novelty.

“Usually this comes with the view of trying to protect their price line, and not upsetting [those who bought] during the initial launch phases,” noted Donald Han, Managing Director at Chestertons.

“While earlier buyers might not have benefited from perks, they had the opportunity to handpick units with the best views, or had early bird discounts,” he added.

ABSD could shrink developers’ profits by 50%

Real estate developers in Singapore are cutting unit prices by 15 percent in order to sell unsold homes and avoid steep government fines.

According to a media report, CLSA revealed property firms could offer larger discounts as they struggle to move unsold units amidst a looming deadline for failure to do so means paying the applicable stamp duties and extension fees.

Under the Residential Property Act, developers are required to pay an Additional Buyer Stamp Duty (ABSD) of 10 percent for land bought after December 2011 and 15 percent for land acquired after January 2013.

But the government will waive the fee if they agree to build, complete and then sell all their units within a stipulated period, namely four years for executive condominiums (ECs) and five years for private residential properties.

Failing to meet this condition means developers must pay the full ABSD plus interest, and this could diminish profits by up to 50 percent for some high-end developers, said CLSA.

“Given the build-up of inventory among developers and the requirement to pay an extension premium for Qualifying Certificates (QCs), developers may adjust pricing for existing launches in order to move inventory,” it added.