Tag Archives: private residential market

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.

Resale condo values down 5-9% after TDSR ruling

Average resale values of completed freehold non-landed residential properties in Singapore’s luxury and prime areas fell the most in Q3 2014 from the quarter before – by 2.5 and 2.0 percent respectively, revealed DTZ.

The decline was lesser in the non-prime areas, with average freehold resale values dropping by 1.5 percent in Q3 from the previous three months.

Comparatively, leasehold values decreased slightly more by 2.0 percent in the period.

The report also stated that average resale values of non-landed residential properties have fallen by about 5.0 to 9.0 percent since the introduction of the TDSR framework at the end of June 2013.

Meanwhile, the landed property segment became weaker in Q3, with average resale prices falling at a faster rate compared to Q2 across both the prime and non-prime areas.

In prime districts 9, 10 and 11, only the detached segment stayed firm, but average resale prices of both semi-detached and terrace houses posted a 2.0 percent decline quarter-quarter in Q3.

Over in the suburban areas, average resale prices of freehold landed homes decreased by 2.2 percent in the third quarter, slightly faster than the previous 2.0 percent drop.

According to the consultancy, the private residential market remains a buyers’ market. “The increasing inventory from unsold units that have already been launched and upcoming launches will continue to provide buyers with many options and aid in sustaining a buyers’ market for the months ahead,” said Lee Lay Keng, DTZ’s Regional Head (SEA) Research.