Sky Habitat, which made headlines in April for its record prices of around S$1,700 psf, rekindled buyer demand in some other projects that were launched before the 509-unit development hit the market.
While sales of units at Sky Habitat have been tepid, its high price which is on par with prime condos has made other projects look appealing. Projects in the city centre and city fringe, as well as suburban estates with comparable or more affordable prices are now seeing more sales.
According to experts, when a new project hits the market at a record price, it often generates a ripple effect, which increases new and resale home sales in neighbouring projects. In fact, many property agents are using Sky Habitat as a benchmark when comparing prices.
Projects launched before Sky Habitat, such as Rochelle at Newton, Thomson Grand, and My Manhattan in Simei have all reported higher sales in recent months.
Jeffrey Hong, Chief Executive of GPS Alliance, noted that Thomson Grand, which is close to Sky Habitat, witnessed better sales following the launch of CapitaLand’s project.
“We’ve heard of some agents calling back old clients, marketing Thomson Grand to them again.”
The take-up rate at Thomson Grand rose from three units in January to 52 and 54 units in February and March respectively. All 68 remaining units were sold out in April at an average price of around S$1,300 psf.
Steven Tan, Managing Director at OrangeTee, said: “It is quite common that agents are using Sky Habitat’s pricing as a market indicator.”
“Some buyers have been waiting for prices to come down but when they see a new benchmark price being set in the market, they have decided to commit now instead,” added Tan.
Source : PropertyGuru – 2012 Jun 18
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