Monday, January 18, 2010

Marine Parade condo prices head north


Source : The Edge – 18 Jan 2010

Private previews of The Shore Residences (the former Rose Garden enbloc site) by Far East Organization in December followed by an official launch on Jan 1 drew crowds to the showflat on weekends. The new 408-unit development opposite Katong Shopping Centre has seen close to 200 units sold at an average price of $1,175 psf as at last week.

What’s more, the project has also spurred renewed interest in the Marine Parade-Amber Road neighbourhood in East Coast, according to the URA Realis database of caveats lodged from Dec 18 to Dec 23.

The development that has seen close to half a dozen units change hands at prices ranging from $920 to $1,000 psf in December was the 612-unit Cote D’Azur, a 99-year leasehold condominium completed in 2004 by Fraser Centrepoint Homes. The highest transacted price at Cote D’Azur last month was for an 840 sq ft, fourth-floor apartment, which was sold for $840,000 ($1,000 psf), according to a Dec 1 caveat. The seller had bought the apartment only eight months earlier for $690,000, or $822 psf, hence seeing a 22% capital appreciation in that short period. It shows just how dramatic the turnaround in the market was last year.

Two 1,141 sq ft apartments — one on the 18th floor of Block 68 and the other on the seventh floor of Block 66 — were sold for $1.088 million ($954 psf) and $1.05 million ($920 psf), respectively in December. The owner of the 18th-floor unit had purchased it for $687,300 ($602 psf) in July 2002 when the project was first launched. Thus, the seller saw a 58.5% capital gain after seven years. Likewise, the owner of a seventhfloor unit had also purhased it from the developer for $662,070, or $580 psf, thus seeing a 58.6% gain over the same period.

Two fourth-floor apartments in Block 66 were sold in late December, according to caveats lodged on Dec 21 and 22. One was a 904 sq ft unit that was sold for $836,000 ($925 psf), while the other was a 1,539 unit that went for $1.52 million ($987 psf). The owner of the 904 sq ft unit had purchased it from the developer in August 2004 for $472,000, or $522 psf. At that time, the property market was at the bottom of the cycle, thus the owner saw a 77% gain from the sale after five years.

The owner of the 1,539 sq ft apartment had purchased the unit in July 2002, when the project was launched, for $854,340, or $555 psf. He enjoyed a 78% price appreciation after seven years.

Across the road from Cote D’Azur is the 546-unit freehold condo The Sea View by Wheelock Properties, which was completed in 2008. In December, two apartments at the high-end project were sold at prices in the $1,400 psf range.

A sixth-floor apartment of 1,410 sq ft at Block 37 of The Sea View was sold for $2 million ($1,418 psf). The last time the property changed hands was in a sub-sale in July 2006, when it was sold for $1.18 million ($838 psf). The first owner had purchased the unit for $1.08 million ($769 psf) when the project was first launched in July 2005.

A 19th-floor, 1,216 sq ft apartment at Block 31 of The Sea View was sold for $1.726 million ($1,420) in December. The owner had purchased the property in a sub-sale in April 2008 for $1.568 million ($1,290 psf).

Also in the neighbourhood is One Amber, a 562-unit development by joint developers UIC, Singapore Land and UOL Group. The project is expected to receive its temporary occupation permit in 1Q2010. The most recent transaction was that of a 15th-floor apartment in one of the four 23-storey blocks. The unit was sold for $1.47 million ($1,120 psf). The owner had purchased the 1,313 sq ft apartment for $1.01 million ($769 psf) in December 2006, hence enjoying a 46% gain.

From the transaction prices in the secondary market, it is clear that prices in the Marine Parade-Amber Road neighbourhood are heading back to the peak levels seen in mid-2007.


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