First phase of Caspian going for $580 psf average

Source : Business Times - 5 Feb 2009

Frasers Centrepoint is pricing the first phase of its 99-year leasehold Caspian condo next to Lakeside MRT Station in Jurong at an average of $580 per square foot after discount for buyers who opt for normal progress payments.

Those who choose the developer’s interest absorption scheme will pay 3 per cent more, or an average price of about $598 psf.

The pricing for the 250 units, which are spread across the project, is considered competitive and reflects Frasers Centrepoint’s strategy of pricing to sell in the current recession.

Next to Caspian, units at Lakeholmz, which was completed four years ago and also developed by Frasers Centrepoint, are selling at about $600 psf on average in the resale market.

Further away, units at The Lakeshore are fetching about $750 psf on average and developer Far East Organization is understood to have held back some choice units facing Jurong Lake, presumably for sale later to ride on the government’s plans for the district.

Frasers Centrepoint is optimistic of good take-up for Caspian. ‘We’ve received strong interest from prospective owner-occupiers and even investors, who are now more keen to invest in brick-and-mortar property than risky financial instruments, especially if the property has a great potential upside to it,’ said Frasers Centrepoint Homes chief operating officer Cheang Kok Kheong yesterday.

‘Potential buyers will see Caspian’s price range as attractive and offering value for money.’

The project will have 712 units in total and is coming up on a site that Frasers Centrepoint bought in late 2007 for $248 psf per plot ratio. Analysts reckon that Frasers Centrepoint may barely be making money, based on the first-phase pricing.

BT understands that the project’s private preview is slated for tomorrow, to be followed by the public preview over the weekend.

‘The idea is probably to raise prices for the later phases to turn in a profit for the overall project,’ a market watcher said.

For the first phase, prices of typical two-bedroom to four-bedroom (with study) units range from $540 psf to $640 psf. The average price for a studio unit is about $350,000.