Pine Grove residents keen to sell en bloc again

Source : Straits Times – 25 Nov 2009

PINE Grove residents are looking to sell their sprawling Ulu Pandan estate en bloc, after failing to do so in previous attempts during the 2007 boom.

They are not alone. Industry sources say there is a growing group of other estates that previously failed to sell en bloc but is now looking for reruns.

The collection of signatures at Pine Grove, a 660-unit former HUDC estate on 893,178 sq ft of land, started on Nov 15. If successful, this latest attempt will net each unit owner at least $1.6 million to $2.05 million, depending on unit size.

Many units are about 1,754 sq ft and will achieve a price of about $1.95 million each, according to an owner who declined to be named. Prices are based on a reserve level of $1.246 billion, he added.

The total price works out to at least $740 per sq ft per plot ratio, estimated a property expert. This is because the buyer of the site will have to pay an upgrading premium, plus a differential premium on top of the asking price to cover the cost of bringing the land tenure up to 99 years and site redevelopment.

Marketing agent Jones Lang LaSalle declined to comment.

Pine Grove’s collective sale attempts in 2007 failed to bear fruit, even though the average payout was eventually raised to about $2 million per unit.

At Tulip Garden in Holland Road, Bravo Building Construction failed to complete a $516 million collective sale purchase last year due to funding issues.

Residents of Chin Swee Road’s Landmark Tower were unable to attract a buyer in their collective sale attempts in 2007 and last year, but are keen to try again.

The sale processes at Tulip Garden and Landmark Tower are still in the preliminary stage and The Straits Times understands both have yet to officially appoint a marketing agent.

The estates are understandably eager to try again now that the economic outlook has improved and private home prices have risen, said DTZ South-east Asia research head Chua Chor Hoon.

The recent market slowdown has yet to significantly hamper owners’ expectations, given that the process of collecting signatures and launching the sale may take a while, said an expert.