The latest condo launches are off to a brisk start – will it last?

This week in Property

• Strong showing at the first two new launches of Q4
• Government agencies need to step up communications on outlier deals  
• HDB shophouses are drawing investors eyeing yields 
• How Frasers Centrepoint Trust primed its portfolio 

Strong sales at two new launches

In the first residential launches of the fourth quarter, two projects got off to a brisk start. Take-up rate was much better than other projects sold earlier in the year. UOL sold 50 per cent of its freehold 226-unit Meyer Blue in the East Coast, while CDL sold 84 per cent of the 348 units at its Woodlands project Norwood Grand. What was remarkable about the most recent launches was how well they sold at the prices they were pitched at. 

Meyer Blue units started at S$2 million and were priced on average at S$3,260 per square foot (psf). Units sold at Norwood Grand were transacted at close to S$2,000 psf, marking a new high for private condos in the Woodlands area where the median price of resale units has been about S$1,000 psf over the last one year. The latest launches follow two other projects marketed earlier that also chalked up noteworthy sales – Hong Leong’s Kassia condo which sold 52 per cent of 276 units at launch, and Bukit Sembawang’s 8@BT which moved 53 per cent of 158 units.