CDL prices penthouses at New Futura from S$39.8m each

Ultra high net worth foreign buyers account for over 70% of S$1.3b total sales value at New Futura, Gramercy Park

Singapore

CITY DEVELOPMENTS is pricing its two penthouses at New Futura in Leonie Hill Road from S$39.8 million each, which works out to S$5,079 per square foot based on the strata area of 7,836 sq ft.

The penthouses, on the top two levels of the completed project's two 36-storey towers, have five bedrooms each. In addition to offering 360-degree views of the city, each penthouse comes with a 13-metre private pool, sauna and shower by the pool deck. The penthouses come with a Poggenpohl Entertainment Kitchen located next to the pool and deck. The entertainment kitchen is designed by Porsche and imported from Germany.

The penthouses have finishes like marble flooring, fully-fitted kitchen, wardrobes and bathrooms. However, they are not fitted with interiors like a showflat as high net worth individuals prefer to engage their interior designers, said a CDL spokesman.

Last year, Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin picked up the nearly 10,300 sq ft super penthouse at SC Global Developments' Sculptura Ardmore for close to S$60 million - a record absolute price quantum for a penthouse in Singapore. The price he paid is understood to work out to around S$5,650 psf; the penthouse comes with a cantilevered private pool. Both projects are freehold and 36 storeys high.

New Futura, a 124-unit development comprising two towers, is CDL's most luxurious residential development to date.

Among other things it has a two-level basement carpark with 253 "luxury lots" which are slightly larger than normal parking lots. CDL describes 30 of these lots as "ultra-luxury", designed for supercars that are larger in size and with wider doors.

CDL highlighted that ultra high net worth (UHNW) foreign buyers (including Singapore permanent residents or PRs) have purchased a total of S$1.03 billion worth of units at New Futura and another of the group's prime-district freehold condos, Gramercy Park in Grange Road. This made up more than 70 per cent of the total sales value of S$1.3 billion so far in these two developments, CDL said.

Gramercy Park received its Temporary Occupation Permit in May 2016 and New Futura, in August 2017.

The group, controlled by the Kwek family, is upbeat about prospects for Singapore's high-end residential market.

CDL Group's general manager Chia Ngiang Hong, citing Knight Frank's recently published The Wealth Report 2018, said: "By 2022, the population of UHNW individuals in Asia is expected to increase by about 55 per cent, as compared to 2017. We are confident that the rest of our highly anticipated luxury condominiums such as South Beach Residences and The Biltmore will receive similar strong take-up rates."

The 190-unit South Beach Residences is slated for release in either the second or third quarter of this year. CDL has yet to indicate a launch timeframe for the 154-unit The Biltmore, which is in the Cuscaden Road/Orchard Boulevard area.

At New Futura, in District 9, foreigners bought 34 of the 48 units that CDL has sold since it released the development's 64-unit South Tower in January this year. The 34 units have a total sales value of about S$206 million and the overseas buyers who acquired them are mainly from Asia (China, Indonesia and Malaysia).

In all, the 48 units sold in the development add up to about S$302 million, with an average selling price over S$3,200 per square foot. Apartment prices of units sold started from S$3.8 million for two-bedroom units, S$5.5 million for three-bedders and S$6.9 million for four-bedders. Typical unit sizes range from 1,098 sq ft for two-bedders, 1,830 sq ft for three-bedders, and 2,250 sq ft for four-bedders.

A CDL spokesman said the group will release the 60-unit North Tower "in due course".

All units at New Futura come with fully equipped kitchens with Miele appliances and Poggenpohl cabinets, and sanitary ware and fittings from Hansgrohe, Laufen and Geberit in the bathrooms.

At the 174-unit Gramercy Park, CDL released the first tower for sale in May 2016 and the second tower in late March 2017.

It has to date moved 170 units totalling S$1.01 billion in the District 10 project, of which 132 units (S$827 million) were taken up by foreign buyers. The project comprises two blocks of 24 storeys each and the average price achieved exceeds S$2,800 psf.

All four penthouses in the development were bought by foreigners. Two of these penthouses are 5,533 sq ft each; they fetched S$16.88 million (or S$3,050 psf) early last year and S$17 million (S$3,072 psf) last July.

The other two units of 7,287 sq ft went for S$21.86 million (S$3,000 psf) last August and S$24.5 million (S$3,362 psf) last month.

All four units are on the top two levels of the 24-storey project.

While foreigners including PRs make up a high proportion of buyers for the units sold thus far at New Futura and Gramercy Park, the trend does not apply across the board.

According to Edmund Tie & Co's analysis of URA Realis data as at March 12, Singaporean buyers snapped up 75 per cent of the 21,858 non-landed private homes (excluding executive condo units) transacted last year - up from a 72 per cent share in 2016. On the other hand, the share of foreign buyers (including PRs) slipped to 24 per cent last year from 27 per cent in 2016.

CDL noted that The Wealth Report 2018 named Singapore as a favoured destination for property investments among the world's ultra-wealthy, taking the fifth spot based on an overall global ranking.

Among Asian investors, Singapore is the third most-favoured, after the United Kingdom and the United States. The ultra rich are attracted to the quality lifestyle, excellent education system, political stability, strong currency, safety and security that Singapore has to offer.

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