China buyer signs S$31.5m deal for 3 Orchard By-The-Park penthouse

Singapore

A CHINESE citizen is understood to have been granted an option to buy a five-bedroom penthouse at YTL Land & Development's 3 Orchard By-The-Park project for S$31.5 million.

This works out to S$4,805 per square foot for the 6,555 sq ft triplex unit. The psf price is the highest registered so far among the units which YTL has sold to date in the completed freehold development near the upcoming Orchard Boulevard MRT Station.

The condominium has a total of 77 residences in three 25-storey towers.

Since last year, YTL has released one tower, Wood Tower, which has 30 units comprising two bedders, four bedders and the penthouse that has just been transacted.

Out of these 30 units, more than half have been sold, with Savills brokering over 30 per cent of these sales, said George Tan, managing director of Savills Residential.

Foreigners (excluding PRs) have picked up more than half of the units that have been sold.

Mr Tan confirmed that the firm brokered the S$31.5 million penthouse sale to a foreigner earlier this week, but would not elaborate further. It is understood that the buyer is not a Singapore permanent resident, which means that a 20 per cent additional buyer's stamp duty would be payable.

So far, caveats have been lodged for just six units at 3 Orchard By-The-Park, based on URA Realis data, with prices ranging from S$3,511 psf to S$3,805 psf.

There is one other penthouse in the development, a 6,900 sq ft unit in one of the other two blocks. The project also includes two garden units (sized 3,014 sq ft and 3,800 sq ft) as well as 26 four-bedroom apartments, 33 three-bedders and 14 two-bedders.

The S$31.5 million penthouse comes fully decked out, including Armani Casa furnishings, lighting from Bocci, Eicholtz and Ralph Lauren, and Candice Olson wallpaper. SuMisura did the interior design for the penthouse.

Said Mr Tan: "The penthouse has a panoramic, unblocked view towards Bukit Timah;hence, lots of lush greenery. And yet it is a stone's throw away from Orchard Road."

Entrance to the unit is on Level 25, where the living and dining areas along with the kitchens and a guest room are located.

One level below is where the master, junior master and two other bedrooms are.

The roof terrace has a pool and fully-integrated dining facilities with a home theatre system.

Said Mr Tan: "Good penthouses are scarce and what makes this unit especially appealing is that it's a completed unit with the ID set up in full grandeur. This plus the privacy make it easy for an ultra high net worth family to just move in."

There has also been much penthouse buzz at another high-end freehold District 10 project, the nearby Boulevard 88. The project went on the market in March.

All four penthouses have been sold, with three going to (non-Singapore PR) foreigners and one to a Singaporean. Two were sold at S$28 million each, translating to S$4,936 psf for a 5,673 sq ft unit and S$4,927 psf for a 5,683 sq ft unit. The third penthouse, at 6,028 sq ft, fetched S$29.53 million,translating to S$4,899 psf, based on caveats data captured on URA Realis.

BT understands that Boulevard 88's final and largest penthouse, at 6,049 sq ft, has just been sold for over S$30 million.

Buyers of at least two of the four penthouses are said to be Chinese citizens.

The 154-unit freehold development is housed in two 28-storey towers perched above The Singapore EDITION Hotel. The project, a joint venture between City Developments, Hong Leong Holdings and Lea Investments, is under construction.

Savills Singapore research head Alan Cheong said that high net worth Chinese buyers came in tops among foreign buyers (including PRs) of non-landed private homes in the Core Central Region (CCR) in the first five months of this year. They picked up 87 units, double the 43 units bought by Indonesians, who emerged in second place. "Of late, agents have noticed that condo units with high absolute prices in the CCR have seen a predominance of Chinese buyers," he added.

He also noted that 102 non-landed private homes were transacted in Singapore at prices of at least S$3,000 psf during April 1 to June 3 of this year - exceeding sales of 97 units for the whole of the first quarter 2019, going by URA Realis data.

Year-to-date sales in this price range have been supported by developer sales at projects such as Boulevard 88, South Beach Residences, New Futura, 3 Cuscaden, Riviere and 8 Saint Thomas.

"This is testament to the strength of the super luxury segment," he added.