CapitaLand Sells 125 Units At Sky Habitat

CapitaLand said it has sold 125 units at its 99-year leasehold Bishan condo project Sky Habitat as at 6pm yesterday.

The property group did not provide an overall average per square foot (psf) price achieved, but said the average prices for a four-bedroom unit and a one-bedroom unit were $1,642 and $1,747 psf respectively.

The prices are nett, after factoring in all the discounts under an incentive scheme – a 3 per cent discount for all buyers, plus a further one per cent loyalty discount for existing owners of CapitaLand homes and an additional one per cent discount if the buyer currently lives in Bishan.

CapitaLand said two and three-bedroom units accounted for 81 per cent of the 125 units sold. So far, 180 of the project’s 509 units have been released.

Word in the market is that the pricing for Sky Habitat helped to move sales for Cheung Kong’s Thomson Grand project over the weekend. The 99-year condo, 2.8 km away from Sky Habitat, is located at Sin Ming Walk and boasts views of Island Golf Course and Lower Peirce Reservoir. In February, Cheung Kong sold 51 units in the project at a median price of $1,305 psf, based on Urban Redevelopment Authority data compiled from developers’ monthly sales declarations.

CapitaLand opened Sky Habitat’s show gallery at 9 am on Saturday to interested parties who had pre-registered with its marketing agents, ERA and Knight Frank. At 2 pm, the project was opened to the public.

Wong Heang Fine, CEO of CapitaLand Residential Singapore, said in a statement that 83 per cent of Sky Habitat’s buyers are Singaporeans who have purchased units for their families to live in. “All agree that the location – proximity to Bishan MRT and bus interchange, Junction 8 shopping mall and good schools – is hard to beat,” he added.

The Moshe Safdie-designed project has two 38-storey towers and its design is characterised by a dramatic stepping form, creating a three-dimensional matrix of homes, private terraces and public gardens. The project will feature three sky bridges (on the 14th, 26th and 38th floors).

The property giant clinched the Bishan site in February last year at $869.36 psf of potential gross floor area – a new high for 99-year suburban condominium land in Singapore and a whopping 27 per cent or $118 million above the next highest bidder at the tender, which drew 19 bids.

CapitaLand holds a 65 per cent stake in the project, with Mitsubishi Estate Asia and Shimizu Investment (Asia) holding 25 per cent and 10 per cent stakes respectively.

Meanwhile, Far East Organization sold 39 units in the April 9-15 week, inclusive of 18 units at its Hillsta project at Choa Chu Kang Road/Phoenix Road. This takes total sales at the 99-year leasehold project to 127 units. The average price achieved is $987 psf. Far East has teamed up with Sekisui House and China Construction to develop the 416-unit development, which will include condominium apartments, Soho-style apartments (with a higher-than-usual floor-to- floor height of 3.6 metres) and 20 strata townhouses.

MCL Land too sold about 20 units at Ripple Bay condo, which is a short walk from Pasir Ris Park and Beach, last week, taking total sales to 430 units in the 679-unit project.

The average price is now $870 psf after discounts and other incentives, up from around $850 psf when sales began in late March, said MCL’s CEO Koh Teck Chuan.

Source: The Business Times, 16 April 2012