ANALYSTS said that the indicative selling price of $1,150 to $1,400 per square foot (psf) at CapitaLand's newest condominium, Bedok Residences, is higher than expected - but they still expect a strong launch performance.

Sales of the project will begin today but a queue started to form at the showflat on Sunday night. As at yesterday, there were around 500 people standing in line, said marketing agent ERA Realty.

OCBC Investment Research analyst Eli Lee, who visited the showflat on Monday afternoon, checked with three agents and found that they will only hire a replacement to wait in line if his team committed to buy and submitted cheques.

'From these data-points, we judge that there is robust demand for the launch and expect a strong sales performance in terms of both units sold and average selling prices later this week,' Mr Lee said.

Kim Eng Research also noted that the lack of condominium supply in Bedok Town Centre probably allows the project to set a higher price.

The 99-year-leasehold, 583-unit Bedok Residences is part of an integrated development comprising homes, a shopping mall and a transportation hub linked to Bedok MRT station.

'Demand for such integrated projects is expected to be strong as they provide convenient access to key transport nodes and retail outlets, not to mention their limited quantity. After all, there are only so many MRT stations in Singapore,' said Kim Eng's analysts in a fresh note.

Take-up could also be boosted by foreign purchasers, said Ku Swee Yong, chief executive of International Property Advisor.

'There is likely to be a fair amount of foreign interest in this project, and around 20-30 per cent of the units could be bought by non-Singaporeans,' he said.

CapitaLand decided to forgo the traditional balloting system (which is largely based on chance) and instead opt for the queue system for Bedok Residences, so that selection and purchases can be done on 'fairer, first-come first-serve basis', said ERA. The property firm added that many people in the queue outside the project's showflat are paid to stand in line by agents who represent potential buyers with keen interest in the property.

'We expect most of the queuers to be students and retirees as most of the interested buyers are working adults holding full-time employment and therefore are unable to take leave from work to be in the physical queue themselves,' ERA said. 'Similarly, the agents themselves are unable to join in the physical queue as they will have appointments, such as HDB appointments and viewings to attend to.'

Some of the agents also have more than one customer keen to purchase a unit, in the project, ERA added.

Source: Business Times © Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. Reprinted with permission.

IT IS yet to be launched, but the property market already seems to be abuzz about the 34 uber luxurious residential units that will be built on the old Capitol site.

Attributing the residential tower's popularity to its exclusivity and stellar location, executive chairman of Perennial Real Estate Pte Ltd (Perennial), Pua Seck Guan, noted that a number of 'serious buyers' have already expressed their interest in the project despite not knowing the finalised launch price.

Centrally located and just a short walk from the City Hall Interchange MRT station, which straddles both the major North-South and East-West lines, the residential units of the Capitol Development Project by Capitol Investment Holdings Pte Ltd (Capitol) will boast views of the Marina Bay area as well as that of the Saint Andrew's Cathedral.

An average apartment will be around 3,000 square feet. In addition, two garden villas (over 9,000 sq ft) and five penthouses will also form part of Capitol's residential offering upon the development's completion.

Commenting on the generous-sized units, Mr Pua highlighted that due to the site configuration and the surrounding landscape, larger units would be better able to bring out the 'advantages' of the development.

Due to the exclusivity of the units, Mr Pua also remains unfazed by the site's 99-year leasehold status and remains confident of the demand and pricing of the apartments going forward.

Just yesterday, Capitol - a consortium comprising Chesham Properties Pte Ltd, Perennial (Capitol) Pte Ltd and Top Property Investment Pte Ltd - held a ground-breaking ceremony to mark the commencement of the Capitol Development, which involves the redevelopment of conservation pieces such as Stamford House, Capitol Building and Capitol Theatre into a high-end mixed development.

The 34 highly exclusive residential units will be attached to a six-star hotel wing, retail components as well as a theatre-cum-cinema, and is expected to become a landmark destination in the downtown area when it is completed.

Leading Japanese construction player, Shimizu Corporation, will be the developer for the Capitol Development project, following a $338.2 million contract win from Capitol.

The development is slated to be completed by the last quarter of 2014.

Source: Business Times