Prime offerings in River Valley

A unit at Martin No 38 was recently sold for $2.7 million ($2,761 psf)

A unit at Ardmore Park Condo recently changed hands for $10.2 million ($3,536 psf)

A 1,399 sq ft unit on the sixth floor at Waterford Residence was sold for $2.19 million ($1,565 psf) on June 17

Valley Park consistently sees buyer and rental interest, owing to its general unit sizes and lower psf asking prices

THE EDGE SINGAPORE| JULY 8,2013

| BY GWYNETH YEO|

The highest transaction price recorded over the week of June 14 to 21 was for a 15th floor four-bedroom apartment at Ardmore Park Condominium that was sold for $10.2 million, or $3,536 psf. This is the highest psf price at the 330-unit luxury condo in the exclusive Ardmore Park enclave since a 28th floor unit was sold for $10.5 million ($3,640 psf) in February. The all-time high at the 12-year-old luxury condo development by Wheelock Properties was $3,688 psf for a four-bedroom unit on the 27th floor, which fetched $10.64 million in a resale in early 2010.

Another noteworthy transaction in the prime districts of Orchard Road was that of a 2,702 sqft  four-bedroom unit on the 29^th floor of the 36-storey Grange Infinite on Grange Road; it was sold during the week of June 14 to 21 for 7.5 million ($2,776 psf). There were two other transactions at the 68-unit upscale condo that week: that of two 2,573 sq ft units on the 17th and 18th floors. The unit on the 17th floor fetched $5.98 million ($2,325 psf) and the one directly above it was sold for $6.05 million ($2,350 psf).

The third-highest transaction for the week of June 14 to 21 was that of a unit at the 88-unit Martin No 38 by SC Global Developments. The 969 sq ft two-bedroom unit on the ninth floor fetched $2.675 million ($2,761 psf). Last month also saw the transaction of a 1,130 sq ft two-bedroom apartment on the 13th floor that fetched $3.13 million ($2,770 psf). The $2,770 psf price is the highest achieved at Martin No 38 since 2011, when a 1,485 sq ft four-bedroom unit on the 14th floor was sold for $4.4 million ($2,962 psf). Completed in 2011, the freehold development was designed by Kerry Hill Architects, with inspiration from the warehouse lofts in New York City; thus, units feature flexible open spaces.

Up the street from Martin No 38 is the 302-unit Martin Place Residences by Frasers Centrepoint. Fully sold and completed two years ago, it has seen many units change hands in sub-sales. The highest price achieved was $2,415 psf in December 2011, when a 592 sq ft one-bedroom unit changed hands for $1.43 million. In April this year, a 646 sqft one-bedroom unit fetched $1.55 million ($2,400 psf), the second-highest transaction price seen in the development.

Kerri Koh, an associate team director from Propnex Realty, was one of a flock of agents who camped at Martin Place Residences after it obtained its Temporary Occupation Permit. She had been aggressively marketing units in the project until prices were pushed up to $2,400 psf, the point at which Koh encountered buyer resistance. “There were hardly any foreign buyers after the hike in the additional buyer’s stamp duty in January,” she adds.

Located opposite the freehold Martin Place Residences is the 999-year leasehold Waterford Residence, a 118-unit freehold condo project located on Kim Yam Road. Developed by Hoi Hup Realty, it was completed in 2010, a year earlier than Martin Place Residences. Koh has shifted her efforts of marketing resale units to Waterford Residence. “Asking prices at Waterford Residence are comparatively reasonable at $1,700 to $1,800 psf,” she reckons. The two most recent transactions recorded at Waterford Residence were in June, with a 1,044 sq ft unit sold for $1.63 million ($1,561 psf) and a 1,399 sq ft unit for $2.19 million ($1,565 psf).

Elsewhere in the River Valley area is Valley Park, a 728-unit condo development in River Valley Road completed in 1997. In the week of June 14 to 21, a two-bedroom unit in one ofthe five high-rise blocks in Valley Park changed hands for $2.1 million ($1,727 psf), the highest price achieved for a unit in Valley Park since January 1995, when URA Realis data became available. The latest transaction for this unit marks the fifth time it has changed hands in a resale. It was last sold in 2009, for $1,233 psf. Two years earlier, it was sold for $1,061 psf. Prior to that, the last transaction was in 1999, when the apartment was sold for $1 million ($822 psf). In September 1995, it was sold for $1.03 million ($845 psf).

ERA Realty’s Ken Khoo is marketing another 1,216 sq ft, two-bedroom unit at Valley Park for $1,809 psf. “Units in Valley Park have always been popular with buyers,” he says. “It’s hard to find a two-bed-room apartment of such a size and at such a price anywhere else in the River Valley area or anywhere else in Singapore.” Adjacent to Valley Park is the 248-unit RV Residences, which has yet to be launched. The project by developer Asiawide Resources, a subsidiary of Allgreen Properties, is under construction and scheduled for completion in 2014. ERA’s Khoo says the project appeals to a different audience from those interested in Valley Park. “The price psf at RV Residences is likely to be higher, given that it is a new development,” he adds. He estimates that the project could be launched at $2,200 psf.

“Valley Park has very good rental demand, as there haven’t been many big launches in that area,” says Nicholas Mak, executive director of research and consultancy at SLP International. He adds, however, that with yields at 2% and 2.5%, there is very little margin for any correction. “If interest rates were to rise and rental rates were to fall, investors can expect their returns to be squeezed even further.”

Mak sees interest in the River Valley area driven by the fact that it is an “affordable prime location” relative to developments in the Orchard Road neighbourhood such as Scotts Road, Stevens Road, Grange Road and Paterson Road, where prices are at least $2,500 psf.