The launch of The Vision condo project along West Coast Crescent by Hong Kong-based developer Cheung Kong (Holdings) in mid-March at $1,000 psf to $1,200 psf has set a new price benchmark for the West Coast area.
The high-end product development features 14 strata terraced houses and 281 apartments that overlook the sea and West Coast Park. As of 8 June, only 11 units in the project are available, which are mostly low-floor units, with a selling price of less than $1,000 psf, according to a marketing agent.
Current projects in the vicinity of The Vision condo have benefited from its launch, as they have also seen an increase in transaction prices. “Although the properties in the vicinity of The Vision are older, their prices are now not too far off from those of The Vision, and people are increasingly attracted to the area,” said a marketing agent.
One of the beneficiaries is Far East Organization’s Blue Horizon – a 99-year leasehold condominium completed in 2005, with 616 units in five 22- and 23-storey towers. Aside from The Vision, it is the only condo in the area that boasts waterfront views, as it also overlooks the sea and West Coast Park. Prices in the development have been trading above $800 psf in recent months, hitting $908 psf and surpassing prices during the peak from mid-2007 to early 2008.
Meanwhile, prices in the 17-year-old, 318-unit West Bay Condominium have already exceeded 2007 levels. Between May 18 to 25, three units in the condo were purchased at $716 psf to $786 psf.
The Parc Condominium, a development in the West Coast area with seven 24-storey blocks and 659 units has also seen many purchases in recent weeks. Six units were sold between May 18 to 25 at prices ranging from $929 psf to $1,030 psf.
The freehold project, jointly developed by Lehman Brothers and Chip Eng Seng, was launched in September 2007. All units in the project were snapped up in a fortnight, with prices averaging at $880 psf and hitting a high of 1,040 psf.
A surge in interest for the development has been observed since February as it nears completion, said Kia Eng, a marketing agent at ERA who specialises in the Parc Condominium. “It is popular because it is a freehold development in the area and selling prices averaging $1,000 psf are considered reasonable,” he said, adding that the majority of buyers are HDB upgraders.