Artist’s impression of the condo gym at Whistler Grand.
With many of the units priced below $1 million, Whistler Grand condo in West Coast Vale moved 150 of the 240 units launched as of 5pm on 3 November, reported the Straits Times.
City Developments Limited (CDL) head of property development Lee Mei Ling attributed the healthy take-up at the 716-unit development to “a combination of affordability, good location and design”.
“The 150 units sold represent a 21 percent take-up rate, which is healthy. After the total debt servicing ratio (TDSR) was introduced in 2013, the take-up rate was only about half of (yesterday’s) rate,” said Savills Singapore senior director Alan Cheong.
First-time buyers and en bloc sellers looking for replacement homes were attracted by the average selling price of $1,380 psf. Special prices for one-bedders started from $608,000.
“$1,380 psf is a good number, taking into account the uncertainty over the High-Speed Rail (HSR) project between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, which used to be a selling point,” said Cheong.
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Jarvis Goh, associate group director at PropNex, noted that the HSR is just one component of the blueprint for Jurong area’s rejuvenation, which includes transforming it into Singapore’s second central business district.
First-time buyer Jonathan Kee believes current prices are attractive considering Jurong’s redevelopment prospects. The 40-year old engineer purchased a one-bedroom unit at the 99-year leasehold project, which comprises two 36-storey towers, for $700,000 as an investment.
A 45-year old en-bloc seller, who wanted to be identified only as Leow, purchased a $1.4 million three-bedroom unit even though his current condo is yet to achieve the 80 percent mandate to launch a collective sale. “If the en bloc sale doesn’t go through, we will sell our condo and move to Whistler,” he revealed.
The strong take-up rate at Whistler indicates that CDL’s “strategy to offer sensitive prices post-cooling measures is working”, said PropNex Realty chief executive officer Ismail Gafoor.
“Of the 150 expressions of interest that PropNex agents got, more than 80 committed to buy, which is a good conversion rate. Typically, the successful conversion rate of expressions of interest to actual buy is about 40 percent. But our agents had slightly over 50 percent successful conversion,” he added.
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Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
