The freehold Katong Plaza is located close to the future Marine Parade MRT station, various schools and East Coast Park. (Photo: Huttons Asia)
The introduction by the government of its latest round of property cooling measures saw several en bloc hopefuls extending their tender closing dates, with Katong Plaza and Fortune Park being the latest to do so.
The Business Times reported that mixed-use development Katong Plaza and freehold condo Fortune Park moved their tender closing dates to 11 and 14 September respectively.
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Katong Plaza was launched for en bloc sale on 7 June with an asking price of $188 million or $1,969 psf per plot ratio (psf ppr), while freehold condo Fortune Park was launched on 12 July with an asking price of $126 million or $1,337 psf ppr.
Under the new measures, the government has raised the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) rates, while tightening loan-to-value limits on residential purchases, among others.
With this, Singapore’s commercial sector now looks more appealing to developers and investors as it is unaffected by the new ABSD cooling measures, said Angela Lim, deputy head of investment sales at Huttons Asia, the marketing agent for both properties.
“Furthermore, foreigners and overseas investors would not be subject to ABSD on commercial properties, and the loan-to-value limits also remain unchanged.”
She noted that a mixed-use project such as Katong Plaza “allows developers to diversify their risk – the developer could choose to retain a portion of the commercial space for an anchor tenant, while selling the remaining strata commercial units to retail investors”.
“There is also very low risk for the residential portion of the new development, as it can yield approximately 80 units based on an average unit size of 70 square metres,” she added.
However, developers had provided feedback that they need more time to study their bids prior to purchasing more land, in order to factor in the new curbs and the new development charge rates to be unveiled next month.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
