Many multimillion-dollar luxury houses in Sentosa are vacant, as the stamp duty for overseas property buyers have doubled to 20 percent since 2011. In a bid to turn things around for Sentosa, the developer is urging the Singapore government to transform the island resort into a vibrant tourist hotspot like Indonesia’s Bali.
Amidst the weak luxury housing market in Sentosa, City Developments Limited (CDL) is urging the Singapore government to transform the island into a vibrant tourist hotspot like Indonesia’s Bali, reported Bloomberg.
“Sentosa was touted when it first started (as an island) for the rich and famous,” said the property developer’s executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng during the release of its latest financial results last week.
More: Sales At CDL Projects Remain Healthy: Report
“Subsequently, her parents (government) just forgot about this young lady (Sentosa). I would like to suggest that they should reposition it as the new Bali.”
He said this in a bid to turn things around for Sentosa, which is currently in a bad situation. Although the island is the only place here where foreigners can purchase landed homes, many multimillion-dollar luxury houses there are vacant, as the stamp duty for overseas property buyers have doubled to 20 percent since 2011.
Meanwhile, a report from DBS Equity Research revealed that CDL’s property sales increased by 14 percent year-on-year to $2.2 billion for the whole of 2018, although transactions slipped by 5.0 percent to 1,113 units.
Sales were driven by New Futura, where 93 percent of the units were sold at an average selling price of $3,500 psf as of 17 February. The Tapestry moved 67 percent of its units at $1,350 psf, Whistler Grand found buyers for 36 percent of its homes for $1,380 psf, while The Jovell moved 14 percent of units at $1,250 psf to $1,300 psf. The South Beach Residences also saw the take-up of 53 units, including the 6,728 sq ft super penthouse costing about $26 million.
DBS also said that CDL has the biggest stock of unsold units, but the report didn’t mention the figure.
Looking ahead, the research house expects CDL to launch 2,434 units in 2019. These include Boulevard 88 (154 units), Amber Park (592 units), Handy Road (188 units), Sumang Walk EC (820 units) and Sengkang Central (680 units).
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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
