Martin Place New Launch

[Sgpropertieslaunch]

A plum River Valley site is set to sell for what is believed to be a record price for a Government Land Sales (GLS) residential plot outside of Sentosa Cove.

Martin Modern showflat site in District 9 drew 13 bidders, 10 of them local developers - a clear vote of confidence for the Singapore market.
GuocoLand, which is controlled by Malaysian Quek Leng Chan, submitted the top bid of $595.1 million or $1,239 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr). This was just above the next bid of $588 million or $1,224 psf ppr by companies also under the Kwek family - City Developments unit Verwood Holdings, Hong Leong Holdings unit Intrepid Investments, TID Residential, and Hong Realty unit Garden Estates.
The offer price of $1,239 psf ppr would be a record for a pure GLS residential site and exceeds the $1,163 psf ppr cost for the Highline Residences site in April 2013 and the $1,157 psf ppr for the Sophia Hills plot in September that year. The Sophia Hills site was the last time a District 9 site was put up for sale.

In terms of absolute quantum, the $595.1 million bid is still lower than the $624.2 million Seaside Residences showflat site went for in January. But the Siglap site is larger and can support 800 to 900 units. 8 Martin Residences site has a cap of 450 homes, which works out to average unit sizes of about 100 sq m or 1,076 sq ft.
 "Many developers interested in this site were aware of the potential fierce competition... In order to have a fair chance... the bid had to be bullish," said SLP International executive director Nicholas Mak.
[Image: 8martinresidences-300x251.jpg]
GuocoLand is likely looking to set benchmark prices for 99-year leasehold homes in the area, said Savills Singapore research head Alan Cheong. These could be about $2,300 psf, exceeding even prices of freehold homes in the area.
"The site is large and we will be creating a beautiful development," said GuocoLand Singapore managing director Cheng Hsing Yao.
It is close to Orchard Road and the Singapore River, and just a short walk to the future Great World MRT station, he added.
The upbeat sentiment displayed by developers for 8 Martin Residences at the tender could be due to the recent increase in sales, noted JLL national research director Ong Teck Hui.
"For example, within the River Valley planning area where the site is, monthly transaction volumes of non-landed units averaged only 15 units last year but rose to 86 units in May," he said.

Over the last weekend, crowds are crowding showflats at the latest preview of Grandeur Park Residences showflat. This is a bullish sign of market recovery.

[Evenstar]

Latest update on Martin Modern as at 5 August 2018: it is now 60% sold.  Started out selling at around $2,300 PSF.  Then as the market picked up momentum from mid 2017 till it came to a skid with the 5 July 2018 cooling measures, prices at the Martin Modern condo rose to average around $2,700 to $2,800 PSF average.  Even with the rise in pricing it was selling steadily, possibly because places like Park Place Residences at Paya Lebar were already hitting $2,000 PSF, and Woodleigh Residences was reported to be eyeing the above $2,000 range too.

Even after 5th July 2018, Martin Modern still managed to clear another 8 units.  Helped of course by a bit of incentives.  Though even with the incentives, prices are still above the $2,300 PSF launch average.

In fact, the beginnings of a trend are starting to be seen where new launches are concerned after the recent cooling measures.  Projects that are reasonably priced, are still doing OK.  For example projects like Park Colonial, that managed to sell over another 100 units after 5th July, as well as Stirling Residences, that sold over 150 units after the initial 186 at the the launch.  These are priced around $1,700 to $1,800 PSF, which is not outrageously high for their locations.

So what does this mean for upcoming launches that will be launching in the next six months to a year?  Projects such as Jadescape at Shunfu, or Parc Esta at Eunos, or Belgravia Green, or Mont Botanik at Hillview?  They would do well to take a lesson from those projects that have not fared very well at their recent launches.  Like Daintree Residences at Toh Tuck (supposedly 50 units sold, at an average of $1,710 PSF) and Casa Al Mare, compared to The Tre Ver that sold over 141 units on the back of scaled down pricing of around $1,5xx PSF before an extra discount at the launch.