Shunfu Ville was sold for S$638 million on 19 May 2016, marking the third largest en bloc by quantum in Singapore. Each owner of the 358-unit condo, which lies less than 200 metres from Marymount MRT Station, stands to get around S$1.78 million. The 358-unit project was first put on sale in September with an asking price of at least $688 million or $791 per sq ft (psf) per plot ratio. The tender closed last October with no formal bids. It was relaunched for tender at the same price in late January.

This is Qingjian Realty's first en bloc purchase in Singapore since it began developing projects in Singapore eight years ago, and it succeeded with an offer that was below the reserve price of S$688 million.

Shunfu Ville, built in the late 1980s by the former Housing and Urban Development Company (HUDC) and privatised in 2013, sits on a 408,927 sq ft site with about 70 years left on its lease and a plot ratio of 2.8. The site can yield about 1,100 units with an average size of 1,000 sq ft, while break-even cost could be about S$1,250 psf, with new units fetching S$1,400 to S$1,500 psf.

Property consultants said Qingjian's bid was a sign of returning interest in en bloc opportunities owing to limited land banks on offer here, especially as the Government had cut back on its land sales programme. Despite the prevailing slow market, developers are confident of Singapore's property market in the longer term.

Qingjian was also the developer of Natura Loft (2008), Nin Residence (2010), RiverParc Residence (2011), Riversound Residence (2012), River Isles (2012), Waterbay (2012), Ecopolitan (2013), Bellewoods (2014), Bellewaters (2014) and The Visionaire (2016). Qingjian hopes to build over 1,000 homes at this site in Bishan-Thomson area.

The last collective sales of this scale were of the former Farrer Court for about S$1.34 billion and former Leedon Heights for S$835 million, both in 2007.

Extracted from Straits Times article 'Shunfu Ville sold for $638m to Qingjian, each owner to pocket $1.78m' on 20 May 2016.

The resale volume of private non-landed homes last month shot up to the highest level in almost three years, according to flash estimates from SRX Property. This coincided with a second straight month of rising prices of private non-landed homes, a phenomenon last seen in December 2013 and January 2014.

But while it seems momentum has picked up somewhat for the resale market, values are still weaker compared with a year back and volumes far lower than earlier peaks.

Both private apartment and Housing Board flat resale volumes last month were the highest in about three years, according to flash estimates from SRX Property. Some of the resale transactions included developer sales of completed stock, where price cuts and creative methods of structuring payments have proved successful in selling units.

An estimated 689 private non-landed homes were resold last month, up 17.6 per cent from March and 28.1 per cent higher than in April last year, SRX Property found. This figure was the highest since 726 units were resold in May 2013.

The increase in transactions could signal that there are still buyers out there with the ability to buy. These could be people who were waiting for the right price to enter the market. And some after hearing the Budget report in parliament, believes that there would be no changes to cooling measures, encouraging investors who have been on the sidelines to act.

Resale prices of private non-landed homes rose 0.5 per cent in April from March, after rising 0.1 per cent in March. But they are still 0.5 per cent lower compared with a year back.

In individual sectors, core central region prices rose 0.7 per cent month on month, rest of central region prices rose 1.3 per cent, and outside central region or suburban prices fell 0.2 per cent.

Projects which registered the most resale transactions were OUE Twin Peaks in Leonie Hill, A Treasure Trove in Punggol Walk, D'Leedon in Leedon Heights, Double Bay Residences in Simei, Parkview Apartments in Bukit Batok, Thomson 800 in Thomson Road and Caribbean at Keppel Bay.

March and April 2016 saw a surge in interest and buying sentiment for new Executive Condominiums, new residential condominium projects in Singapore as property buyers accept the fact that cooling measures are here to stay for a while more as the government reiterated its stance against tweaking the cooling measures leading to brisk sales at recent launches and existing projects resulting in a spike in sales.

Top sales figures for March and April 2016:

• The Terrace EC in Punggol sold more than 74 units over both months. The total sales volume could be higher as the caveats in the last week of April have yet to be published.
  
• The Amore, The Vales and The Brownstone moved at least 69, 62 and 58 units respectively in March and April.
  
• Wandervale EC sold all 82 of its four-bedroom units
  

The Amore, along with The Terrace, The Brownstone, Bellewaters and Bellewoods, are among the few remaining EC projects where buyers are exempted from paying a resale levy as the sites were launched before Dec 9, 2013.

In the private residential segment, the five bestselling existing projects moved between 40 and 90 units each over March and April. In the same period last year, sales volume for the five bestselling existing projects generally hovered in the 40 to 50 unit region each. One- and two-bedroom units dominated sales activity, which came as no surprise given the punitive nature of the ABSD and lending regulations on pricier units.

Among the existing launches, these projects below topped the sales chart in March and April 2016:

• The Poiz Residences topped the sales chart in March and April with at least 91 units sold.
  
• Kingsford.Hillview Peak sold at least 79 units
  
• Botanique at Bartley sold at least 74 units
  
• Kingsford Waterbay, Lakeville, Sims Urban Oasis, Sky Vue, Symphony Suites, The Glades and The Trilinq moved 30 to 40 units each over March and April.
  

At new launches, Qingjian Realty is understood to have sold more than 160 units at The Visionaire. The EC project was launched in April and positioned as the next-generation smart home. Sim Lian Group has sold over 300 units at its Wandervale EC, which was launched in March. Buyers also snapped up 122 of the 305 units in Sturdee Residences at its VIP preview on April 23 weekend.

- Extracted from The Edge Property online.