KOP Properties upbeat on luxury home market

Published December 21, 2010


KOP Properties upbeat on luxury home market
Prices in segment still 20% below pre-crisis peak: CEO

By UMA SHANKARI

KOP Properties is upbeat about the prospects of Singapore's luxury residential market, said the company's chief executive Leny Suparman yesterday.

'We are quite positive about the outlook for next year,' Ms Suparman said.

While prices of private homes in Singapore have climbed since the financial crisis ended, the gains have been seen mostly in the mass market and mid-tier segments, she said.

Prices in the high-end segment, by contrast, are still some 20 per cent below the pre-crisis peak. And while prices in that segment might not climb to the same high again, there is still a gap that could be closed next year, Ms Suparman added.

She was speaking at the 'topping out' ceremony of KOP's Cairnhill Road project The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Singapore.

Guests and staff gathered on the roof of the 36-storey development's penthouse to witness the pouring of the final bit of cement.

The 58-unit Ritz-Carlton Residences is about 40 per cent sold and units are now selling for about $3,300 per square foot (psf) each, Ms Suparman said.

According to official data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), 17 out of the 58 units in the project had been sold at end-November.

Ms Suparman said that sales will pick up as the project nears completion, which is targeted for June next year: 'We are quite confident that sales will be brisk from now on and that the project will achieve the price that it deserves.'

The developer's other project, the 56-unit The Hamilton Scotts, is also about 40 per cent sold, Ms Suparman said. URA's data put the number of units sold by end-November at 18. KOP Properties is part of KOP Group, an integrated real asset investment company. KOP Group is 51 per cent owned by Dubai Group, a unit of Dubai Holdings.


Source: www.businesstimes.com.sg