CapitaLand to launch 1,700 mostly upmarket homes

Published January 10, 2011


CapitaLand to launch 1,700 mostly upmarket homes
It expects prices of high-end units to rise 10-15% this yr

By UMA SHANKARI

(SINGAPORE) Property group CapitaLand will launch around 1,700 new homes in Singapore this year as it plans to ride on an expected 10-15 per cent growth in high-end home prices.

'We remain bullish about (the prospects of) the residential market in Singapore, particularly for the segment our products are in,' said Wong Heang Fine, chief executive of CapitaLand's Singapore residential arm. He was speaking to reporters on Friday at a briefing on the unit's prospects.

CapitaLand expects private home prices to rise by a further 5-10 per cent in 2011 after they climbed 17.6 per cent in 2010. But for the high-end segment, the outlook is even brighter; the group's view is that prices in that segment could climb by 10-15 per cent this year.

This should benefit the developer, which plans to roll out another 1,700 mostly upmarket units in five different projects - The Nassim, Urban Resort Condominium, The Interlace, d'Leedon and the residential component of a new development at Bedok Town Centre - in 2011.

With the exception of the Bedok Town Centre development, the remaining four projects will all be high-end or luxury offerings.

CapitaLand has already started marketing The Nassim and Urban Resort Condominium, but will officially launch both projects in Q1 2011.

At the freehold Urban Resort Condominium, 14 out of the 64 units available have been sold as at end-November 2010, data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) shows. CapitaLand expects to sell the remaining units for upwards of $3,000 per square foot (psf) each.

Sales at The Nassim, a 55-unit project at Nassim Hill on the former ANA Hotel site, have yet to start. CapitaLand declined to provide the expected pricing for the project, but said that units in other developments in the area are selling for $3,500 psf and more.

The group will also roll out more units in two developments it launched in 2009 and 2010 - The Interlace and d'Leedon - in Q1 2011. This will be followed by units in a mixed-use project at Bedok Town Centre on the site CapitaLand bought in a government tender in 2010. That project could be launched in the second or third quarter of 2011.

CapitaLand is also looking to replenish its land bank, said the group's chief executive Liew Mun Leong. He said that the group was interested in sites made available by the H1 2011 government land sales programme as well as collective sale sites.

The property group is coming off a strong 2010. Last year, CapitaLand sold 800 homes in Singapore, 33 per cent more than the 600 homes sold in 2009. The total value of sales also rose 54 per cent year-on-year to $1.85 billion.

CapitaLand shares lost 2 cents to close at $3.88 on Friday

Source: www.businesstimes.com.sg