Published January 15, 2011

CapitaLand chief expects home prices, sales volume to fall

By UMA SHANKARI

CAPITALAND chief executive Liew Mun Leong expects private home prices and sales volume to fall following the latest round of government measures to cool the property market.

But he said he is 'not too unhappy' with the measures as it will make it easier for the group to win land parcels in government tenders.

Describing Thursday's measures as 'incremental', Mr Liew, who helms Singapore's largest listed property group, said some developers are driving up land prices by bidding very aggressively. He was speaking at a lecture at the National University of Singapore yesterday.

'We are amazed at the prices that come out (in government land tenders),' he said. 'Not that we are jealous ... but when we look at the numbers, we know that we can't do it ... So in a way, we agree that there is some speculative chasing for land.'

CapitaLand will go ahead with its plans to launch 1,700 mostly upmarket homes in 2011 as it will be 'business as usual'. The units will come from five projects - The Nassim, Urban Resort Condominium, The Interlace, d'Lee-don and the residential component of a new development at Bedok Town Centre.

The group last week said it expects private home prices to rise by 5-10 per cent in 2011 after climbing 17.6 per cent in 2010. In the high-end segment, prices could climb by 10-15 per cent this year, it said. But yesterday, Mr Liew said prices will fall following the new measures. However, he is still upbeat about the high-end and luxury market, which draws cash-rich investors.

Looking ahead, he said the measures will separate serious developers from speculators: 'These types of measures will differentiate the real estate developers who helped with Singapore's urbanisation from the speculators, who build shoebox apartments.'

But he added that he hopes that just as the government has been quick to act in a property upcycle, it will also work to fine- tune its policies in a down-market when demand tapers off.


Source; www.businesstimes.com.sg

CapitaLand Residential expects continued demand, price rises for private residential housing

by Jo-Ann Huang Limin

05:55 AM Jan 10, 2011

SINGAPORE - CapitaLand Residential will sell 1,700 private residential units this year out of its existing inventory of 2,500 ready-to-launch homes that it has yet to release for sale, chief executive officer Wong Heang Fine said in his first presentation to the media.

The units that will be sold this year will be from some of CapitaLand Residential's most high-profile developments, such as d'Leedon, The Interlace, Urban Resort and The Nassim, said Mr Wong, who joined the CapitaLand Group in 2006 and was named in July last year to succeed Ms Patricia Chia as CEO of CapitaLand Residential.

As many as 750 units of the 1,715-unit d'Leedon, the former Farrer Court, will be launched this year. MediaCorp understands that another 300 units will be launched next week, after 93 per cent of the initial 250 units launched last month were sold.

The residential unit of CapitaLand, South-east Asia's largest property developer, will also release the remaining 390 apartments at The Interlace for sale this year, Mr Wong, a UK-trained mechanical engineer who was formerly the CEO of SembCorp Engineers and Constructors, said in his briefing. The developer has sold 94 per cent of the initial 650 units that it launched last year.

The Urban Resort and The Nassim, which are luxury developments located in the core central region, will also be launched this year.

Homes at the new Bedok Town Centre site will also be up for grabs. The site will be developed into a mixed retail-and-residential property with 500 apartments, three levels of retail space and a bus interchange.

CapitaLand sold 15,025 units in total in the first 11 months last year, a marginal increase from the 14,688 units sold in 2009. But the developer reported better per-unit sales value than its rivals - its average sales value amounted to $2.3 million per unit, higher than the industry average of $1.52 million per unit. Overall, total residential sales rose 54 per cent to $1.85 billion last year, compared with $1.2 billion in 2009.

In the first 11 months of last year, buyers took possession of 629 CapitaLand homes, including 127 units at Latitude, 327 apartments at The Seafront on Meyer and 175 units at The Orchard Residences.

CapitaLand expects demand for private residential housing to sustain this year, buoyed by robust economic performance, land scarcity and increasing wealth in the region.

It will also be a year of land banking for the developer. The company said it would continue looking at sites in city-fringe areas and near MRT stations. It may tap both the government land sales programme and the collective sale market to acquire land, Mr Wong said.

"We will, of course, bid for the sites at a price we think is consistent with our margin," said Mr Liew Mun Leong, chief executive officer of CapitaLand, who was also present at the media briefing.

CapitaLand expects private home prices to increase by 5 to 10 per cent this year, with the high-end residential segment experiencing gains in the region of 10 to 15 per cent.

The developer also aims to market its iconic projects such as d'Leedon and The Interlace overseas, especially to buyers from China and India, which are emerging as CapitaLand's key new foreign markets.

Foreign buying may become a sizeable chunk of CapitaLand's sales. For example, wealthy Chinese investors have been looking for homes priced at $10 million and above, said Mr Liew.

However, market watchers have expressed concern over foreign ownership and its increasing influence on the private property market in Singapore.

Mr Liew believes that any further Government measures to cool the property market should not target foreign buyers.

"Singapore is an open economy and it will have to attract professionals and expatriates," he said. "I will consider it unprogressive to say that foreigners cannot buy housing here," he added.


Source: www.todayonline.com

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

05:55 AM Dec 07, 2010
SINGAPORE - CapitaLand and its partners have sold 82 per cent of the 250 units released during the initial launch of its d'Leedon development.

The units sold include 52 apartments that were purchased by former Farrer Court owners who had sold the development's site en bloc in 2007.

CapitaLand said that the units were priced at an average of $1,680 per sq ft.

The development is the first condominium in Singapore to be designed by Pritzker Architecture prize winner Zaha Hadid and has a total of 1,715 units.

The developer said the apartments would be spread over seven residential towers, with facilities tailored to the lifestyles of different groups of residents.

Source: www.todayonline.com

Published December 7, 2010

New home projects draw out buyers
All but penthouses at Robinson Suites sold; 205 units of d'Leedon taken up

By KALPANA RASHIWALA

SEVERAL new residential projects sold well last week. All but the five penthouses at the 167-unit freehold Robinson Suites are said to have been sold over a three day period last week beginning on Thursday. Three shop units on the ground floor of the 42-storey project have also found takers.

Robinson Suites: The apartments were sold at prices in $2,600 psf to $3,300 psf range
BT understands that 132 residential units and the three shops were released on Thursday. Of these, everything was sold by Saturday, except for the five penthouses.

The remaining 35 apartments on the lower floors are believed to have been sold to a fund.

All the apartments in the development are either one-bedroom-plus-study units or two-bedders. Unit sizes start at 484 sq ft.

The apartments are said to have sold at prices ranging from $2,600 per square foot to $3,300 psf. In lumpsum quantum, prices began at $1.2 million for a one-bedroom-plus-study unit and $1.5 million for a two-bedder.

In addition to this relatively affordable lumpsum investment size, buyers were drawn to the pitch for the project as the first freehold apartments at Robinson Road. The units face the low-rise Lau Pa Sat and will enjoy a relatively unblocked view.

Robinson Suites will rise on the former VTB Building site; the project is being developed by a consortium whose shareholders include Cheong Sim Lam (whose family developed International Plaza), Fission Holdings, Tan Koo Chuan and Saw Pik Kee.

Analysts suggest that the strong sales achieved at Robinson Suites may inspire Kwek Leng Beng's City Developments, which owns the next-door City House office block, to similarly redevelop its site into apartments.

Meanwhile, over in the Farrer Road location, CapitaLand and its partners sold a further 153 units last week at d'Leedon on the former Farrer Court site. This takes total sales to 205 apartments, inclusive of the 52 units sold the previous weekend (Nov 27-28) when sales were open to former owners of Farrer Court.

Singaporeans have picked up 80 per cent of the units sold so far.

The developers have released 250 of the 1,703 apartments in the 36-storey, 99-year leasehold project. They have yet to release six pairs of strata semi-detached houses in the development.

The 250 apartments released have been priced at $1,680 psf on average. A typical one bedroom- plus-study apartment of 635 sq ft costs about $1.1 million. A typical two-bedder of 1,055 sq ft is priced at about $1.5 million.

The condo also has three- and four-bedroom apartments as well as penthouses.

Wong Heang Fine, CEO of CapitaLand Residential Singapore, said: 'We are pleased with the strong buyer interest in d'Leedon. It is a development that has no comparable given its iconic design by Zaha Hadid and prime District 10 location. We are confident that we will continue to see robust interest in the project, especially from homebuyers who are currently away for the December holidays.'

Meanwhile, in the executive condominium (EC) market, 823 applications had been received as at 5 pm yesterday for the 680 units available at Prive, a 99-year leasehold project at Punggol Road being developed by NTUC Choice Homes and Chip Eng Seng. Applications opened on Dec 3 and will close today.

Eligible applicants will be balloted for entry into the showflat on Dec 10, when sales bookings will commence.

The average price will be $660-690 psf on a normal progressive payment scheme. Buyers who opt for a deferred payment scheme will have to pay 2 per cent more

Source: www.businesstimes.com.sg

November 25, 2010, 5.34 pm (Singapore time)

CapitaLand, HPL unveil d'Leedon at average S$1,680 psf

By ANGELA TAN


CapitaLand, Hotel Properties Limited and their partners on Thursday unveiled d'Leedon, a residential development along Farrer Road on the site of the former Farrer Court.


d'Leedon, designed by internationally-renowned Pritzker Architecture Prize winner Zaha Hadid, is being developed by a CapitaLand-led consortium that includes Hotel Properties Limited, a fund managed by Morgan Stanley Real Estate and Wachovia Development Corporation (a unit of Wells Fargo & Company).

A total of 1,715 units - comprising 1,703 apartments and 12 exclusive semi-detached houses - will be built on the expansive 840,049 sq ft site. The apartments are spread over seven 36-storey residential towers.

The average price of the units is S$1,680 per square foot.

www.businesstimes.com.sg
Source:

Published November 29, 2010

Good take-up seen at home launches
CapitaLand sells 48 units at d'Leedon preview


By EMILYN YAP


(SINGAPORE) Property developers continued to log sales at their residential projects over the past week.


During the weekend, CapitaLand sold 48 units at d'Leedon - where Farrer Court used to be - for an average price of $1,680 per sq ft. It previewed the project only to former Farrer Court owners and 266 households visited the show gallery.

Units sold included one-plus-study units, two-bedders and three bedders. The former residents were able to choose from 200 units of various sizes across all floors in two towers.

The 99-year leasehold d'Leedon will have 1,703 apartments spread over seven towers and 12 semi-detached houses. Official sales will start this Thursday.

'We are very happy with the sales response,' said CapitaLand Residential Singapore CEO Wong Heang Fine. 'We expect more response from owners who could not make it for this preview.'

Another developer, UOL Group, has sold a total of 252 units out of 320 launched at the freehold Spottiswoode Residences. Selling prices ranged from $1,720 to $2,270 psf.

Sales at the project near Tanjong Pagar have been brisk. It was first launched about two weeks ago and 130 units were taken up during a three-day preview, out of 150 released then. The highest price achieved for those 130 units was $2,150 psf.

Over at Tampines, Sim Lian Group has sold 375 units at Waterview at an average price of $838 psf. It has launched 500 units in the 99-year leasehold project so far.

Sales have risen from last Monday, when the developer said that it sold 332 units.

Weekend sales figures for both Spottiswoode Residences and Waterview were not available. It is therefore unclear if the pace of home buying has slowed after more measures to keep the property market stable were announced last Thursday.

Concerned that hot money and low interest rates would send private home prices rising too quickly, the government pledged to release more land next year. Sites which can yield a record 14,310 new homes will be available under the H1 2011 land sales programme.

On Saturday, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan also stressed that the government will introduce more measures to curb property prices if necessary.


Source: http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/

Published November 26, 2010

200 d'Leedon units for sale to ex-Farrer Court owners
Average selling price is $1,680 psf; or under $1m for a one-plus-study unit


By LYNN KAN

CAPITALAND will release 200 units of its highly anticipated 1,715-unit residential project, d'Leedon, this weekend for sale to former owners of Farrer Court, who sold the land to CapitaLand in 2007.


CapitaLand said that the public launch of the 99-year leasehold residential project on Farrer Road will be 'soon' after this preview.

The units that will be on sale range from one-plus- study to four-bedroom units. The average selling price is $1,680 per square foot (psf), which translates to below $1 million for the smallest units to $1.5 million for a two-bedder.

These units are drawn from two of d'Leedon's seven 36-storey towers, which are near its King's Road entrance. They make up barely one-third of the two towers' 678 units.

d'Leedon will also have penthouses, three-storey garden homes and landed property. The latter, 12 semi-detached garden villas, will be rolled out in d'Leedon's last phase. CapitaLand would not say how many phases the project will have.

The total cost of developing the District 10 project is about $3 billion. This includes the $1.3 billion price tag for the 840,049 sq ft site which was bought in a collective sale in 2007.

The breakeven cost remains at CapitaLand's previous estimates of $1,350 to $1,450 psf.

d'Leedon is being developed by a CapitaLand-led consortium that includes Hotel Properties Limited, a fund managed by Morgan Stanley Real Estate, and Wachovia Development Corporation.

Yesterday, CapitaLand Residential Singapore's chief executive Wong Heang Fine said that interest in d'Leedon seems to be good, with 300 of Farrer Court's 600-odd residents indicating that they would come to the preview.

When asked why the project took this long to come to market when the land was bought in 2007, CEO and president of CapitaLand Group Liew Mun Leong said that it was partly to do with the recession when it was 'senseless to do any launch'.

He also quipped: 'It also takes time to get our architects to conceive the design - and good architects are difficult to manage.'

The architect behind d'Leedon is Zaha Hadid, the first female winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. Patrik Schumacher from Zaha Hadid Architects who also worked on the project with Ms Hadid said that the buildings' inspiration was very much taken from nature.

The 150-metre tall towers were conceptualised as flowers growing upwards from a central strip of private gardens. Each tower is unique as they are sub-divided into 'petals' according to the number of units on each floor.

The towers take up only 22 per cent of the land area. The rest of the 655,000 sq ft space, said Mr Schumacher, is dedicated to two swimming pools, greenery and recreational facilities such as clubhouses.

One tower of d'Leedon will have its third to 10th levels host 80 elderly friendly units. Mr Wong said they are meant to encourage multi-generational families to live close to one another.

Viewers of d'Leedon's show galleries would see luxurious customised decor. Four show suites were decked out by Hong Kong- based interior designer Terence Tam from Union-Tech Services. Each apartment comes with its own scent, such as baked bread or marinated salmon.

The last, a three-storey garden home, was specially designed by Zaha Hadid Architects and bears Ms Hadid's signature use of curves in its furnishings, bed linen and even wallpaper.

d'Leedon is expected to obtain its temporary occupation permit by 2015.

Source:www.businesstimes.com.sg

Published November 23, 2010

CapitaLand rolls out 1,715-unit D'Leedon on Farrer Rd
Units in the District 10 project will mostly be priced north of $1,600 psf


By UMA SHANKARI

CAPITALAND has started marketing D'Leedon, the 1,715-unit, 99-year leasehold residential project it will build on the site of the former Farrer Court.

The D'Leedon showflat has been built and agents have started distributing flyers to prospective buyers.

Units in the District 10 project on Farrer Road will mostly be priced upwards of $1,600 per sq ft (psf) for the most part, BT understands.

In terms of the number of units, D'Leedon is believed to be the largest single condominium project ever in Singapore.

But CapitaLand is expected to roll out the project only in phases.

The developer paid a record $1.3 billion for Farrer Court in a collective sale in June 2007 at the peak of the property boom.

That worked out to as much as $783 psf of potential gross floor area.

In 2008, CapitaLand said the entire development would cost around $3 billion and would be in the recognised style of architect Zaha Hadid, the first female recipient of the coveted Pritzker Architecture Prize.

Patricia Chia, who was then head of CapitaLand's residential arm, pegged the project's breakeven cost at around $1,350 psf to $1,450 psf.

D'Leedon will comprise seven high-end residential towers and 12 villas.

The smallest condominium units will be about 900 sq ft, while some villas will be larger than 4,000 sq ft.

Zaha Hadid Architects' design for D'Leedon consists of seven 36-storey, 150-metre towers that will appear to 'grow' from sunken private gardens in the project's landscape.

The towers themselves are sub-divided into 'petals', according to the number of residential units on each floor.

The tops of the buildings will be a series of 'fingers' stepped at different heights.

Zaha Hadid and architectural theorist Patrik Schumacher, who are in charge of the project, have been designing in Singapore for around 10 years now.

Singaporean architecture and engineering firm RSP has also been involved in D'Leedon's design.

Source: www.businesstimes.com.sg