THE MINTON: 180 units sold over the weekend

The BT today has reported that developer Kheng Leong has sold 180 units of THE MINTON condo in Hougang as of 6pm yesterday.

This is out of a batch of 300 units that Kheng Leong has released since last Friday in the 1,145-unit development at Lorong Ah Soo/Hougang St. 11 at an average price of $850psf.

Property agents marketing the project told BT that the sales result, while encouraging, was below what they would have expected during the recent height of the property market in March/April. The peak was prior to the fallout from Europe’s economic problems and the Singapore government’s announcement in May that it will deliver a bumper land sales programme for the second half of this year to meet hot demand in the residential property market.

It is reckoned that a new release like THE MINTON would have sold closer to 300 units in its first weekend and at about 5 -8% higher in price, if the 99-year leasehold project had been put on the market a couple of months ago.

As has been the case with other launches, the most popular units at THE MINTON’s holiday-extended weekend preview were one and two-bedroom units. Prices of one-bedders sold ranged from about $480,000 to $590,000 per unit. Two-bedders cost $750,000 to $870,000. The project also has three and four-bedders, penthouses as well as dual-key units.

Buyers were predominantly young Singaporeans, including families. Generally, buyers have HDB addresses, including Hougang, Serangoon and Tampines. Buyers appear to be drawn by THE MINTON’s lush landscaping and generous facilities afforded by the large site area of close to 500,000sqft.

Kheng Leong, a privately owned property group controlled by the family of banker Wee Cho Yaw, is developing THE MINTON on the former Minton Rise site that it bought in 2007 through a collective sale.

The wife and I wonder if this is another sign of the property market cooling...


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