New project sales status: Boathouse Residences & SeaStrand

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Boathouse Residences
Boathouse Residences, a 99-year leasehold private condo at Upper Serangoon View which was released last Friday by Frasers Centrepoint, Sekisui House and Far East Organization, saw about 90 units sold by yesterday. About 80% of the units were bought by Singaporeans, with the rest taken up by permanent residents and other foreigners.

The average price is $880psf. The cheapest unit is a 624sqft one-bedder on the second floor, at $570,000. The developers have released 200 of the total 493 apartments in the project.

As a comparison, when Frasers and Far East released Eight Courtyards in Yishun in April, they sold about 202 units in the first four days - Friday to Monday. The 99-year leasehold homes were priced at an average of $795psf.

However, Frasers Centrepoint Homes CEO Cheang Kok Kheong says the sales result for Boathouse Residences is not too far off another project the group released more recently - Seastrand condo in Pasir Ris, with 103 units sold in four days during its preview in June.

Mr Cheang said that while the turnout at the Boathouse Residences showflat was " very good", buyers are now taking a longer time to make a decision.

"Four months ago, during our Eight Courtyards launch, buyers took about 45 minutes to make a decision. Now, they probably require 60 - 90 minutes," he added. " With more uncertainty and cautiousness, they're thinking twice, maybe three times, to relook the whole thing - their finances and their needs. Those who were previously looking at purchasing a four-bedroom apartment may now settle for a three-bedder, for instance."

Boathouse Residences comprises one and two-bedroom SOHO-concept apartments housed in two 15-storey blocks and two, three and four-bedroom apartments in four 18-storey blocks.

The SOHO-style apartments have a higher-than-usual floor-to-ceiling height of 3.35 metres, allowing residents to enjoy a bigger volume of space. They come with a furniture platform that may serve as a library, storage area or cosy corner. The one and two-bedders are priced from $880psf to $1,040psf, while the three- and four-bedroom apartments cost about $800-930psf.

Seastrand
And speaking of Seastrand, Far East and Frasers Centrepoint found buyers for nine more units last week, taking total sales for the 99-year leasehold project in Pasir Ris to 239 units. To date, 269 units have been released in the 475-unit condo. Seastrand's average price has risen from $877psf when the development was initially released in June to $924psf currently.

Source: The Business Times

The wife and I reckon that Singapore must be one of only a handful of countries around the world whereby home buyers take only hours to make purchasing decisions that will cost them in excess of half a million dollars. Maybe we are procrastinators, as it took us more than a week just to decide on buying that new laptop which costed $2,000.

However, we wonder if the recent "blood bath" seen in the worldwide stock markets (the DOW just dropped a whopping 600 points last night!) will put paid to such phenomenon... at least for the short to middle term.

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