New project info: Three Balmoral

With the end of the Hungry Ghost Festival, some developers are rolling out new projects for private previews. Making its debut at the prime district 10 neighbourhood of Balmoral Road is Three Balmoral, a joint venture between the Teo family-owned Tong Eng Brothers and Henry Ng’s Clarus Corp. Ng’s family controls Pan-United, one of Singapore’s largest cement and concrete suppliers.

VIP previews at the freehold Three Balmoral is expected to start over the weekend of Sept 10 to 11. The existing 11-unit apartment block at 3 Balmoral Road will be redeveloped into a 40-unit, 12-storey block. Typical units in the new development will be a mix of one-bedroom-plus-study units of 614sqft as well as three-bedroom units of 1,528 and 1,539sqft. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2014.

“Our units may be compact in size, but we’re not developing shoebox apartments,” emphasises Teo Tong Lim, managing director of Tong Eng. “we also do not compromise on the layout of the units, which are squarish and practical.”

Prices will be in the range of $2,350 to $2,600psf, which translates to $1.5 million to $1.6 million for a one-bedroom unit and $3.5 million to $3.7 million for a three-bedroom unit, says the developer.

All the units, including the one-bedroom apartments, will come with private lift access. On the second level of the 12-storey development are two three-bedroom apartments, each with a private pool and priced at $4 million apiece. There are also four penthouses, of which two are triplex three-bedroom apartments with private pool and roof terrace. Measuring 3,746 and 3,757sqft respectively, they cost just under $7 million each. The other two penthouses are two-bedroom duplex apartments of 1,249sqft each, and priced around $3 million.

The new condo at Three balmoral will be raised 10m above street level and, therefore, most apartments will get unobstructed views of Goodwood Hill, as directly across the development is a colonial bungalow and not another 12-storey condo block, says Teo. “Such views are quite rare along Balmoral Road,” he adds.

As Three Balmoral is located close to Stevens Road, it is less than a five-minutes drive to Orchard Road. It’s also close to good schools such as Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road), Raffles Girls’ Secondary School and Singapore Chinese Girls’ School. The project is therefore expected to attract a mix of owner-occupiers and investors.

According to Joseph Tan, executive director of residential at CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), the last condominium launch in the Balmoral area was two years ago – for the 85-unit Volari in July 2009. CBRE is the sole marketing agent for Three Balmoral.

Source: THEEDGE SINGAPORE

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Project Spotlight: Latitude

Latitude, a high-end condominium located on Jalan Mutiara in the prime River Valley area, has seen a spike in transactions since late July. The 127-unit freehold condo by giant listed developer CapitaLand was completed late last year. Caveat data downloaded from URA for the period from July 26 to Aug 2 saw four caveats lodged for the sale of four 4-bedroom units sized at 2,766 to 2,928sqft. The quantum prices achieved ranged from $5.84 million to $6.15 million, or an average of $1,944 to $2,224psf.

Latitude comprises three towers, with a 22-storey tower and two 23-storey towers. Units comprise a mix of two- to four-bedroom apartments and four-bedroom penthouses. Two-bedroom units measure 1,324sqft, and penthouses measure 5,317sqft. The property is in the prestigious District 10, just five minutes' drive from the Orchard Road shopping belt.

In 4Q2007, CapitaLand sold 10 units at Latitude in the first phase of release. Prices achieved then, which in hindsight was the peak of the property boom, ranged from $2,500 to $2,800psf. With the spectre of the US subprime crisis and credit crunch affecting stock markets, market sentiment changed in early 2008, and many developers held back the launches of their high-end projects. According to caveats lodged with URA Realis, only one unit at Latitude was sold in 2008 - to a buyer with an HDB address. It was the sale of an eighth-floor, two-bedroom unit for $3.29 million ($2,487psf).

In 2009, in the aftermath of the global financial crisis and as home buying demand picked up, 48 units at the Latitude were sold, marking the largest number of units sold in a year since its launch. Prices of units sold ranged from $1,640psf for a two-bedroom unit to $2,305psf for a four-bedroom apartment. In 2010, there was a mix of new sales and sub-sales, with prices ranging from $1,738psf for a three-bedroom unit to $2,318psf for a penthouse unit.

Transactions achieved so far this year ranged from $2,504 to $2,239psf, according to caveats lodged with URA Realis. Marketing agents focusing on high-end condos in the prime districts of 9, 10 and 11 consider Latitude an attractive choice among investors and owner-occupiers. Four-bedroom units at Latitude command rental rates of about $15,000 a month, says Vivienne Koo, associate director of Tristar Properties. Thus, investors can achieve rental yields of 3%, which is higher than the average 2% to 2.3% for luxury properties in the prime districts, she adds.

"The Grange, for example, commands similar rents of about $15,000 a month for a four-bedroom unit, but its quantum price is also much higher," says Koo. According to listings on PropertyGuru.com.sg, a four-bedroom unit at The Grange, located off Grange Road, is priced at $6 million, or $2,800psf.

Another attraction for most potential home-owners and investors is the size of the four-bedroom apartments at Latitude. While most new luxury properties have four-bedroom apartments of about 2,300sqft, those at Latitude are close to 2,700sqft. " You can't really find such large sizes in the prime districts anymore, as many of the condominiums built in the old days that feature such large sizes have been sold en bloc, torn down and rebuilt into smaller units," says Koo.

The units have quality furnishing, spacious kitchens and good layouts, observes Koo. As such, more than half the buyers at Latitude are own-occupiers, and investors make up the rest. Most of the buyers are foreigners, with the project being especially among Indonesians and mainland Chinese. Some of these buyers, especially Indonesians, have purchased two or three apartments to be amalgamated into one large unit to accommodate their extended families. " This is something that you don't usually find in condominiums here in Singapore," she says.

Source: THEEDGE SINGAPORE

The wife and I understand that about 80% of units in Latitude have been sold thus far. So CapitaLand have already made their millions on this project and should be in no hurry to sell off the remaining units. And given the uncertain economic climate and bloodshed seen at the stock markets recently, we will be very surprised if unit at Latitude crosses the $2,200psf mark again in the next couple of months (at least)...
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Eleven @Holland (Review)

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Project Name:   Eleven @Holland
Tenure:   99-year Leasehold
Location:   11 Holland Link (off Old Holland Road)
District:   10
Site Area: approx.   130,000sqft
TOP (estimated):   4Q 2014
Total Units:   82 exclusive semi-detached cluster units
Car Park Lots:   2 dedicated parking lots per unit
Developer:   Clydesbuilt

It has been awhile since we last seen a cluster housing development. So the wife and I decided to visit the sales gallery of Eleven @Holland last weekend.

Eleven @Holland is a 99-year leasehold project by Clydesbuilt, a boutique developer whose other projects include Clydesview Condominium, Clydes Residence and Lornie 18.

The actual site of Eleven @Holland is along Holland Link, next to Fong Yun Thai Association Columbarium. The sales gallery is located directly across the road from the site.

Eleven @Holland consists of 82 semi-detached units and you have a choice of 3 different unit types:
• Type A (5-bedroom) – Basement + 3 storeys + attic (12 units):   4,129 – 4,348sqft
• Type B (5-bedroom) – Basement + 3 storeys + attic (62 units):   3,681 – 4,241sqft
• Type C (4-bedroom) – Basement + 2 storeys + attic (8 units):   3,692 – 3,885sqft

In terms of orientation, the Type A units face Holland Link, while the Type C units line the back of the development.

Facility wise, the developer has stuck to the bare essentials:
• Swimming pool
• Gym
• BBQ corner
• Children’s playground

Each unit comes with 2 dedicated parking lots whereas guests will have to find their own parking spaces outside of the development.

There is no showflat per se in the sales gallery. Instead, you get “mock up” of each of the living areas.

The living/dining rooms and kitchen are on the 1st floor of each unit. The first thing that struck the wife and I is that there is no main door – you get sliding glass panels at the front of the living room that acts as the main door.

The living and dining rooms are separate and distinct from each other and both are very spacious. It comes with 60cm x 60cm marble floors and 3.1m ceiling.
  

The kitchen is of open-concept format and you get "Smeg" oven/hob/hood/fridge and "Hansgrohe" kitchen faucets. However, we were a tad disappointed with the kitchen cabinets, which do not have "anti-slam" mechanisms. Also, the choice of colours for the cabinets is somewhat dull. 

Each unit comes with its own private lift, which can take up to 320kg (i.e. 4 – 5 pax). 

All the common bedrooms are en-suite and again very spacious. The rooms come with solid timber-strip floors, but again we find the colour scheme (especially the wardrobe) too dull and dated.

The master bedroom is in the attic and huge. However, the amount of wardrobe provided is pathetic. If you can afford a house like this, you and your other half will most likely have more clothing than what a standard 2-panel wardrobe can hold.

The master bathroom is similar in design to the other bathrooms within the house. This is right down to the homogenous-tile floors/ceramic-tile walls, the “Hansgrohe” bathroom fittings and standing shower stall (which only comes with the standard wall-mounted shower set). We were told that the developer has deliberately omitted long-bath in all the bathrooms, as most owners these days prefer standing shower. However, we tend to think that buyers will at least expect a long bath AND a standing shower in the master bathroom when buying a house of such size and status. The other thing that we dislike about the bathrooms is the colour scheme, which makes them look dull and dark.

Price wise, the developer has decided to charge the same $1,050psf for all the units within Eleven @Holland. So each house will cost between $3.865 to $4.565 million.

Monthly maintenance charge is around $550 but this excludes the maintenance cost for the private lift in each house, which will set you back another $120/month.

As of last weekend, 16 of the 82 units have been sold.

What we like:
• Location – It is District 10 after all (albeit a slightly remote part), which is one of the most sought after address in Singapore.

• Living in Eleven @Holland is like staying in a landed home with condo facilities. This should appeal to expatriates with families, which may translate to good rental yields.

What we dislike:
• The quality of furnishing and fittings at Eleven @Holland are hardly impressive, or is this because we have set our expectations too high?

• The wife and I also dislike the colour scheme used around the house (i.e. colour of kitchen cabinets, wardrobe, bathroom walls and floors etc), which can only be described as dull, dated and somewhat depressing.

• Units at Eleven @ Holland are sold based on “strata area” - the developer takes all common area, i.e. the walkways and open grounds within the development, the land that the swimming pools and other facilities take up, and apportions these to each of the unit owners. So the 4,000sqft house that you buy includes a portion of the common area, which means the actual "built-in" area of the house is less than 4,000sqft. We understand that not all cluster housing projects are sold based on strata area.

• Although Eleven @Holland is supposedly located near to amenities and within walking distance to the upcoming King Albert Park MRT station, one can probably work up a fair bit of sweat walking to these places.

• We can only identify one primary school that is within 1-km of Eleven @Holland – Methodist Girls’ School.

• Maybe we are the only ones that's "pantang", but the wife and I are not real keen in staying next to a Columbarium. Should you think the same like us, you may want to avoid units #49 - 52, 67 - 69 (Type B) and units #81 - 82 (Type C). 

Our Verdict:  Assuming the wife and I have $3 – 4 million to spend, we will rather take our money to The Greenwood (a cluster-house project by Far East off Dunearn Road). Sure, we are no big fans of Far East projects (given that they are generally very expensive), while The Greenwood is not in District 10. However, it is far more appealing (both in quality and aesthetics) compared to what we have seen at Eleven @Holland. And The Greenwood may actually be cheaper in price, as we were told that the units there are sold based on "built-in" rather than "strata" area.

And no, we weren't paid by Far East to say this...
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