Latest news with #WResidences
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Singapore luxury condos' early struggle shows boom's limits
By Low De Wei (Bloomberg) — A large-scale luxury development in Singapore sold only a tiny fraction of units when it started accepting bookings, reflecting the struggles of the priciest segment in the city-state's otherwise stratospheric property market. The W Residences Marina View condominium began pre-sales last Saturday, and buyers booked only two of its 683 units over the weekend, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified sharing private information. The complex is located in the heart of the country's central business district, a short walk from skyscrapers that house global financial institutions and multinational companies. The units' preview prices started from about S$3,200 ($2,491) per square foot, which means the cheapest one-bedroom units were advertised for S$1.8 million. Five-bedroom units were priced at S$11.6 million and up, according to marketing materials seen by Bloomberg News. The project's weak debut shows how property developers face an uphill challenge trying to attract wealthy home-buyers to luxury towers in Singapore's iconic business district, which lines its downtown waterfront. The government in 2023 doubled already hefty taxes on foreigners' property purchases, while locals have gravitated to suburban private homes that are closer to schools and other amenities. Last weekend, LyndenWoods, a mass-market condominium project about 9 kilometres (5.6 miles) from the downtown luxury residence, sold over 94 per cent of its 343 units in a single day, despite new curbs that were added in early July. Average pricing was about S$2,450 per square foot. Overall private home prices in Singapore have climbed roughly 40 per cent over the past five years. However, apartment prices within the so-called core central region – which covers the CBD and other high-end neighbourhoods – have lagged behind, with a smaller increase of about 19 per cent. The W Residences Marina View is being built by IOI Properties Group Bhd, a Malaysian developer that paid S$1.5 billion in 2021 for the site. The project will be managed by Marriott International. A spokesperson for the developer said there was 'strong interest' from individuals who were invited to its private previews, and 'it's natural that buyers are taking a measured approach amid a wave of new launches' in the area. The 99-year leasehold development has yet to be built, and buyers could pull out in the early stages of a sale if they pay a fee. 'Developers are likely to be more cautious and recalibrate their land acquisition plans following the poor demand' for properties in the prime city centre, said Nicholas Mak, chief research officer at property portal 'They will avoid a price war at all costs.' A nearby high-end residential project called Skywaters Residences, which is part of a broader development backed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and local developer Perennial Holdings Pte, has sold just two of its 190 units since it launched more than a year ago. One 7,761-square-foot apartment sold for S$47.3 million, while the other smaller unit went for S$30.9 million. Such prices are comparable with mansions in land-scarce Singapore. Local property giant City Developments Ltd., which is building another 'ultra-luxury development' in the business district, hasn't set a launch date for its Newport Residences project, which will feature serviced apartments and 246 residential units. Developers have largely refrained from offering major discounts, betting that they can still attract wealthy locals and foreigners who have residency in Singapore, granting them lower property levies. More stories like this are available on ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
Bloomberg
16-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Singapore Luxury Condo's Early Flop Shows Property Boom's Limits
A large-scale luxury development in Singapore sold only a tiny fraction of units when it started accepting bookings, reflecting the struggles of the priciest segment in the city-state's otherwise stratospheric property market. The W Residences Marina View condominium began pre-sales last Saturday, and buyers booked only two of its 683 units over the weekend, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified sharing private information. The complex is located in the heart of the country's central business district, a short walk from skyscrapers that house global financial institutions and multinational companies.
Business Times
14-07-2025
- Business
- Business Times
IOI offers ‘special preview prices' for limited units at about S$3,200 psf for W Residences Marina View
[SINGAPORE] IOI Properties is offering 'special preview prices' at just over S$3,200 per square foot (psf) for a limited number of units at its W Residences Marina View project, as it starts private previews for the luxury branded residence development. These rates apply to some three-bedroom units, which were earlier listed on PropertyGuru at prices starting from S$5.4 million for apartments sized from 1,195 to 1,249 square feet. List prices range from an estimated S$3,800 psf to S$6,000 psf range for the 683-unit project. The 99-year leasehold W Residences Marina View has 171 one-bedroom units, 310 two-bedroom units, 103 three-bedroom units, 32 four-bedroom units, 64 five-bedroom units, two simplex penthouses and one duplex penthouse. IOI began previews for invited clients earlier this month, and according to agents, opened for sales bookings over the Jul 12 weekend. In response to queries from The Business Times on sales for the project, an IOI spokesperson said the property developer has received 'strong interest from our invited guests'. 'While it's natural that buyers are taking a measured approach amid a wave of new launches in the Core Central Region, W Residences rises above with its iconic brand experience, coveted location, and lifestyle offering that defies convention,' the spokesperson added. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Tuesday, 12 pm Property Insights Get an exclusive analysis of real estate and property news in Singapore and beyond. Sign Up Sign Up PropertyGuru listings show one-bedroom units, at 538 to 570 sq ft in size, starting at over S$2.1 million. Two-bedroom units, at 710 to 850 sq ft, are expected to be priced from S$2.8 million. Four-bedders spanning 2,250 sq ft start at S$13 million, and five-bedroom apartments, at 2,809 sq ft, are listed for sale from S$16 million. 'W Residences Marina View is currently in the early phase of private previews for our VVIP guests, offering a unique proposition in Singapore's residential landscape as the first branded residence in the country fully integrated with its co-branded W Hotel,' the IOI spokesperson said. The luxury condo, fully managed by Marriott International, is being built above a new 360-room W Hotel, on a white site tendered in 2021. IOI acquired the site for S$1.508 billion or S$1,379 psf per plot ratio, after triggering the release of the plot from the government land sales reserve list. Nearby is IOI Central Boulevard Towers, its mixed-use development in Marina Bay with two Grade-A office towers and a seven-storey retail podium. One of Malaysia's largest property developers, IOI's portfolio of high-end residential properties also includes Seascape and Cape Royale, condo developments in Sentosa Cove which were built in partnership with Ho Bee Land.
Business Times
10-07-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Q3 wave of condo launches will test demand for Singapore prime projects above S$3,000 psf benchmark
[SINGAPORE] A wave of new condominium launches in the coming weeks will pose a litmus test of buyer appetite for prime properties, with prices pushing past S$3,000 per square foot (psf) for several projects. Some 10 new projects offering about 4,750 homes are expected to be marketed in July and August, before the start of the Hungry Ghost Festival. Beginning in the last week of August, the month-long event is a seasonally slow period for the property market. Four of these projects are in the prime Core Central Region (CCR): W Residences Marina View, The Robertson Opus, Upperhouse at Orchard Boulevard, and River Green. Another two – Amber House in the east and Promenade Peak at Zion Road – have Rest of Central Region (RCR) addresses, but will likely be priced close to CCR benchmarks due to their location. In September, two more centrally located condos could be launched: Skye at Holland at Holland Drive, and Zyon Grand at Zion Road. Within the CCR, some 1,857 homes will be marketed – the largest number of new units there since 2021, said Mark Yip, chief executive officer of Huttons Asia. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Tuesday, 12 pm Property Insights Get an exclusive analysis of real estate and property news in Singapore and beyond. Sign Up Sign Up PropNex chief executive officer Ismail Gafoor noted that for the whole of 2023, only two new prime condos totalling 258 units were launched; in 2024, three projects offered 571 units. There was just one CCR condo (the 367-unit The Collective at One Sophia) launched in the fourth quarter of 2024, and two smaller projects (the 188-unit Aurea and the 18-unit 21 Anderson) in the first half of 2025. Property players will be watching the upcoming launches closely, to determine strategies for a market where high-end condo sales have been squashed by cooling measures and overall sentiment is soft. Developers' sales of new projects fell sharply in Q2 2025 after a surge in buying in the two quarters before. Across all regions, total new sales were down 66 per cent at 1,124 units in Q2. The batch of CCR projects this quarter will bring not just a step-up in supply, but also higher price points than the mass-market condos that sold well in the past. Alan Cheong, executive director of research and consultancy at Savills Singapore, said: 'We don't expect demand to flood in, like what we saw for a few projects in the RCR and Outside Central Region (OCR) in 2024 and early 2025. Once developers have established S$3,000 psf as the benchmark, subsequent new launches in the CCR will build on that baseline.' While the boost in supply at the top of the market is raising some concerns, 'over time, if the pricing remains flexible, you will see take-up come in at a steady rate', he added. Palatable prices for local buyers IOI Properties' W Residences Marina View, a 683-unit branded residences project being built on top of a new W hotel, begins booking sales this Saturday (Jul 12), with prices starting above S$2.1 million for the smallest one-bedroom units. On a psf basis, prices are estimated to range from S$3,800 to S$6,000 psf. In the River Valley area, the first out of the gate is the 999-year leasehold The Robertson Opus, followed by three 99-year leasehold condos bunched around the River Valley Green and Zion Road locale. Prices for The Robertson Opus, a Frasers Property-Sekisui House project, start from S$3,150 psf. Wing Tai will begin previews for its 524-unit River Green on Jul 17. UOL and Singapore Land have also started marketing Upperhouse at Orchard Boulevard, with agents advertising indicative prices from just under S$3,000 psf to about S$3,500 psf. The last 99-year leasehold project launched in the Orchard area was Cuscaden Reserve, released in 2019 at prices ranging from S$3,300 to S$3,500 psf. The boost in new CCR supply, most of it coming out of government land sale sites, is likely to cap prices at levels palatable to local buyers. PropNex's Gafoor anticipates that 'developers will likely price units sensitively to try to get sales going during the initial stages of the project launch'. The current market is price-sensitive, especially with the broad line-up of launches available, added Justin Quek, Realion's deputy group chief executive officer. Demand in the CCR has been tepid since the government hiked additional buyer's stamp duty (ABSD) rates in April 2023. Foreign buyers, who typically account for a larger share of sales in the CCR compared with the city fringe and suburban areas, stayed away after ABSD for such purchasers was doubled to 60 per cent. Based on caveats data from Realis, foreigners now account for 6.9 per cent of new non-landed private home sales in Q1, and 7.1 per cent in Q2. These figures are among the lowest on a quarterly basis since 2021, said Gafoor. That said, Huttons' Yip noted there were buyers who picked up properties priced above S$4,000 psf in 21 Anderson and Park Nova in Q2 this year. Moreover, in June, a 3,326-square-foot (sq ft) unit at Sculptura Ardmore changed hands at S$20 million or S$6,013 psf, and a new 5,285 sq ft unit at Skywaters Residences was sold for S$30.9 million or S$5,841 psf. 'Window of opportunity' Yip said that as the price gap between properties in the CCR and RCR shrinks to one of the narrowest on record, buyers may view this as a 'window of opportunity' to enter the CCR market. Statistics from ERA research showed that with prices in other regions rising at a faster clip than those in prime areas, the median price difference in H1 2025 between the CCR and RCR has been whittled down to just S$59 psf; between the CCR and OCR, the gap is S$479 psf. Yip believes that with prices benchmarked around S$3,000 psf, new 99-year leasehold CCR condos could be 'very attractive' to buyers. In comparison, the average price of a new freehold or 999-year leasehold project in the CCR has risen 23.4 per cent to S$3,437 psf since 2020, he said. ERA's key executive officer, Eugene Lim, added that in the new Zion Road and River Valley cluster, prices are likely to be relatively competitive, even if neighbouring sites fall under different regions. These projects may also garner more interest from home upgraders, said Gafoor. They are not far from the Bukit Merah public housing estate, where resale values are high and numerous 'million-dollar' flat sales have been transacted. Savills' Cheong added that the government's latest seller's stamp duty (SSD) revisions are unlikely to affect those buying a unit for their own use or rental. 'It should also not affect prices of new launches, as developers (have already sewn up) their marketing strategies and pricing,' he said. 'Nevertheless, it may take the wind out of the sails of those who had crafted the narrative that buyers can flip (their properties) before they even need to draw down on their housing loans, or (need to rent them out), which they may now have to do with the extended SSD period.' Supply boost The increase in CCR supply in Q3 comes amid a significant boost in private housing supply. At least 10 projects are slated for launch, offering close to 5,000 new homes. In comparison, 3,251 units were marketed across six projects in Q1, and 1,526 units were pushed out through five projects in Q2. This upcoming wave of launches is larger than the bumper crop marketed in the last quarter of 2024. In November alone, six projects yielding a total of 3,551 units were launched – among them were Chuan Park, Nava Grove, Emerald of Katong, Novo Place Executive Condominium, and The Collective at One Sophia. The projects rolled out then were in popular residential estates that for some time had not had new launches, and some were attractively priced. Interest rates were also easing, and the economic outlook was brightening. 'You could say that the stars aligned in Q4 2024,' said Tricia Song, head of research for South-east Asia at CBRE. Developers sold about 4,000 new homes that quarter, and rang up another 4,240 units in new sales in the following three months as buying momentum continued – another large batch of new homes was released in Q1 2025. Three major projects – Lentor Central Residences, The Orie in Toa Payoh, and Parktown Residence in Tampines – all notched take-up rates of about 90 per cent over their launch weekends. But sentiment has since turned cautious, with growing tariff stress and geopolitical tensions, as well as fresh downside risks to the economy, said Gafoor of PropNex.
Business Times
02-07-2025
- Business
- Business Times
IOI starts previews for 683-unit W Residences Marina View luxury project
[SINGAPORE] IOI Properties Group, which began marketing its luxury-branded residences project W Residences Marina View Singapore in late June, is expected to book sales on Jul 12. Located in Marina View, the 683-unit project will sit atop the 360-room W hotel, the Marriott group's second W hotel in Singapore after the one on Sentosa, called W Singapore Sentosa Cove. The project is next to the Shenton Way MRT on the Thomson-East Coast line. In response to queries from The Business Times, IOI said: 'The private preview for invitees presents a rare opportunity to experience first-hand the exceptional value this development brings to the branded residences market. This is achieved without compromising on quality, prime location or the exclusive privileges synonymous with the W brand, managed by Marriott International – the global leader in branded residences.' The marketing materials seen by BT indicate that the 99-year leasehold development comprises 171 one-bedroom units, 310 two-bedroom units, 103 three-bedroom units, 32 four-bedroom units, 64 five-bedroom units, two simplex penthouses and one duplex penthouse. Listings on PropertyGuru show that one-bedroom units, at 538 to 570 sq ft in size, start at over S$2.1 million. The two-bedroom units, at 710 to 850 sq ft, are expected to be priced from S$2.8 million, and the three-bedders, at 1,195 to 1,249 sq ft, from S$5.4 million. The four-bedders spanning 2,250 sq ft start at S$13 million, and the five-bedders, at 2,809 sq ft, are listed for sale from S$16 million. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Tuesday, 12 pm Property Insights Get an exclusive analysis of real estate and property news in Singapore and beyond. Sign Up Sign Up On a per-square-foot (psf) basis, prices are estimated to range from about S$3,800 to around S$6,000 psf. Prices are not available for the penthouses, but BT understands that each penthouse is above 5,000 sq ft in size. W Residences Marina View Singapore is expected to achieve its Temporary Occupation Permit in 2029. In 2021, IOI was the sole bidder for the white site, which it bought for S$1.508 billion or S$1,379 psf ppr, after triggering the release of the plot from the government land sales reserve list. IOI's bid was just S$101 more than the minimum price it committed to paying when it applied for the site. The site was estimated to be able to supply 905 private housing units and 540 hotel rooms. In June 2022, IOI received provisional permission for a 307-room hotel, 748 apartments for sale and 2,000 sq m in gross floor area of retail space on the land parcel. Market talk had it that in 2023, the developer tweaked plans for the project, reducing the number of apartments to 683, and raising the number of hotel rooms to 360. This followed the government's rolling out of a set of cooling measures in April that year, including sharply higher ABSD (Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty) rates for foreign buyers and investment buyers. Last year, IOI completed the Grade-A IOI Central Boulevard Towers, a mixed-use development in Marina Bay nearby, which comprises two Grade-A office towers and a seven-storey retail podium. One of Malaysia's largest property developers, IOI recently announced plans to acquire the remaining 50.1 per cent stake in the South Beach development it built with its joint venture partner, City Developments (CDL). IOI's portfolio of high-end residential properties also include Seascape and Cape Royale, condominium developments in Sentosa Cove which were developed in partnership with Ho Bee Land. The W Residences is the second residential project to be launched in the Marina area. In April 2025, One Marina Gardens in Marina South sold 353 units or about 38 per cent of its 937 units over its launch weekend, amid concerns about a trade war and potential global recession intensifying. The units were sold at an average selling price of S$2,953 psf. W Residences Marina View Singapore's launch comes in a month in which at least seven major projects are expected to come onto the market, several of which will also be in the Core Central Region (CCR). On Wednesday (Jul 2), Frasers Property and Sekisui House opened The Robertson Opus along Unity Street for a private preview. Prices there start at S$3,150 psf.
