City Suites sees seven units sold in a week
Balestier has seen a revival of interest with new projects completed in the past few years and many older developments hitching on to the en bloc sale bandwagon.
A project that has seen a spike in sales is City Suites, a new freehold, 17-storey block with 56 units. The project developed by SingHaiyi contains predominantly one-bedroom units of 452 to 527 sq ft.
In the week of Oct 31 to Nov 7, seven units were sold at City Suites. Prices ranged from $771,000 for a 463 sq ft unit on the third level to $867,000 for a 452 sq ft unit on the 15th level, according to caveats lodged with URA Realis. To date, about 40% of the units at City Suites have been sold.
“Most buyers are attracted by the relatively low prices in the Balestier area as the collective sale fever has pulled up prices in other parts of Singapore,” says Gary Lim, sales director at SingHaiyi. Balestier is also one of the few areas where properties are predominantly freehold, and priced attractively, he adds.
The units at City Suites appeal to investors as they can be tenanted to those working in the healthcare sector at Health City Novena. Investors can achieve rental yields of about 4% at City Suites, according to Lim.
Other projects in Balestier that have also seen some sales activity in early November include Prestige Heights, where a 344 sq ft unit on the eighth floor was sold for $547,500 ($1,589 psf), according to a caveat lodged with URA Realis. At mixeduse development OKIO, a 570 sq ft apartment on the 11th floor changed hands for $843,800 ($1,479 psf).
City Suites predominantly comprises one-bedroom units of 452 to 527 sq ft
(Picture: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
The Balestier area has become more vibrant in recent years with the influx of foreign students, owing to the opening of educational institutes such as Curtin Singapore and the East Asia Institute of Management. New retail developments such as Zhongshan Mall, anchored by a Fairprice Finest supermarket, have joined established players like Shaw Plaza.
New hipster cafés and restaurants have also opened in Balestier to cater to the growing population of students and professionals in these new condominiums and apartment blocks.
As Health City Novena develops and attracts a larger working population in the future, there will be greater demand for residential property, says SingHaiyi’s Lim. With buying momentum expected to continue, this will have a spillover effect on property prices, he adds.
This article frist appeared in the EdgeProp Pullout, Issue 806 (Nov 20, 2017)
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