UOL to ride on housing market rebound
The Raintree Gardens site was purchased in a UOL-led joint venture for $334.2 million. (Photo: JLL)
UOL Group is expected to benefit from the recovery in Singapore’s housing market as it had managed to acquire development sites at good prices, reported the Singapore Business Review.
In particular, KGI believes that the property firm’s two upcoming project launches in 2018 have favourable prospects given the anticipated upswing in the residential sector.
For instance, UOL recently purchased a site at 45 Amber Road for $156 million, or $1,117 psf. This is “a relatively good deal” as it’s 15 percent cheaper than the possible collective sale of nearby Amber Park condo for about $768 million ($1,284 psf).
SEE ALSO: UOL to acquire freehold site at 45 Amber Road for S$156mil
For the Amber Road project, the developer could achieve a profit before tax (PBT) margin of around 15 percent to 20 percent if it manages to sell the units there for $1,830 to $1,920 psf.
KGI is also optimistic on the project located at the Raintree Gardens site, which was bought by UOL via a joint venture last year for $334.2 million, or $797 psf per plot ratio (psf ppr).
“With (the) nearby land parcel in Woodleigh sold at $1,110 psf ppr and resale transactions in the vicinity, we think the group could easily target to earn PBT margin from mid-teens (forecast: $1,410 to $1,500 psf).”
UOL currently has four other housing projects in Singapore that have been already unveiled, namely Botanique at Bartley, Riverbank@Fernvale, The Clement Canopy and Principal Garden. The first two are nearly sold out, while the third and fourth are 59 percent and 72 percent taken-up as of Q2 2017.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
