Sengkang Grand Residences

When CapitaLand and City Development (CDL) teamed up to develop the 3.7 hectares residential site next to BuangKok MRT station in 2018, it promised to be a match made in heaven. Indeed, there was tremendous market hype as the two developers are the big boys in the real estate sector. The last time the two titans combined forces was in 2007 for the Botannia project in West Coast. Thus, it is not surprising that

became the best-selling integrated project in 2019.

But what raised plenty of eyebrows was the strong response shown during the launch day of Sengkang Grand Residences. 216 of the 280 units had been sold at an average price of $1,700 per square feet (psf). Prices for the integrated project start from $798,000 for a one-bedroom plus study unit, $998,000 for a two-bedroom, $1.498 million for a three-bedroom, and $2.1 million for a four-bedroom premium plus flexi. With such selling prices for Sengkang Grand Residences, one could be forgiven for thinking that it is a seller’s market now. But is it really so?

The selling prices of

are certainly mind-blowing. After all, the block-buster performance came against the backdrop of a slowing economy in Singapore. With retrenchments so rampant in Singapore, market sentiments had been extremely cautious for the past two years. But what made the launch performance of Sengkang Grand Residences standout was that 93% of the buyers are Singaporeans.

Where are the buyers? The strong buying support from Singapore buyers for Sengkang Grand Residences could come from a group of buyers – the en-bloc beneficiaries. The period of 2016 – 2018 saw a slew of en-bloc sales taking place in Singapore. Loaded with million-dollar windfalls, these group of people will need to look for replacement homes.

Question now is: with a price tag of $1,700 psf, will Sengkang Grand Residences turn out to be a dream or nightmare for buyers? Well, in my humble opinion, it really depends on whether you are buying for staying or investment purposes.

Is Sengkang Grand Residences over-rated?

Despite the encouraging start for

, it is too premature to say that the developers will go on to sell all the units? A good point of reference may be the Woodleigh Residences project by SPH and Kajima. Similar to Sengkang Grand Residences, the Woodleigh Residences is an integrated project located in the Bidadari Park and comes with direct access to the Woodleigh MRT station, shopping mall and underground bus interchange.

However, the similarities between the two projects stopped here. In my opinion, the strong pull factors for Sengkang Grand Residences against Woodleigh Residences are:

1. The strong collaboration of CDL and Capitaland.
2. The Sengkang Grand Residences is the biggest integrated Development site released by Government Land Sales
3. The many government initiatives to transform the surrounding area and in Sengkang itself to push future capital appreciation of the property.