At Ardmore Park condominium, two recent transactions approaching the$3,000 psf level may signal a turning point for prices in the luxury condo segment. A unit on the 13th floor changed hands for$8.6 million ($2,981 psf), according to a caveat lodged on June 22. Prior to that, a unit on the seventh floor in the same block was sold for $8.45million ($2,929 psf), according to a May 19 caveat.

Word on the street is that another transaction of a mid-floor unit at the condo has crossed the $3,000 psf threshold. The unit is said to have been sold for $9.3 million ($3,223psf), although a caveat has yet to be lodged.

The recent spate of buying at Ardmore Park condo is said to be mainly fuelled by foreigners. “With prices now inching towards the$3,000 psf level, many foreign investors are of the view that prices are unlikely to fall further,” says Eric Tay, associate group division director of PropNex Realty. “And they see this as an opportunity to buy into an exclusive property in a good-class-bungalow neighbourhood, such as Ardmore Park, before prices start to move up.”

Foreigners are looking to buy a unit at Ardmore Park for their own use, given the sizeable floor areas of the apartments, good layout and freehold tenure, says Tay. The unit on the 13th floor is said to have views of the greenery and the swimming pool, and according to Tay, it was bought by a Mainland Chinese. “They are impressed by the maintenance and upkeep of the development despite its age,” he says. “The location is also a draw as it’s close to international schools.”

All the typical units in the condo have four bedrooms and are 2,885sq ft in size. The duplex penthouses, which are 8,740 sq ft each, hit a high of $30 million ($3,432 psf) in July 2010.

Ardmore Park condo was launched at the peak of the last property boom in mid-1996 and completed in 2001. Today, it is still the biggest luxury condo in the Ardmore Park neighbourhood, with330 units in three 30-storey towers on a sprawling eight-acre freehold site and a wide range of amenities.

Singapore Christie’s Homes managing director Samuel Eyo says the condo has always been regarded as a barometer for the luxury condo market. When a unit on the 27th floor fetched$10.64 million, or a record-breaking$3,688 psf, back in January 2010, it signalled a rebound in the luxury condo market after the global financial crisis in 2008 and 2009. The purchaser was a mainland Chinese, and the deal sparked off at least half a dozen others at prices above $3,500 psf between 2011 and 2013.

And when a unit at Ardmore Park condo was sold for $7.28 million ($2,524 psf) in November last year, it marked a new low, leading foreign investors to start looking for opportunistic buys. This is because the last time prices had plummeted to the $2,500 psf level was in September 2009 — in the depths of the global financial crisis — when a unit changed hands at $7.2 million ($2,496 psf).

The three recent transactions at the condo may also reflect a wider trend in the luxury condo segment of foreign buyers returning to the prestigious locations of Ardmore Park, as well as Nassim Road and Orchard Boulevard, says PhyliciaAng, Savills’ executive director of residential services.

Besides Ardmore Park condo, two other luxury condos in Wheelock Properties’ Ardmore series have also seen some activity recently. At the 118-unit Ardmore II, a unit on the33rd floor changed hands for $5.8million ($2,866 psf), according to a June 12 caveat, while another unit on the 13th floor was sold for $4.7million ($2,323 psf) at end-March.

The last time a unit changed hands at Ardmore II was in November2013, when a unit was sold for$5.75 million ($2,841 psf). Ardmore II, which is a freehold development, comprises 118 identical four-bedroom units of 2,024 sqft in two 36-storey towers. The project was launched in mid-2006, a decade after the launch of the Ardmore Park condo. Meanwhile, the 36-storey Ardmore Three is a departure from the two earlier condos in the Ardmore series. It contains 84 three-bedroom units of about 1,800 sq ft.

According to caveats lodged on June 19, two units at Ardmore Three were sold recently. A unit on the 19th floor was sold for $5.83million ($3,281 psf), while another unit on the 27th floor fetched$6.15 million ($3,527 psf). They were sold at a roadshow in Hong Kong last month, with sales handled by Singapore Christie’s Home sand CBRE.

Both units reflected a discount of about 1% to the listed prices, according to URA Realis. The discount is only for Club Wheelock members, says Eyo of Singapore Christie’s Homes.

Prior to these two deals, only three units were sold between October2012 and May 2013, with prices ranging from $3,160 psf to$3,485 psf. The project was completed in 4Q2014.

“What is significant about the recent transactions at Ardmore II and Ardmore Three is that it presents buying opportunities at the$5 million to $6 million level in a neighbourhood where the entry price is generally $9 million and above,” says Savills’ Ang.

Testing the waters in the ultra-luxury market is Le Nouvel Ardmore, where a 13,876 sq ft, five-bedroom duplex penthouse with a privates wimming pool was sold for $51million ($3,676 psf) in early April. The buyer is said to be Sun Tongyu, one of the co-founders of Alibaba.

Three other units were sold at prices above $4,300 psf, two of which were done in 2013 and another in 2011. Le Nouvel Ardmore is a 43-unit luxury condo developed by Wing Tai Holdings and designed by acclaimed architect and Pritzker Architecture Prize winner Jean Nouvel.

It is clear why Ardmore Park is back in vogue. “Everytime there’s a market turnaround, Ardmore Park is the first to see buyers return and prices rebound,” remarks Eyo of Singapore Christie’s Homes.

This article appeared in the City & Country of Issue 685 (July 13) of The Edge Singapore.