SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - Two luxury condo units in prime District 9 have recently been purchased by foreign buyers, despite the recent hikes in additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD) that came into effect on April 27. According to Lee Sze Teck, senior director of research at Huttons Asia, a crosscheck with URA’s analysis of property purchases by nationalities and residential status show that the units were acquired by Chinese nationals who are not Permanent Residents (PRs).

One of the properties is a four-bedroom, 2,691 sq ft unit at New Futura, a freehold condo along Leonie Hill Road in District 9. Based on URA data, a caveat was lodged for the sale of the unit, located on the 24th floor, on May 3 for $12.5 million. At $4,645 psf, it marked a new psf-price high for the 124-unit, freehold development by developer City Developments Ltd that was completed in 2017.

Based on the new cooling measures, an ABSD rate of 60% would apply to foreign buyers. However, for transactions where the option to purchase was granted to the buyer on or before April 26 and exercised within 21 days (i.e. on or before May 17), the new rates will not apply. Hence the Chinese buyer for the New Futura unit paid an ABSD rate of 30% or $3.75 million for the purchase.

The seller of the unit at New Futura purchased the unit in January 2018 for $9.13 million ($3,395 psf). Hence, the gain from the sale was $3.37 million (37%) after a five-year holding period. This is the most profitable resale transaction at New Futura to date. It surpasses the previous gain of $2.96 million set in December 2022. It was for the sale of a 2,691 sq ft unit sold for $12 million ($4,459 psf).

New Futura, located along Leonie Hill Road, is a twin 36-storey tower residential development designed by American architecture firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM), the design architect for luxury developments Wallich Residence and Skywaters Residences in Tanjong Pagar.

Units at New Futura comprise a mix of two-bedroom apartments of 1,098 sq ft to four-bedroom apartments of 2,691 sq ft with double-volume ceilings. There are also two 7,836 sq ft penthouses – one at the top of each tower.

The other luxury condo property that was scooped up by a Chinese buyer is a six-bedroom townhouse unit at Yong An Park, a freehold development on River Valley Road. A caveat was lodged on May 5 for the sale of the 7,718 sq ft property for $14.08 million ($1,824 psf). Similar to the unit at New Futura, the buyer of the Yong An Park unit paid an ABSD of 30% ($4.2 million) on the transaction, as the option was exercised prior to May 17.

The seller of the unit at Yong An Park raked in a gain of $4.5 million on the transaction. The unit had changed hands previously for $9.58 million ($1,241 psf) in February 2008. As such, the seller made a 47% capital gain after holding the property for 15 years.

Completed in 1986, Yong An Park has a total of 288 residences. Typical units comprise one- to four-bedders between 1,023 sq ft and 3,778 sq ft. There are three- to five-bedroom penthouses with sizes from 3,466 sq ft and 6,878 sq ft, as well as a collection of six-bedroom, strata-titled townhouses from 7,718 sq ft. The development is a five-minute walk to the Great World MRT Station on the Thomson-East Coast Line.

We previously reported that the Chinese buyers of the units at New Futura and Yong An Park paid an ABSD of 60% on the transaction. We sincerely apologise for the error.

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