A 420 sq ft, one-bedroom unit at Alexis on Alexandra Road has been listed for sale at $680,000 ($1,619 psf) on TheEdgeProperty.com. The unit is currently vacant and believed to be owned by a foreigner, according to Alex Lim of ERA Reality Network, who is marketing the property.

The indicative price is in line with the latest transaction of a 420 sq ft, one-bedroom unit on the second level of the project that changed hands recently for $685,000 ($1,632 psf) in March, according to a caveat lodged with URA Realis.

Alexis is a freehold, mixed-use development with 293 apartments spanning six floors atop a retail podium on the ground floor comprising 21 strata commercial units. The project was fully sold within the first weekend of its preview in February 2009 and completed in 2012. The joint developers for Alexis, Fission Group and Yi Kai Group, were credited with popularising the shoebox apartment concept.

Alexis is a freehold, mixed-use development with 293 apartments spanning six floors atop a retail podium on the ground floor

The popularity of Alexis was due to the fact that the majority of the units are compact apartments: one-bedroom units are 366 to 527 sq ft and one-bedroom plus study units are 474 to 764 sq ft. Meanwhile, two-bedroom units are 527 to 1,033 sq ft and two-bedroom plus study units are 657 to 1,055 sq ft. The penthouses are equally compact, ranging from 764 to 1,518 sq ft.

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As many of the one-bedroom units were priced below $500,000, they appealed to mom-and-pop investors. Average price then was $1,046 psf.

This year saw three resale transactions with mixed results. The most recent one was the sale of a 420 sq ft unit for $685,000 ($1,632 psf). The previous owner had purchased the unit for $558,000 ($1,329 psf) in a sub-sale in September 2009. The original buyer paid $467,000 ($1,112 psf) just six months earlier in March 2009.

However, in February, the seller of a 398 sq ft, one-bedroom unit did not fare as well. The resale price was $575,000 ($1,444 psf), below the $745,000 ($1,871 psf) that he paid in a sub-sale in September 2012. The first buyer had purchased the unit for $450,000 ($1,130 psf) when it was first launched.

In January, a 689 sq ft, two-bedroom unit fetched $950,000 ($1,379 psf). The previous owner paid $646,000 ($938 psf) for the unit when the project was first launched.

Based on URA data for the first three months of 2017, one-bedroom units of 400 to 500 sq ft at Alexis have been leased at monthly rents of $2,100 to $2,450.

For an investor buying the 420 sq ft one-bedroom unit at $680,000, that will translate into a gross yield of about 4.3%.

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