At Marina Collection, a four-bedroom, 3,412 sq ft unit on the fourth floor was sold for $6.15 million ($1,802 psf), according to a caveat lodged on June 29. Earlier last month, a neighbouring unit of the same size fetched $6.3 million ($1,846 psf). Both units are believed to be sold by the developer as there were no prior caveats lodged for them.

Meanwhile, a 3,789 sq ft five-bedroom penthouse at Marina Collection fetched $6.385 million ($1,685 psf) in April, and it is also believed to be a developer’s sale. Marina Collection is a 124-unit high-end, 99-year leasehold condominium developed by Lippo Group and completed in 2011. All the units are orientated to have views of the water, and the most premium units overlook the swimming pool, the marina and the sea. Marina Collection is located adjacent to the One°15 Marina yacht club.

However, two earlier sales at Marina Collection were mortgagee sales. One was a 1,873 sq ft, three-bedroom unit on the second level of one of the blocks that was sold for $3 million ($1,602 psf) in early March. It had been put up for auction twice by Edmund Tie & Co before being sold in a private treaty. The other unit was also a 1,873 sq ft, three-bedroom unit in the same block but situated on the third floor. It fetched $3 million ($1,602 psf) last December.

The previous owner of the 1,873 sq ft second- floor unit had purchased it for $5.24 million ($2,800 psf) when the project was completed in 2011. The third-floor unit was also purchased in the same year for $4.87 million ($2,600 psf) based on a caveat lodged for the unit in December 2011.

Interest is returning to Sentosa Cove, and buyers are no longer just fixated on mortgagee sales, notes Joy Tan, head of auction at Edmund Tie & Co. This was evident in the recent sales of the four-bedroom units and penthouse unit at Marina Collection, which were all developer's sales.

This article appeared in The Edge Property Pullout, Issue 788 (July 17, 2017) of The Edge Singapore