Daintree Residence: a hidden gem in the market

/ EdgeProp |

April 21, 2019 11:00 AM SGT

Given the focus on new projects to be launched this year, it is easy for home hunters to overlook those projects that were launched last year. Daintree Residence by Malaysian-listed property developer SP Setia is one such project.

The 99-year leasehold, private condo development previewed over the weekend of July 14 and 15 last year, and was the first new private residential development to hit the market after the implementation of property cooling measures last July 6.

Located on Toh Tuck Road, the 327-unit Daintree Residence is in the quiet residential enclave in the Upper Bukit Timah area in District 21. The low-rise condo comprises one- to four-bedroom units of 534 to 1,459 sq ft in 12 five-storey blocks. Units on the first and fifth floors have a 4.3-metre loft ceiling, while other units feature a 2.9-metre ceiling height.

The project appeals to families with children of school-going age as top schools like Methodist Girls School, Hwa Chong Institution, and National Junior College are nearby.

Despite the property cooling measures, more than 3,000 people showed up on the preview weekend of Daintree Residence. About 50 of the 80 units released a fortnight later at the end of July were taken up. Average price of units sold was about $1,700 posf. The developer also gave buyers a 5% discount at the launch weekend.

The crowd at the first weekend preview of Daintree Residence

The higher additional buyer’s stamp duty, reduced borrowing limit for mortgages and an uncertain economic outlook has made homebuyers more price-sensitive, said associate professor Sing Tien Foo of NUS Institute of Real Estate and Urban Studies last October.

For the discerning homebuyer or property investor however, Daintree Residence’s average selling price could look relatively attractive, given the expected launch prices of upcoming developments in the area.

Just behind Daintree Residence is View at Kismis, a new 99-year project by local developers Roxy-Pacific and its joint-venture partner TE2 Development, a private business arm under Tong Eng Group. The site is an amalgamation of the former Kismis View, which was acquired through a collective sale for $102.75 million ($855 psf per plot ratio, or psf ppr) in January 2018; as well as a bungalow site acquired for $5.69 million ($800 psf ppr) in the following month.

View at Kismis will have a land area of about 100,366 sq ft and the partners say that the new development could comprise up to 186 units across a total gross floor area (GFA) of 140,171 sq ft. The new development is expected to launch later this year.

In the pipeline for redevelopment is the former freehold Goodluck Garden. Last December, the High Court cleared the way for the condo’s collective sale committee to proceed with the $610 million collective sale to Qingjian Group, following objections by a minority group of 13 owners. An appeal by some of the dissenting minority owners was also dismissed at the Court of Appeal last month.

Located on Toh Tuck Road, the 327-unit Daintree Residence is in the quiet residential enclave in the Upper Bukit Timah area

The sale price for Goodluck Garden translates to about $1,110 psf ppr for the freehold, 360,130 sq ft site, Qingjian said the acquisition adds more than 600 units to its land bank.

The land rate in terms of price psf ppr for Goodluck Garden is about 17% higher than what what SP Setia paid for the Daintree Residence site. The developer outbid 24 others in a government land tender in April 2017 to emerge the winner of the site with a bid of $265 million ($939 psf ppr).

Since then, land prices in the area have risen, as seen when the Hillview Rise government land sales site was awarded to Hong Leong Group for $460 million in July last year. Based on a GFA of 430,879 sq ft, the price works out to about $1,067 psf ppr. The site is a 10-minute drive from Daintree Residence and has a 99-year tenure.

As more new projects come onto the market, many will be characterised by the high land prices paid by developers during a frenzy of land buying activity from 1Q2017 to 2Q2018 in both government land sales and en bloc sales.

In the current market where homebuyers are spoilt for choice, Daintree Residence could prove to offer relatively lower prices compared to upcoming launches in the area.

Tags:

Daintree Residence S P Setia Toh Tuck Road

Follow our channels to receive property news updates 24/7 round the clock.

Subscribe to our newsletter