Daintree Residence previews at average of $1,800 psf

By Cecilia Chow

/ EdgeProp Singapore |

July 20, 2018 8:30 AM SGT

Last weekend (July 14 and 15) saw the preview of Daintree Residence, Malaysian developer SP Setia’s latest project in Singapore. The 327-unit, low-rise condominium is located on Toh Tuck Road, in a quiet residential area off Upper Bukit Timah Road.

Even though it was just over a week after the government’s ninth round of property cooling measures took effect on July 6, there was a crowd of 3,000 at the sales gallery over the preview weekend. The latest cooling measures included a five-percentage-point hike in additional buyer’s stamp duty for citizens and permanent residents buying second and subsequent homes, and a tightening of the loan-to-value (LTV) limit by 5ppt. For foreign buyers, ABSD was hiked to 20%. However, first-time homebuyers — both citizens and permanent residents — were spared any increase in stamp duty.

Despite the property cooling measures introduced a week before, Daintree Residence's preview weekend still drew a crowd of 3,000 (Credit: SP Setia)

Given Daintree Residence’s location just off Upper Bukit Timah, it appeals to families that want to live near top schools such as Methodist Girls’ School, Hwa Chong Institution, National Junior College and Ngee Ann Polytechnic. There are also international schools nearby — DIMENSIONS International College, German European School, Singapore Korean International School and Swiss School.

Priced to market

As the majority of the buyers are expected to be homeowners, pricing is a major consideration for SP Setia, apart from unit sizes, finishing and fittings as well as facilities.

Daintree Residence will be priced at an average of $1,800 psf. This puts it in line with recent launches in the Rest of Central Region (RCR), for instance, the 805-unit Park Colonial at Woodleigh and the 1,259-unit Stirling Residences on Stirling Road in Queenstown.

Daintree Residence will be priced at an average of $1,800 psf, in line with other new launches in the Rest of Central Region (Credit: SP Setia)

Park Colonial was launched on July 5 and achieved 51% sales as at last Sunday. The showflat has been closed “till further instruction by the management”. The developer is a consortium led by CEL Development, the property development and investment arm of Singapore- listed construction group Chip Eng Seng Corp, in collaboration with Heeton Holdings and KSH Holdings.

Stirling Residences was launched on the same day as Park Colonial and has sold close to 300 units since. The project is a joint venture between two mainland Chinese groups, Nanshan Group and Hong Kong-listed Logan Property Holdings.

Luxury fittings

Showflat of a two-bedroom unit with 4.3m ceiling height (Credit: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)

The five-storey Daintree Residence offers oneto four-bedroom units. Units on the first and fifth levels feature a 4.3m loft-like ceiling. The other typical units on the second and third levels have a 2.9m ceiling height.

To differentiate Daintree Residence from the other projects in the same league, SP Setia has upped the ante by offering luxury finishing and fittings for the units: Marble flooring for the living room (black-and-white scheme for the one- and two-bedroom units, warm tones for the three- and four-bedroom units); walnut engineered timber flooring for all bedrooms; the latest line of kitchen appliances by French brand De Dietrich, including an integrated refrigerator; and top-end brand Duravit bathroom fittings.

All apartments are fitted with smart home features, including Daikin smart air-conditioners, a concealed “deluxe storage system” and cantilevered wardrobe for greater space efficiency.

All units will be provided with smart home features,Daikin smart air-conditioners, a concealed “deluxe storage system” and cantilevered wardrobe for greater space efficiency (Credit: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)

Rising land prices

In April last year, SP Setia outbid 23 others to win the hotly contested Daintree Residence site in a government land tender. The developer paid $265 million ($939 psf ppr) for the 201,517 sq ft, 99-year leasehold site.

There have been no new condo launches in the Toh Tuck area since The Creek @ Bukit was launched in November 2013. The 260-unit freehold condo adjacent to Daintree Residences obtained its temporary occupation permit last year. Developed by niche developer Chiu Teng Group, it is substantially sold to date. Boutique development Kismis Residences, a 31-unit freehold, terraced housing project, was launched last year and was fully sold by May. The houses were priced from $4 million to $5 million, or an average of $2,415 psf based on land area.

There has been quite a lot of en bloc sale activity in the Toh Tuck-Kismis area since the start of the year. In February, Singapore-listed property developer Roxy-Pacific Holdings acquired a 9,473 sq ft bungalow site at 19 Lorong Kismis for $5.688 million ($800 psf ppr), in a joint venture with TE2 Development. The two companies also bought a neighbouring 99-year leasehold site, the 43-unit Kismis View, en bloc for $102.75 million ($941 psf ppr) in January. They intend to amalgamate the two sites to create a new development with about 186 units. The project is likely to come onstream this year-end or early next year.

There has been quite a lot of en bloc sale activity in the Toh Tuck-Kismis area since the start of the year (Credit: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)

Another en bloc sale in the area was the 210- unit Goodluck Garden on Toh Tuck Road. The condo was sold to Qingjian Group of Companies for $610 million ($1,210 psf ppr) in March. As the project has a high development baseline, no development charge will be incurred for the 10% balcony area. This will effectively bring the land rate down to $1,100 psf ppr, which is still 17% higher than Daintree Residence’s land cost.

Located a 10-minute drive from Toh Tuck Road is Hilliew Rise, where Hong Leong Group recently won a government land site with a bid of $460 million ($1,067 psf ppr) under the two-envelope system based on design and bid price. The new residential development at Hillview Rise is likely to be launched next year.

It looks like Daintree Residence will have a clear runway over the next few months, with no other competing new launches in the neighbourhood.

Focus on landscape and design

The rooftop of the development has been converted into a 600m seamless “treetop walk”, offering unblocked views of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and Bukit Timah Hill (Credit: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)

In conceptualising Daintree Residence, SP Setia has once again focused on architecture and landscaping. The developer is a winner of 10 FIABCI World Prix d’Excellence Awards, widely regarded as “the Oscars of real estate”. Designed by ADDP Architects, Daintree Residence comprises two wings: The Valley Wing, near the drop-off point, will have 137 units, while the Rainforest Wing will contain 190 units.

The rooftop of the development has been converted into a 600m seamless “treetop walk”, offering unblocked views of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and Bukit Timah Hill. A 35,000 sq ft space has also been created for landscaped gardens and facilities such as an aqua gym and Jacuzzi.

Daintree Residence is scheduled to launch on July 28. SP Setia says it will be rewarding buyers with a yet undisclosed “special discount”.

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