Low Keng Huat offers final 14 units at Klimt Cairnhill from $3,435 psf

By EdgeProp Singapore

/ EdgeProp Singapore |

September 5, 2024 7:00 AM SGT

The remaining units at Klimt Cairnhill are all three-bedroom units (Photo: Low Keng Huat)

Luxury condo Klimt Cairnhill previewed in August 2021 and was officially launched in January 2022. Since then, only 14 of the 138 units in the freehold condo are available for sale. They are all three-bedroom apartments.

Klimt Cairnhill’s developer, Singapore-listed property group Low Keng Huat, is offering a “one-price promotion” for five of the 14 units. These are the 1,432 sq ft units spanning the 19th to 23rd floors of the 36-storey tower. The “one-price promotion” offers a flat price of $5.138 million or $3,588 psf for each unit across all five floors. There is also one remaining 1,432 sq ft unit on the 10th floor, priced at $4.92 million or $3,435 psf. “These units should appeal to quantum-sensitive homebuyers,” says Alvin Teo, executive director of Low Keng Huat.

Three-bedroom apartments make up 51 units at Klimt Cairnhill, with sizes of 1,432 and 1,496 sq ft. The 37 units sold to date have ranged from $4.85 million ($3,388 psf) for a sixth-floor 1,432 sq ft apartment to $6 million ($4,010 psf) for a 1,496 sq ft, 28th-floor apartment.

“Right from the start, Low Keng Huat was swift to respond to shifting market conditions and release units based on demand at that point in time,” says Teo.

In the first phase of its launch, the four-bedroom apartments and penthouses were the most sought-after units in the development. It was in the post-Covid-19 era that fueled the desire for bigger units with more bedrooms.

View of Orchard Road from the high floors of the 36-storey Klimt Cairnhill (Photo: Low Keng Huat)

Large units swept up by foreign buyers

There are just two penthouses at Klimt Cairnhill. The 4,898 sq ft, six-bedroom simplex penthouse fetched $26 million ($5,309 psf) in November 2021, which is still the highest psf-price achieved in the development to date.

The second and larger penthouse, a six-bedroom duplex of 5,920 sq ft across the 35th and 36th floors, went for $27.5 million ($4,645 psf) in February 2022. The buyers of both penthouses were Chinese nationals, along with most of the buyers of the four-bedroom units.

The four-bedroom apartments make up 35 units, of which 28 are 2,056 sq ft and another seven are the larger 2,367 sq ft units. Based on caveats lodged, four-bedroom units were sold at prices ranging from $6.93 million ($3,371 psf) for a 2,056 sq ft unit on the sixth floor to $10.098 million ($4,264 psf) for a 2,368 sq ft unit on the 35th floor.

All the four-bedders and penthouses were taken up before the last round of property cooling measures kicked in on April 27, 2023, when additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD) for foreigners doubled to 60%.

Only one 1,496 sq ft three-bedroom is still available, with the remaining units being 1,432 sq ft units (Photo: Low Keng Huat)

Two- and three-bedroom properties targeted at young buyers and families

Following the cooling measures, Low Keng Huat decided to release the two-bedroom units at Klimt Cairnhill. Of these units, 22 are 829 sq ft two-bedders and another 28 units are 893 sq ft two-bedroom-plus-study.

Given the palatable unit sizes and absolute prices of the two-bedders, Teo reckoned the apartments would appeal mainly to local homebuyers and investors. These two-bedders have been fully taken up at prices from $2.63 million ($3,173 psf) for an 829 sq ft unit on the sixth floor to $3.138 million ($3,512 psf) for an 893 sq ft, two-bedroom-plus-study on the 32nd floor.

Teo also points out that the proximity to Anglo-Chinese School (ACS) was a main draw, especially among young families with children of school-going age. The two-bedroom-plus-study was popular with Singapore citizens and permanent residents (PRs) as the study can be used as a bedroom if needed.

Klimt Cairnhill is also near the Orchard Road malls, the CBD and other popular local schools such as St Joseph Institution Junior and St Margaret’s School. International schools in the vicinity include Eaton House International and Chatsworth International School (Orchard).

Construction is still underway at Klimt Cairnhill, with the project targeted to obtain Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP) in April 2025. “Now that the project is near completion, it should be attractive to local families who desire a freehold property, a District 9 address on Orchard Road and accessibility to good schools like ACS,” says Teo.

The latest transaction at Klimt Cairnhill was for a 1,496 sq ft three-bedroom unit on the 24th level that was sold for $5.69 million ($3,803 psf) to a Singaporean buyer in early September.

Following the sale, only one 1,496 sq ft unit is available for sale. In recent months, Teo has seen an increase in buying interest from Chinese nationals turned PRs and Asian investors who are US citizens and therefore enjoy the same stamp duty treatment as Singapore citizens. These buyers prefer larger units, he adds.

Teo: Right from the start, Low Keng Huat was swift to respond to shifting market conditions and release units based on demand at that point in time (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)

Limited supply of new units

The Cairnhill area saw several high-priced transactions at the start of the year, mainly for large units. At the neighbouring The Ritz-Carlton Residences by KOP Properties, two 3,057 sq ft, four-bedroom units on the 32nd and 33rd floors of the 36-storey tower changed hands for $16.5 million ($5,397 psf) each in January. It is also the highest psf-price achieved in the condo to date. The buyers are a Chinese couple turned Singapore PR. The 58-unit, freehold Ritz-Carlton Residences was launched in December 2007 and completed in 2011.

SC Global’s Hilltops, a 241-unit luxury development at Cairnhill Circle, saw a 2,874 sq ft, five-bedroom unit on the 12th floor sold for $13.049 million ($4,540 psf). Based on caveats lodged, this is the second-highest psf-price achieved at Hilltops since the project was launched in October 2007, when a 2,465 sq ft four-bedroom unit on the 12th floor fetched $11.86 million ($4,812 psf).

The latest transaction at Hilltops was for a 1,550 sq ft, three-bedroom unit on the sixth floor that changed hands for $4 million ($2,068 psf), based on a caveat lodged in June. The luxury freehold project was completed in 2011.

At Cairnhill Rise, the 39-unit boutique development Cairnhill 16 was launched in late 2022 and entirely sold by August 2023. The freehold project, developed jointly by Tiong Seng Holdings and Ocean Sky International, was completed last year. Buyers were said to be predominantly Singaporeans.

In terms of new units for sale in the Cairnhill area, the only available supply is at Klimt Cairnhill, says Low Keng Huat’s Teo.