SINGAPORE: An executive condominium (EC) penthouse,
with a record price-tag of S$2.05 million, was sold about an hour
after the launch of the project on Saturday.
A spokesman for the [email protected] project said
the sale was made just after 11am.
Channel NewsAsia understands that the buyers are a
married young couple from a multi-generation family.
Channel NewsAsia also understands that the buyers intend to live in
the penthouse with their parents and siblings.
The size of the penthouse is about 4,350 square feet - and can
house up to four families under one roof.
The developer said there were 1,800 applications made for the 514
units. About 65 per cent of the units have been sold.
Tng Lay Kim, managing director of Kay Lim Construction &
Trading said: "Actually, this price isn't very expensive. It's
actually very cheap, because it's only S$470 per square foot. We
only have one such unit. We're testing the market for units that
allow three-generation families to live together. We had been
successful. We've had over 10 applications for this unit."
The average price of other EC units in this project is about S$770
per square foot.
The record price tag has fanned concerns of soaring EC prices, and
sparked talk of possible government intervention to cool the
market.
One concern is that ECs may not be affordable for the sandwiched
class, or Singaporeans whose incomes are too high to qualify for
HDB flats but are too stretched to buy private property.
Moe Chan, spokesperson for [email protected] said: "I think if you
look at the development as a whole, the majority of the units are
below one million (dollars), and largely three bedrooms. So it's
only a small number of units, premium units that we have developed.
They're quite rare, valuable, and as you can see, people want
these. So it's really a supply and demand. If the sandwiched class
wants it, of course, as developers, we provide that product."
Developers said they see the trend moving towards ECs of higher
quality. They said at the end of the day, it is still about
catering to the sandwiched class.
[email protected] is located at Tampines Avenue 7.
- CNA/xc
