The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Singapore has sold two units each for S$16.5M or S$5,397 per square foot
EdgeProp reported that Yuan Yonggang (chairman of Chinese manufacturing company Suzhou Dongshan Precision Manufacturing Co) and his wife Wang Wenjuan bought the two Ritz Carlton units separately. Both are permanent residents in Singapore.
Each couple would face an ABSD rate of 5% if these units were their first home purchase in Singapore. ABSD on each unit would come to approximately S$825,000.
Recently, two adjacent units of the luxury development The Ritz-Carlton Residences Singapore Cairnhill sold for S$16.5M each. That’s S$5,397 psf. It is the first sale in prime residential markets since June 20,23 where prices have exceeded S$5,000 psf.
According to URA Realis caveats, each unit is 3,057 square foot (sq ft). They are on the 33rd Floor of a 58-unit Freehold Development in District 9. These units were purchased on Jan 9, for a total price of S$33million.
The latest sale was not a CCR-record, but it marked a high for the RitzCarlton project. In October 2021 the price per square foot (psf) for a 3,057-square-foot unit on the third floor reached S$4,907. The unit sold at S$15million.
Some analysts warned that the increase in Additional Buyer Stamp Duty last April was unlikely to indicate a recovery of foreign purchases in the prime real estate sector.
Experts explained that 5 percent ABSD is a fair amount in comparison to other cities. Hong Kong for instance charges a Buyer’s Stamp duty of 7.5 percent to non-permanent resident buyers. The stamp duty was reduced to 7.5 per cent from 15 percent in October, last year, to help revive the real estate market.
Foreigners must still pay 60 percent ABSD. This can really dampen demand. This is true especially for the CCR premium market where foreign buyers are typically driving demand.
PropNex brokered a recent Ritz Carlton deal. Buyers had bought the property as it met their criteria and all of the boxes.
One deal doesn’t make the summer. And two of these deals don’t mean that wealthy Chinese are coming back in a major way.
When transaction prices for luxury properties in the Core Central Region last exceeded S$5,000 psf, a 6,179 sq. ft. unit on the 2nd floor of luxury condominium Les Maisons Nassim was sold in District 10 for S$32.7m, or S$5,300/sq. ft.
CCR prices reached their highest level in 2011, when a unit of 3,089 sq. ft. at The Marq Paterson Hill sold for S$6,650/sq. ft. or S$20.5m. The priciest apartment to be sold in Singapore up until now is a Les Maisons Nassim penthouse which went for S$75m or S$6,210psf in October 2021.
hill@one north slim barrack rise
URA Realis’ data showed that foreign homebuyers in the CCR have plummeted since ABSD rates were doubled. In December 2018, only 14 non landed private homes had been purchased by foreign non permanent residents. By December 2022, this number would have risen to 74.
The ABSD rate will continue to rise, and this trend is expected to continue.
China’s buyers have shown a renewed interest in prime, large luxury homes since the beginning of 2024. Many of them made arrangements to see properties during Chinese New Year.
