Singapore property news : Singapore - Island of the world
Wednesday February 15, 2006
Foreign
buyers outnumber S'poreans for upmarket Sentosa residential projects
Lee
Ching Wern
chingwern@newstoday.com.sg
IN
A posh corner of Singapore, an upmarket, international enclave is
taking shape.
Since
units at Sentosa Cove have gone on sale, more than half have been
snapped up by foreigners.
Between
North Cove and South Cove, the $4-billion exclusive waterfront development
has a total of 2,500 bungalows, terrace houses and condominiums available.
So
far, only North Cove's 1,500 units have been launched and, by the
looks of it, it will have a very cosmopolitan flavour.
Singaporeans
and Singaporean companies have purchased barely 40 per cent of the
units. In contrast, 46 per cent of buyers are foreigners and another
12 per cent are Singapore Permanent Residents (PRs) holding foreign
passports.
"This
is probably the highest concentration of foreign home-buyers in Singapore
so far," said Mr Nicholas Mak of property consultants Knight
Frank.
Pointing
out that even in Districts 9 and 10, only about a third of homeowners
are foreigners, he added the Government's strategy for Sentosa Cove
was clear from the beginning.
To
shape Singapore into a truly global city, the Government relaxed rules
to allow foreign ownership of landed properties at Sentosa Cove. This
is the first time that non-Singaporeans have been allowed to purchase
landed property in Singapore without having to seek Government approval.
It
would have been difficult to generate sufficient local demand for
these prestigious properties, said Mr Vincent Chong from Colliers
International. The waterfront bungalows at Coral Island development,
for instance, cost a princely $700 to $850 per sq ft for leasehold
property.
"Singaporeans
often equate high-end property with freehold titles. There is some
resistance among Singaporeans to pay such high prices for 99-year
leasehold properties. But this preference is not as prevalent among
foreigners," said Mr Mak.
These
foreigners have also been bringing some of their wealth to Singapore.
According
to a Sentosa Cove spokesperson, under a 2004 scheme, applicants for
PR status under the Financial Investor Scheme must place $5 million
of their assets in Singapore and a Sentosa Cove bungalow can count
towards the minimum sum, subject to a cap of $2 million.
The
South Cove, which has 990 units, will be launched later this year
and by 2008, Sentosa Cove will have some 10,000 residents as well
as a boating marina for 200 yachts. More than 5,000 of these residents
could be foreigners.
Analysts
say this influx of high net-worth foreigners is good for strategic
reasons.
Said
regional economist Song Seng Wun: "We have seen Dubai going all
out to entice people to buy holiday homes. They have a small population
base like us, and they sell fancy homes and create jobs for locals."We,
too, want to create opportunities for well-off people to come, do
business and stay here."Developments such as Sentosa Cove would
also help Singapore catch up with other global cities like London,
which offer a wide variety of unique, high-end accommodation, said
Dr Amy Khor, MP for Hong Kah GRC.Since its rejuvenation in 2002, visitor
numbers to Sentosa have steadily increased, hitting a record high
of 5.1 million in March last year. This could go up dramatically once
the island's highly-publicised integrated resort comes up.
At
the end of the day, Sentosa and Sentosa Cove are just pieces in the
Government's larger jigsaw.
"All
this is part of Singapore's strategy to diversify and find alternative
sources of growth," said Mr Song."Just as you want to attract
the pharmaceutical companies here, it is equally important to sell
the country as a place to stay, making it more fun to visit, so that
rich foreigners will come, bring others along and create a buzz and
more jobs for us."
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