Stars of Kovan units fetch even less than expected

CHEUNG Kong Property Holdings has sold around 60 units of its private condominium project Stars of Kovan at an average price of S$1,408 per square foot - lower than the average pricing that it had indicated ahead of the VIP pre-sale over the weekend.

The one-bedroom to three-bedroom units ranged between S$1,227 and S$1,554 psf, the firm told The Business Times. The Stars of Kovan units were priced from S$666,400 to S$1,412,600.

The average per square foot price for the leasehold project is below the figure that was released by Cheung Kong on Friday - S$1,417 after factoring in a VIP discount package and a mark-down from an earlier indicative average of between S$1,550 and S$1,600.

Under current regulations, developers are not required to disclose actual prices of the released units until balloting day, but they will usually provide indicative prices before the launch.

Over 70 per cent of the Stars of Kovan buyers were upgraders while the remainder were long-term investors in the property leasing market.

"We are very pleased with the hit rate as over 90 per cent of the buyers who came down this weekend purchased their desired homes," said Francis Wong, director of Property Enterprises Development, a member of Cheung Kong Property Holdings.

"There were a few multiple-unit buyers purchasing for both family use and investment purposes," he added.

The developer has decided to offer the VIP discount of 5 per cent until May 29 and said that it may revisit the offer or discontinue it anytime it deemed fit.

Stars of Kovan, a mixed development project, is located at the junction of Upper Serangoon Road and Tampines Road, near Kovan MRT station. Besides the 390 apartment units, there are five strata terrace units and 46 ground-level, British-inspired commercial shops on the street level.

anitag@sph.com.sg