SINGAPORE - Lentor Modern, a 99-year leasehold integrated private residential project by GuocoLand, sold 508 units, or 84 per cent of its 605 units, during its launch over the weekend.
Units in the integrated mixed-use development to be built in the new Lentor Hills estate in District 20 went for $1,856 per sq ft to $2,538 psf, GuocoLand said in a press release on Sunday.
Launch prices for the units ranged from $1.07 million for a 527 sq ft one-bedroom unit to $3.33 million for a 1,528 sq ft four-bedroom apartment.
All 63 one-bedroom and 231 two-bedroom units were fully sold. In addition, 182 units, or more than 73 per cent of the 248 three-bedroom units, were sold, while more than 50 per cent of the 63 four-bedroom units were booked.
The project is the biggest non-landed private residential launch this year and analysts said the sales achieved for its first weekend showed the still-strong underlying demand from HDB upgraders and new families, despite higher home loans rates and the more uncertain economic environment.
It also testified to the still-tight supply of new private residential launches, as well as the project's own pull factors, said the analysts.
"The number of units sold on launch day makes (Lentor Modern) the best selling project in 2022," said Lee Sze Teck, senior director of research at Huttons Asia.
"The one and two-bedroom units are the first to be sold out, reflecting buyers' keen interest to gain a first-mover advantage in this new private residential enclave.
"Buyers have also accepted that $2,000 psf or higher will be the norm going forward so they are not waiting."
GuocoLand said Singaporeans constituted around 92 per cent of total buyers, while permanent residents and foreigners made up the remaining 8 per cent.
Buyers were also mainly owner-occupiers, with upgraders constituting the majority.
The condominium, consisting of three 25-storey towers, will sit on top of a 96,000 sq ft mall that will include a 12,000 sq ft supermarket, a 10,000 sq ft childcare centre, plus food and beverage and retail outlets.
The entire development will be linked underground to the upcoming Lentor MRT station on the Thomson-East Coast Line.
Mr Lee said that Lentor Modern being the only integrated mixed-use development in the Lentor precinct attracted many buyers with the convenience it will bring.
Ms Dora Chng, general manager for residential at GuocoLand, said that buyers "really liked the lifestyle concept of 'one lift ride' to all the amenities such as (food and beverage), supermarket and MRT".
The project's launch follows the success of a smaller project in Ang Mo Kio - AMO Residence - which saw more than 98 per cent of its 372 units snapped up during its launch in July.
AMO Residence was the first major private residential project in the mature housing estate of Ang Mo Kio in more than eight years.
Lentor Modern could also have benefited from prospective HDB upgraders who wished to continue living in the area but who failed to get a unit at AMO Residence, analysts said.
GuocoLand, part of Malaysian tycoon Quek Leng Chan's Hong Leong Group, won the site through a government land sale tender in July 2021 with its bid of $784.1 million, or $1,204 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr).
GuocoLand is positioning Lentor Modern, which will have a public plaza fronting the mall, as a new hub for the Lentor neighbourhood, which is surrounded by private housing estates.
It will be a "chic retail and social village", said GuocoLand chief executive Cheng Hsing Yao.
