Twice As Costly, But Residents Still Want To Return

Source : The Electric New Paper, February 04, 2008

Bedok Reservoir en-bloc residents book units in new development

FIRST you sell your apartment in an en-bloc sale.

Then you wait for a new condo to come up on the same spot and buy a unit in it.



















That is what some have been doing at an estate on Bedok Reservoir Road.

The good thing for them: Their new home will be in a location they know and love.

The not-so-good thing: Prices have soared.

According to a spokesman for Frasers Centrepoint Homes, one of the developers for Waterfront Waves, there are at least five former owners who have bought a total of six units there.


















Since the launch, 80 of the 148 units have been sold.

The spokesman said: 'Former residents return as they feel a sense of belonging in the neighbourhood after living there for years.'

She said owners from the old estate, Waterfront View, were given a day for an exclusive preview and to select units ahead of invited guests. But she added that there would be no discounts for former owners.

These residents will have to pay around twice the sum they got from their en-bloc sale, if they choose to buy a similar-size apartment.

Depending on size and location, the new apartments cost $690 to $870 psf.

Said 71-year-old businessman OhBin Cheng, a former resident who visited the Waterfront Waves showroom two weeks ago: 'The timing was terrible. We went en bloc before the property boom when property prices were still low.

'Then, when we got the money for the collective sale and wanted to buy, housing prices started soaring.'

TWICE THE PRICE, HALF THE SIZE

Not content to live in a smaller apartment, Mr Oh, who got $660,000 for his 1,600 sqft Waterfront View apartment, decided to buy an HDB flat in Tampines for the time being.

Because Mr Oh is fond of his old estate, he hopes to buy a two-bedroom unit about half the size of his old apartment, which, he said, costs almost $700,000.

He said: 'I hope prices will drop so that I can come back here to live.'

Another resident, a 54-year-old retiree who declined to be named, also found himself paying more, just to live in the same estate.

He made a down payment for a 1,600 sq ft, four-bedroom unit, which costs $1.27 million, more than twice the $630,000 he received for his old unit.

Worth it: Former Waterfront View resident Oh Bin Cheng will be returning to the site of his old home. - File Picture: The Straits Times

But unlike other former residents, he is not complaining.

He said: 'I am glad that they released the East Wing first, which is where my former block, 736, used to be.

'What's even better, this time, my view of the reservoir is not blocked. I'm looking forward to watching all the water activities.

'Where else can you get a unit so near the water, except at Sentosa or Marina Bay, where it is so expensive?'

EAGER TO RETURN

Indeed, so eager was he to return that he was among the first few to visit the showroom.

For now, his family is living in another condominium just two streets away. He had bought a unit there earlier.

But he will have to sell that apartment to pay for his new home when it is ready in three years' time.

'Still, I'm happy with my purchase, I can get back many of the memories from living there,' he said.

Some property agents The New Paper on Sunday spoke to, however, felt that most residents would welcome a change, and prefer not to return to new developments on the sites of their en-bloc sale estates.

Property agent Andrew Lin, 28, said: 'It's not really common for former residents to return. Most of them settle down well in their new homes.

'The only reason for them to return would be if there was any additional discount given to them by the developer.'