Chinese developer acquires another residential plot in Singapore for US$462m
The Chinese real estate company is on an aggressive overseas spending spree this year, having paid a record HK$16.86 billion for a property site in Ap Lei Chau
Shenzhen-based Logan Property has Singapore firmly in its sights. The company has bought a large scale residential site for S$629 million (US$462 million) – its second in the city within five months.
The Hong Kong-listed firm won the bid for a project called Florence Regency located in Hougang district, in northeast Singapore, the company said on Friday.
“We think it’s a reasonable price,” said Derek Lee, investor relations director at Logan Property. “It’s in the core area of Singapore surrounded by comprehensive facilities.”
According to Lee, the average price is about S$8,600 per square metre (US$6,325). The 36,161 square metre site can be developed to accommodate 1,446 residential units with a gross floor area of 101,251 square metres.
The housing market in Singapore has seen mild recovery this year after the government eased some of the cooling measures in March. Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority said that in the third quarter of this year, the overall private residential property price index moved up by 0.5 per cent, its first uptick in four years.
“Transactions are continuing to pick up, we’re very confident about the market,” Lee said.
He said that the company will use offshore capital and bank borrowings for the land cost and future development.
Known for developing residential projects in Guangdong province, Logan has been on an aggressive spending spree this year.
In May, Logan partnered with Shandong-based Nanshan Group and won a 954,000 sq ft plot on Stirling Road in the south of Singapore with an offer of S$1 billion (US$720 million). It was the first time a residential site was sold for S$1 billion as part of the city’s government land sales programme.
In February, Logan together with another Chinese developer KWG Property agreed to pay HK$16.86 billion for a plot in Ap Lei Chau island in Hong Kong. That price translated to HK$22,118 per sq ft, the most expensive residential site purchased in Hong Kong’s history.
In China, the company achieved home sales of 31.4 billion yuan in the first nine months of the year, up 46 per cent year on year.
Lee said that Singapore and Hong Kong will be Logan’s priority for overseas expansion. However, “we will focus on the development in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area”.
