Thirty-eight units at Marina Collection in Sentosa Cove on Sentosa will be put on the market at below-market prices, starting from S$1,269 per square foot. The units were involved in a case years ago in which the developer colluded with buyers to inflate selling prices, causing UOB to grant larger housing loans.
Some of the units will be open for viewing from next Friday (6 November).
PropNex is the exclusive marketing agent for the units mortgaged to UOB, comprising 17 three-bedroom and 21 four-bedroom apartments. Their average asking price of S$1,340 per square foot is 20% below Sentosa Cove condominiums’ average resale price this year, and even lower than prices at many mass-market private residential developments.
According to information obtained by Lianhe Zaobao, the unit with the lowest price per square foot is a ground-floor, four-bedroom apartment with a private enclosed space. It has a total area of 2,390 sq ft and an asking price of about S$3.03 million.
Marina Collection was launched by developer Lippo Marina Collection in 2007 and completed in 2011. The 124-unit development is one of ten projects with 99-year leases in Sentosa Cove.
Dominic Lee, PropNex’s head of investment sales and luxury homes, said in an interview that he and his team had spent the past few months discussing marketing strategies and asking prices with UOB.
“We only received the keys to these units on Wednesday (28 October), and are now busy preparing for next week’s viewings. I received many enquiry calls on Thursday (29 October). The last transaction at Marina Collection was at about S$1,400 per square foot, slightly above our average asking price, which shows how attractive our prices are.”
PropNex will begin accepting bookings on 14 November.
Data on the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s website shows that the median price for the four resale transactions at Marina Collection this year was S$1,462 per square foot.
Nicholas Mak, chief research officer at property portal MOGUL.sg, said in an interview: “The promotional sale of Marina Collection apartments reflects weak market prices in the area.”
Mak advised buyers to consider the future potential of condominiums in the area, as well as the market risks.
UOB had sued the developer years earlier, alleging that it had artificially inflated apartment prices, causing the bank to grant larger housing loans. Between 2011 and 2013, the bank extended about S$182 million in loans to buyers of these 38 units. As of April 2015, all these loans were in default.
In October 2022, the Court of Appeal ruled that the developer was liable for colluding with the homebuyers. In July last year, the High Court awarded UOB S$17.7 million in damages.
In August this year, the Court of Appeal increased the award to S$76.1 million. This month, the amount was revised to about S$82.4 million to include interest that had previously been omitted.
