Chinese couple buy adjoining units at Ritz Carlton Residence
Two adjacent units at the luxury condominium, The Ritz-Carlton Residences on the 33rd Floor, changed hands on Jan 9 for $16.5M each. This was based on caveats that were lodged. Both apartments have 4,057 square feet and are four-bedrooms. The 58-unit freehold condo in District 9 on Cairnhill Road was completed in 2011.
The Ritz-Carlton Residences launched in December 2007 and the price was $16.5 million, which works out to $5.397 per sq. ft.
The Ritz-Carlton Residences offers a mix between three-bedroom apartment sizes of 2,831 sq ft and four-bedroom apartment sizes of 3,057 sq ft. The 34th floor has two junior penthouses, each measuring 3,574 square feet. On the 35th & 36th floors there are two duplexes penthouses each measuring 6,501 square feet.
A search for property titles revealed one of the apartments with four bedrooms on the 33rd level was bought by the chairman of Manufacturing Company, China. This China Stock Exchange company focuses on manufacturing and designing precision sheet metal.
The neighbouring unit was purchased by the wife of Chairman. The total purchase price for both units was $33million. As this is the first time they have purchased a home in Singapore, both Singapore Permanent Resident (PRs) need to pay only 5% extra buyer’s stamp duties (ABSD). The ABSD is $825,000 for each of their units, or $1.65m for both.
According to their property titles, both units were purchased by different sellers.
Both buyers will probably combine their four bedroom units at The RitzCarlton Residences in order to create a 6,114 sq. ft. unit with private access. It is not the first person to do so.
Three-bedroom apartments located on lower floors were the majority of units sold for combination. For example, in March 2017 a foreign purchaser purchased two 2,831 square feet, three-bedrooms units on the tenth floor, each for $9.41M ($3,325psf). The buyer intended to combine both units into one.
KOP Property, a Singaporean developer, also sold a number of units in this way by combining two 2,831 square foot, three-bedroom flats into a 5,662 square foot, five-bedroom unit across an entire level. A 5,662 square foot unit at the 15th level was sold in October 2019 for $20 million (3,532 per square foot). Another on the 5th floor went for $20.28 (or 3,582 per square feet) in May 2021.
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The CEO of KOP Property says that four-bedroom apartments on high floors have fantastic views of city skylines and, when combined together, are the same size as a large penthouse.
Ritz-Carlton Residences is the luxury condominium with the highest psf transacted prices. Currently, there is only one penthouse left in the development. The triplex is 6,501 sq ft and located on 35th and 36th floor. It has a roof-top terrace, private pool, and 360-degree panoramic views of the city. The penthouse costs $40 million (6,153 psf).
The interest of foreign Chinese buyers in prime luxury properties has increased since the beginning 2024. According to a senior analyst, many foreign Chinese buyers have arranged to view property during the Chinese new year period. He also says that Chinese purchasers are looking for large-format units over 300 sqm in prime areas.
Chinese buyers continue to be the biggest group of foreign property buyers in Singapore. According to caveats, 15 Chinese-origin buyers purchased residential properties during the six-month time period from June 2023 until December 2023. Thus, they paid 60% ABSD.
Analysts anticipate that the volume of transactions will increase in the next few months. Singapore is seen as a desirable destination by Chinese, due to its large Chinese community, political stability and living conditions, healthcare infrastructure, and education system.
