PRC couple purchases two apartments at The Ritz Residences
The Ritz-Carlton Residences is a luxury condominium located at 33rd floor. Two adjoining units were sold on Jan 9, for $16.5m, according to caveats. Both are 4,057-square-foot apartments. The 58 unit, freehold condominium on Cairnhill Road, in the District 9 prime area, was completed in 2011.
The Ritz-Carlton Residences is a mix of apartments with three bedrooms of 2,831 sf (36 units), and apartments with four bedrooms of 3,057 sf (18 units). The 34th-floor has two junior Penthouses with 3,574 sq.ft. each. While the 35th- and 36th-floors are home to two duplex Penthouses with 6,501 sq.ft. each.
The Ritz-Carlton Residences was launched in December 2007, and this price is the highest ever paid per square feet.
Since 2024, the interest in high-end luxury homes among foreign Chinese buyers has grown. An analyst states that many Chinese buyers made arrangements to see properties during Chinese New Year. He says Chinese buyers tend to look for large units of more than 300 sqm, on one level and in prime locations.
A search on property titles revealed that the owner of Manufacturing Company China purchased one of four-bedroom apartment located at the 33rd floors. This China Stock Exchange-listed firm specializes in designing and manufacturing precision sheets metal.
The adjacent unit was bought by the wife. The total cost of both units is 33 million dollars. Couples who are Singapore Permanent Residents need only pay the additional buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) if it is their first home. It comes out to $825,000 ABSD each for the respective units or a total of $1.65million.
According to the title of the properties, the two units purchased from different vendors.
Both buyers plan to combine their four-bedroom residences at The Ritz–Carlton Residences, creating a 6,114-square-foot unit with a lift. This will not be the only time that someone has done this.
Most of the units that have been sold as a combination are three-bedroom flats on the lower levels. In March 2017, an overseas buyer purchased two three-bedroom units of 2,831 sq. ft. on the 10th level for $9.41million each ($3,325/sq.ft). He intended to merge them into a single apartment.
Read more: The Botany at Dairy Farm Pricing
KOP properties, one of the developers in Singapore, sold several units this way. It merged two 2,831 sq.ft., three bedroom units, into a single, 5,662sq.ft., five bedroom apartment that covered an entire floor. One of these 5,662sq ft units on the 15thfloor sold for $20,000 ($3,532psf), according to caveats. Another unit on floor 5 was sold at $20.28million ($3,582psf).
The CEO of KOP says that units with four bedrooms on high-floors offer spectacular views of the city’s skyline. And when combined, their size is similar to a two-bedroom penthouse.
Ritz-Carlton Residences has, in his opinion, the highest psf transaction prices for completed resale luxury condominiums. One penthouse is still available in this development. It is a 6,501-square-foot triplex with a rooftop pool and roof terrace on the 36th and 35th floors. The penthouse comes with a $40 million price tag ($6,153/sf).
Chinese buyers, excluding the US and the other five nationalities that receive the same tax treatment as Singaporeans are the largest foreign group buying residential property in Singapore. Based on caveats submitted, 15 Chinese buyers purchased residential properties between June and December of 2023. They therefore paid the ABSD of 60%.
Analysts predict that transaction volume will increase over the coming months. Singapore is considered a favorable destination for Chinese people due to the large Chinese population in Singapore, its political stability, its living environment, and its healthcare and education infrastructure.
