Sunday 28 October 2012

River Isles Review (NorthEast District- Punggol)

Details of this project
Developer: Qingjian Realty
Property Address: Punggol Central/ Edgedale Plains
Legal Description: Lot 2497A of MK 21
Site Area: Approximately 20,256.10 sqm or 218,034.64 sqft
Type of Development: Full condominium facilities
No. of Blocks: 9 blocks of 17 Storeys comprising of a total of 610 units
No. of Car park lots: 610 (one for one as per agent)
Tenure: Leasehold 99 years commencing from 6 Feb 2012
Expected T.O.P date 31 March 2016
Expected Legal Completion Date 31 March 2019

Overview:
Qingjian's River Isles development is beautifully landscaped with generous water features throughout the whole estate....lovely from the artist impression....another quality development by Qingjian. The developer has announced that it is planning an IPO. Not surprisingly, you can see tremendous effort by the developer in terms of reasonable pricing, finishing and concept being conceived and catered to all walks of life for residents at all of it's recently launched projects.

Grand Entrance

Show Flat Model

Large swimming pool

Night view of clubhouse

Beautiful landscape and facilities

Exterior facade

Artist Impression of main entrance








Site Layout







Location and Amenities

  • In terms of public transport, extremely near to Coral Edge LRT station which  is 3 stops to Punggol MRT.
  •  Vehicle owners can take Tampines Expressway (TPE), Central Expressway (CTE) and Kallang Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) to get to the business hub or shopping district in the city.
  • Punggol Plaza is a mere 5 minutes walk away. Super market and shops to cater to resident's daily needs thus close by.
  • Megamall Waterpoint is just 2-3 bus stops away. It will be ready by 2016.
  • Well located and close to parks and gardens with jogging and cycling tracks by the resevoir. Residents also get to be close to watersports (kayaking and jet skiing) which will benefit the young ones.
  • Near to good schools. Schools close to River Isles include Greendale Primary School, Horizon Primary School, Greendale Secondary School, Mee Toh School, Edgefield Primary School and Punggol Secondary School.
  • Punggol is up and coming. MND Minister Mr Khaw has just announced the next chapter of development for Punggol. In addition, the number of apartments in Punggol will be increased from the current 26,000 to nearly 100,000. This will mean Punggol becoming twice to size of Ang Mo Kio in future. A truly vibrant satellite town in the making.
  • Developer will be providing free shuttle bus service to Watertown/Punggol MRT FOC for the first year.


Showflat and finishing
Superb finishing for a suburbia development. The developer went all out to sell this project. Marble flooring finishing for living, dining, master and common bathroom for most unit types. Timber flooring in bedrooms. Sanitary and kitchen fittings by renowed brands Kohler and Hansgrophe. Even the toilet bowls comes with anti-slam silent type cover. 

Extract from brochure















Picture taken from Showflat
















There are various unit sizes in this development. Will focus on two layout that was at the showflat.

  • 3 bedder-109sqm (1,173sqft)



3+1 Bedder















The 3 bedroom with study is strangely V-shaped. Not exactly efficient in terms of layout and Fengshui. Also, the wardrobe for the master bedroom is small. But I like the long balcony that stretches from living to dining area. I also like the balcony in the master bedroom.....can place an outdoor mini coffee table and chair set to read newspaper.


  • 4 +1 bedder-137sqm (1,475sqm)

4+1 Bedder

















The 4 bedroom + 1 study is my all time favourite layout for this development. It is extremely spacious....superb and generous space provided at the living and dinning area. Walk in wardrobe in the master bedroom also significantly more spacious than the 3 bedder version. Another excellent design feature is the exclusion of an additional attached bathroom to the junior master bedroom. Such extra bathroom is a waste of space. The developer and architect has done a good job in the layout. Interestingly, the 4 bedders starting prices are from 760psf during launch. Where can one get such spacious layout for less than S$1.2Mil nowadays? 

I think that Singapore is going Hong Kong style. Such generous layouts are rare and a premium in the market. Definitely a good buy....comes TOP, my guess is the psf will shoot up to at least 900psf in view of the premium layout and development potential in Punggol.

Just for the fun of it, also included the 4 bedder dual key unit. Great for those who wants rental or getting parents to stay in.


4 bedder Dual Key
















Ending Note:
I think that the prices starting from 760psf plus to mid 800psf are very much value for money in terms of the various initiatives launched by the government to develop Punggol. Not forgetting, the developer is throwing in real quality finishing such as marble flooring to buyers. On a personal note, I find it strange that there are many people who only wants to buy projects near MRT or shopping malls and willing to pay large premium of S$1250psf to developers in view of the current economic conditions. River Isles is fairly priced with good potential for future upsides.


Saturday 27 October 2012

October 2012 Investment Portfolio Upate

Got the same feedback from my network of friends, that is, worsening business results in Singapore and poor future outlook in 2013.  Sold off Wilmar and bought more stocks of Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) as a pure defensive play. I like the SPH management diversification strategy into Retail Mall management with their investment into Clementi Mall and Selatar Mall. Printing of money by US (QE3) will not heal the underlying rotting fundamental of the world's biggest economy. 

Also took additional punt on Macquire Infrastructure Fund (MIIF). The board of directors have appointed a financial advisor to look into measures to unlock the value which is firmly undervalued by the market despite various rounds of share buy back. I hope to have a return of excess cash from MIIF as they have not been able to find a M&A target since the last round of fund raising. Hoarding onto huge pile of cash is detrimental to not just the company but also all investors due to high inflation eroding the value. Other possible financial plan may involve selling off of assets to realise the intrinsic value.

Allocation of S$217K: