BUYERS snapped up 97 units during a private preview at a Choa Chu Kang condominium, yet another sign that suburban projects are selling well with upgraders.
These sales at Mi Casa, Far East Organization's new development in the Choa Chu Kang town centre, comprise almost 80 per cent of the 123 units released.
Mi Casa has a total of 457 units in the estate.
Prices started at $580 per sq ft (psf). The average price achieved was $625 psf.
Two-bedroom units, with sizes that start at 990 sq ft, and three-bedders, sized from 1,259 sq ft, were sold.
Some also have an extra study unit. That brings the two bedders up to 1,119 sq ft and the three-bedroom flats to 1,281 sq ft.
The four-bedroom units have yet to be launched.
Buyers at the preview were mostly entrepreneurs and professionals, including teachers and engineers, said the private developer in a statement last night.
About 80 per cent of the buyers were 'upgraders' living in the surrounding vicinity and nearby areas such as Yew Tee, Bukit Batok and Teck Whye.
Foreign buyers, including Chinese and Malaysian nationals, accounted for about 12 per cent of sales.
Mi Casa - Spanish for 'my home' - is the first new private condo project built in the town centre in eight years since The Warren condo, which was launched in 2001.
The site for Mi Casa was acquired by Far East in May last year.
It is within walking distance of the train station, bus interchange, community library and the Lot 1 Shoppers' Mall.
Far East's chief operating officer for property sales, Mr Chia Boon Kuah, sees a healthy demand for new condos in that area.
'We are delighted with the preview sales so far,' he said in a statement yesterday.
'Currently, there are no new sites available in the Choa Chu Kang town centre in the government land sales programme.'
This makes Mi Casa 'an attractive value proposition to HDB upgraders and private-residence owners in the neighbourhood', he added.
Buyers enjoy an early bird discount until the condo's official launch on April 10.
The suburban market showed some real signs of life last month when more than 300 units at Frasers Centrepoint's Caspian condo in Jurong were snapped up within three days.
More than 70 per cent of its 712 units have been sold since.
