Home buyers in Republic take a shine to mixed-use developments

A 710 sq ft two-bedroom condominium unit at mixed-use development Pasir Ris 8 was sold at $1.49 million or $2,101 per sq ft (psf) in November 2023.

- Joyce Lim

This was a price almost 37 per cent higher than the launch price in 2021.

In comparison, purely residential Bartley Vue, also launched in 2021, saw an overall 4.9 per cent increase in the median unit price for units of a similar size.

The Pasir Ris unit was the last two-bedder to go in the fully sold 99-year leasehold integrated development, one of a number of mixed-use projects that saw price hikes shortly after they were launched, checks by The Straits Times found.

ST looked at the sales transactions of 11 leasehold condominiums (five mixed-use, six purely residential) launched in 2021 across different districts and found that mixed-use developments generally saw stronger median unit price growth, compared with purely residential developments.

While mixed-use developments generally show strong price growth, some purely residential projects, such as The Reef at King's Dock in Harbourfront Avenue, posted an overall median price growth of 22 per cent, demonstrating that certain pure residential projects in a good location can outperform mixed-use developments.

In the case of Pasir Ris 8, which is integrated into the recently opened Pasir Ris Mall, the twobedroom unit sold in November 2023 recorded an increase of $564 psf, up from $1,537 psf at its launch in 2021.

There was such strong demand from the outset that the developer raised the selling price for the units six times in a single day during its launch weekend.