The Avenir is a french word meaning ” the future to come”. It may just mean the same for this upcoming new launch project in the prestigious district 9 of River Valley. This would not have happened if not for the successful collective sale of the former Pacific Mansion. Pacific Mansion was not exactly very much prestigious during its hay days. In fact, it was the very much favoured condo for KTV girls who work in the vicinity of nearby KTVs. Well, those are a thing of the past and we are seeing a major cleaning up and transformation of the River Valley location. New projects have been springing up recently. The one that is closest to this location would be the 99 leasehold Martin Modern. Martin Modern has already seen a price appreciation of approximately 20% since the launch and the sales are still moving strong. 8 St Thomas is also seeing good sales numbers coupled with the neighbouring project of RV Altitude as well. So what is so good about this location that attracts both investors and homeowners? Oh yes, The Avenir is actually freehold.
The Avenir Location
Location wise, The Avenir is actually located at the more residential part of district 9, nearby to River Valley Primary School. This school apparently is a highly sought after primary school and parents do go all out just to get their kids into good schools to secure a future. Nearby to Killiney Road are the NTUC supermarket and food outlets along Killiney Road. This was where the Killiney coffee chain was founded as well. Head towards over to the Robertson Quay direction, you will see the ever favoured P.S. Cafe just around at Martin Road. Head further, you will see Book cafe and followed by the rest of the cafes, bars and hang out joints of Mohamed Sultan Road. Not bad for a lifestyle in River Valley.
If shopping is a must, Great World City is a short walk away but if you really need the real shopping, head over to Orchard which is just a short 10 minutes walk away. Not too bad for living in a central location right just next to the world-renown main shopping belt of Orchard Road. I don’t think I need to go deeper into what Orchard has.
Given the advantage of the location, there is no doubt that this is definitely a highly sought after location for both homeowners and potential tenants as well. From the data that we have seen, real estate in this location has always seen a good and healthy rental yield. Even at the nearby Leonie Hill area, we are seeing five-figure rents for the larger units as well.
The Avenir Unit Layouts
Step into the showflat of The Avenir and you will be greeted with an air of luxury refinement. The way the showflat is designed is meant to create the luxurious feel of the project. It has been quite a while since we have seen and felt in this way in the CCR. The Avenir is created with luxurious finishings in all aspects. Step into each and every of the show units and you will be pleasantly surprised that ducted airconditioning is standard for all types of units in the living and also the kitchen! Yes! It is found inside the kitchen as well! Since when we have seen a condo that has airconditioning in the kitchen? With the hot and humid climate in Singapore, this is definitely a welcoming feature. The Avenir has just set a new standard benchmark! We will soon see this as a standard feature in future new launch projects.
The efficient layouts are the main topic of the day in The Avenir. The 2 Bedroom unit is able to fit in a super king-size bed frame with a mere 828 sqft, the 2 bedrooms unit is considered large in today’s context and without the inefficiencies of the yester year’s apartment layout, you can be assured that you are paying for space that you will use and not large units with empty spaces that you do not even step foot on. Strictly no planter boxes, no home shelters and bay windows. All these will easily rid off 15-20% of space wastage. If luxury space is what you need, then you need to really look at the 4 bedrooms with the family layout. This is definitely luxury at its best. The 4 bedrooms unit will definitely impress upon you as a unit with a landed feel. Especially the kitchen. The bedrooms are nicely spaced out with each and every individual bedroom. All bedrooms are large in size to cater to a minimum of queen-sized beds with lots of empty space for your creative mind. Some bedrooms even allow up to super king-sized beds as well and these are available in the smaller units as well. Marble is a definite minimum standard for luxury apartments in Singapore and this is no different as well. The marble flooring was specifically procured from the middle east in view of the uniqueness in the natural grains as found. Bathroom vanity tops are also specifically procured as well. No detail was left to chances.
Fittings
The kitchen that is found in the 4 bedrooms is enough to house an island and yet still has space for a game of tag. Luxurious and high-end Swiss kitchen appliances from Vzug. Full complete kitchen appliances will definitely make your life a breeze in the kitchen and housewives would be jealous of their helpers with such automation. Steam oven and vacuum drawers are a must in today’s modern kitchen and all these are found in The Avenir.
Luxury would not be complete if the kitchen was not of an imported brand. Novacucina is the selected brand for the modern yet functional kitchen in The Avenir. Novacucina has been providing advanced solutions for kitchen, bathroom and living room furnishings. Since 1990, Novacucina has offered modern furnishing schemes for multiple aesthetic results, capable of suiting the most diverse lifestyles with customised solutions. Expect nothing but only the best in The Avenir. Sanitary wares are provided by Antoniolupi from Italy and bathroom accessories and taps are from renown German brand of Hansgrohe. Like I mentioned earlier, nothing but the best in The Avenir.
Facilities
This is actually a full facilities condominium project in district 9 with a tennis court. The rest will be the usual condominium facilities. This is also one of the few new launches that provide a lawn for decorative and runabout activities. Something which we have been seeing recently in the new launches. The overall landscape is nice with lush greenery surrounding the whole development. the 2 towers are orientated in the North-South direction and the majority of the units will have unblocked views. Depending on what view you prefer, you can hire a design-build contractor from RI and be assured of nice room additions and views on both sides. If an investment is a key objective, then the view is not the most key but pricing will be key. The higher the price, the lower the yield, the lower the price, the higher the yield.
Pricing
At this moment when this is being written, we have no clear idea of what the launch price will be at. We can only give an estimate based on the enbloc pricing. Pacific Mansion was bought for a whopping $980 million. With the costs added, the break-even is estimated to be between $2500 to $2800 range. The final sales price should be in the range of about $3000 to $3300. Taking into consideration of the nearby new launches of Martin Modern and Riviere pricing, the prices range from an average of about $2500 to about $2600psf. These are 99 leasehold as compared to the freehold projects which are already transacting at above $3000. Let us take a look at Martin Modern’s transactions in the last 6 months.
Let us take a look at RV altitude, another freehold project that is along River Valley.
The next question which everyone will be asking is why should we be paying so much more for a new launch when I can get a resale unit in the vicinity for a cheaper price. We all have a short memory or maybe I should say that we may not have access to information from the past. We may want to take a closer look at the transactions that happened in the vicinity of Robertson Quay. Usually, every new project has a life cycle and the life cycle actually increases the price at the highest during the 1st 5 years from the launch date. Let’s take Rivergate for an example. A report from 99.co shows the trend of this project since launch. Notice the graph actually starts to flat out towards the end?
During the 1st 5 years, Rivergate gained a steep 17.1% per annum after which it came to a slow 2% per annum. If we were to make a comparison between a new launch and a resale unit, we can assume that the new launch Onestop Plumbers, should be able to perform better than the resale. On average, the private non-landed new prices have increased by approximately by about 6% per annum as compared to a resale private non-landed that increased by only about 2% per annum. You will still make a decent profit from the resale but if the new launch can give you a higher profit? What would be your choice then?
In terms of rent, we can also expect the rent for new apartments to command a higher premium. If times are bad, the older condo units will be adjusted downwards and the new launch units that entered the market will still be priced at a premium over the older ones. You cannot be paying the same rent for an older unit as compared to a newer one right? Average rent in Rivergate is at an average of about $4.24 as compared to a new condo unit in 8 St Thomas which is commanding at an average of about $7-8 psf. This is quite a huge difference given that both are just within the vicinity of each other. A 4 bedder in 8 St Thomas was rented out for $5.47psf, that is almost $1.20psf more than Rivergate 4 bedder. If you take both the rental and price appreciation added together, it clearly shows that the new launch will be a better buy as compared to the resale unit. If it seems complicated, worry not because we can help you decipher the numbers. Just give us a call at 91287788 for a no obligations discussion to find out more.
