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A Chinese national has snapped up four units at freehold condominium 3 Orchard By-The-Park located on Orchard Boulevard, Lianhe Zaobao reported.

Ready-to-move-in units

The buyer paid around S$60 million in total -- three of the units cost around S$12 million each, while the fourth unit costs S$20 million.

The units, which are considered bigger sized, cost S$3,600 to S$3,700 per square foot.

The transaction with the developer, YTL Group, apparently took place on Friday (Sep. 9), according to PropNex's Senior Associate Division Director Clarence Foo.

Foo said the units sold are show flats that are already fully furnished and therefore, ready to be moved into.

The condominium, which is designed by Italian architect Antonio Citterio, has a total of 77 units, of which around 10 are still unsold.

This bulk purchase comes after another high-profile transaction, where a Chinese national bought 20 units at luxury condominium CanningHill Piers, located in Clarke Quay, for over S$85 million.

Another unit at luxury condominium Le Nouvel Ardmore was bought for around S$22.3 million by a Chinese national from Inner Mongolia surnamed Han, who's also a Singapore permanent resident.

Singapore an attractive location for Chinese to move their money to

The wealth crackdown in China, driven by the "common prosperity" movement, which calls for citizens to share the wealth, has led many of China's rich to shift their money overseas, and Singapore is seen as a safe haven for them to keep their wealth.

Also, with its Mandarin-speaking population and relatively more lax Covid-19 measures, Singapore is seen as an attractive location for them to move to, according to Associate Professor Alfred Wu from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

This is in addition to Singapore's stable economy, its strong rule of law, as well as its safe environment, Foo said.

He added that although they have to pay an additional stamp duty, these high-wealth buyers still consider property in Singapore a stable investment that will rise in value as time goes by.

"Some foreign buyers even tell me that the stamp duty is like the 'entry fee' that the government wants," Foo said. "If they don't pay it now, this fee will still increase in the future."

The rise in demand for luxury properties in Singapore will inadvertently cause a rise in their prices.

According to data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority, private residential property prices have increased by 3.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2022, as compared to the 0.7 per cent increase in the previous quarter.

Top image via Keith Tan/Google Maps