SINGAPORE'S NEW-MUST HAVE ADDRESS

The Singapore dream, as the mantra goes, consists of possessing the “Five C’s”: cash, car, credit card, country-club membership and condominium.
On this land-scarce island, however, the clearest indicator of social status is the last item: the condo. Private-home sales in Singapore rose 29% in April from a month earlier, despite recent government measures to cool the property market. In 2010, home prices rose 18% from the year before, even though 85% of Singaporeans live in public housing.
The second rule of thumb: It’s all about location, location, location. These days, the prestigious Orchard Road, which has traditionally boasted the city-state’s highest-priced properties, is no longer the must-have address. The new Marina Bay area, home to the one-year-old Marina Bay Sands casino and resort, is touting property prices that rival those of Orchard Road. According to Tim Murphy, chief executive of property investment consultancy IP Global, per-square-foot home prices in Marina Bay average about 2,295 Singapore dollars (US$1,848) per square feet. On Orchard Road, most properties go for about S$2,285 a square foot.
Largely driving the Marina Bay boom are developments like Sail @ Marina Bay, a two-tower waterfront complex opened in 2008, and One Shenton, a 341-unit condominium. One-bedroom apartments at the Sail are selling for S$2,655  a square foot, according to Connie Chai, a property agent with Debenham Tie Leung, which is 16% more than the per-square-foot average for flats on Orchard Road. It’s also more than double the S$900 per-square-foot average price Sail launched with in 2005. Apartments at One Shenton are currently selling for around S$2,100 a square foot.
What allows these buildings to command such high prices? According to Peter Leung, a Hong Kong property investor who owns a unit in Sail, the building possesses a “wow” factor: the view. At 245 meters high — making it Singapore’s tallest residential structure — Sail’s 1,100 apartments all feature unobstructed views of the harbor. Like most luxury buildings, the Sail also boasts a long list of amenities, including an aqua gym, an infinity-edge pool, a rock-climbing wall and concierge service.
Jean Yeo, a 40-year-old creative director at TV production company Ochre Pictures, says she looked at a lot of places before snapping up a S$1.15 million three-bedroom apartment at Sail just after its launch, after viewing it only once. “I’ve always wanted an apartment that had a Manhattan feel and was by the sea,” she says.
But while Marina Bay may flaunt higher per-square-foot prices these days, Orchard Road still commands Singapore’s highest sales. In May, a unit at The Marq at Patterson Hill went for S$17 million, the most ever paid for a private apartment in Singapore.
And, for now at least, Orchard Road has better transportation options and involves less hassle from construction–Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority is in the midst of carrying out a multibillion dollar project  to develop the Marina Bay area into the city’s financial center.