S'poreans lured by posh villas in Beijing

Chateau-style house with up to eight bedrooms, 3,000 sq ft garden and basement pool attracting many

AS IF well-heeled Singaporeans do not have enough plush property to tempt them. Now the Chinese have hit town enticing local buyers with posh Beijing real estate.

They lured about 70 people to yesterday's no-frills launch of Palais de Fortune, a villa on the outskirts of the capital.

It is the first time in several years that a high-end mainland property has been targeted at Singaporeans here.

Units cost between $5 million and $7 million - the price of a fancy bungalow here.

For that, you get a sprawling 15,000 sq ft of built-in space in a French chateau-style house, and that excludes the 3,000 sq ft garden that comes with each unit.

There is also a 20m pool in each basement, a panic room and a lift that opens on all three floors of each villa, which will have between six and eight bedrooms.

A one-off 'king of villas' boasting a 6ha compound is also up for grabs - a steal at $35 million.

Local firm TriLink Investments is launching the project here. In the past six months, 52 units have been sold in China.

Another 120 units in the project, which is being developed by the Beijing Fortune Real Estate Development Group, will be gradually made available.

Early buyers include six Singaporeans with businesses in China, said TriLink managing director Thomas Ng.

That interest level and the property rebound here gave him the confidence to market the project in Singapore.

'Singaporeans will invest anywhere they think will make them money,' he said.

But one analyst said: 'Five million dollars is no small change. I doubt lots of buyers will bite, but there will be interest. Still, the pool of potential buyers is not big.'

Mr Ng said one or two locals have showed interest but no deals have been sealed.

Buyers should do their homework, advised the analyst: 'Make sure that the developer is reputable, the design, specifications and pricing all make sense.'

And there is a hitch: Chinese law states you cannot buy residential housing unless you have lived in the country for a year or more, are working there or have a Chinese-registered business.

Recent foreign launches here have come mostly from Malaysia, Thailand and Australia. Chinese firms have not bothered because domestic demand has been fierce.

Western-style villas and townhouses have become hot property in Beijing with prices surging more than 40 per cent in the past three years.

Despite recent measures to cool speculation, analysts believe the market will stay hot.