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SEVERAL projects are being put on the market this week.

Up for preview: The Quartz (above) boasts a sky gym and a raised glass clubhouse above the pool. The sole penthouse in Newton One (next) costs about $9.6 million

These include at least two project previews - The Quartz, GuocoLand's 99-year leasehold project next to Buangkok MRT Station which is being offered at about $490 per square foot on average, and Lippo's freehold Newton One, which has an average price of about $1,250 psf.

Developers of two other projects are marking their official launches this weekend with the start of ad campaigns - Phase 4 of Mimosa Terrace in the Seletar Hills area and The Modules in Joo Chiat.

Property market watchers have been awaiting the release of The Quartz, hoping it will provide a gauge of demand in the 99-year leasehold suburban private residential market.

'This is the first mass-market private housing project being offered in a while,' a seasoned property industry observer notes. 'While the luxury residential sector has sparkled over the past 18 months, helped by strong demand from foreigners, the mass market has been lacklustre.'

Only about a fifth of the 9,000 private homes that developers are expected to launch this year are expected to be projects aimed at the mass market.

The cheapest three-bedroom unit at The Quartz costs about $500,000. The three-bedders are on average about 1,100 sq ft.

The project boasts a sky gym and a raised glass clubhouse above the swimming pool. CB Richard Ellis is marketing the project jointly with ERA. This week's preview is for those who have registered interest in the project since this January, when the Buangkok MRT Station opened.

At Newton Road, 26 of the 91 units at Lippo's Newton One condo were booked before the start of the preview tomorrow.

This is Lippo's first Singapore residential development.

Unit prices range from about $1.4 million for a 1,200-sq-ft two-bedroom unit with study to about $3 million for a five-bedder of about 2,400 sq ft.

The sole penthouse in the project - a 6,000-sq-ft apartment occupying the entire 29th floor - costs about $9.6 million.

Lippo seems to have spared no effort in the design and finishes.

'This is going to be a lifestyle design. Most of the units in the project will have two balconies, each with through-ventilation so you don't have to live in air-conditioning all the time.

The units have both dry and wet kitchens with the dry kitchen incorporated as part of the living/entertainment area,' says Lippo Realty (Singapore) executive director Thio Gim Hock, formerly of Hotel Properties and City Developments.

'Another unique feature of our project is that the five-bedroom units incorporate a granny flat,' says Mr Thio. These have been especially popular, with seven of the total eight units already booked

The group, controlled by Indonesia's Riady family, is developing Newton One on the former Newton Heights site which it clinched through a collective sale.

Lippo is also working on two more Singapore residential projects. One is a 406-unit condo it is developing jointly with CapitaLand on a 99-year leasehold site at Alexandra/ Tiong Bahru roads.

Early next year, Lippo should be ready to launch a freehold 36-storey condo with possibly 300 units on a site at Kim Seng Road that it bought from OCBC in April.

In the Seletar Hills area, Bukit Sembawang Estates is this weekend officially launching phase four of Mimosa Terrace, which has 39 freehold terrace homes.

About a quarter of these have already been sold since the project was soft launched about a month ago. Prices start from $1.26 million. The project is being marketed by DTZ Debenham Tie Leung.

Over at Joo Chiat Road, Shining Holdings is having an official launch for its small office, home office (Soho) project, The Modules. It has sold about 10 of the total 48 units in the four-storey freehold development since it began previews about a fortnight ago.

Unit sizes range from 355 sq ft to 1,346 sq ft. The average price is about $700 psf. Prices start from $289,000.