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A BUZZ of buying interest is spreading fast over a crop of new residential projects, located outside the hot-button prime areas, but offering home buyers other tempting features such as rustic charm, low-density living and extra space.

In fact, home buyers may have to hurry if they want a slice of the action in these recently-released projects.

Two boutique projects in the east have already seen relatively strong sales ahead of their official launch, a 124-unit project in Cantonment Road is nearly sold out while another touting a city-living lifestyle in Lavender is close to selling all of its residential units within just three weeks of its release.

This weekend, Tong Eng Group is launching its 76-unit Poshgrove East in East Coast Road while Roxy Homes is launching its freehold 34-unit The Treeline in the Telok Kurau area. But the two boutique developers have already sold over 50 per cent of the units on offer.

Many of this style of low-rise and low-density projects offer exclusivity with specific themes and unique designs that appeal to discerning home buyers, said Mr Michael Ng, managing director of Savills Singapore, which is marketing both the projects.

The Treeline, which is five storeys high, offers units ranging from 797 sq ft to 1,884 sq ft, and is priced from about $499,000 to about $973,000.

Poshgrove East is also a five-storey development, though it has an attic and a basement carpark that can accommodate 101 cars. It has 33 units left, after 43 units were snapped up at a preview last October.

Prices start from about $418,000 for a 592 sq ft one-bedroom unit to about $1.24 million for a 2,282 sq ft four-bedroom penthouse.

Mr Ng said buyers of the two projects are also attracted by the rustic charm of the Telok Kurau/Katong areas.

For buyers of Poshgrove East, they are also buying into a tiny piece of history.

One half of the site used to house the family home of the late Teo Thye Chor, who founded Tong Eng Brothers and its group of companies. The other part was a neighbouring plot that the firm purchased in 2001.

Tong Eng's first commercial development is the 26-storey Tong Eng Building in Cecil Street, which involved amalgamating several pre-war shophouses.

The group still owns about 40 per cent of the strata-titled building, as well as Serangoon Plaza, Eminent Plaza and Lavender Food Square.

Nearer to the Central Business District, buyers are lapping up the inner-city living concept, if sales of two new projects are anything to go by.

At Cantonment Road, the 124-unit Beacon by Mapletree Investments has seen brisk sales since its preview on June 17. As of Friday, it is understood that only nine units are left.

The 99-year leasehold project, located opposite the Housing Board's premium project, The Pinnacle@Duxton, is priced from over $600 per sq ft (psf) to about $700 psf.

'You won't buy it for the view or its prestige, but the layout is very spacious and it is a very good bargain if you compare it with the nearby Icon from Far East, which is now selling for $1,200 psf,' said an investor.

At UOL Group's Southbank near Lavender MRT Station, sales of the residential units have been brisk since the June 10 preview. The entire project was officially launched on June 24.

Of the 197 residential units, the developer said it has sold 177 units, including two out of three penthouses, at an average price of $600 psf. It has also sold 10 out of 60 small-office, home-office (Soho) units at $750 psf on average.

A buyer said he picked up a three-bedroom unit as it offers unblocked sea and river views, but not the Soho units, which did not have such views.

Nevertheless, there are still many other choices for buyers who are looking at low- to mid-end condominiums.

There are still plenty of units available, for example, at GuocoLand's 625-unit The Quartz in Buangkok and the 562-unit One Amber in the Amber Road area. The Quartz is priced around $490 psf, while One Amber is priced around $725 psf to $730 psf.

As for inner-city homes, Far East Organization is expected to start selling its project on the Natwest Centre site very soon while City Developments is expected to launch 1, Shenton Way later this year.

joyceteo@sph.com.sg