Residential Market News Extract - 24 August 2012

3 residential sites put up for tender

Three residential sites - two for private flats and one for an executive condominium - were launched for sale by public tender yesterday.

The plots - in Tanah Merah, Redhill and Woodlands - are all on 99-year leases and could yield about 1,600 units in total.

The 31,881.6 sq m site in New Upper Changi Road was one of two in the area that residents had petitioned the Government to keep undeveloped.

The other site is at the junction of New Upper Changi Road and Bedok South Avenue 3 and is on the reserve list of the government land sales programme.

It will be put up for sale if a developer makes an acceptable minimum bid.

Property experts expect some of the bigger developers to bid for the New Upper Changi Road site, which is near Tanah Merah MRT station and is able to accommodate about 540 units.

Competitive bidding is expected for the plot, especially from developers who failed to clinch a nearby site sold earlier this month.

Experts expect between five and 12 bidders, with the top offer coming in at between $550 and $700 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr).

A condo site in Prince Charles Crescent in Redhill, also launched by the URA, can yield about 590 units on its 23,785.4 sq m.

It was triggered for sale after a developer agreed to bid at least $390 million.

Experts tip moderate interest of between six and 12 bidders with a top offer ranging from $720 to $950 psf ppr.

Bids are likely to be cautious, given the performance of projects in the central region, for instance. The quantum of the bid will limit it to bigger developers only.

The Housing Board has launched a 16,505 sq m site at the junction of Woodlands Avenue 6 and Woodlands Drive 16, earmarked for an exec condo of about 465 units.

The highest bid - from three to seven developers - could come in at between $300 and $350 psf ppr, experts said.

Source: The Straits Times – 24 August 2012

 

Bungalow market astir with several changing hands

Several big-ticket bungalow deals have been sealed recently including a few in Good Class Bungalow Areas (GCBAs).

A 999-year leasehold bungalow at Yarwood Avenue in the Rifle Range/ Dunearn roads area has changed hands for $19.5 million or $1,198 per square foot (psf) on land area of 16,278 sq ft. On site is a two-storey bungalow spruced up a couple of years ago.

The property, with a built-up area of about 9,500 sq ft, has three large bedrooms and a swimming pool.

Market watchers say this is the third property to be transacted since last year at this Yarwood Avenue cul de sac. A bigger bungalow on land area of 69,546 sq ft was sold in April last year for $59.5 million (or $856 psf) while another changed hands at slightly above $15.6 million or $968 psf in March 2011.

At Oriole Crescent, near Greenwood Avenue, a bungalow has fetched $18.2 million - or $1,726 psf on freehold land area of 10,546 sq ft. On site is a two-storey house said to be over 20 years old. It is leased out at a monthly rental of $18,000 until end-July 2014.

Talk in the market is that an option was granted recently for a bungalow on Camden Park. The price is understood to be $25 million, or $1,659 psf on land area of 15,070 sq ft. The property, said to have been rebuilt about four years ago, features a pool and gym in addition to six bedrooms.

Last month, a seasoned bungalow investor sold his GCB at Binjai Park for $32.9 million or $1,471 psf. On the 22,360 sq ft site is a new two-storey property, completed late last year, boasting seven en-suite bedrooms. The built-up area is about 17,000 sq ft.

A stone's throw away from Farrer Road MRT Station, a small freehold bungalow at Woollerton Drive was transacted a few weeks ago at nearly $12.6 million or $1,570 psf on land area of 7,987 sq ft. It has five bedrooms.

Typically GCBs have a minimum land area of 1,400 square metres (15,069 sq ft). However, when GCB Areas were gazetted in 1980, they included some slightly smaller existing sites. These are still considered GCBs as they would be bound by the other GCB planning rules if they were to be redeveloped. For instance, such plots cannot be further sub-divided and they cannot be built more than two storeys high (plus an attic and a basement).

Outside GCB Areas, other recent bungalow deals include a two-storey property at Trevose Crescent, in the Dunearn/Whitley roads vicinity, which changed hands at $13.7 million or $1,788 psf on land area of 7,662 sq ft. The property, completed six years ago, has four bedrooms and a roof terrace. The basement houses a home theatre and pool room.

GCB buyers these days are mostly Singaporeans seeking a property for their own occupation.

The number of bungalow deals in GCB Areas doubled from nine in Q1 this year to 18 in Q2, with the value of transactions rising from $224 million to $359 million.

Source: Business Times – 24 August 2012

 

Sales in luxury property market rebound

Even as investors stream back into the luxury property market, causing sales activity to almost double in the second quarter, further price correction may be in the offing given the growing number of unsold homes.

Data showed that there were as many as 4,000 luxury condominiums completed over the past year in Orchard Road, accounting for about 7 per cent of total non-landed stock in the luxury market.

Of this, 16 per cent (over 600 units) remain unsold, bringing total unsold stock in the prime segment to 12,855 units. This comprised 731 completed units and 12,124 uncompleted ones, half of which are ready to be launched.

Prices for non-landed new sales dipped 5 per cent quarter-on-quarter to $2,374 per square foot in Q1 2012, and slid further to $2,230 psf in Q2.

Reflecting the downtrend in prices, 19 units at Paterson Suites were purchased at an average price of $2,619 psf this year - 10 per cent below last year's $2,915 psf and 15 per cent off the peak price in 2007. A total of 12 units at Orchard View changed hands at an average price of $2,604 psf, down 21 per cent from 2010's peak price, while four transactions at St Regis Residences posted the largest drop of 28 per cent from the peak to $2,228 psf in H1 2012.

The spike in sales activity was observed across all market segments, with new sales up 246 per cent quarter-on-quarter at 235 units in Q2, sub-sales rising 34 per cent to 94 units, and resales increasing 86 per cent over the previous quarter to 585 units.

This pushed the number of units sold to 914, compared with a three-year low of 453 non-landed units sold in Q1, following the eurozone debt crisis and imposition of the additional buyer's stamp duty (ABSD) in December last year.

Specifically, demand for ultra-luxury homes (priced above $3,000 psf) almost trebled from 11 units in Q3 2011 to 31 units in Q2 2012.

These transactions include two units at Scotts Square sold for $4,566 psf in May and another for $4,803 psf in June; a 1,808 sq ft unit on the 52nd storey of The Orchard Residences for $4,399 psf; and two units at Boulevard Vue which sold for $4,326 psf and $3,934 psf.

A newly launched project, Twentyone Angullia Park, also drew keen market interest, with five sales completed over the last three months at prices of between $3,950 and $4,338 psf.

Source: Business Times – 23 August 2012

 

Thomson View condo back on en bloc market

Thomson View condominium is up for sale by public tender again.

The 99-year leasehold residential site located along Upper Thomson Road has a guide price of $580 million.

Including a $107 million premium to enhance the property's use and a $90 million premium to top up the lease, which has 62 years left, this translates to $685 per square foot per plot ratio.

Inclusive of the additional 10 per cent gross floor area for the balcony area - for which the site may incur a development charge payable to the authorities amounting to about $46 million - the unit land price is $659 psf ppr.

The project, which comprises 200 flats, 54 townhouses and a shop unit, has a land area of 540,314 square feet.

Under Master Plan 2008, it is zoned for residential use, with a gross plot ratio of 2.1.

The tender has been extended by a week and will close on Sept 4 at 3pm.

Source: Business Times – 22 August 2012