Prime properties starting to stir

Source : The Edge – 22 Jun 2009

The landed housing market has been particularly active in the past month.

At Bowmont Gardens in Frankel Estate in the east,a terrace house with a land area of 1,539 sq ft was sold for $950,000, or $617 psf, last month. According to caveats lodged with URA Realis, this property changed hands three times in the last three years. It was sold at $938,000 in May 2007 and $800,000 in January 2007.

At Duchess Avenue, in the Bukit Timah area, a semi-detached house with a land area of 3,584 sq ft was sold at $3.3 million, or $922 psf. The house had been purchased for $1.9 million in 2004. Another house along the same street with a slightly larger land area of 3,649 sq ft was sold at $3.4 million. The seller had bought it for $2.38 million in 2000.

In the bungalow segment, a Good Class Bungalow in Astrid Hill with a land area of 21,119 sq ft was sold for $13 million ($616 psf) last month. The last transaction for that same property was a year ago, when it changed hands for $13.8 million.

Several bungalows in the Trevose area off Dunearn Road in prime district 11 changed hands for over $1,000 psf. At Trevose Crescent, a bungalow with a land area of 6,598 sq ft was sold for $8.28 million, or $1,254 psf, last month. The previous owner had purchased the property for $6.4 million in 2007. Nearby, at Jalan Bahasa, a bungalow sitting on a land area of around 5,000 sq ft was sold in the resale market for $5.7 million, or $1,139 psf.

Four detached houses were sold en bloc at Toh Avenue, off Upper Changi Road. The four homes occupy a land area totalling 40,526 sq ft, and changed hands for $13.37 million in the resale market.

In the city area, properties such as Icon near Tanjong Pagar MRT station continue to see strong activity. At the 646 unit Icon, completed in 2007, based on caveats from May 22 to 29, at least four units changed hands, with prices in the $1,340 psf range. For instance, a 904 sq ft unit on the 23rd floor of Icon was sold at $1.22 million, or $1,348 psf. According to past caveats, the seller had originally purchased the apartment for $646,720, or $715 psf, in 2003, when the project was first launched, hence seeing capital appreciation of close to 89%.

Over at Marina Bay, a unit on the 38th floor of The Sail@Marina Bay was sold for $2.059 million, or $2,199 psf, in the resale market.

The property was first purchased at $908,424, or $970 psf, in 2004 when the 1,111-unit residential skyscraper was first launched. This represents a gain of about 100% for the buyer. Another unit on the second floor purchased at $1.119 million, or $1,040 psf, during the launch in 2005 was sold for $1.452 million, or $1,349 psf, last month. It’s clear that sellers who had bought units in the development when the first tower was launched in 2004, and the second a year later, are seeing attractive returns on their investment.