The exterior of one of the three Good Class Bungalows on Nassim Road that recently changed hands in a portfolio sale for $206.7 million or $4,500 psf (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - Cuscaden Peak recently sold a portfolio of three Good Class Bungalows (GCBs) at Nassim Road for $206.7 million. The price works out to a record of $4,500 psf.
Alvin Choo, associate district director of investment sales and affluent markets at PropNex Realty, represented the buyer in the deal, while RealStar Premier Group represented the seller.
The buyers are said to be Indonesian-turned-Singapore citizens and members of the same family.
Choo declines to comment on the buyer's identity, citing a non-disclosure agreement. "The buyers are super-high net worth and savvy purchasers," he says. "They only wanted a Tier 1 GCB location –Nassim, Cluny, Bishopsgate, Chatsworth, Rochalie Drive or Tanglin Hill." The purchase was "for legacy planning and wealth protection", Choo adds.
Interest in the Tier 1 GCB locations has predominantly been newly minted Singapore citizens formerly from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, according to Choo.
The three GCBs on Nassim Road were put up for sale last September, with RealStar Premier Group as the exclusive agency. The price tag was $238.88 million or $5,200 psf. Each GCB sits on a freehold plot ranging from 15,131 to 15,542 sq ft, with a built-up area from 6,942.7 sq ft to 7,384 sq ft.
The latest purchase price of $4,500 psf for Nassim Road tops the previous record of $4,291 psf achieved for a newly built GCB at Cluny Hill in April 2021. The house on a 14,844 sq ft, freehold site was purchased for $63.7 million by Tommy Ong, founder of Shopify review app Stamped.io. The seller was Sebestian Soh, founder and director of the development advisory firm Meir Homes, which completed the home's construction last year.
Demand for GCBs in the Tier 1 locations far outstrips supply, which is "very tightly held", according to PropNex's Choo. "This record deal certainly won't be the last of such transactions," he adds. "If anything, it will boost the market dramatically."
It's not just the GCB segment that has set new record prices. In the Chancery Lane-Mount Rosie neighbourhood in prime District 11, an intermediate terraced house at 1B Chancery Lane was sold for $7.358 million or $4,456 psf, according to a caveat lodged in March. "It's a new record psf price for terraced houses," says Bruce Lye, managing partner of SRI, who brokered the deal.
Buying a piece of land and developing it from scratch would cost more than the amount the buyer paid for the intermediate terraced house purchased off-plan, notes Lye.
The terraced house sits on a 1,615 sq ft, 999-year leasehold site fronting Chancery Lane and just one street away from Anglo-Chinese School (Primary) on Barker Road. When completed in 2024, the house will have five en suite bedrooms and a built-up area of 6,500 sq ft. It will come with a private lift, V-Zug kitchen appliances, top-end finishes and a 10m lap pool.
The intermediate terraced house is one of three at 1A, B and C Chancery Lane developed by Silver Edge Group, a company incorporated in 2017 as a property investment vehicle for a group of individuals.
Each house has four levels: first, second, mezzanine and attic. While the two corner houses can park three cars, the intermediate terraced house can park two. The architect is aKTa-rchitects, a Singapore-based architectural practice established in 2001 which incorporates many of the works previously carried out by Kevin Tan.
According to a caveat lodged in early March, one of the two corner houses at 1C Chancery Lane was sold for $8.45 million ($3,237 psf). The house sits on a 999-year leasehold site of 2,610 sq ft, with a built-up area of 5,000 sq ft. It has five en-suite bedrooms, private lift access and a lap pool. SRI likewise brokered the sale of this property.
Only one terraced house is now available for sale, 1A Chancery Lane. It sits on a 999-year leasehold land area of 3,490 sq ft, with a 7,000 sq ft built-up area and six en suite bedrooms. The price tag is $11.8 million ($3,381 psf).
Also in prime District 11 is Mount Rosie Signature Collection, a boutique freehold development with just six houses. Four of the six are terraced houses, with two bungalows flanking either end, each with a private entrance.
Mount Rosie Signature Collection is the redevelopment of a former GCB at Mount Rosie Road, which sits on a freehold plot of 30,650 sq ft. Daniel Teo, chairman and managing director of Hong How Group, and a group of investors purchased the GCB site for $43.8 million ($1,429 psf) in May 2021. Teo is also a director of Tong Eng Group.
Based on caveats lodged, the developer has sold two terraced houses at Mount Rosie Signature Collection. The first house, sold last August, sat on a freehold site of 3,245 sq ft and fetched $12.35 million ($3,805 psf). The other, sold in February this year for $9.578 million ($3,849 psf), sits on a 2,489 sq ft freehold site, according to a caveat lodged. The deal is said to be brokered by Daniel Ling of SRI.
According to the developer, the larger of the two bungalows at Mount Rosie has been sold, but a caveat has yet to be lodged. The bungalow sits on a freehold site of 10,998 sq ft with a built-up area of 24,958 sq ft. It has six bedrooms and a parking garage for 10 cars. The smaller of the two bungalows, sitting on a land area of 7,636 sq ft with a built-up area of 16,031 sq ft, has been "reserved", according to the developer.
Interest in landed property has increased significantly in prime District 15, especially since a detached house on Wilkinson Road changed hands for $55.5 million ($2,161 psf). The property sits on a freehold site of 25,681 sq ft. RealStar Premier brokered the deal.
According to a property title search, the property buyer at Wilkinson Road is Pang Sze Khai, executive director of Octava, a Singapore-based single-family office with multiple investments across diverse industries, focused mainly on real estate, financial technology and biopharma sectors. Khai is also the chairman and one of the principals of Octava Foundation, which provides grants and supports organisations and programmes that empower children and youths. He is believed to be redeveloping the property at Wilkinson Road for his use.
When SRI launched a freehold residential site for sale at 5 Meyer Place on April 12, there was much interest, notes SRI's Lye. A single-storey bungalow sits on the freehold site of 10,154 sq ft. The land is zoned for residential use under the 2019 Master Plan with an allowable plot ratio of 2.1 and a maximum gross floor area of 22,817 sq ft. A developer could build a new 19-unit residential project on the site based on the latest URA guidelines.
However, instead of developers, interest has mainly come from individuals and families looking to purchase the site at Meyer Place for their use, according to Lye. "Most of them are looking at redeveloping the property," he says. "Some people like the Bukit Timah area, others prefer the Mountbatten Road-Meyer Road neighbourhood, which they consider the 'GCB area of the East'."
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