A two-storey semi-detached house at 66 Cheng Soon Garden, off Kismis Avenue in Upper Bukit Timah, will be put up for auction for the second time on Oct 24, according to the auctioneer at Edmund Tie & Co (ET&Co). The property is a mortgagee sale and has a guide price of $7.38 million ($846 psf).
The house was first put up for auction on Sept 26 by ET&Co at the same price. As there were no bids then, it was withdrawn. There were two counter-offers at prices in the $6 million-to-$6.5 million range, according to Joy Tan, senior director and head of auction and sales at ET&Co. The property was withdrawn, however, as the offers were below the reserve price. “This is the first time that a house in Cheng Soon Garden has been put up for mortgagee sale,” she says.
The property sits on a freehold site of 8,727 sq ft with dual frontage. Under the 2014 Master Plan, the site is zoned for a three-storey mixed-landed development. This means it can be redeveloped into a new semi-detached and a detached house, says Tan. It will appeal to large extended families who want to live in the same compound, she adds.
The existing semi-detached house has seven bedrooms and a helper’s room. The master bedroom comes with a study and an en suite bathroom. The existing car porch is big enough for six cars. Alternatively, it can be turned into a garden.
Three houses in Cheng Soon Garden changed hands this year. The two more recent transactions were in August and September, and involved intermediate terraced houses. The one sold in September for $3.2 million occupies a freehold site of 2,013 sq ft; the price translates into $1,587 psf. The other terraced house occupies a site of similar size. It changed hands in August for $2.9 million ($1,438 psf).
The semi-detached house that is on the market is accessible via the Pan-Island Expressway and is a four-minute drive from malls such as Beauty World Plaza and Bukit Timah Centre. It is also near the Bukit Timah Food Centre and an eight-minute drive from the Bukit Batok Nature Park and Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.
ET&Co’s Tan considers the semi-detached house “a really good buy” at $7.38 million, or $846 psf. “Houses in Cheng Soon Garden are always in demand,” she says.