A 2,099 sq ft, five-bedroom unit at Eastpoint Green condominium on Simei Street 3 fetched a hefty profit of $972,000 despite having a remaining lease of less than 80 years. The seller, who purchased the unit from the developer at $375 psf in November 1998, held the unit for close to 18 years before reselling it at $839 psf, or $1.8 million, on Sept 8. Still, this translates into an annualised gain of 5% and marks the most profitable transaction at the 99-year leasehold project historically in terms of absolute gain. On top of this, a 969 sq ft unit on the third floor of the project was sold at a profit of $175,000 a day later on Sept 9. Eastpoint Green was completed in 1999 and comprises 646 units.
A 2,099 sq ft, five-bedroom unit at Eastpoint Green was sold at a profit of $972,000 this month
Separately, two sellers reaped profits of more than $1 million from the high-end segment in the week of Sept 6 to 13. Both units, sold a day apart, were previously purchased in 2005 and held for 11 years. The annualised gain for both transactions works out to be 7%. The bigger profit of $2.3 million accrued to a 3,100 sq ft unit at The Belmont, a freehold apartment off Holland Road in prime district 10. The seller purchased the unit in August 2005 at $645 psf and resold it at $1,397 psf, or $4.3 million, on Sept 8. The smaller profit of $1.6 million accrued to a 2,293 sq ft unit at Cairnhill Plaza, which was sold for $1,374 psf, or $3.2 million. The unit was previously purchased at $675 psf in September 2005. Cairnhill Plaza is a 204-unit, freehold apartment located on Cairnhill Road in prime District 9; it was completed in 1978.
The biggest loss in the week was traced to a 2,745 sq ft unit at Hillcrest Arcadia in District 11. The unit has changed hands six times in total, twice at a loss. In the latest transaction, the seller incurred a loss of $1.1 million when he sold the four-bedroom unit at a five-year low of $729 psf, or $2 million, on Sept 13 after holding it for five years. He paid a toppish $1,122 psf for the unit in March 2011, which leads to an annualised loss of 8%. This marks the most unprofitable transaction at the project so far, deeper than the loss of $620,000, when the same unit changed hands in July 2003. Hillcrest Arcadia is a 99-year leasehold condo project with 272 units off Eng Neo Avenue. The project was completed in 1980 and has a remaining lease of less than 60 years.
In the landed segment, a detached house on Lorong M Telok Kurau near East Coast Park netted a $4 million profit for the seller, who had held it for 14 years. The freehold property, with a land size of 6,179 sq ft, was purchased in March 2002 at $332 psf on land area and resold for $972 psf, or $6 million, on Sept 8. The last time a detached house was sold in the area was in 2009, when a neighbouring unit on a 5,177 sq ft land plot was sold for $464 psf, or $2.4 million. The computed gains for the landed properties exclude any renovation or refurbishment costs incurred by the seller.