Seller at Valley Park makes $1.4 mil profit

On Nov 16, the seller of a 1,808 sq ft, four-bedroom unit at Valley Park made a profit of $1.44 million (95%), which works out to 4% a year over more than 18 years. This marks the highest gain realised at the 20-year-old condominium since its completion in 1997, based on the matching of URA caveat data. The 19th-floor unit was bought in April 1999 at $1.515 million ($838 psf) and sold for $2.95 million ($1,631 psf).

The units that reaped the three biggest profits at Valley Park this year were bought in April 1999. The other two units were a two-bedroom unit on the 13th floor and a three-bedroom unit on the fourth level. The former was sold on March 3 at $1.79 million ($1,472 psf) for a $850,000 profit, and the latter changed hands on June 23 for $2.19 million ($1,355 psf), or an $831,400 profit. The units were bought at $940,000 ($773 psf) and $1.36 million ($840 psf) respectively.

Valley Park’s attractions include its 999-year leasehold status, prime-district location and comparatively large unit sizes compared with those at newer launches. Developed by Singapore-listed Frasers Centrepoint, the 728- unit condo in River Valley comprises oneto four-bedroom units of 732 to 1,808 sq ft, spread across five high-rise blocks. There are also penthouses of 2,562 sq ft each.

Located next to Valley Point Shopping Centre, which was also developed by Frasers Centrepoint, Valley Park is within walking distance of Great World City shopping centre and within a 1km radius of Alexandra Primary School. The development is sited within a 700m radius of Jervois Gardens, which was sold to SC Global for $72 million ($1,373 psf per plot ratio) at the close of its collective sale tender in September.

Meanwhile, in the Cairnhill neighbourhood, a 1,432 sq ft, three-bedroom-plus-study unit at The Vermont on Cairnhill was sold at a $688,000 (20%) loss, or an annualised loss of 6% over a holding period of about three years.

The seller bought the fifth-floor unit in August 2014 for $3.518 million ($2,457 psf) and sold it on Nov 17 at $2.83 million ($1,977 psf). Owing to the short holding period, the transaction is subject to a seller’s stamp duty of 4%, or $113,200. This means the total loss incurred, after factoring in SSD, is $801,200 (23%).

Launched in early 2010, the 158-unit The Vermont on Cairnhill was sold out by July 2014, about a year after its completion in August 2013, according to URA data. The freehold condo is near high-end projects such as the 240-unit Hilltops and the 50-unit Alba.

About 300m from The Vermont on Cairnhill is collective sale site Cairnhill Mansions and an adjacent site — 67 Cairnhill Road — which were put up for sale by public tender in late October. The tenders for the two freehold sites close on Dec 12.