The top gain based on URA caveats released on May 6 and 10 accrued to a freehold semi-detached house on Jalan Tempua in District 11. The house, which sits on a 4,338 sq ft land area, fetched $7.6 million ($1,752 psf on land) last month, yielding a profit of $4.7 million. The seller purchased the land in October 2003 for $2.9 million ($673 psf). The profit works out to an annualised gain of 8%.

Despite the hefty gains, the transacted price is more than 15% below that of 2013. In the vicinity of the subject property, a 4,392 sq ft semi-detached house was sold for $2,050 psf in August 2014. Separately, a 4,359 sq ft detached house was sold for $2,160 psf in February 2013, at the market’s peak.

In District 19, a seller netted a profit of $2.8 million, or 315%, from the sale of a terrace house on Brockhampton Drive. This translates into an annualised gain of 12%. The property sits on a 999-year leasehold plot of 2,799 sq ft. The seller had purchased the property in July 2003 at $880,000 ($315 psf on land) and resold it last month for $3.7 million ($1,306 psf).

In the non-landed housing segment, three freehold condominium units reaped more than $1 million in profit for their sellers last month. All three units had been held for more than 10 years.

A 2,196 sq ft three-bedroom unit at Diary Farm Estate was sold for $2 million ($911 psf) in April 2016, yielding $1 million in profit, or an annualised gain of 4%. The home was previously purchased for less than half the price, or at $439 psf, in July 1998. At Tanglin Park, one seller made a profit of $1.2 million from the sale of his 1,335 sq ft condo unit. He bought the three-bedroom home for $1.3 million ($981 psf) in August 1999 and resold it for $2.5 million ($1,888 psf) last month. All 11 homes sold at the project since 2014 have been profitable.

Tanglin Park is a 274-unit freehold condo in District 10 that was completed in 1989. Meanwhile, a 1,399 sq ft, three-bedroom home at The Shelford in District 11 was transacted at a $1.1 million profit. The house was bought in a sub-sale for $1.2 million ($858 psf) in May 2003 and resold for $2.3 million ($1,658 psf) in April this year.

The Shelford is a popular housing project near Nanyang Primary School and Hwa Chong Institution. It comprises 215 units and was completed in 2005. Of the more than 100 resale transactions there, only five were traced to a loss.

Amid the negativity surrounding Sentosa Cove homes, a 1,636 sq ft, three-bedroom unit at The Berth by the Cove was sold at a $743,000 profit, making it the most lucrative non-landed home sold in Sentosa so far this year. The waterfront property was purchased directly from the developer for $1.4 million ($829 psf) in December 2004 and resold for $2.1 million ($1,284 psf) last month.

Meanwhile, the most unprofitable deal was traced to a 3,014 sq ft, four-bedroom garden maisonette at Duchess Residences. The loss amounted to $952,240, or 19%. The seller bought the house for $5 million ($1,688 psf) directly from the developer in July 2007 and offloaded it last month at $4.1 million ($1,360 psf). This marks the sixth consecutive money-losing transaction at the development since last June.

The semi-detached house on Jalan Tempua that fetched $7.6 million sits on a 4,338 sq ft land area

This article appeared in The Edge Property Pullout, Issue 729 (May 23, 2016) of The Edge Singapore.