A 6,082 sq ft townhouse at Bishopsgate Residences was transacted on Aug 27 for a cool $21.1 million, or $3,465 psf. That is the highest quantum price sold for a residential unit since April, when a 6,878 sq ft penthouse at Nassim Park Residences fetched $22.5 million. On a psf basis, it is the highest since April 2011, when a penthouse at Nassim Park Residences was sold for $24.1 million, or $3,468 psf.
A 6,082 sq ft townhouse at Bishopsgate Residences was sold to a Hong Kong buyer recently
Prior to the recent sale of the townhouse at Bishopsgate Residences, a 6,620 sq ft strata-titled semi-detached house was sold for $25.8million, or $3,899 psf, in April last year. Bishopsgate Residences is a 31-unit, strata-titled freehold development by Prime Residential Development, a subsidiary of Kajima Overseas Asia. It was completed three years ago.
“Wealthy foreigners have been on the lookout for such trophy strata-titled units, as they are unable to buy a GCB [Good Class Bungalow] without approval from the authorities, ” says Samuel Eyo, managing director of Singapore Christie’s Homes. “They feel that the asking prices for luxury projects have become more realistic, following eight rounds of cooling measures.” Eyo jointly marketed Bishopsgate Residences with SQFT Global at a property exhibition in Hong Kong. The buyer of the $21 million townhouse is said to be a Hong Konger who purchased the unit at a recent exhibition.
High-net-worth Singaporeans are also on the hunt for a good deal, especially trophy landed homes, most notably GCBs. The two most recent GCB deals were done in July. One was a GCB sitting on a freehold site of 27,276 sq ft in Queen Astrid Park; it was sold for $32million ($1,169 psf) to Liu & Lee Investment, a company held by investor Dr Liu Shek Yuen.
The GCB at Queen Astrid Park has been one of the most actively traded in the neighbourhood. This was the fifth time it had changed hands since 2006. It was last sold in early 2010when it fetched $28.28 million ($1,033 psf). Prior to that, it was sold for $24 million ($877psf) in August 2009. In 2006, it changed hands thrice: the first time was in April, for $12.5million ($457 psf); then the following month for $16 million ($585 psf); and finally, in December for $18 million ($658 psf), according to caveats lodged with URA Realis.
The other was a GCB sitting on a 17,868 sq ft freehold site on Chee Hoon Avenue that was sold for $21.4 million($1,197 psf) to Michael Lien, grandson of late banker and philanthropist Lien Ying Chow.
Elsewhere in the landed housing segment, there were several transactions in the western region. Over at Chestnut Gardens, a 999-year leasehold terraced house by Siang How Realty was sold for$2.93 million ($1,505 psf), according to a caveat lodged on Aug 25.The terraced house had changed hands twice previously. The previous transaction was in 2012, when it fetched $2.88 million ($1,480psf), and then, in 2009, it changed hands for $1.35 million ($694 psf).
At Kingsford Terrace, located in Pasir Panjang Hill, a freehold terraced house was sold for $3.42 million ($1,319 psf), according to a caveat lodged on Aug 25. The seller had purchased the unit in March 2007 for just $1.38 million ($534 psf), thus seeing a capital appreciation of 2.5 times over the past eight years.
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This article appeared in the City & Country of Issue 694 (Sep 14, 2015) of The Edge Singapore.