SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - Transaction activity in the landed housing segment has picked up significantly since Phase Two of reopening in June last year. With rising transactions, prices have seen an uplift as well. The premium between new and old houses has widened too.
For example, in the Vanda private housing estate located off Dunearn Road in prime District 11, a semi-detached house at Vanda Avenue was sold for $9.1 million ($2,518 psf), according to a caveat lodged last month. The house, completed a year ago, sits on a freehold site of 3,613 sq ft. Another semi-detached house on Vanda Road, sitting on a slightly larger land area of 3,651 sq ft, but built 28 years ago, was sold for $6.1 million ($1,671 psf) in December, according to a caveat lodged with URA Realis.
The house at 13 Vanda Crescent (right) fetched a record psf price of $2,745 psf when it was sold last September. The neighbouring house is now up for sale at $12.98 million ($2,730 psf). (Picture: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
Property developer Centra Group, co-founded by brothers Melvin and Jason Poh, developed a pair of detached houses at 11 and 13 Vanda Crescent, both of which were completed in March 2020 and launched recently. The detached house at 13 Vanda Crescent, which sits on a land area of 4,298 sq ft, was snapped up for $11.8 million ($2,745 psf) last September. It set a new high in terms of psf prices for the Vanda neighbourhood.
The remaining detached house at 11 Vanda Crescent is available for sale at $12.98 million ($2,730 psf). The house sits on a slightly larger land site of 4,754 sq ft, with a built-up area of 8,600 sq ft across three floors. It comes with a 20m lap pool.
“The market for landed properties has been strong over the past few years,” observes Melvin, founder of Centra Group. However, he foresees “a slight shortage” as most of the stock of newly built houses has already been taken up. “This is especially the case for bungalows that are priced from $10 million to $12 million, and located in prime Districts 9, 10, and 11,” he says.
The house at 11 Vanda Crescent will be sold with most of the rooms fully furnished and a fully fitted kitchen. (Picture: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
It was the anticipation of the rising demand for such bungalows that led the Poh brothers of Centra Group to Vanda Crescent. The pair of detached houses at 11 and 13 Vanda Crescent were the redevelopment of a larger plot of 9,056 sq ft, which they purchased in March 2018 for $14.25 million ($1,574 psf). “We were attracted to the site because it is elevated, and the upper floors offer a view of the surrounding neighbourhood,” says Jason, managing director of Centra Group.
The houses at Vanda Crescent are ideal for the post-Covid era, notes Melvin. “People are spending more time at home these days,” he observes. “As a result, they want bigger, well-thought out living spaces. As a developer, we must design homes with good layout that will be appreciated by those who will eventually live there.”
The house at Vanda Crescent was designed with a living room and a separate dining room that can be closed off with sliding partition doors. The dining room is spacious enough to accommodate two round tables of 10, which would have been ideal for extended family celebrations like Lunar New Year festivities pre-Covid.
“It is important to have a good segregation of spaces within the home, and we have managed to design the layout of the house in a way that makes this separation hardly noticeable,” says Jason.
The rooms on the ground floor, such as the dining room, have been designed as separate modules to emphasise each space and provide more privacy. (Picture: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
The dry and wet kitchen are fully-fitted with top-of-the-range Gaggenau kitchen appliances. The wet kitchen comes with a Viking stovetop and a food preparation area — ideal for those who want to entertain or invite a chef home to cook. The wet kitchen has its own separate air-conditioning unit. Beyond the wet kitchen is the service yard, as well as the helpers’ room that can easily accommodate two helpers.
The house has six en suite bedrooms on the upper floors. There is also a home lift within the house. On the second level, the developer has removed the partition wall between two of the bedrooms to create a spacious 700 sq ft room, which is equivalent to a premium two-bedroom unit in new condominiums today.
“Buyers have told us that they want a room that’s like a blank slate where they could design to fit their lifestyle needs — they can turn the space into a home office or an exercise zone,” says Melvin. “This trend is influenced by the widespread adoption of remote working and work-from-home arrangements since the pandemic started.”
Some parents have even asked for a spacious bedroom that can accommodate all their children, especially when they are young. Hence, the 700 sq ft bedroom which comes with two en suite bathrooms, is ideal for that, he adds.
The partition wall between two of the bedrooms on the second floor has been removed to create a spacious 700 sq ft room. (Picture: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
The master bedroom is equally spacious — ideal for those who want to turn it into a suite with a separate workspace and sitting room. The master bedroom has two entrances leading to the walk-in wardrobe and the master bathroom. It has a spacious balcony with a view of the surrounding estate.
Even the room in the attic, which comes with an en suite bathroom, is ideal as a work area or study and has its own pantry. It can also be used as a home entertainment space or a bedroom.
Both detached houses at Vanda Crescent were built with a solar inverter, that converts solar energy captured from solar cells installed on the rooftop to supplement the electricity needs of the house. Jason reckons that the solar energy generated is sufficient to power all the electricity needs of the house.
“As a developer, it is important to offer a sustainable energy option for the home owners,” he says. “By moving towards alternative energy options, as private developers, we can contribute positively to the built environment.” Younger home buyers take sustainability into consideration when house-hunting, he adds.
The house at 11 Vanda Crescent is perched on a hill, giving it views of the surrounding landed estate. (Picture: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
Centra Group has been developing landed property since 2017. In that time, it has developed more than 25 houses in prime Districts 9, 10 and 11, with a total gross development value of $250 million. Their development portfolio ranges from terraced houses to semi-detached houses, detached houses and Good Class Bungalows (GCBs).
On Belmont Road, one of two GCBs developed by Centra Group was sold for $33.8 million ($2,243 psf) in August 2018. A pair of detached houses at 6 and 6A Holland Grove Lane were fully sold at $10.5 million ($2,434 psf) and $10.18 million ($2,430 psf) respectively in June and August 2020.
Last September, the Pohs purchased a detached house at 10 Dyson Road for $14.35 million ($1,165 psf). The house sits on a freehold land area of 12, 323 sq ft, and could be redeveloped into four semi-detached houses, notes Melvin. “We enjoy developing landed homes,” he adds. “We are still actively acquiring new land parcels to maintain our development pipeline.”
Check out the latest listings near Vanda Crescent, Vanda Avenue, Belmont Road, Holland Grove Lane, Dyson Road