Older condominiums in the Holland Road and Farrer Road area seem to be benefiting from increased buying interest. Prices at The Cornwall, a freehold 99-unit condo off Holland Road, have risen almost 25%, from an average price of $1,458 psf last year to $1,886 psf this year. The last time units at The Cornwall were sold for more than $1,800 psf was in 2013, during the last property boom.
Two studio units at The Cornwall changed hands recently — a 667 sq ft unit on the fifth floor was sold for $1.26 million ($1,888 psf) on June 26 and a 657 sq ft unit on the third floor fetched $1.24 million ($1,891 psf) on June 29. Prices at the development increased after the successful collective sale of Hollandia in March for $183.4 million, or $1,703 psf per plot ratio (ppr), followed by The Estoril in April for $224 million ($1,654 psf ppr). Both sites were purchased by Hong Kong-listed Far East Consortium International.
Prices at The Cornwall, off Holland Road, have risen almost 25% so far this year (Picture: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
“Prices of older condos in the area are still within the replacement-home budgets of most collective sale beneficiaries and buyers in the secondary market,” says Savills’ senior director of investment sales Suzie Mok, whose team handled the sale of Hollandia. Owners are expected to collect gross sale proceeds ranging from $3.3 million to $4.2 million, which they will receive by year-end, she says. She points to the nearby freehold condos Waterfall Gardens and The Levelz as examples of affordable properties for buyers in the secondary market.
At the 132-unit Waterfall Gardens, a 2,196 sq ft, three-bedroom unit on the ground floor changed hands for $3.2 million ($1,457 psf) on June 28. For the past two years, units at the eight-year old condo were sold for $1,334 to $1,561 psf. Prices at the development rose following the successful en bloc sale of Tulip Garden across the road for $907 million ($1,790 psf ppr) in mid-April.
This was reflected in the price of a unit at Waterfall Gardens sold later that month: The 2,196 sq ft, three-bedder changed hands for $3.75 million ($1,708 psf). Most of the units have since been transacted at more than $1,600 psf. Meanwhile, the latest sale at The Levelz, a 14-year-old condo, was that of a 926 sq ft unit on the ground floor, which went for $1.45 million ($1,566 psf) on June 29. It is the highest psf price for a ground-floor unit at the condo.
The tender for the collective sale of Spanish Village closes on July 18. (Picture: ET&Co.)
The latest property cooling measures are expected to dampen the current collective sale fever and moderate future price increases. One casualty may be the nearby Spanish Village on Farrer Road, whose collective sale tender closes on July 18. Owners launched the collective sale of the 226-unit, freehold condo with an $882 million ($1,721 psf ppr) asking price in June. Like most collective sales whose tenders are closing this month, Spanish Village’s collective sale committee is meeting with its marketing agent, Edmund Tie & Co, to discuss whether to extend the tender’s closing date