With more new launches in the pipeline, homebuyers eyeing properties in the Upper Bukit Timah area in District 21 will be spoilt for choice. On the weekend of Sept 29, Oxley Holdings will launch its 215-unit Mayfair Gardens, located a three-minute walk from King Albert Park MRT station on the Downtown Line. The indicative average launch price is $1,900 psf.
Meanwhile, Roxy-Pacific Holdings and its joint-venture partner TE2 Development are expected to launch their 168-unit project on Lorong Kismis before year-end. The project is a redevelopment of the former Kismis View and the adjacent property at 19 Lorong Kismis.
Next to it is Daintree Residence, S P Setia’s 327-unit private condominium on Toh Tuck Road. Forty-two units have been sold at an average price of $1,703 psf since its launch in July, according to caveats lodged.
The neighbourhood was also in the spotlight at the close of the government land tender on Sept 4, when a 99-year leasehold site on Jalan Jurong Kechil was sold to China Overseas Holding and CSC Land Group for $215 million, or $1,002 psf per plot ratio. In terms of psf ppr price, it is 6.7% higher than the $939 S P Setia paid for the Daintree Residence site in April last year.
According to Nicholas Mak, executive director of ZACD Group, based on the price that CSC Land and China Overseas Holdings paid for the Jalan Jurong Kechil site, the breakeven price is likely to be $1,640 to $1,700 psf.
With the recent and upcoming launches in the District 21 neighbourhood, resale prices of existing condos in the area have also risen. According to Christine Sun, OrangeTee & Tie head of research and consultancy, the average resale price of non-landed private homes in District 21 increased 14% to $1,241 psf in July and August, from $1,084 psf in the corresponding period last year.
At S P Setia’s Daintree Residence, which previewed at end-July, 42 units have been sold so far, at an average price of $1,703 psf (Picture: S P Setia)
Adjacent to Daintree Residence is the freehold The Creek @ Bukit, which was completed last year. The latest transaction at the 260-unit condo was that of a 463 sq ft, one-bedroom unit that was sold for $795,000 ($1,718 psf) in December. Meanwhile, a three-bedroom maisonette unit of 1,668 sq ft fetched $2.47 million ($1,480 psf) in December.
On Jalan Jurong Kechil is the boutique development Suites @ Bukit Timah. The freehold, 71-unit project was completed in 2014. The most recent transaction there was that of a 344 sq ft, one-bedroom unit that changed hands for $585,000 ($1,698 psf), according to a caveat lodged on Sept 14. The unit was purchased for $565,756 ($1,643 psf) in November 2011, when the project was first launched.
Also on Jalan Jurong Kechil is The Hillford. The 281-unit project comes with a 60-year lease and was sold as a retirement village. When it was launched in January 2014, all the units were snapped up within a day at an average price of $1,105 psf. Units are predominantly a mix of one-bedders of 398 sq ft priced from $388,000 and two-bedroom, dual-key units of 657 sq ft priced from $648,000.
The Hillford was completed in 2016. According to caveats lodged, three units of 398 sq ft on the first and second levels changed hands this September at prices ranging from $450,000 ($1,130 psf) to $496,00 ($1,246 psf).
According to Sun of OrangeTee & Tie, there has been a dip in demand for compact one-bedroom units. “Investors of shoebox units have retreated from the market, owing to the increase in additional buyer’s stamp duty,” she says. “As the majority of buyers today are owner- occupiers, developers have right-sized their units to cater to them.”