Luxury condominium Goodwood Residence saw the highest number of resales so far this year in May. Based on
caveats lodged so far this month, five units were sold, all of which were purchased in 2010.
Of the five units that changed hands in May, a 3,097 sq ft, four-bedroom unit on the first level was sold for $8 million ($2,047 psf). The owner purchased the unit for $6.89 million ($1,763 psf) eight years ago when the project was launched.
Another first-level unit of the same size fetched $7.5 million ($1,919 psf) in early May. The owner paid $7.24 million ($1,852 psf) for the unit in 2010.
The other three units that were sold in May were on the higher floors and went for prices ranging from $2,437 to $2,579 psf.
The freehold, 210-unit Goodwood Residence was developed by GuocoLand and completed in 2013. Designed by acclaimed architect WOHA, the project is a redevelopment of the former Casa Rosita on Bukit Timah Road, which GuocoLand had purchased for $280 million in 2006.
Successful collective sales in Bukit Timah late last year have revived interest in the prime District 10 neighbourhood. Most notably, Allgreen Properties snapped up Royalville for $477.94 million ($1,960 psf per plot ratio) and Crystal Tower for $180.65 million ($1,840 psf ppr) in December. In February, City Towers was sold for $401.9 million ($1,847 psf ppr) to a unit of Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing’s CK Hutchison Holdings.
The successful collective sales have boosted resales in newer developments, as their prices look attractive compared with the indicative selling prices of new projects that will be built on the sites sold recently.
“When there are more collective sale activities in a particular location where land prices trend upwards, there could be more transactions in the surrounding neighbourhood,” says Leong Boon Hoe, chief operating
officer of List Sotheby’s International Realty in Singapore.
Leong also sees the rising number of successful collective sales in prime districts boosting homebuyers’ confidence. There is “a greater sense of urgency” among homebuyers to purchase a prime property, as they anticipate prices in these areas to rise faster than those in the rest of the market, he adds.
The highest psf price achieved at Goodwood Residence was $2,940. A four-bedroom unit on the ninth floor was sold for $7.5 million last November. But this still comes shy of the benchmark prices fetched by developments
in the same district this year, observes Leong.