Bungalow sales gather momentum

Nov 22, 2010 - PropertyGuru.com.sg

A bungalow located at 6 Coronation Road West, in the Oei Tiong Ham Park Good Class Bungalow (GCB) area,  was recently sold at a Colliers International auction, fetching a price of $26.6 million.

The one-storey bungalow, which is said to be over 30 years old, has an outhouse, a guesthouse and a swimming pool.

Meanwhile, a tender by Knight Frank on behalf of the Japanese government for No. 18 Astrid Hill is understood to have drawn more than a dozen bids when it closed on Thursday.

Offers are said to have surpassed the $1,350 psf level, exceeding the expected pricing of $1,056 psf to $1,320 psf indicated in October for the 18,939 sq ft site.

Both Singaporeans and Singapore firms are said to have submitted bids, which are being evaluated by the Japanese Embassy.

There are only approximately 2,400 bungalows in the 39 gazetted GCB areas in Singapore. The minimum land area of a GCB – an exclusive form of housing on mainland Singapore governed by strict planning requirements – is 1,400 sq m or about 15,169.50 sq ft.

Prices of GCBs continue to escalate, said William Wong, managing director of RealStar Premier Property. “Even where buyers are willing to match the sellers' asking prices, it may not necessarily mean a deal will be done.”

“In a number of cases, sellers have either raised their target prices or withdrawn their properties with a view to relaunching them six to 12 months later at higher prices,” added Mr. Wong.

“We're also seeing a wave of new Singapore citizens hailing from mainland China who're buying GCBs. They're eyeing the bigger plots of at least 20,000 sq ft and shopping mostly in the Tanglin and Holland areas for nicely done-up bungalows in a ready- to-move-in condition.”

Mr. Wong revealed that he is now negotiating the sale of some land parcels for development into GCBs in Tanglin, adding that offers by potential buyers have already exceeded $2,000 psf.

A new record will be achieved if a deal materialises, surpassing the $1,899 psf achieved in 2007 for 32H Nassim Road.

Some GCB owners in the Tanglin area are said to be targeting prices of $2,300 psf to $2,500 psf by the middle of 2011, added Mr. Wong.