Business Times - 01 Sep 2011
Chatsworth bungalow fetches record $2,081psf
THINGS are moving slowly in the Good Class Bungalow market but a new record price has been set, based on per square foot of land area. No 6 Chatsworth Road, diagonally opposite the Indonesian Embassy, was sold in July for $2,081 per square foot in a $22 million transaction - which has slightly surpassed the previous record of $2,038 psf for 16 Cluny Road set in February this year.
The latest Chatsworth Rd transaction is for a bungalow on land area of about 10,571 sq ft - much smaller than the typical minimum GCB plot size of 1,400 sq metres (15,069.46 sq ft).
When GCB Areas were gazetted in 1980, they included some smaller existing sites. These are still considered GCBs as they would be bound by the other GCB planning rules if they were to be redeveloped. For instance, such plots cannot be further sub-divided and they cannot be built more than two storeys high (plus an attic and a basement).
The property recently transacted at Chatsworth Road is understood to have been bought by Cheong Sim Lam, whose family developed International Plaza. He is also involved with the Robinson Suites and Cecil Suites projects in the Central Business District. Mr Cheong is understood to be residing a little further down Chatsworth Road.
He is understood to have picked up the latest property from Craft Print International bosses Charlie Chan and Ong Kwee Cheng.
The $2,081 psf pricing surpasses the previous record of $2,038 psf for 16 Cluny Road in February this year. That transaction involved $33 million and an award-winning bungalow that sits on about 16,200 sq ft land area. That record broke the previous high of $1,899 psf for 32H Nassim Road in October 2007 by Raffles Education founder and chairman Chew Hua Seng. He paid $25.5 million for the property, with a land area of 13,422 sq ft.
The $2,081 psf for 6 Chatsworth Road is significantly higher than the $1,499 psf paid for another GCB on the same street in July last year. That deal totalled $25 million and involved a land area of 16,683 sq ft.
RealStar Premier Group managing director William Wong said he was not surprised by the higher psf price achieved for 6 Chatsworth Road given its smaller plot size. His firm recently brokered the sale of a GCB at Holland Park for $19.25 million or $1,335 psf based on 14,416 sq ft land area. 'The GCB market slowed further in August amid the turmoil in global financial markets. The buyer-seller price gap persists. Potential buyers think prices should fall, while sellers have yet to adjust their prices downwards. Surprisingly, some have even revised their asking prices upwards,' he added.