Activity in bungalow market picking up

April 5, 2012


THE bungalow market started on a quiet note this year but activity is starting to gather momentum.

The biggest transaction in a GCBA for the first quarter is likely to have been the vacant freehold plot at Nassim Road sold by motoring tycoon Peter Kwee and reported earlier by BT. The $47.842 million price reflects $2,000 psf based on the land area of about 23,922 sq ft. The buyer is understood to be Tay Liam Wee of Sincere Watch fame.

More caveats for the first quarter’s transactions are expected to stream in over the next few weeks. By some estimates, all in, Q1 2012 is likely to have seen under $200 million of GCBA deals.

The figure for Q4 2011 was $239.7 million and that for the whole of 2011, $1.16 billion (involving 57 deals).

Outside GCBAs, recent bungalow deals include one at Jalan Tupai near the One Tree Hill area off Orchard Road, where an old single-storey bungalow sitting on a 10,476 sq ft elevated site fetched $21 million, reflecting around $2,005 psf on land.

The buyer, boutique developer Wah Khiaw, can redevelop the site into four semi-detached houses. Under the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Master Plan 2008, the site is zoned for two-storey semi-detached housing.

Over in the Tanjong Katong area, a single-storey bungalow at Boscombe Road transacted in February at about $21.7 million or $1,025 psf on land area of 21,167 sq ft. The buyer, a developer, could potentially redevelop the plot into six conventional semi-detached houses or into a cluster housing project. The area is zoned for two-storey semi-detached housing.

The buyer – Urban Lofts group, a consortium led by ACT Holdings and whose members also include Nobel Design Holdings – plans to redevelop the plot into 53 low-rise apartments. The site is zoned for residential use with a 1.4 plot ratio (ratio of maximum gross floor area to plot size).

Business Times – 5 April 2012