Cool market, hot price: Queenstown flat sells for almost $1 million

[Arcachon]

Sep 22, 2015 6:07pm

A five-room flat in Toa Payoh made headlines for its $955,000 transaction price during the seventh lunar month, my paper reported last week.

The sale stood out as the property market had been relatively quiet.

And the lunar seventh month is a period that traditionally sees real estate deals slowing down.

The amount is comparable to the resale prices that some units in The Pinnacle@Duxton are changing hands for, The Straits Times reported.

But it's not just Toa Payoh flats that are going for close to a million dollars. Shin Min Daily News reported that a Strathmore Avenue five-room flat was sold for $958,000 last week.

Like Toa Payoh, the Strathmore unit is in a popular housing estate: The four-year-old 118 sq m unit in Queenstown is located on a high floor, between the 25th and 27th levels.

- See more at: http://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore-new....7YIuX8Fi.dpuf

Teacher Wu Mei Ling, 34, said she bought her Strathmore Ave flat for $538,000 but had to sell it as she was returning to work after taking time out to look after her two children.

The transaction means she made a $420,000 profit.

A similar unit with a 99-year-leasehold from 2011 sold for $900,000 in February, according to data compiled by SRX Property.

Ms Wu is moving to a place nearer to her parents, so they can look after her three-year-old son and 11-month-old daughter.

The family's housing agent said they received 30 phone queries within two weeks of putting the flat on the market and 18 groups came to view the place.

Didn't accept $970,000 offer

One couple offered $970,000 but the deal fell through as the sellers were in a hurry to move and did not want to wait too long for the prospective buyer's citizenship status to be confirmed.

"The eventual buyers are a middle-aged couple with two grown-up children, who used to live in a condominium," the agent added.

- See more at: http://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore-new....7YIuX8Fi.dpuf

[Arcachon]

BTO flats in Bidadari estate to come at a premium: Analysts
Largely due to the city-fringe location, ERA Realty Key Executive Officer Eugene Lim says the five-room flats in the Bidadari estate are expected to cost around S$600,000.

SINGAPORE: A total of 2,150 new flats in Bidadari estate will soon be launched for sale under the HDB’s next Build-to-Order (BTO) exercise, expected by the end of September. The BTO flats will comprise two- to five-room units.

This will be the first batch of HDB flats on offer in the new estate and priority will be given to those whose parents live in Toa Payoh, Potong Pasir or within the 2km radius.

The area, which was once a cemetery, will eventually house about 10,000 residential units in the new Bidadari estate, as well as community malls, a 10-hectare park and a lake. The estate will be served by two MRT stations - Woodleigh and Potong Pasir - on the North East Line.

According to property watchers, the Bidadari units will come at a premium, largely due to the city-fringe location.

Said ERA Realty's key executive officer Eugene Lim: “The nearest recent BTO in the vicinity was St George around the Boon Keng MRT station, which is just one stop away from Potong Pasir, where Bidadari is next to.

“That was in September last year and the flats back then were launched, from S$328,000 for a three-room flat, and for a four-room flat, it started from about S$459,000. So we would expect pricing for the flats in Bidadari to be in the range of, for a three-room flat, S$300,000 to S$350,000, while for a four-room flat, S$400,000 to S$450,000. As for the larger five-room flats, (it is expected) to be around S$600,000."

Despite its history as a cemetery, and the possibility of a funeral parlour in the vicinity, analysts said they are expecting a strong demand for the Bidadari project. These flats will also be offered under the first BTO exercise launched after the income cap was raised to S$12,000.

CEO of Century 21 Ku Swee Yong, said: “That gives us a fresh group of applicants who previously were not allowed to apply for BTOs. So on the demand side, the tap has been opened a little bit. If we were to draw the comparison with Bishan, which used to be a significantly-sized cemetery, Bishan currently has resale prices that are almost the top in Singapore."

HDB said there are plans to relocate the niches at the Mount Vernon Columbarium, currently located within the Bidadari estate.

[Arcachon]

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