18th January to 24th January 2022
The former Caldecott Broadcast Centre site is set to become the largest cluster of leasehold Good Class Bungalows (GCBs) in Caldecott Hill as Perennial Holdings proposed to redevelop the site into 15 leasehold GCBs. Meanwhile, Gloria Mansion was sold en bloc for $70.3 million, making it the first full residential collective sale since the latest property curbs.
1) 15 leasehold GCBs to rise at former Caldecott Broadcast Centre site
Plans are afoot to redevelop the former Caldecott Broadcast Centre site into fifteen 99-year Good Class Bungalows (GCBs), potentially making it the largest cluster of leasehold GCBs to be launched within a predominantly freehold GCB area in Caldecott Hill, reported The Straits Times (ST).
In an internal circular seen by ST, Perennial Holdings proposed redeveloping the 752,015 sq ft site in Andrew Road into 15 bungalows. Each bungalow has a plot area of between 1,400 sq m (15,070 sq ft) and 23,300 sq m (250,800 sq ft).
Citing The Business Times, ST noted that Perennial Chairman Kuok Khoon Hong is said to be taking the biggest plot – which could accommodate up to 11 GCBs – for his extended family.
2021 saw the demand for luxury property in Singapore pick up, and the same can be said of the GCB market. GCBs are seen as status symbols. In 2020, 46 GCBs were sold; in 2021, 90 GCBs were sold.
Browse all Good Class Bungalows for sale on PropertyGuru.
2) Gloria Mansion sold for $70.3mil
Source: Google Maps
In the first full residential en bloc sale since the latest property cooling measures in December 2021, Gloria Mansion at 292 Pasir Panjang Road has been sold for $70.3 million, reported The Business Times.
The 12-storey residential development was sold to Fraxtor Capital and a group led by the family offices of property veteran siblings Daniel Teo and Teo Teck Weng.
Featuring 31 apartments, Gloria Mansion occupies a 45,742 sq ft site with a plot ratio of 1.4. Its gross floor area without balcony stands at 64,039 sq ft.
Patrick Ee from the Legal Solutions – which is the collective sale’s legal advisor – said the high interest for the site came as no surprise “considering the opportunity it offered to developers seeking to create another standout residential development in Singapore”.
The en bloc fever was picking up steam in 2021, but it’s anyone’s guess what effect the announcement of the Dec 2021 property cooling measures will have on the market. Previously, due to the limited supply of land released through the Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme, developers had to look elsewhere to replenish their land banks. However, with the recent announcement to increase the supply from 2022 onwards, we may soon see a slowdown in the en bloc scene.
3) Tenders for Hillview residential sites withdrawn
Two sale tenders for a total of 25 factories, which are all zoned for residential use, in Hillview have been withdrawn just before their scheduled closing date, reported The Business Times.
The owners’ decision to withdraw the tenders for the residential redevelopment sites, which spans over 132,000 sq ft, was not due to the Government’s latest round of cooling measures, since the tenders have been getting a “good response”, said Colliers International.
Instead, the Hillview Terrace sites “are currently being strategically repositioned for other development plans, and more information will be available in due course”, the real estate services firm told BT.
Colliers was marketing the 999-year leasehold sites at 32-38D Hillview Terrace for $106 million. It was also jointly marketing the freehold land plots at 31-35 and 50-64 Hillview Terrace with OrangeTee Advisory for $122 million.
4) Jalan Tembusu site attracts eight bids, Lentor Hills site gets four bids
The Jalan Tembusu site. Source: URA
The first two state tenders following the property cooling measures in December drew mixed results. The site at Jalan Tembusu and Lentor Hills Road (Parcel A) attracted eight and four bids, respectively, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).
A unit of City Developments (CDL) emerged as the highest bidder for the 19,567.4 sq m site at Jalan Tembusu at $768 million or $1,302 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr).
Meanwhile, a consortium comprising GuocoLand (Singapore), Intrepid Investments and TID Residential submitted the highest bid for the 17,136.9 sq m site at Lentor Hills Road at $586.6 million or $1,060 psf ppr.
Huttons Asia said developers are using the two tenders as a gauge for future bids. “The gap between the bidders for the two sites showed that developers are unsure,” it added.
The Dec 2021 property cooling measures saw Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) rates for housing developers raised to 40% (35% ABSD may be remitted upfront subject to conditions, with non-remittable 5% ABSD). The cooling measures may have contributed to why developers felt unsure about committing to bids.
5) CDL plans to build 240-unit project at Jalan Tembusu site
City Developments (CDL) has revealed plans to build a residential project with 640 units spread across four blocks of 20- to 21-storey towers should it win the award for the Jalan Tembusu site, reported The Straits Times.
Its statement came after its unit emerged as the highest bidder for the Jalan Tembusu site during the state land sale at $768 million or $1,302 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr).
CDL’s bid surpassed the previous record land rate within the city fringe area at $1,129 psf ppr for a land parcel at Northumberland Road that was awarded in May 2021, said Wong Siew Ying, Head of Research and Content at PropNex Realty.
CDL shared that the project will offer sea views as well as unobstructed views of the Singapore Sports Hub and the CBD skyline.
More than 31,000 HDB flats are set to fulfil their MOP in 2022, meaning there will be a significant number of HDB upgraders who may shop for private property in 2022 and beyond. The ongoing construction of the Thomson-East Coast line and the Jalan Tembusu site’s city-fringe location will likely contribute to demand for the project.
Related article: New Launch Condos and ECs for 2022: 11 Upcoming Projects We Can Expect
6) Singapore new private home sales drop 58% in December
Zyanya, a new launch condo located at 8 Lorong 25A Geylang.
Singapore saw new private home sales, excluding executive condominiums (ECs), decline 58% to 650 units in December 2021 from 1,547 in November, reported Channel News Asia, citing Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) data. Including the 69 ECs shifted in December, sales dropped 55.4%.
“The market caught a chill after the Government imposed cooling measures on 16 December 2021. The year-end festivities, preparation for a new school term and overseas holidays via the VTLs played a role in the lower overall sales,” said Lee Sze Teck, Senior Director for Research at Huttons Asia.
For the whole of 2021, new home sales, excluding ECs, rose 31.4% to 13,118 units from the previous year. “This is the best performance in eight years,” said Christine Sun, Senior Vice President of Research and Analytics at OrangeTee and Tie.
Related article: 17 Freshly MOP-ed Resale Executive Condos in 2020-21
December is traditionally a lull period for transactions, so there is no surprise that new private home sales dipped. The slowdown was also an expected knee-jerk reaction to the property curbs.
Still, new private home sales saw explosive growth year-on-year, hitting an eight-year high. Once the market recovers from the ‘shock’ of the latest cooling measures, we will likely still see healthy demand for new private home sales in 2022, thanks to the influx of HDB upgraders expected in the market.
7) Demand for luxury homes unaffected by new curbs
Some ultra-high net worth individuals appear to be undeterred by the latest property cooling measures as Singapore continues to register transactions for luxury homes.
Data extracted by OrangeTee and Tie from the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Realis showed that five non-landed homes priced at $10 million and above were transacted within the Core Central Region (CCR) during the two weeks following the December 2021 measures, reported The Business Times (BT).
This is higher than the three units sold between 1 December and 15 December 2021. Two more homes priced over $10 million were transacted from 1 January to 9 January 2022.
Meanwhile, 12 non-landed homes priced at $5 to $10 million were sold within the CCR between 16 December and 31 December 2021, and nine such units were shifted during the first nine days of January 2022, said BT
“The advantages of parking their monies here, including our safe-haven status and strong economic fundamentals, may outweigh the additional costs to these well-heeled buyers,” said Christine Sun, Senior Vice-President of Research and Analytics at OrangeTee as quoted by BT.
Throughout the pandemic, it has been seen that UHNW individuals have remained relatively unscathed. These trends are unsurprising, especially given how well Singapore has managed the COVID-19 pandemic and the fact that it has always been an attractive market for those looking to park their wealth in real estate. As vaccinated travel lanes (VTLs) and borders further reopen, it is expected more foreigners will return. Perhaps, demand for luxury homes may increase.
8) Singapore REITs’ overseas investment doubles to $12bil in 2021
Overseas acquisitions by Singapore real estate investment trusts (REITs) rose to a record high of 61 in 2021, with total deal values doubling to $12.3 billion from the previous year, showed Bloomberg data.
This comes as property managers in Singapore accelerate their overseas expansion amid a slow reopening and diminishing returns at their home turf, reported Bloomberg.
“Singapore’s commercial REITs may continue to rely on overseas M&A to achieve income growth in 2022, especially if omicron brings more uncertainty on further easing of social and travelling curbs to boost retail and office leasing demand in the country,” said Patrick Wong, Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.
Related article: REITs Vs Property in Singapore: 6 Factors Comparing Which Is a Better Investment
9) East Coast Road commercial building on sale for $23.5mil
A five-storey commercial building at 143 East Coast Road has been launched for sale via expression of interest (EOI) carrying a guide price of $23.5 million, reported The Business Times citing sole marketing agent PropNex.
This works out to $2,350 per sq ft (psf) based on the freehold property’s estimated built-up area of 10,000 sq ft, excluding four carpark lots.
Situated across the recently reopened I12 Katong shopping mall, the property offers an “attractive stable yield” since it is presently leased to international school 5 Steps Academy. PropNex noted that the property is also near the new Marine Parade MRT station on the Thomson-East Coast Line.
The EOI exercise for the commercial building closes on 3 March.
Related article: 7 Condos to Benefit from the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL)
10) Singapore office rents increase 1.5% in Q4 2021
Singapore saw prime office rents climb for the second consecutive quarter as rents within the Raffles Place/Marina Bay precinct increased 1.5% quarter-on-quarter to $10.13 per sq ft (psf) per month during the fourth quarter of 2021, reported Singapore Business Review. Prime office rents climbed 0.2% in the previous quarter.
For the whole of 2021, prime office rents fell 0.3%, a marginal decline compared to the 10.2% drop registered in 2020, said Knight Frank in its Q4 2021 report on Singapore offices.
Knight Frank attributed the increase in office rents to the ongoing revolution of the workplace, with offices being reconfigured to utilise less space for more collaborative function.
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Cheryl Chiew, Digital Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this story, email: cheryl@propertyguru.com.sg.
