The changing profile of the Good Class Bungalow market

The market for Good Class Bungalows (GCBs) has been on a roll this year, with a surge in transactions and record prices being set. Over the decades, the profiles of buyers have changed in tandem with the transformation in Singapore's economy. The preferences of these buyers have also changed. This year, Singaporean digital economy entrepreneurs and head honchos made headlines for their purchases of bungalows in GCB Areas (GCBAs). Among them were Razer co-founder and chief executive Tan Min-Liang, TikTok chief executive Chew Shou Zi, gaming chair maker Secretlab co-founder Ian Ang, and Tommy Ong, who sold his Singapore-based e-commerce marketing platform Stamped.io to Canada-listed WeCommerce in April for up to US$110 million.

But back in the 1980s to the early 2000s, the main buyers of GCBs were developers and well-heeled Singaporean families, as well as successful traders and businessmen, corporate honchos and professionals such as doctors, lawyers, architects and engineers, recall property industry veterans.

This changing profile of GCB buyers is a reflection of how the sources of wealth generation have changed over the decades in Singapore.