The buzz on Bukit Timah
REDEVELOPMENT sites in the well-established residential enclave of Bukit Timah are few and far between. Collective sales have been a source of land in the prime residential market. But the en bloc market has yet to come unstuck from its recent stalemate, with developers not keen to meet owners’ high asking prices.
So the Raffles Town Club site to be released by the government for housing is likely to be immediately bookmarked by developers.
Sitting on a coveted corner at the junction of Whitley and Dunearn Roads, the RTC plot could give rise to a luxury condo with 150 to 200 units. The project won’t come to market for several years yet, as the club’s lease only ends in October 2026. Could the new 99-year-leasehold development fetch prices at over S$3,000 per square foot? After all, new units at the J’Den condo in Jurong East sold fast at launch two weeks ago, at S$2,451 psf on average.
Properties at The Trevose, a 99-year-leasehold condo near RTC, changed hands this year in the S$1,700-S$1,800 psf range for large 1,700 sq ft units, according to caveat data. The neighbouring freehold condo, Trevose Park, transacted at slightly higher prices at around S$2,000 psf for units of roughly the same size.
In 2018, Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-Shing’s Cheong Kong group picked up City Towers on Bukit Timah Road for S$401.9 million. The purchase price worked out to about S$1,847 psf per plot ratio for the large freehold parcel. CK Asset’s Perfect Ten now stands on the site. The luxury project was launched in December 2021 with units sold in the S$3,200 to S$3,500 psf range. Transacted prices dipped below S$3,000 psf in the months that followed, but most recent sales this year were transacted in the launch price range.
A new freehold luxury project coming up down the road from RTC met with better than expected sales in a private preview on Nov 18. Buyers forked out an average of S$3,230 psf for the 102 units sold, out of 180 available at Watten House. UOL and SingLand had acquired the plot from the en bloc sale of Watten Estate Condo for S$550.8 million in October 2021.
Much more new housing is in the pipeline for the Bukit Timah stretch. The massive Turf City site has been “safeguarded” by the government for residential development. Any existing commercial tenancies will end on Dec 31.
Recent state land tender results point to clear appetite among developers. Two more residential sites in Holland Drive and Upper Bukit Timah have been put up from the government’s reserve list, to be tendered if developers show interest with an acceptable offer. The sites can yield more than 1,000 private housing units.
Overall new home sales fell to fresh lows in October, as developers held back on putting out new projects amid deteriorating sentiment. While the strong sales at J’Den and Watten House will pull up the numbers for November, developers’ sales for 2023 will come in at the lowest yearly level the market has seen since 2008.
The residential rental market is cooling its heels, too, after racing up in 2021 and 2022. Asking rents are coming down, while leasing volume has also fallen.
In the Holland Road area, Jelita Shopping Centre was sold for S$91.68 million, over the S$85 million guide price that the building went to the market with in June. The 999-year leasehold building was put up for sale by DFI Retail Group, and sold to a low-profile property investor, Peter Koh Pang An, and his wife.
One very seasoned property player, Kwek Leng Beng, offers his thoughts and experiences in a 257-page biography that will surely be recommended reading for anyone looking for insights into the property market and the art of the deal. Leslie Yee finds many pertinent lessons from the 82-year-old mogul in Strictly Business: The Kwek Leng Beng Story.
China watch
Doom and gloom has descended on the outlook for China. Government land sales revenue fell at a faster pace in October, adding to fiscal strains on the country’s local governments as cash-strapped property developers remain cautious about buying more land.
Property sales fell at a faster pace in October, investment in real estate slumped and home prices fell the most in eight years, worsening buyer sentiment and putting pressure on the government to do more to revive the property market. The slump adds to evidence of a persistent housing downturn, where stimulus measures have done little to turn around the sector, which is dragging on China’s economic recovery.
