Freehold Minbu Villa up for collective sale again at S$145.8m, but price could go lower

FACED with the cooling en bloc market, Minbu Villa, a freehold residential development in Novena, is going up for tender at S$145.8 million again, but could see the reserve price lowered if 80 per cent of the owners agree.

Its earlier attempt this year was launched in March and closed on April 17 without a winning bidder. 

This time, more than 60 per cent of the owners by share value and strata area have signed a supplemental agreement to lower the reserve price to S$129.1 million, translating to a land rate of S$1,200 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr). The site has a land area of 38,426 sq ft, and a gross plot ratio of 2.8. Completed in 1981, the 10-storey development comprises 33 apartments and a penthouse.

In-principle approval has also been granted by the Singapore Land Authority for the alienation of an adjoining state land of approximately 195.9 square metres, which may potentially lower the land rate by another S$34 pf ppr.

The tender for Minbu Villa closes on Dec 18. 

Owners are facing the double whammy of cooling measures and revised guidelines on the maximum number of allowable units outside the central area which will be effective in months. The Business Times reported earlier in November that at least 60 sites have closed their tenders without a buyer since the start of the year. 

Suzie Mok, senior director for investment sales at Savills Singapore, which is handling the sale, said that the March tender for Minbu Villa did not go through as there were "other competing sites, and the prices didn't quite match owners' expectations".

For this round, owners will still receive a premium even if price were lowered. 

She expects that most owners who set collective sale prices before the cooling measures were announced would also have to adjust prices downwards. 

Subject to approvals from the authorities, the Minbu Villa site may be developed up to 36 storeys high, with an allowable gross floor area (GFA) of 107,593 sq ft, said Savills.

There is no development charge payable, including an additional 10 per cent GFA space for balconies, owing to its high development baseline of 125,378 sq ft.