S$105.3m Nassim deal is highest for GCBs
Singapore
IN what is believed to be the biggest transaction in absolute price terms in a Good Class Bungalow (GCB) Area, a two-storey bungalow in Nassim Road near the Botanic Gardens was transacted earlier this year for S$105.3 million.
This works out to S$2,477 per square foot on the freehold land area of 42,515 sq ft in the plush locale.
The Business Times understands that the buyer is Tony Tung, the Singaporean chairman of Winson Group, which is involved in oil trading, marine bunkering and oil storage and terminal facilities.
Based in Hong Kong, the group also has offices and/or projects in Singapore, Taiwan, mainland China, Dubai and other Asian countries, according to information on its website.
This is the second Nassim Road bungalow property the Tungs have bought this year, say observers.
A younger family member who is in his 20s picked up another bungalow a little further down Nassim Road, also earlier this year, for S$44 million or S$2,625 psf on the land area of 16,765 sq ft. Word on the street is that the two-storey house has since been leased out.
In both cases, the sale contracts were inked a few months ago and the transactions have been completed, with the titles for the respective properties transferred to the new owners last month; however, the Tungs did not lodge caveats for either property.
Typically, a buyer would lodge a caveat, which is a claim of interest in a property, after exercising the option to purchase. However, lodging of caveats is not compulsory - unlike registration of title which has to be lodged by the new owner when a transaction is completed.
The Nassim Road bungalow that Mr Tony Tung bought is likely to be redeveloped, say market watchers. It was sold by Sindo (Nassim Development), the shareholders of which are two daughters of the late Kho Teng Kwee, who was head of the Sindo Group of Companies.
Sindo (Nassim Development) continues to own the next-door property. More than a decade ago, it sold off some adjoining land.
Industry players believe the S$105.3 million sale of the bungalow to Mr Tony Tung would be the biggest in a GCB Area. It is higher than the S$93.9 million at which the estate of the late Lim Kim San recently sold a bungalow in Dalvey Road. That deal reflects S$1,804 psf on the 52,059 sq ft land area; the elevated site may be be redeveloped into three bungalows. Mr Lim was the first Housing Board chairman and a former executive chairman of Singapore Press Holdings.
Prior to the above two transactions, the biggest deal in a GCB Area was the S$91.69 million that Soon Hock Property Development, helmed by Tan Yeow Khoon, paid for a property in Ridout Road in 2015. That deal worked out to S$1,251 psf on the 73,277 sq ft land area.
Bungalows in GCB Areas are the most prestigious form of landed housing in Singapore, with strict planning conditions stipulated to safeguard their exclusivity and low-rise character. There are only about 2,500 bungalows in 39 GCB Areas.
Based on caveats data, 13 properties in GCB Areas have been sold for a total of nearly S$354 million in the third quarter of this year - higher than the S$169 million in Q2 this year and S$123 million in Q3 last year.
For the first nine months of this year, the tally stands at S$773 million - surpassing the S$587 million in the same period of 2017.
Industry players note that for the first nine months of 2018, in addition to the S$773 million in caveated deals, there have been at least S$215 million in transactions completed in the same period for which caveats were not lodged by buyers.
