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Estimated 15 per cent of 100 GCBs sold in 2005 are to PRs

PERMANENT residents (PRs) are increasingly looking to buy high-end landed homes here and some developers are hoping their ready-built new luxury homes will appeal to them.

Douglas Wong, associate director of Regal Homes, Residential (Knight Frank) believes that around 100 Good Class Bungalows (GCB) were sold in 2005, and as many as 15 per cent may have been sold to PRs. ‘Sales of GCBs to foreigners are restricted but with right approvals, PRs have been buying,’ he adds.

Mr Wong notes that PRs are not allowed to buy landed properties bigger than 15,070 sq ft - also the minimum size of a GCB - and this puts two new GCBs that his firm is marketing directly in their shopping range.

The bungalows are being developed by George Lim, a private developer who used to live on the sprawling 47,540 sq ft site before deciding to sub-divide it into three smaller GCB plots. The third GCB is on a 17,400 sq ft plot.

Mr Lim also engaged award-winning architects Liu & Wo Architect to design resort-style villas that will be in move-in condition for between $11 million-$13 million.

Steven Ming, director of Savills Prestige Homes, which is co-marketing the property, says that the last GCB sold in the vicinity went for $410 psf in mid-2005. ‘But this is not a good comparison because it did not include a new house, and the prices for GCBs were only starting to pick up then,’ he says.

Still, even within the 39 GCB zones in Singapore, most of which are in Districts 10 and 11, the precise location matters. The highest prices are for those in areas like Bishopsgate and Cluny Hill, where prices are in excess of $500 psf.

Scarcity may, however, drive prices up so market watchers will be paying close attention to the price fetched for a huge GCB site at Binjai Park that has just come on the market. Marketed by CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), the site at Jalan Kampong Chantek is 86,000 sq ft and can be subdivided into five individual GCBs. The owner of the land is expecting around $35 million, or around $400 per sq ft.

CBRE associate director Charles Hoon believes new houses built on the land could fetch around $10 million. ‘Supply of GCBs is limited and this site is one of only about 2,000 GCBs in Singapore. The only transaction in Jalan Kampong Chantek was completed in May 2004 for $400 per sq ft of land area. Another one in Swiss Club Road was sold for $468 per sq ft in May 2005,’ Mr Hoon adds.

The tender for the GCB site will close on March 21.

Source : Business Times - 22 Feb 2006