Activity in bungalow market picking up

Bungalow at Bishopsgate: This two-storey property was recently sold for $27 million. -- BT IMAGE

THE bungalow market started on a quiet note this year but activity is starting to gather momentum.       Bungalow at Bishopsgate: This two-storey property was recently sold for $27 million or about $1,674 per sq foot based on its freehold land area of 16,124 sq ft

In the Good Class Bungalow Area (GCBA) segment, a two-storey bungalow at Bishopsgate was recently sold for $27 million or about $1,674 per square foot based on its freehold land area of 16,124 sq ft.

The seller is said to be former Kim Eng Securities boss Douglas Ooi, who bought the property about four years ago for nearly $19.4 million. The bungalow, which has six bedrooms, is understood to be tenanted currently.

Other deals in GCBAs in the first quarter of 2012 include a property at Jalan Kampong Chantek which changed hands at $14.88 million or $1,522 psf on land area of 9,774 sq ft, and a deal at Chestnut Crescent for $12.08 million or $990 psf based on the plot size of about 12,200 sq ft.

The biggest transaction in a GCBA for the first quarter is likely to have been the vacant freehold plot at Nassim Road sold by motoring tycoon Peter Kwee and reported earlier by BT. The $47.842 million price reflects $2,000 psf based on the land area of about 23,922 sq ft. The buyer is understood to be Tay Liam Wee of Sincere Watch fame.

The Nassim Road deal as well as the recent one at Bishopsgate was brokered by Newsman Realty.

More caveats for the first quarter's transactions are expected to stream in over the next few weeks. By some estimates, all in, Q1 2012 is likely to have seen under $200 million of GCBA deals.

According to CBRE, the figure for Q4 2011 was $239.7 million and that for the whole of 2011, $1.16 billion (involving 57 deals).

Outside GCBAs, recent bungalow deals include one at Jalan Tupai near the One Tree Hill area off Orchard Road, where an old single-storey bungalow sitting on a 10,476 sq ft elevated site fetched $21 million, reflecting around $2,005 psf on land.

The buyer, boutique developer Wah Khiaw, can redevelop the site into four semi-detached houses. Under the Urban Redevelopment Authority's Master Plan 2008, the site is zoned for two-storey semi-detached housing. RealStar Premier brokered the sale.

Over in the Tanjong Katong area, a single-storey bungalow at Boscombe Road transacted in February at about $21.7 million or $1,025 psf on land area of 21,167 sq ft. The buyer, a developer, could potentially redevelop the plot into six conventional semi-detached houses or into a cluster housing project. The area is zoned for two-storey semi-detached housing. Savills brokered the transaction.

At Lim Tua Tow Road in the Yio Chu Kang area, next to the Space@Kovan project, a freehold plot of 28,675 sq ft comprising three pre-war bungalows was recently sold for $23.6 million.

The buyer - Urban Lofts group, a consortium led by ACT Holdings and whose members also include Nobel Design Holdings - plans to redevelop the plot into 53 low-rise apartments. The site is zoned for residential use with a 1.4 plot ratio (ratio of maximum gross floor area to plot size). The deal is said to have been handled by Savills.

In the Sixth Avenue area, Coldwell Banker Realtors has brokered the sale of a semi-detached house at Ming Teck Park for $5.15 million ($1,540 psf based on land area of 3,343 sq ft).

Over in the upscale waterfront housing district of Sentosa Cove, a three-storey bungalow on Coral Island recently changed hands at $17.68 million or $1,821 psf on land area of about 9,700 sq ft.