Landed Property Prices | Lush Dream Home

Tag Archives: Landed Property Prices

Landed homes the way to go

Posted on 24 Sep 2009 | Comments Off

Buyers took advantage of lower prices, which have corrected by some 20 to 30% from the peak, and low interest rates to buy their dream landed homes

A HOME these days has become more of a lifestyle statement and status symbol than just a roof over one’s head. And what could answer both aspirations better than a plot of freehold land where the owner can dictate every last detail in a custom built house?

So is it too late to go shopping for a landed property today? Let’s look at how the market has been performing this year.

The landed market has seen a recovery in transactions, with the turning point in March this year. After hitting a low in February, when only 73 units changed hands, March saw 123 units done. This figure then increased by leaps and bounds, from 247 units in May to 331 units in June and 320 in July.

Buyers took advantage of lower prices, which have corrected by some 20 to 30 per cent from the peak, and low interest rates to buy their dream landed homes. With the recovery in volumes, is a price recovery in sight?

Landed home prices had peaked between late 2007 and the first part of 2008 before trending down as the sub-prime debacle hit.

It saw a low between January and March this year but with the recovery of the stock market, sentiment improved and landed home prices began to pick up in April.

Despite the upward trend, prices as at July were still some 11 per cent below the previous peak. The only exception is detached houses, whose prices are close to the 2007 peak. We look at some of the reasons behind the demand for landed homes. Continue reading →

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Posted in Landed Property

Tagged Landed Property, Landed Property Prices, Singapore Property, Singapore Property Market

The growing GCB market

Posted on 24 Sep 2009 | Comments Off

Prices have more than doubled over the last decade

PRICES of good class bungalows (GCBs) have picked up strongly since early this year, topping prices fetched in the last property peak in 2007. GCBs are owned by a select group of wealthy individuals, who may well own more than one such bungalow. There are an estimated 2,500 GCBs in Singapore today. By definition, GCBs need to have a plot size of at least 1,400 sq m (15,070 sq ft) and be located in one of the areas zoned for GCBs.

Sought after: With the strong demand for GCBs, we are beginning to see a shortage of such properties for sale, especially in the prime areas

Their prices have more than doubled over the last decade, with the average price today being about $1,000 per sq ft (psf) to $1,200 psf of land in prime areas such as Tanglin. For example, a GCB in Ladyhill Road with a land area of 16,340 sq ft was sold at $8.23 million in September 2000. This works out to $504 psf. In the current market, the same bungalow would easily fetch more than $18 million, or about $1,100 psf.

Similarly, a GCB in Bishopsgate with a land area of 19,300 sq ft was sold for $11 million or about $570 psf in November 2000. A similar unit today would fetch $20-22 million.

The rising number of high net worth foreigners who become Singapore permanent residents (PR) and citizens form the bulk of prospective buyers for GCBs. Apart from this group, we are also starting to see investment companies acquiring GCBs for their portfolios.

It is generally perceived that with the pricing of premier condominiums ranging between $2,500 psf and $3,500 psf, there is a lot of upside growth for GCBs whose average price is about $1,000 psf.

With the strong demand for GCBs, we are beginning to see a shortage of such properties for sale, especially in the prime areas. GCB prices have risen steadily since the start of this year, and have climbed by nearly 25 per cent in less than a year. Continue reading →