Record price for Cluny Road GCB

Mar 9, 2011 - PropertyGuru.com.sg

A Good Class Bungalow (GCB) at Cluny Road has fetched a record land price per unit of S$33 million (approximately S$2,038 psf) on a freehold

This amount surpasses the previous record of S$1,899 psf on land area that Chew Hua Seng, Chairman and Founder of Raffles Education, paid for 32H Nassim Road in 2007.

The latest transaction was handled by Singapore Home Search’s Renee Lim, who co-brokered the deal with Savills Singapore’s Samuel Eyo.

An option for the sale of the property had been awarded in 2010, apparently at the same price. However, the deal failed as the potential buyer was not granted approval by Singapore Land Authority’s Land Dealings (Approval) Unit, said The Business Times.

While a new record unit land price has been set for a GCB deal, sales activity for these bungalows cooled in the fist two months of the year, following last year’s S$2.27 billion deals involving 121 transactions, based on figures from CB Richard Ellis (CBRE).

With the seller’s stamp duty (SSD) announced for those who acquire a private residential property after 13 January and dispose of it in four years, activity in the GCB market will likely slow down in the short term, as speculators bow out of the market, said Douglas Wong, Director (luxury homes) at CBRE.

“The current stand-off between buyers and sellers, as well as the Chinese New Year festivities, have also contributed to the slow down in the first two months. Some offers have been made for GCBs but these have been below the sellers' expectations,” he said.

“A more visible trend should emerge in the next three to six months but overall, prices are expected to increase 3 to 5 percent in 2011,” added Mr. Wong. land area of approximately 16,200 sq ft.