Novena buzz

Novena Court saw a unit change hands for an all-time high of $1,600 psf this month

| BY JO-ANN HUANG |THEEDGE SINGAPORE | JANUARY 28, 2013

A 775 sq ft, ground-floor unit at Novena Court, a 999-year leasehold property just a few minutes’ walk from the Novena MRT Station, was sold this month for $1.24 million. This value works out to $1,600 psf, the highest psf price recorded for the 43-year-old apartment, based on caveats lodged with URA for January.

The 107-unit walk-up apartment block is located at the junction of Thomson Road and Jalan Novena Barat. Most of its units that changed hands last year were sold for $1,254 to $1,471 psf. For instance, an 861 sq ft unit on an upper floor was sold for $1.25million ($1,452 psf) last October.

Property agent, Gilbert Tiew of PropNex Realty, reckons the renewed interest in Novena Court and the recent spike in price could be due to the upcoming redevelopment of Novena Ville across the road. The latter was sold en bloc to listed Fragrance Group for $131.5 million ($1,838 psf per plot ratio) last May. The tenants on the ground floor, mainly restaurants, have to move out by March, according to sources.

Fragrance has yet to announce its plans for the project, saying only that the freehold site would be “redeveloped into a mixed development for commercial and residential use”, in its 3QFY2012 results released last November. The existing Novena Ville is a 33-unit residential project with 10 commercial units on the ground floor. PropNex’s Tiew
expects the apartments in the new project to be priced above $2,000 psf, “comparable to newer residential properties in the Novena area”.

For instance, in the vicinity is the 175-unit Lincoln Suites, formerly Lincoln Lodge, located on Khiang Guan Avenue, off Newton Road. The freehold Lincoln Suites, which is more than 86% sold, is jointly developed by Lian Beng Group, KSH Holdings, Heeton Holdings and Koh Brothers, and has two 30-storey towers. According to caveats lodged, a 1,119 sq ft unit on the 28th floor was sold for $2.56 million ($2,289 psf) last month. In November, an identical unit two floors below was sold for $2.52 million ($2,251 psf). The project is expected to be completed later this year.

Those buying units in the neighbouring Novena Court in the hope of an en-bloc sale may be disappointed, says Tiew. “The current residents prefer to stay put,” he says. In 2004, they spent $1.5 million on upgrad-ing the property, retiling the staircases and replacing the letterboxes. As Novena Court is an apartment block with no facilities, monthly conservancy charges are only $80, adds Tiew, and most of the owners are occupiers. Tenants prefer to rent the newer condos in the vicinity, as they have facilities, he points out. For owner-occupiers, the property remains attractive because it is within walking distance of the Novena Hub.

On the other hand, the 486-unit Park Infinia at Wee Nam, located farther up on Lincoln Road and developed by Keppel Land, is popular with expatriate tenants. Completed in 2008, the project has 30-and 36-storey towers and boasts amenities such as a swimming pool, tennis courts and a gym. A 1,464 sq ft, three-bedroom unit on the 20th floor of one of the four blocks at Park Infinia changed hands recently for $2.83 million ($1,932 psf). The unit had previously sold for $2.37 million ($1,620 psf) in 2010, and prior to that, the original owner had bought it for $1.47 million ($1,003 psf) from Keppel Land in 2006. Given its number of units, sizes range from 850 sq ft for a two-bedroom unit to 3,300 sq ft for a four-bedroom penthouse. The project is just a 10- minute walk from the Novena commercial hub and MRT station.

Interest in the Novena area had also picked up, following the sale of a white site at the junction of Thomson Road and Irrawaddy Road last month. The site, which can be developed into a mixed-use project with hotel, commercial and residential components, was sold to a joint venture between Hoi Hup Realty and Malaysia’s Sunway Developments. The 99-year leasehold site, with an area of 71,871 sq ft, fetched $492.5 million ($1,632 psf）.