Luxury homes in the area now rarely sell for less than $1,000 psf
05:55 AM Jan 12, 2011 by Conrad Raj
SINGAPORE - The luxury end of the housing market remains hot as a bungalow in the prime district at Leedon Park fetched a record $61.4 million in December last year, or $1,467 per sq ft for the 41,853 sq ft site.
The site is believed to have been the same one that in June of last year was bought for $59.4 million, suggesting the buyer may not have been able to hold on to the property as the $2 million difference would have only enabled him to recover his stamp duty and other expenses.
All in all, more than $2 billion worth of property changed hands in District 10 alone last year, which roughly covers the area from Grange Road to Sixth Avenue.
More than 30 of the nearly 300 transactions in the district involved properties costing at least $20 million. These included a house in Ewart Park that went for nearly $40 million or just over $1,000 psf, one in Belmont Road that cost the buyer a cool $35.7 million or $1,220 psf, and a Brizay Park home that was relatively cheap at $941 psf.
The costliest in per-square-footage terms was a 24,183 sq ft Nassim Road property that was sold for $43.53 million in August. In fact, few properties in District 10 cost less than $1,000 psf.
"These are crazy prices," said property consultant Colin Tan of Chesterton Suntec International. "Sometimes I wonder where these people get the money to pay such prices. Many appear to be investors more than stayers as they seem to be investing in land rather than buying rooms."
However, the costliest landed properties in Singapore are to be found on Sentosa Island where sites are said to have changed hands for more than $2,400 psf.
A bungalow at Paradise island reportedly changed hands in June for $36 million. And unlike most other landed property sites in the country which are freehold, those on Sentosa are on 99-year leases and foreigners face no restriction in buying.
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