White House Park GCB up for auction; indicative price $26m

SINGAPORE - A good Class Bungalow (GCB) at 24 White House Park will go under the hammer on Aug 27.

The indicative price for the freehold property, being marketed by DTZ, is around $26 million or $1,516 per square foot (psf) based on its land area of 17,151 square feet.

On site is a two-storey old bungalow with a basement and a large open green field. The property has five bedrooms and will be sold with vacant possession. Located in a quiet cul-de-sac, the property is accessible from White House Road, off Stevens Road, and a short distance from the Stevens MRT station being built as part of the Downtown Line.

Recent GCB transactions include a house at Belmont Road which was sold for about $1,525 psf and another property in Holland Park that changed hands at $1,893 psf.

The Holland Park property comprised a conservation bungalow which had been restored, connected to a newly built house.

The Belmont Road property is said to have been sold by seasoned bungalow investor Thomas Chan. Newsman Realty is believed to have brokered the transaction, as well as the recent sale of a 21,388-sq-ft vacant site in Leedon Park for $36.88 million, which works out to $1,724 psf.

As for 24 White House Park, DTZ will include the property in its Aug 27 auction at Amara Hotel.

Other recent transactions in Good Class Bungalow Areas (GCBAs) include those for two adjoining freehold properties at Jalan Asuhan in the Chee Hoon Avenue GCBA that sold for a total of $54.186 million or $1,200 psf on land area. They are understood to have been bought by the children of Popiah King Sam Goi.

One property, with an old bungalow on site that is ripe for redevelopment, has a land area of 26,166 sq ft and was sold for nearly $31.4 million. The next-door vacant site of 18,989 sq ft, which has a separate land title, fetched nearly $22.8 million.

The properties were sold by the estate of a deceased person. The transaction is thought to have been brokered by Land Empire.

According to figures from CBRE, sales activity in the GCB market in the first half of this year has slowed down from the second half of last year.

"There were 19 transactions in GCB Areas in the first six months totalling $431 million, compared with 27 in H2 2012 for $588 million. The per square foot value over land area has been hovering around $1,400 psf.

This shows the resilience of GCB prices despite the decline in sales volume," said Douglas Wong, head, luxury homes at CBRE Realty Associates, who specialises in GCB deals.

RealStar Premier managing director William Wong said the volume of GCB transactions has gone down since the Monetary Authority of Singapore rolled out the total debt servicing ratio framework effective June 29.

"Banks are now taking a much longer time, two weeks on average or even more, to ascertain how much loan quantum they can give to borrowers, even those with high-flier profiles like CEOs of listed companies."

And when banks finally revert to potential borrowers, they find that the loan quantum is smaller than what they had expected, said Mr Wong.

CBRE's Mr Wong predicts that the year could end with about 40 to 45 deals in GCBA adding up to $850 million to $950 million. Last year, there were 54 transactions amounting to $1.17 billion.

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