Landed houses in Opera Estate have increasingly breached the $1,000 psf level this year. Based on caveats lodged with URA Realis, out of the 16 transactions worth over $1,000 psf from May 1997 to May 2010, about 50 percent were carried out this year.
In February, a peak of $1,301 psf was reached when a terraced house located in Taman Siglap Road was sold for $2.1 million.
Opera Estate is situated near the bus interchange and Bedok MRT station, which are located next to the hawker centre and close to the supermarket, community centre and library. It is also close to schools like Opera Estate Primary School, Ping Yi Secondary School and ITE College Central (Bedok campus), as well as to offices at Technopark@ Chai Chee and eateries in the Siglap area. The area is popular among locals with big families, said Heikal Shafrudin, a property agent at PropNex.
Many low-rise condos in Opera Estate have been benefiting from higher prices, though the area is comprised mainly of landed homes. This could have helped to increase interest in landed properties in the area.
In May, Frasers Centrepoint Homes unveiled the Flamingo Valley, a five storey residential tower with 393 units, with prices ranging from $1,200 psf to $1,500 psf. In 2007, prices at Park East along Jalan Tua Kong were rapidly approaching the peak of $940 psf level when an 893-sq-ft unit was sold for $840,000. Another 893-sq-ft unit at the third floor was sold in April 2010 for $790,000 or about $884 psf.
From May 11 to 18, three transactions in Opera Estate were carried out, with prices ranging from $623 psf to $1,079 psf. A 1,571-sq-ft two-storey terraced house along Jalan Terang Bulan was sold for about $1.7 million ($1,079 psf). This represents a 49 percent gain for the seller, who acquired the property for $1.138 million ($722 psf) in November.
Recently, two double-storey terraced houses at Maria Avenue Road were also sold. A 726-sq-ft corner house was sold for $4 million ($698 psf) on May 14, while a 3,939-sq-ft terraced house was sold for $2.45 million ($623 psf) on May 17. The previous owner of the corner terraced house had a 100 percent gain, as the property was only acquired for $2 million ($349 psf) in 2007. Before that, it was bought for $1.35 million ($236 psf) in 2003, representing a 48 percent gain for the original owner.
As new launches in the area fetch higher prices, buyers may see more value in landed houses, giving a boost to the uptrend in prices.