Although fewer good class bungalows (GCBs) were sold in 2012 compared to the previous year, their average selling prices were higher, said analysts.
Deals involving GCBs fell due to poor market sentiment caused by the city-state’s property cooling measures and weak global economic situation, reported The Straits Times.
In total, there are around 2,400 GCBs in 39 gazetted areas such as Tanglin, Dalvey and Nassim. Compared with 2011’s full-year sales of 56 homes, only 49 were transacted as of the first week of December 2012.
Overall transaction value slipped to S$1.05 billion compared to last year’s $1.16 billion. However, psf prices have increased significantly.
This year, the average price of GCBs rose 10 percent to S$1,406 psf from last year’s S$1,276 psf.
Douglas Wong, Director (Luxury Property Division) at CBRE, said: “This demonstrates the resilience of GCB prices as well as the premium they command because of limited supply.”
He noted that recent cooling measures have changed the profile of GCB buyers. These curbs include the revised sellers’ stamp duty of up to 16 percent and the 60 percent loan-to-value (LTV) cap for buyers with an outstanding mortgage.
The revised stamp duty “more or less removed speculators and short-term traders from the GCB market. Today, buyers are owner occupiers and very long-term investors”, Wong explained.
This year also saw the most expensive GCB sale in two years when a bungalow along Ridout Road was sold for S$60.6 million or S$1,490 psf in March.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor of PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
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