Speak to any property agent, and they’d likely tell you that the property market is just about crazy right now, with prices constantly increasing across all property types and new record highs being set in recent months. For example, just last month we had the most expensive resale flat ever to be sold in Singapore at $1.41M, and in 2022 alone we’ve had quite a high number of million-dollar HDBs being sold across mature and non-mature estates, some being the first time ever.
When it comes to the Good Class Bungalow (GCB) market, transaction volumes are understandably a lot lower. After all, we’d hazard a guess that the majority of us wouldn’t have multiple millions on hand to splurge on a GCB. However, this doesn’t mean that the GCB market is entirely independent of the recent burgeoning activity in the overall property market, and we’ve definitely had our fair share of newsworthy GCB transactions in recent months.
Just this past week, it was reported that a GCB located at White House Park was recently sold, setting a record high price per square foot. Here’s what we know about the sale.
Sold for highest price psf ever
According to reports online, the sale involves a GCB located at White House Park, which curiously enough, isn’t near the American Embassy.
It’s actually situated in a small estate in between Bukit Timah and Orchard, and just a short drive away from the Botanic Gardens. If you’re familiar with the area, you’ll know that this is more or less prime land and home to the GCB enclave, and thus the high prices of properties in the area.
Image adapted from: Google Maps
From what we know, the 15,081sqft GCB in question was sold for S$45.5M. In the grand scheme of things, this of course isn’t the highest price paid for a GCB. If you recall, this honor belongs to the one GCB along Nassim Road that was rumored to be sold to Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, for a whopping S$230M.
Image credit: Google Maps
However, what made this sale particularly noteworthy is that while it isn’t the highest in terms of absolute transacted price, it is actually the highest price per square foot (psf) that has been paid for a GCB, at $3,017psf; for reference, this was more expensive compared to the $230M GCB we referenced earlier, which went for $2,720psf. And so, this GCB at White House Park is actually the most expensive home ever to be bought in Singapore. Well, at least for clocking the highest price psf ever in the last 10 years, in the White House Park area.
In case you’re interested, the property was reportedly sold by a Singaporean company owned by a “Sia” family, and bought by a Fu Wei, the chief executive of a Singapore-based healthcare private equity firm CBC Group.
How does the price tag compare to others in the same area?
To get a sense of how this $3,017psf measures up, we have to take a look at past sales as well as what’s available on the market right now for us to purchase.
Looking back at past GCB sales in the same area, the most recent transaction that we could find involved a freehold GCB that was transacted at close to $60M in June 2020; based on its floor size of 35,290sqft, this mean that the GCB was eventually sold for around $1,700psf.
Otherwise, we found additional reports all the way back in 2016 that one of the GCBs – a 15,125sqft one – was sold for $25.5M, translating to a price of $1,686psf, and even earlier back in 2013, one other GCB was put up for auction at a price of around $26M, or $1,516psf.
Image credit: DesignWorx
What about the present, you might ask?
Based on some checks online, there are a couple of GCBs up for sale, though you must have pretty deep pockets in order to be able to afford them.
For instance, if you happen to have about $18M lying around, you can consider getting a 7,260sqft GCB at White House Road, complete with 5 bedrooms and 6 restrooms. This translates to a price of about $2,589psf. However, if you really want to be a trendsetter, you can consider getting a 7,500sqft one for about $26M, after which you would be setting the new record high in the GCB market, at around $3,466 psf.
What does this mean for the GCB market?
Truth be told, the majority of us wouldn’t be able to afford a GCB, or at least not those in these prime locations where they would command prices of upwards of $18M. And so, the GCB market is really in a class of its own, away from the general property market that the majority of us would be in.
That being said, the fact that even the GCB market is not spared from the overall trend of skyrocketing property prices is quite telling of the current situation. For one, 2.5 years of being rooted in Singapore and being unable to travel has made people quite cash-rich and armed with a higher disposable income. And in the case of the rich and affluent, this would mean a pretty sizable war chest of funds at hand.
Combined with the overall effects of rising inflation and a looming recession, it’d be safe to say that instead of splurging money willy-nilly, the rich would be prompted to instead move into capital preservation mode – essentially, protecting the purchasing power of their cash rather than letting it erode due to the effects of inflation. The affluent would look to various avenues to hedge against inflation, of which property is quite a viable option to do so. This leads to the climbing prices of properties such as GCBs, leading to the new highs that we’ve been seeing in the market.
Enamoured by the allure of Good Class Bungalows here in Singapore? Check out some of our articles concerning GCBs, to give you some major house envy:
- Fragrance Hotel Boss Has Been Going On A GCB Spree, Last One Is $65 Million Bought By Wife’
- 8 GCBs Owned By Famous CEOs & Bosses In Singapore
- Jet Li Has A Sprawling $20M Private Good Class Bungalow In Bukit Timah, Used To Be FJ Benjamin’s House
Cover image adapted from: Google Maps
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