HOUSING THE PEOPLE
More people probably remember the recent successive purchases of good class bungalows by young entrepreneurs (and family members) for the timing and prices paid than what the spree stood for.
The amounts that changed hands were staggering; they ranged from $36 million (S1,537 psf) for the Olive Road bungalow, to $40 million (1,849 psf) for the one in Bin Tong Park, and $128.80 ($4,005 psf) for the one on Nassim Road. The fourth, a bungalow that is under construction at Cluny Hill fetched $63 million ($4,261 psf).
I heard a lot of young colleagues wishing — in jest — they pursued a career in tech where money seems to bubble up to the surface for no apparent reason. Owning a property, particularly freehold and landed, in land-scarce Singapore is the ultimate dream of many, and any mechanism that will turn it into reality is understandably to be pursued eagerly.
Firstly, the sales have an immediate effect on the prices of comparable properties in the areas where they are located, and secondly, they have immediately nudged up the performance figures of luxury properties collectively, and GCBs specifically.
According to CBRE, GCB “activity was boosted by fresh demand from digital economy entrepreneurs and key executives”, alongside sustained demand from new citizens. There were 60 transactions during the first half of 2021, which surpassed 2020’s full year total of 44 transactions. All in all, the luxury residential sector, including GCBs, luxury apartments and Sentosa Cove landed properties delivered stellar performances that exceeded last year’s totals or even peaks from a decade ago.
Indeed, at the height of lockdowns last year, some properties continued to perform very well during virtual roadshows. The owner of a very large property agency casually told me that a $17-million apartment was bought by a new citizen one weekend, which brought the tally for that particular to $70 million. Perhaps it wouldn’t be impressive at all at other times, but this was in October 2020 and uncertainty was thick.
When I asked consultancies how the pandemic is affecting the residential property investments, I was given the sector’s latest performance highlights. And when I asked again what long-term changes in the sector are foreseeable at this moment, they gave me interesting answers, from changing some physical structures of developments to reviewing and adjusting housing policies.
The lessons we are learning at this point are about developers, market experts and policy makers listening closely to the market again — to the homeowners, to the buyers. For some time now, we’ve watched as the market came up with acceptable ‘win-win’ ideas. This time the ‘wins’ are to be decided by the owners and that sounds like a very good thing.