| BY AMY TAN |THEEDGE SINGAPORE | JANUARY 30, 2012 • 1 DoneDeals
More than a decade ago, Rosyth Road was popular with families because it was located within a 1km radius of Rosyth Primary School, says Alexs Chua, managing director of Coldwell Banker Realtors. The school relocated to Serangoon North Avenue 4 a decade ago, however, and recently to temporary premises at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5 (the location of the former ITE College West) while its existing premises are being upgraded in 2012/13.
Lately, transactions in the Rosyth Road area have slowed, notes Shawn Kua, consultant at CBA Pty Services. “Owners who have lived there for a long time are usually unwilling to sell because they are attached to the place,” he says.
Most recently, a pair of 999-year leasehold semi-detached houses at 11A and 11B Rosyth Road changed hands for $5.1 million apiece, which translates into $949 and $911 psf respectively. The semi-detached house at
11A Rosyth Road sits on a 5,371 sq ft plot, and the neighbouring unit, 11B, has a slightly larger site of 5,597 sq ft. The houses were probably built at least 20 years ago.
Landed property in District 19, which is more than a decade old, tends to fetch prices averaging $700 to $800 psf, observes Chua. For such properties, buyers tend to focus on the value of the land rather than the building. For newer properties, construction cost is also factored in, therefore such new houses tend to fetch higher prices.
The last transaction on Rosyth Road was in 1H2011 with a caveat lodged on May 16. It was for a terraced house at 32C Rosyth Road, which sits on a 1,765 sq ft plot and was sold for $2.28 million ($1,295 psf). The house last changed hands in a resale in 2005 for $1.22 million ($693 psf) when it was newly completed. Thus, the house
has seen a capital appreciation of 86% in six years.
Size also plays a part in attracting buyer interest. Most of the landed homes, especially the semi-detached houses in the Rosyth Road neighbourhood, tend to have large land sites of about 4,500 sq ft, while detached houses have site areas of 8,000 to 10,000 sq ft. They attract not just homebuyers who like the neighbourhood because of its peace and tranquillity, but also boutique developers, notes Chua.
One such redevelopment of a pair of semi-detached houses was at 37 and 37A Rosyth Road. The houses, with a land area of more than 6,000 sq ft each and a 999-year leasehold tenure, were sold in 2005 for about $1.8 million ($297 psf) each. The site has since been redeveloped into a 16-unit, five-storey apartment block called Rosyth Residence. The project was completed in 2007.
When Rosyth Residence was launched in mid-2006, units were sold for $448 to $574 psf. The most recent transaction was a resale in mid- 2011 for a 1,033 sq ft, third level apartment that changed hands for $888,000 ($859 psf). The developer previously sold the unit for $650,000 ($629 psf) in 2007 when the project was newly completed.
Another redevelopment of a landed home into an apartment block was right next door, involving three terraced houses:35 and 35A, with a combined land parcel of 7,653 sq ft that was sold for $2.45 million ($320 psf) in December 2005; and a neighbouring terraced house at 35B Rosyth Road, sitting on a land parcel of 4,553 sq ft
and sold for 1.59 million ($350 psf), also in December 2005, according to caveats lodged with URA Realis.
Tiong Aik Development purchased the three terraced-house sites and built a 16-unit block of apartments there called Gillenia. The project was completed in 2009, and the most recent transaction was in the secondary market, in which a 1,141 sq ft unit on the second floor changed hands for $1.18 million ($1,034 psf), according to a caveat lodged last June. The seller had purchased the unit from the developer in June 2009 for $762,000 ($668 psf).
One Rosyth, a 17-unit, five-storey apartment block completed last year, is a redevelopment of a detached house at 1 Rosyth Road. The house sat on a 13,067 sq ft, 999-year leasehold plot and was sold in early 2007 for $4.08 million ($312 psf). When units at One Rosyth were first put up for sale in late 2008, shortly after the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the start of the global financial crisis, a few units were sold at $650 psf.
As at end-December, 13 units at One Rosyth were sold. The most recent sale by the developer was that of a 635 sq ft unit on the first level that fetched $670,000 ($1,055 psf) last February. The most recent transaction was the sub-sale of a 2,766 sq ft unit on the fifth level that changed hands for $2.68 million ($969 psf), with a caveat lodged last September. The unit was first purchased for close to $2.54 million ($917 psf) early last year, according to a caveat lodged in January that year. Buyers of landed homes in district 19, particularly in the Serangoon area and the
Rosyth Road neighbourhood, are not just end-users but have been boutique developers in recent years, notes Chua.
