The collective sale market here is powering ahead with the sale of privatised HUDC estate Eunosville for $765 million - the second-highest price ever for such a property.
The sprawling 330-unit Eunosville, built in the 1980s, could make way for as many as 1,399 units in a new project.
The site has been sold to a Jardine Matheson Group unit, MCL Land, at a price well above expectations.
It is the fourth successful collective sale this year amid recovering sentiment and developers' optimism over residential property.
The price for Eunosville, near Eunos MRT station, is the second-highest achieved in the collective sale of a privatised HUDC project, after Farrer Court sold for about $1.34 billion in 2007, marketing agent OrangeTee said yesterday. It was the estate's second try at a collective sale after an unsuccessful bid in 2013.
The price represents a premium of more than 17 per cent over the $643 million to $653 million the owners had asked for when the site was launched for tender in April.
"The primary home sales market has also seen marked improvements, and developers are starting to make strategic acquisitions of land to position themselves for a recovery of the market," noted Mr Marcus Oh, executive director of business solutions at OrangeTee.
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17%
Price premium over the $643 million to $653 million owners had asked for when the site was launched for sale in April
Mr Oh told The Straits Times that the tender for the 376,713 sq ft site with wide frontage onto Changi Road and Sims Avenue attracted competitive bids from eight bidders.
The sale price, with the addition of an estimated $194 million in extra government charges, works out to a land rate of $909 per sq ft per plot ratio. The charges are payable to the state to intensify land use to a gross plot ratio of 2.8 and to top up the lease to a fresh 99 years.
Built in the late 1980s, the project has about 71 years left on the lease. It has 255 maisonettes over six residential blocks and four walk-up apartment blocks with 75 units.
OrangeTee said each owner stands to get about $2.25 million to $2.41 million upon completion of the deal, subject to sale conditions.
Resident Ben Ong, who has been living in Eunosville for 17 years, is sentimental about leaving, even though he recognised that the old estate is in need of renewal.
"It is sad. This is where we raised our children and the location is very convenient. So, I may consider renting and buying a unit at the new development in the future," said Mr Ong, 60, an engineer.
The site could be rebuilt into a 1,399-unit development with an average apartment size of 70 sq m.
Consultancy CBRE said the new units could be sold for an average of about $1,700 to $1,750 psf.
"There is a window of opportunity for collective sales as there are fewer government land sales sites. En bloc projects that are ready to be put up for tender in the next three to six months should get good response," said Mr Galven Tan, director for capital markets at CBRE.
The latest deal came after last week's sale of Rio Casa estate in Hougang and mixed-use development Goh & Goh Building in Upper Bukit Timah Road, and One Tree Hill Gardens in the prime District 10 last month.
