He's now a Singaporean; his new Sentosa Cove property sits on 18,794 sq ft of landTHE owner of Kingsford Development, a Shenyang-based developer that has been making news in Singapore at state land tenders, has bought a plum bungalow on Sentosa Cove for $33 million.自存倉 The building sits on 18,794 square feet of land, one of the largest for a bungalow plot in the upscale waterfront housing district.Cui Zhengfeng was a Singapore permanent resident but became a Singapore citizen recently, BT understands. The 99-year leasehold bungalow he bought, along Cove Drive, is two storeys high with a basement and a rooftop pool, which has views of the Southern Islands.At $33 million, this is the biggest transaction in absolute price terms since the $39 million for a seafronting property, also on Cove Drive, that Susan Lim and her husband Deepak Sharma sold in the first quarter of 2012.Mr Cui's bungalow does not front the sea. Nevertheless, it enjoys seaviews as the house in front of it is a single-level property. The price he paid works out to $1,756 per square foot on land area.The transaction, which was completed late last year, is understood to have been brokered by Newsman Realty associate director Steve Tay.There was another transaction late last year on Cove Drive at $16.18 million, or $2,074 psf, on land area of 7,804 sq ft. The two-storey property comes with a basement and attic; it has five bedrooms and a ground-level pool. It was sold in brand-new condition by its Singaporean owner, who built the bungalow about a year earlier.The buyer is said to be a Singapore PR whose family is based here. The deal was brokered by DTZ Resale senior sales director Lionel Loo.For the whole of last year, 18 caveats were lodged for Sentosa Cove bungalow purchases, totalling nearly $367 million, according to CBRE Research. Though this was lower than the 23 deals at $461 million in 2012, what was noteworthy about the pace of deals last year was a big push in the last few months. BT's previous update published on Oct 4, 2013, listed 11 caveats in January-September totalling $224 million.The seven additional caveats that have surfaced since takes the tally for the second-half 2013 to 10, slightly ahead of the eight transactions in the first six months. "The second-half pick-up is partly a reflection of bungalow owners adjusting their price expectations to factor in the higher ABSD (additional buyer stamp duty) introduced in January 2013, particularly on foreigners and PRs," said Newsman's Mr Tay."These days a lot of buyers on Sentosa Cove are foreigners who are applying to become Singapore PRs, or who are already PRs here, as they are relocating their businesses to Singapore or using Singapore as a hub to expand their business in Asia. They have also moved their families to Singapore."Because such buyers are looking for a bungalow on Sentosa Cove to live in, they are more receptive towards accepting ABSD as part of the cost of purchasing a property in Singapore.However, a foreigner who is not based here but s迷你倉出租opping around the world for investment properties would be more reluctant to foot the 15 per cent ABSD, especially for a big-ticket purchase such as a Sentosa Cove bungalow, say market watchers.Another transaction involving a Singapore PR buyer brokered by Newsman earlier last year was a bungalow on Paradise Island which sold for $15.5 million, or $1,898 psf, on land area. The property is spread across two storeys and an attic and has six bedrooms. It was bought by a European said to be involved in the financial industry with his office in Singapore.DTZ's Mr Loo says that while there has been a pick-up in interest from PRs, especially from mainland China, in Sentosa Cove since last October, Singaporean buyers remain lukewarm. "Most feel that prices are not low enough as they have to foot 10 per cent ABSD if they already own multiple properties."According to Newsman's Mr Tay, while prices of super-prime Sentosa Cove bungalows such as those facing the sea or a golf course still command top dollar of above $2,900 psf on land area, prices of more "average" properties in the district have been on a downtrend since 2010.Last year, their prices hovered around $2,000-2,100 psf - against the $2,200-2,300 psf range in 2012. Back in the 2010 heyday, it used to be $2,500-2,600 psf."I feel prices are stabilising now and showing a bit of an uptrend. This year, I'm confident we will see a better market for Sentosa Cove in terms of volumes, as well as prices," said Mr Tay, who predicts more than 20 transactions and a 5-10 per cent price rise for 2014. "High net worth foreigners continue to find Singapore an attractive place for business, given the good infrastructure, political stability and relative security and a relatively clean physical environment."He also highlighted that while mass-market condo prices have been on an uptrend over the past few years, it was the reverse situation for bungalows on Sentosa Cove. So buyers are starting to see value on the Cove and coming back.CBRE Research analysis shows that Singapore PRs bought exactly half, or nine of the 18 bungalows that changed hands in the location last year. This is up from a 22 per cent share in 2012 and 21 per cent in 2011. In 2010, when bungalow deals on the Cove peaked at 54, the PR share was 22 per cent.Market watchers suggest a couple of factors behind the rising PR share. One, the government no longer allows them to buy landed homes in Good Class Bungalow Areas on the mainland. Before this rule change, which is thought to have taken place sometime in second-half 2012, PRs could buy a landed home in a GCB Area with up to 15,000 sq ft land area."So a high net worth PR family looking for a large home in Singapore is pretty much restricted to a penthouse/luxury condo unit or a Sentosa Cove bungalow," points out Mr Tay.Agents also recount anecdotal evidence of foreigners becoming PRs before buying a landed home on Sentosa Cove to qualify for a lower ABSD rate, though criteria for obtaining PR status have been tightened in recent years.迷你倉
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