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On Aug 18, a duplex penthouse at Volari on Balmoral Road was sold at a S$1.63 million loss (RM5.1 million), or a 22% loss, according to URA caveat data as at Aug 29. The penthouse has a total floor area of 3,950 sq ft and comes with a private lift, four bedrooms and a study, as well as a private pool and private enclosed space of 1,453 sq ft. It enjoys views of the colonial Black & White bungalows at Goodwood Hill.
The property did not receive any bids when it was offered for sale by the mortgagee in Knight Frank’s auction on Jan 18 at an opening price of S$6.45 million (S$1,633 psf), which is almost S$1 million below the previous owner’s purchase price of S$7.33 million (S$1,856 psf) in November 2009. It was put on mortgagee sale for a second time at Edmund Tie & Co’s auction on March 29 at the same price and again did not receive any bids. According to Joy Tan, head of auction at ET&Co, the penthouse is the first mortgagee sale at Volari. The mortgagee subsequently offered it for sale by private treaty and sold it on Aug 18.
Volari is a freehold condominium with 85 units. It is located in prime District 10 and was completed in 2012. All four transactions at Volari so far this year have resulted in losses for the previous owners. The S$1.63 million loss involving the penthouse is the biggest loss on record at the project. The next biggest was when a 2,282 sq ft unit was sold at a S$467,720 (10%) loss on April 19. The previous owner bought the unit for S$4.72 million (S$2,067 psf) in August 2009 and sold it for S$4.25 million (S$1,862 psf).
The second-highest loss for private condo units sold in the week of Aug 15 to 22 was for the sale of a 1,249 sq ft unit at Scotts Square. The unit was bought for S$4.72 million (S$3,781 psf) in October 2007 and sold for S$3.69 million (S$2,954 psf) on Aug 16. The previous owner suffered a S$1.03 million (22%) loss.
Completed in 2011, Scotts Square is a mixed-use development on Scotts Road. It comprises 338 freehold residential units. Based on URA caveat data, there have been no profitable transactions at Scotts Square since 2016. There were seven unprofitable transactions in 2016, with losses averaging S$910,579 (24%). So far this year, there have been 12 unprofitable transactions, with an average loss of S$1.05 million (27%).
Four separate condo units at Regency Park in District 10, Holt Residences in District 10, Twin Regency in District 3 and Nomu in District 9 fetched profits of more than a million each in the week of Aug 15 to 22. The most profitable transaction was the sale of a 3,649 sq ft unit at Regency Park on Aug 17. Based on URA caveat data, the first owner of the unit bought it at S$3.35 million (S$918 psf) in December 1999 and made a S$450,000 profit when he sold it for S$3.8 million (S$1,041 psf) in January 2006. The next owner made a S$2.2 million (58%) profit when he sold it for S$6 million (S$1,644 psf) on Aug 17.
The freehold Regency Park is located on Nathan Road, off River Valley Road, and opposite the Chatsworth Park Good Class Bungalow area. It was completed in 1990 and has 292 units.
This article first appeared in The Edge Property Singapore, a pullout of The Edge Singapore, on Sept 4, 2017.
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