A King Albert Park bungalow belonging to actors Lim Kay Tong and Lim Kay Siu and their sister, Ms Irene Lim Kay Han, is being sold for $43.35 million to the Kuik family that controls Sim Lian Group.
Documents seen by The Straits Times show that the 2,985.7 sq m property is being sold to Madam Lim Ah Kie, wife of Sim Lian Group founder Kuik Ah Han.
A consortium led by Mr Kuik took the property developer private in August 2016.
The option to purchase the bungalow was granted by the Lim siblings to Madam Lim on Dec 23 last year. She exercised her option on Jan 18 this year.
Her lawyer, Mr Chua Shang Chai of Dentons Rodyk, said yesterday: “We are not able to provide any comments.”
The sale price of $43.35 million, or $1,222 per square foot (psf), is based on the freehold land area of 35,475 sq ft.
“There is a lot of flexibility for the property to be subdivided into two GCBs (good class bungalows),” said Mr Samuel Eyo, managing director of Lighthouse Property Consultants.
The site has dual road frontage and can be carved into two plots.
This is based on the minimum plot size of 1,400 sq m stipulated as a planning norm for newly created houses in GCB areas.
Mr Eyo added that “$1,222 psf is also a reasonable price, and sets a good benchmark for the King Albert Park area”.
King Albert Park is near Beauty World, which the Urban Redevelopment Authority sees as a green urban village that will be rejuvenated as a southern gateway to Bukit Timah’s nature attractions.
The bungalow is also near Sim Lian’s main office in Upper Bukit Timah Road, Mr Eyo added.
Ms Linda Chern, Knight Frank Singapore’s head of residential project marketing, prime sales and leasing, noted that the sale price is “just about right for land that needs to be redeveloped”.
Landed properties are a coveted asset class due to their limited availability.
The GCB market is hotting up, driven by demand from newly rich Singapore citizens and wealthy local families who continue to snap up homes for their children and grandchildren.
“In the second half of 2020, 253 landed homes exchanged hands, compared with 108 units in the first half, and 126 in the second half of 2019.
“Sales amounted to $2.5 billion in the second half of 2020,” noted a Knight Frank report on Wednesday.
Another driver is the rising trend of working from home, which sees prospective buyers looking at larger floor areas and close proximity to amenities such as parks.
“Prices of landed homes are expected to grow in 2021 with increasing demand for this asset class,” the report said.
The last caveated transaction for a King Albert Park site was carried out in early 2017, when 16 King Albert Park, sitting on a 39,224 sq ft site, was sold to Far East Organization for $43.8 million or about $1,117 psf, according to The Business Times.
Another GCB, 25A King Albert Park, with a land size of 7,900 sq ft, was sold in recent months at about $1,250 psf, BT said.
source: The Straits Times
