Property Spotlight: Rosyth Road area

More than a decade ago, Rosyth Road was popular with families because it was located within a 1-km 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, noted 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 $911psf respectively. The semi-detached house at 11A Rosyth Road sits on a 5,371sqft plot, and the neighbouring unit, 11B, has a slightly larger site of 5,597sqft. 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 $800psf, 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 1,765sqft plot and was sold for $2.28 million ($1,295psf). The house last changed hands in a resale in 2005 for $1.22 million ($693psf) 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 4,500sqft, while detached houses have site areas of 8,000 to 10,000sqft. 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 6,000sqft each and a 999-year leasehold tenure, were sold in 2005 for about $1.8 million ($297psf) 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 $574psf. The most recent transaction was a resale in mid-2011 for a 1,033sqft, third-level apartment that changed hands for $888,000 ($859psf). The developer previously sold the unit for $650,000 ($629psf) 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 7,653sqft that was sold for $2.45 million ($320psf) in December 2005; and a neighbouring terraced house at 35B Rosyth Road, sitting on a land parcel of 4,553sqft and sold for 1.59 million ($350psf) , 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 1,141sqft unit on the second floor changed hands for $1.18 million ($1,034psf), according to a caveat lodged last June. The seller had purchased the unit from the developer in June 2009 for $762,000 ($668psf).

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 13,067sqft, 999-year leasehold plot and was sold in early 2007 for $4.08 million ($312psf). When units at One Roysth 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 $650psf.

As at end-December, 13 units at One Rosyth were sold. The most recent sale by the developer was that of a 635sqft unit on the first level that fetched $670,000 ($1,055psf) last February. The most recent transaction was the sub-sale of a 2,766sqft unit on the fifth level that changed hands for $2.68 million ($969psf), with a caveat lodged last September. The unit was first purchased for close to $2.54 million ($917psf) early last year, according to a caveat lodged in January that year.

Buyers of land 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.

Source: THEEDGE SINGAPORE

The wife and I do not know very much about the "landed" market, but it seems like Singapore is losing more and more of what used to be "landed property" enclaves. Many of these are now peppered by small boutique condo projects (redeveloped from single or multiple landed sites and usually consist primarily of small units). This has resulted in areas such as Rosyth and Telok Kurau to losing much of their original "landed" feel and flavour. But that's just us thinking aloud...

.