Getting real on Good Class Bungalow prices

Business Times

11-07-2025

[SINGAPORE] Some time last year, a 30-year-old bungalow in Peirce Hill owned by Kelly Chen, the wife of failed Three Arrows Capital co-founder Kyle Davies, was quietly put on the market at an asking price of S$45 million.
No deal materialised then. In May this year, the freehold property, in the Ridout Park Good Class Bungalow Area (GCBA), fetched S$37 million, reflecting S$2,144 per square foot (psf) on the land area of 17,260 square feet (sq ft).
A similar-age bungalow at a T-junction in Old Holland Road was put up for sale at S$66.7 million in March 2024 by Teo Hock Seng, chairman of Komoco Holdings. It could not be sold for a year. In April 2025, Teo put the property on the auction block at a reserve price of S$36 million. This was not met at auction but the two-storey bungalow – with six en suite bedrooms, a swimming pool and a car porch for 10 cars – was sold soon thereafter via private treaty.
Market watchers believe the price to be between S$35 million and S$36 million, translating to S$1,512 psf to S$1,555 psf on the land area of 23,148 sq ft.
Over the past eight months, there has been a string of similar cases of some owners in Singapore's GCB market turning more realistic and lowering their previous price expectations. These transactions involved bungalows in locations such as Joan Road, Gallop Park, Leedon Park, Bin Tong Park and Belmont Road, say agents.
They attribute the trend to a cocktail of factors – including the Republic's ageing demographic (with some empty nesters seeking to divest their GCB to free up cash for retirement, among other reasons), an increase in estate sales involving bungalows in GCBAs, higher property taxes and even US President Donald Trump's election.
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According to Realstar Premier managing director Julian Yip, buyers who want a new bungalow in a top-tier GCB location will continue to set record prices. PHOTO: REALSTAR
The Old Holland Road bungalow sale, with its estimated 45 per cent gap between the asking price early last year and the eventual transacted price this year, was an exception. The transacted prices for other deals were generally between 5 and 20 per cent below earlier asking prices.
That said, the greater willingness to compromise on pricing that is being shown by more genuine sellers is by no means across the board.
Owners of new bungalows in top-tier GCB locations and who have holding power are not budging. 'Record psf of land prices will continue to be set in these locations, especially for a very-good-quality new house,' notes Realstar Premier managing director Julian Yip.
' An elderly person who bequeaths a GCB to the next generation may put them in potential conflict. '
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A VETERAN PROPERTY CONSULTANT
What's so good about GCBs?
Bungalows in the 39 GCBAs are the most prestigious form of landed housing in Singapore.
They are nestled mostly in wooded areas on large plots in prime districts 10 (such as Nassim Road, Cluny Hill, Leedon Park and Queen Astrid Park), and 11 (such as Bukit Tunggal and Eng Neo Avenue).
There are also a few GCBAs in districts 20 (Windsor Park), 21 (Kilburn Estate including Yarwood Avenue, and King Albert Park), and 23 (Chestnut Avenue).
Bungalows in GCBAs are subject to strict planning conditions to preserve their exclusivity and low-rise character. For one, a minimum plot size of 1,400 square metres, or 15,070 sq ft, is specified as the planning norm for newly created bungalows in GCBAs.
When GCBAs were gazetted in 1980, they included some smaller existing sites. These are still bound by the other planning guidelines for bungalows in GCBAs if they were to be redeveloped. For example, such plots cannot be further sub-divided.
According to List Sotheby's International Realty (List SIR), there are only 2,700-plus bungalows in GCBAs, thus ensuring rarity value.
One generally has to be a Singapore citizen to be allowed to acquire a landed property in a GCBA.
List SIR's analysis of URA Realis caveats data downloaded on Jul 8 shows there were 10 transactions in GCBAs totalling S$320.4 million in the first half of this year (with the latest deal dated Jun 18). This is down from the 14 deals totalling S$440.7 million in the second half of last year, but higher than the nine deals amounting to S$211.4 million in H1 2024.
The two largest deals in H1 2025, at S$58 million each, were a property in Joan Road, on 39,276 sq ft of land area, and another in Gallop Park, on 16,306 sq ft of land area.
There were also transactions for which buyers did not lodge caveats. An example is the S$45 million sale of the late pioneer architect Alfred Wong's bungalow in Bin Tong Park.
Steve Tay, executive director of Steve Tay Real Estate (STRE), observes that many of the GCBs sold in the fourth quarter of 2024 and this year had been on the market for close to a year or longer. 'The common denominator in these transactions is genuine sellers lowering their asking prices in order to attract buyers,' he adds.
For silver-generation GCB owners, selling their bungalow and moving into an apartment or penthouse allows them greater flexibility to travel overseas, says Steve Tay of STRE. PHOTO: STRE
What is leading some GCB sellers to compromise on price?
KH Tan, managing director of Newsman Realty, says: 'We are seeing a bit more estate sales of bungalows in GCB Areas. There's a tendency to dispose of such properties more quickly if family members are not living in them. Higher residential property taxes since 2023 are one reason for this.'
Empty nesters and wanderlust
Tay says that sellers who are becoming more realistic on their expectations are typically elderly GCB owners whose children are already married and have moved into their own homes. In some cases, the children may have emigrated for career or business reasons. 'The GCB becomes too big for just the elderly couple.'
Very often at this stage of life, silver-generation GCB owners are also looking to travel more frequently and spend a longer time overseas, especially if they have children or other family members living abroad, observes Tay. 'Selling a GCB and moving into a private apartment or penthouse, which they can lock up and go away on a holiday, gives them greater freedom and flexibility to plan their travels.'
This property in Joan Road, part of the Caldecott Hill Estate GCBA, transacted at S$58 million this year. It has a land area of 39,276 sq ft. PHOTO: BT FILE
Minimising future family conflicts
Boutique property consultancy firm JQT Private's executive director Jacqueline Wong highlights that another push factor creating the situation where more owners are willing to compromise on price is a desire to avoid potential inheritance feuds and future family conflicts.
In a similar vein, another veteran property consultant, who declined to be named, says: 'An elderly person who bequeaths a GCB to the next generation may put them in potential conflict. Not all the next-generation family members may be in the same financial situation; some may want to sell the GCB, while others may want to hold it for capital appreciation. This may potentially sour their relationship.'
Instead of locking up the bulk of their wealth in a single, relatively illiquid asset such as a GCB, an elderly person could sell the bungalow and, say, set aside a portion of the proceeds to fund retirement needs and leave the rest for distribution to the next generation. 'This provides more flexibility of options to the elderly GCB owner and, hopefully, fosters family peace as well,' she adds.
Higher property taxes are cited as a consideration for some seniors when selling their GCB, whether the property is for their own occupation or is an investment property kept for rental income.
For owner-occupied residential properties, the top-tier property tax rate today stands at 32 per cent, double the 16 per cent in 2022.
For some owners, it is not worth the time and effort to hold on to a rental GCB property, says Jacqueline Wong of JQT Private. PHOTO: JQT PRIVATE
For non-owner-occupied residential properties, the top-tier property tax rate since the start of 2024 has been 36 per cent, compared with 20 per cent between Jan 1, 2015, and Dec 31, 2022. (See table at bottom of this article.)
Says JQT's Wong: 'For some owners, it is not worth the time and effort to hold on to a rental GCB property. Apart from the 36 per cent property tax, they have to bear income tax. For such owners, handling maintenance issues is rather time-consuming and troublesome.'
Exuberant GCB-rents party busted
Leasing activity for bungalows in GCBAs has been quiet since the August 2023 high-profile anti-money laundering action by the Singapore authorities on individuals originating from Fujian, China.
Some of those arrested were living in GCBs, paying eye-popping rentals to the tune of S$150,000 a month. There was also industry talk of a leasing deal done at S$250,000 per month, though this is said to have included the rental of luxury cars and provision of art pieces.
Wong says that the highest GCB rentals these days are about S$100,000 a month. 'The tenants I serve are mainly family offices; they hail from diverse markets including India, Taiwan and South-east Asia.'
Origin of the trend: Trump's election
So when exactly did sellers' expectations start to turn?
Yip of Realstar pinpoints it to the election of Trump in November last year. The various promises he made, including hiking tariffs on imports into the US, created an air of economic uncertainty globally, dampening sentiment all around.
'The more serious GCB sellers probably think sentiment is not going to get better, and since prices have appreciated significantly over the years, they might as well adjust their price expectation and sell,' he says.
Tay of STRE highlights that some sellers may find more value in selling their bungalows at a lower price target, at the fair market price, and executing their next plans, rather than wait for an indefinite period of time to achieve their desired price target.
Buyer profiles and strategies
George Lee, key executive officer of Myriad Realty, says some GCB buyers are adopting a wait-and-see attitude, hoping to find a good deal. 'In today's uncertain economic climate, buyers do not want to overspend.'
Giving his take, Newsman's Tan says: 'Buyers are prepared to commit if the property suits them and the price is right.' Some of those house-hunting in GCBAs are looking for a home for their own family's occupation; they include those upgrading from a smaller landed property or, in the case of a new citizen, an apartment.
'Lately, we are seeing slightly more potential buyers from the IT industry.
'We continue to see new citizens, mostly from China. They have varying requirements in terms of plot size, between 15,000 sq ft and 50,000 sq ft,' Tan adds.
The double-volume living room of the Old Holland Road bungalow sold by Teo Hock Seng. PHOTO: SRI
Yip of Realstar classifies GCB buyers into two groups. There are those who are price-sensitive and willing to make a purchase when a property with the right price comes along. His advice to them is: 'If you find something ideal, go for it if it's not too unrealistically priced.'
The second group of buyers are 'very location-sensitive' and still willing to pay a premium for the best plots, because sellers of this category of bungalows in GCBAs have the holding power and will sell only if the price is right.
Says Yip: 'Buyers who are really keen to purchase a bungalow in one of the top-tier GCB locations will have to give in when it comes to negotiating with such sellers, who are likely to be in a more favourable position.
'If the prices are really unrealistic, they will go for slightly less prime locations such as those at the lower tiers.'
This bungalow in Peirce Hill, owned by Kelly Chen, the wife of failed Three Arrows Capital co-founder Kyle Davies, fetched S$37 million this year. PHOTO: BT FILE
He offers the following advice to sellers. 'If your intention is to rightsize, or to liquidate, it may not be a bad idea to sell if a reasonable offer comes in. If the GCB you are holding is an investment property, bear in mind that rental yield will be low and property tax payable is high.'
In the first five months of this year, Realstar brokered five transactions in GCBAs for which caveats were lodged, down from six deals in the same period last year.
For deals for which buyers did not lodge caveats, Realstar brokered two transactions in the first five months of 2025, down from three in the same period last year.
Outlook
Yip predicts that the total number of bungalow transactions in GCBAs this year is likely to surpass 2024's numbers.
List SIR research director Han Huan Mei says: 'Market confidence has been affected by the weakened economic outlook due to Trump's tariffs and the war in the Middle East. Transaction volumes for the whole of 2025 are likely to be similar to 2024's tally of 23 deals, but at prices that are slightly higher.'
Realstar's Yip forecasts that prices in higher-tier GCB locations will increase by between 5 and 7 per cent this year. 'In lower-tier locations, prices will be quite stable, with a likely increase of zero to 5 per cent. This will widen the gap between the two segments.'
He adds: 'In future, the majority of top-tier GCBs put in the market will be bought by new citizens. Locals are not prepared to keep paying record prices. But new citizens are different, especially those from China. They see what is happening in Hong Kong, where luxury villas are so expensive – and these are leasehold.'
To this profile of buyers, even prices of S$5,000 psf or S$6,000 psf on land area are not considered too high for freehold bungalows, notes Yip.
'These new citizens are prepared to pay a premium for a brand-new GCB in a ready-to-move-in condition; it would be a hassle for them to build their own bungalow. As a result, those who want a new bungalow in a top-tier GCB location will continue to set record prices.'
Currently, the highest price psf on land for a bungalow deal in a GCBA is the S$6,197 psf fetched last year for a property in Tanglin Hill while it was still under construction. Standing on a 15,150 sq ft site, the bungalow has a built-up area of close to 30,000 sq ft. The close to S$93.9 million deal involved delivering the house on a completed, fully furnished basis, in a ready-to-move-in condition. It was developed by Meir Homes, which specialises in GCBs.
The group is now developing a bungalow in Dalvey Estate with a land area of 15,080 sq ft. It will have a built-up area of more than 40,000 sq ft. Meir Homes is understood to be in talks with potential buyers. The selling price is expected to set a new record psf price in the GCB market.