Ravi Chandran
Neil Road freehold conservation house for sale via Expression of Interest
Knight Frank Singapore has been appointed by a trust company to offer a freehold, two-storey conservation terrace house along Neil Road for sale via Expression of Interest (EOI).
The freehold intermediate terrace house is prominently located along Neil Road, within the Blair Plain Conservation Area. The Neil Road freehold conservation house has a land area of approximately 296.6 sq m (approximately 3,192 sq ft) and built-up area of approximately 447.2 sq m (approximately 4,813 sq ft).
Outram Park MRT interchange is located approximately 350 metres away from the Neil Road freehold conservation house. Accessibility is further enhanced by its proximity to major roads and expressways such as New Bridge Road, the Central Expressway (CTE) and the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE).
The guide price for the Neil Road freehold conservation house is S$5.86 million.
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Mr Ian Loh, Head of Investment and Capital Markets (Land, Building & Collective Sales), Knight Frank Singapore, said, “Conservation houses in prime District 2 are tightly held and hard to come by, with only 5 such houses transacted over the past 5 years. Acquiring a heritage house in its original condition allows the potential purchaser to restore its original charm, which cannot be easily replicated elsewhere.”
The EOI for the Neil Road freehold conservation house will close on Tuesday, 16 June 2020, at 3pm.
Neil Road is a one-way road in Chinatown and Tanjong Pagar in the planning areas of Outram and Bukit Merah in Singapore. The road starts at the junction of South Bridge Road, Maxwell Road and Tanjong Pagar Road and ends at Kampong Bahru Road which then merges into Jalan Bukit Merah. At the end of the road, it is a conservation area of several shophouses and a three-story Victorian style school building, which was the former site of Fairfield Methodist Girls’ School. In the Tanjong Pagar area of the road, it is home to rows of conserved shophouses for various purposes.
The road was formerly known as Salat Road (Silat or Selat), the Malay term for “straits” or “Ei Lin”. The former Salat Road was part of a nutmeg plantation that flourished on Duxton Hill till the late 1850s. The Malay road name was changed by the municipal commissioners in March 1858 in honour of the British heroes in the Indian Mutiny in 1857. House number 147 was the home of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew’s grandfather, Lee Hoon Leong, who bought the house in 1920 for $25,000. Lee lived in the house for a few years with his parents and grandfather. In Hokkien, the road was known as goo chia chwee sia lo, which means “steep street of Kreta Ayer” or “Ei Lin”.
A research by List Sotheby’s International Realty (List SIR) said that landed homes are an excellent asset for wealth preservation. The report pointed out that landed homes offer a copious amount of living space that is suitable for multi-generation families, and as such, provide a relatively higher quality of life.
“On top of that, landed homes with freehold/999-year leasehold tenure rarely depreciates in value when held for the long term and thus serves as an excellent asset for wealth preservation.”
The report added that though landed homes seem to provide more bang for the buck on a $psf basis when compared to non-landed homes, the absolute quantum of $2 million and above for a freehold/ 999-year leasehold landed home of at least 1,500 sq ft poses a barrier to entry for most of the population. But for those who can afford, landed properties could be one option when considering to purchase a home.
The report said that since there will no longer be any new freehold/999-year leasehold land distributed by the government, the existing stock of landed properties will become even more valuable.
The restriction on the ownership of landed properties means that the market is dependent solely on local demand. But even without foreign inflows, the market for landed property could still be sustained. As Singaporeans become more affluent, the desire to upgrade their homes is likely to increase. All of which resulting in the demand for freehold/ 999-year leasehold landed homes continuing to grow over time.
Mr Paul, chief mortgage officer at iCompareLoan, said that “although the Covid-19 circuit breaker makes real estate sales difficult at the moment, the Neil Road freehold conservation house is in a good location and is hard to come by.” Mr Ho believes en bloc sales homeowners who are flush with cash, will resort to value hunting instead of choosing smaller condominiums which are beginning to sell at unbelievable prices.
Mr Ho added that given the land scarcity in Singapore, demand for landed homes in Singapore will continue to rise over the long term. He pointed out that Singapore continues to be a global financial centre and a trade hub with high livability scores – all of which attracts high net worth investors to the Republic. All these factors will inevitably fuel demand for landed property in Singapore he added.
Mr Ho believes that value buys in the property market right now are are landed inter-terrace houses which’s per square feet price on the built-up area is usually less than $1,000. But Mr Ho cautioned that the bigger challenge for buyers of landed property is securing the best home loans.
“With the right loan, the buyer can save thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars,” he said. Adding, “which is why they would have to work with established mortgage brokers who can provide them free service.”
