Semi-detached house at 8 Bournemouth Road on the market for $11.6 mil

At 8 Bournemouth Road, a semi-detached house in the Katong neighbourhood of East Coast has resurfaced on the market after over a year. It was put up for sale for $11.6 million.

Developer Sevens Group (Aquarius) was interested in the property, lodging a caveat with URA Realis in August 2022 and signing an option to purchase the property on July 25, 2022, with an option fee of $116,000. The remaining deposit of $464,000 was paid when the option was exercised and the sale was scheduled for completion on Dec 31, 2022. However, a dispute between the buyer and seller caused the sale and purchase agreement to be terminated and the caveat withdrawn from the Singapore Land Authority’s Integrated Land Information Service on June 27.

The house is now available for sale again at the same $11.6 million price tag, which works out to $2,154 psf based on the land area. The double-storey house is built in 1990 with 6 en suite bedrooms and a built-up area of 3,800 sq ft on a freehold site of 5,386 sq ft with a 17.7m frontage.

Julian Yip, managing director of Real-Star Premier Group, one of the marketing agencies for 8 Bournemouth Road, believes the absolute price is “very palatable” and that the large land size appeals to developers. It can be re-zoned into a detached house or further sub-divided into two smaller semi-detached houses.

According to Yip, under URA’s prevailing planning controls for landed housing, the minimum land area for a semi-detached house is 200 sq m (2,152.8 sq ft) with a minimum width of 8m. The highest psf price for a semi-detached house was achieved by 47 Bournemouth Road and was $2,351 psf. The semi-detached house there was built in 2004 on a freehold site of 2,552 sq ft and it was a redevelopment of a former detached house.

Developer Sevens Group is also building The Carrara, a boutique development with six semi-detached houses stretching from 801 to 811 Mountbatten Road (odd numbers) directly in front of 8 Bournemouth Road. Two of the houses at The Carrara have been sold, and three remain with the highest psf price at $3,233 psf.

Owner-occupiers may be more interested in getting 8 Bournemouth Road re-zoned as a detached house, according to Yip. Under URA’s planning controls, the minimum land area for a detached house is 400 sq m (4,306 sq ft) and the minimum land width is 10m. Yip estimates that if the property were to be redeveloped into a new detached house, construction cost would be at least $3 million.

With such convenient transportation options, residents can enjoy a variety of recreational activities available nearby such as shopping, dining, and entertainment. Senja Close EC offers a great lifestyle to residents with plenty of amenities that are accessible. You can use the rooftop pool, tennis court, gym, and clubhouse. There are also 18 different recreational facilities in the development such as a 50m swimming pool, waterplay area, BBQ pavilion, children’s playground, and an outdoor yoga deck.

The nearest MRT station is the upcoming Tanjong Katong MRT Station on the Thomson-East Coast Line, which is three minutes away and is due to open in 2024.

Transaction volume and prices in the landed property segment has declined in 3Q2023 due to the property cooling measures in April and macroeconomic factors. Julian Yip believes that buyers sentiment will improve next year.