A government land tender for a residential site drew a massive 22 bids, despite tough new measures to cool the housing market.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said the site at Chestnut Avenue/Almond Avenue attracted a top bid of S$70.8 million from a company called SCB Terraform.
The next highest bid of S$67.8 million came from SK Land Pte Ltd.
CT Projects Pte Ltd put in the third highest bid of S$65.9 million.
The remaining 19 bids range from S$25 million to S$64 million.
The site measures 12,893.4 square metres. Located in the relatively popular Upper Bukit Timah area, it was offered for sale on a 99-year lease.
The top bid works out to S$5,494 per square metre of built-up space.
Under the latest property market-cooling measures, buyers of private properties in Singapore will have to fork out an Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) of between 3 per cent and 10 per cent over and above the existing Buyer’s Stamp Duty.
The new measure does not affect permanent residents buying their first home and Singaporeans buying their first and/or second home.
Foreigners are the hardest hit. They have to pay a hefty ABSD of 10 per cent on any purchase of a residential property in Singapore.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 8 Dec 2011