Aurum Land Picks Up Singapore Site for $49M in First Collective Sale Since ABSD Hike

The first collective sale in Singapore since the government hiked buyer stamp duty on home purchases is in the books, with local builder Aurum Land securing a residential site in District 11 with a bid of S$66.8 million ($49.4 million).

The winning amount represents a 5 percent premium to the guide price of S$63.8 million, reflecting a land price of S$1,940 per square foot for the freehold property at 34 and 36 Kheam Hock Road, which currently hosts a 1989-vintage townhouse complex known as Kew Lodge.

The sale gives Aurum Land, a subsidiary of privately owned conglomerate Woh Hup, the right to redevelop the 34,433 square foot (3,199 square metre) site into a new project with bungalows, semi-detached houses or terrace houses.

“With this acquisition, we’re excited to broaden our scope into the landed property sector, a move that will allow us to apply our distinctive combination of design excellence and quality construction to a segment and locale rich with potential for even more highly curated living,” Aurum Land chief executive Michelle Yong said Wednesday in a release.

Fit for a CEO

Located within 1 kilometre (0.6 miles) of the Singapore Chinese Girls Primary School and less than a 15-minute drive to the CBD and Orchard Road, Kew Lodge’s existing development comprises 11 “maisonettes” ranging from 2,013 to 2,852 square feet with a total strata area of 25,177 square feet.

The Kew Lodge homeowners are trading their units for more than S$5 million each. Yong said Aurum Land plans to transform the “two-storey mixed landed” site into a bespoke collection of luxury houses, including her own self-designed family home.

According to Sakal Real Estate Partners, the sole marketing agent for Kew Lodge, the landed property market remains mostly insulated from the April increase in additional buyer’s stamp duty aimed at foreign buyers, with demand expected to stay robust among affluent local buyers in search of exclusive and well-appointed residences.

“In land-scarce Singapore we face a comparatively restrictive fresh supply of new landed properties as opposed to non-landed properties,” said Sakal managing partner Steven Ming. “We view ownership of prime landed homes as a significant store of wealth that presents significant capital upside over time. A landed home purchase today can be a strategic investment for future generations.”

Sakal represented the vendors in partnership with law firm Rajah and Tann, with attorneys Norman Ho, Gazalle Mok and Calvin Lim advising in the transaction, according to a social media post.

Broker’s Latest Win

The Kew Lodge transaction, which remains subject to approval by the Strata Titles Board, is the first collective sale handled by Sakal, a property advisory and brokerage co-founded in 2018 by Ming, a former managing director at Savills, and Joe Kwan, a UBS alum and managing partner of Raffles Family Office.

Ming and investment sales director Lennon Koh have managed nearly S$4 billion in collective sales, land sales and residential portfolio sales throughout their professional tenures.

Among its S$12 billion in deals, Sakal has brokered the S$213 million sale of the 21 Anderson  freehold apartment block in posh District 10 and the S$340 million sale of the Robinson Centre commercial building in the CBD.