A residential development with a rich history, River Valley Apartments in prime District 10 has been put up for collective sale through public tender. The marketing agent, Knight Frank Singapore, announced on January 6th that the development is priced at $56 million.
Originally constructed in the 1950s, River Valley Apartments consists of 24 units spread across four storeys. The development sits on a freehold land area of approximately 12,408 square feet and is zoned for residential use, with a gross plot ratio of 2.8. Conveniently located just 500m from the Great World MRT Station on the Thomson-East Coast Line, the development is within walking distance to Great World City and Valley Point Shopping Centre. It is also situated within a 1km radius of River Valley Primary School and Alexandra Primary School.
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According to the EdgeProp LandLens map, the site has the potential for redevelopment into a boutique residential development with 37 new units, with an average size of 915 square feet. The guide price of $56 million translates to a land rate of approximately $1,622 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr), which includes a nominal land betterment charge. Factoring in the 7% bonus gross floor area allowed for balconies, the price then translates to approximately $1,583 psf ppr.
Knight Frank’s head of capital markets (land and collective sale), Chia Mein Mein, notes that the site is situated near three Government Land Sale (GLS) sites that were successfully sold last year. In April 2020, the Zion Road (Parcel A) GLS site was awarded to a joint venture between City Developments and Mitsui Fudosan for $1.107 billion ($1,202 psf ppr). In June 2020, Wing Tai Holdings successfully acquired a GLS site at River Valley Green for $463.99 million ($1,325 psf ppr). Two months later, Allgreen Properties secured the Zion Road (Parcel B) GLS site for $730.9 million ($1,304 psf ppr) in August.
Chia further adds, “Despite the lackluster home sales activity in the Central Region, the interest in the River Valley and Zion Road location demonstrates that developers continue to be attracted to this area. This may be due to the belief that when these projects are ready for launch, there will be a ready demand for prime products after a long period of subdued activity.”
If the development is successfully sold, Knight Frank estimates that owners of the units at River Valley Apartments, which range between 947 and 1,238 square feet in size, could receive a minimum of $2 million to $2.6 million in sale proceeds.
The collective sale tender for River Valley Apartments will close on February 18 at 3pm. Potential buyers can check out the latest listings for River Valley Apartments properties on EdgeProp’s Ask Buddy feature. For information on past profitable rental and sale transactions, as well as price trends for the development, users can also refer to EdgeProp’s Buddy feature.