Although the bungalow market opened the year on a quiet note, activity is now starting to look more favourable, according to a report by The Business Times.

In the GCBA (Good Class Bungalow Area) segment, a two-storey bungalow located at Bishopsgate was sold for S$27 million, which works out to around S$1,674 psf, based on the 16,124 sq ft freehold land area. The six-bedroom property was acquired four years ago for S$19.4 million.

Other deals include a property at Jalan Kampong Chantek, which was transacted for S$14.88 million or S$1,522 psf on a 9,774 sq ft land area. At the same time, a deal at Chestnut Crescent was sealed for S$12.08 million or S$990 psf on a 12,200 sq ft plot.

But the biggest transaction in Q1 was said to be a vacant freehold GCBA site at Nassim Road, which was sold for S$47.842 million or S$2,000 psf on a land area of 23,922 sq ft.

Both the Nassim Road and Bishopsgate deals were brokered by Newsman Realty.

Over the next few weeks, more caveats are expected to come in. Estimates show that total transactions for Q1 2012 will likely be under S$200 million for GCBA deals.

In comparison, Q4 2011 deals reached S$239.7 million while a total of 57 deals which hit S$1.16 billion were recorded for the whole of last year.

Outside the GCBA segment, one of the latest bungalow deals includes an old single-storey property at Jalan Tupai, which was sold for S$21 million, or around S$2,005 psf.