Archive for June 16th, 2007

HDB upgraders get more choices with latest govt sales sites

Posted on June 16th, 2007 by Mindy Yong.
Categories: Singapore Real Estate News.

SINGAPORE: According to property consultants, homebuyers seeking an
apartment in the mass market segment will be spoilt for choice due to the
government’s latest release of new sites.

The government announced on Thursday that it would put up 41 sites for sale
in the second half of this year.

Analysts said the move to release new sites for sale - including those in
Tiong Bahru, Toa Payoh and Punggol - would especially please HDB-upgraders.

Observers have singled out, in particular, a site in Tanah Merah near the
Casa Merah project and another one along Alexandra Road near The
Metropolitan.

Tay Huey Ying, Director of Research, Colliers International, said: “These
sites are located very near to MRT stations and very close to recently
launched projects that have received overwhelming sales response.

“We are talking about the Casa Merah as well as The Metropolitan, both of
which have been fully sold. These are likely to appeal to the mass market
upgraders, as well as the mid-tier.”

Property analysts said the new sites are likely to ease the current supply
crunch on private residential properties.

These sites are mainly outside the city core, making them more appealing for
the mid- to lower-end of the market.

They have also welcomed the re-introduction of an executive condominium site
at Punggol, the first of such site in three years.

Nicholas Mak, Consultancy and Research Director, Knight Frank, said: “The
executive condominium scheme is designed to cater to the sandwiched class,
specifically buyers who aspire to own private properties which may be too
expensive.

“The government is seeing that private home prices are rising quite quickly
and there may be the emergence of this sandwiched class.”

The sites for sale are expected to add some 8,000 new homes to the property
market.

Source: CNA, 16 June 2007

HDB Record-touching prices for 5-room, exec flats

Posted on June 16th, 2007 by Mindy Yong.
Categories: Singapore News.

SINGAPORE: At least two housing board flats were sold in recent weeks at
prices not seen since the zenith of the property boom in 1996.

A flat in Jalan Membina, in the Tiong Bahru area, changed hands for $675,000
- an all-time record for a five-room HDB unit.

During the 1996 market peak, the highest price fetched was only close to
$600,000. Last weekend, an executive apartment near Braddell MRT station in
Toa Payoh went for $680,000, according to real estate agency PropNex - a
whopping $150,000 or 28.3 per cent premium over the official valuation. The
price-tag was also close to the $700,000 record set 11 years ago.

In both cases, the buyers had recently cashed in on en bloc sales of their
private property homes.

But other flat-owners now thinking of offering their homes for sale should
heed PropNex chief executive officer Mohamed Ismail’s caution. “It is wrong
for all HDB owners to expect such a windfall, thinking that the market has
moved,” he said.

The demand boom for bigger flats appears limited to certain areas - similar
five room units in Yishun and Bedok are selling at about $310,000 - and
property experts say, is primarily the result of the flurry of private
estates undergoing en bloc sales, netting unit owners in excess of $1
million each.

In the case of the Jalan Membina flat, the buyer was a man in his 60s
flushed with cash after he sold his condominium apartment in Jurong in a
collective sale. According to the Chinese press, he paid in cash in full.

PropNex agent Tan Siang Kook, who brokered the deal, said the buyer was
impressed with the Japanese-style renovations to the six-year-old flat. The
man closed the deal after just one viewing, at an open house on May 31 -
after negotiating down the original price tag of $700,000.

“The en bloc people appear to be downgrading after spending fruitless weeks
looking for alternative accommodation, ” said Mr Colin Tan, Chesterton
International’ s head of research and consultancy. “They need accommodation
fast and cheap, if they are putting down money on another development that
is still under construction. ”

Another group of buyers are those above age 50 or retirees who benefited
from an en bloc sale, Mr Mohamed Ismail said. Even with the handsome deal,
most would not be able to afford a similar replacement unit on the private
property market without coming up with extra cash.

So, it is “only logical” for them to downgrade to a good-quality HDB flat
and have cash in their pockets, he added.

Meanwhile, PropNex’s Mr Tan expects more keen interest in an open house this
weekend for another five-room unit at Block 121, Kim Tian Road.

While HDB estimates show a 1.2 percent increase in the price index for the
first quarter of this year, resale demand has centred on the five-room and
executive flats. In stark contrast, a year ago, such bigger flats could not
be sold even at valuation price - with HDB downgraders then snapping up
three and four-room flats to take advantage of the low prices.

“We are seeing an increased interest in the newer five-room and executive
HDB properties that are five to seven years old, located very close to the
city in areas like Tiong Bahru and Queenstown, with easy access to MRT
stations,” said Mr Eugene Lim, assistant vice president of ERA Singapore.

Such units are generally valued at about $530,000. The recent record prices
“will have some uplifting effect on other units in the area” said Mr Lim -
but it could be just a one-off buying trend driven by en bloc sales, he
added.

Source: Today, 16 June 2007

Singapore HDB Sold for $675k

Posted on June 16th, 2007 by Mindy Yong.
Categories: Singapore Real Estate News.

Singapore HDB Sold for $675k 

  • Five-room HDB flat changes hands in a cash deal
  • Price for Jalan Membina flat said to be a record for such a unit

    • By Tan Hui Yee and Jessica Jaganathan

    FLUSH with cash from a collective sale, a one-time private property owner bought a five-room Housing Board flat for $675,000 this month, setting what is believed to be a record price for such a unit.

    The five-year-old, 16-storey unit in Jalan Membina, off Tiong Bahru road and just minutes from Orchard Road, was sold in a day, without even being valued.

    The buyer is paying in cash, according to the agent who handled the deal.

    Property agents say the deal, still a one-off at such high prices, reflects the growing demand for bigger flats in redeveloped precincts in estates like Tiong Bahru, Queenstown and Toa Payoh.

    They are close to MRT stations and Orchard Road, command good views because they are taller - up to 30 storeys - than their counterparts in these mature housing estates and are also newer, having recently turned five years old.

    Private property owners dislodged after their units were sold en bloc see such flats as good - and relatively cheaper - replacements for condominium apartments, say agents.

    They are fast edging out other buyers when these flats surface on the market after five years - the minimum waiting period before a new flat can be resold.

    The Jalan Membina flat is estimated to be worth about $550,000 - meaning its buyer paid about $125,000 above its value.

    Its owners had wanted to sell the flat as it was getting too cramped for the family of eight, said the agent, Mr Joseph Tan from Propnex.

    The initial asking price was $700,000, a figure which Mr Tan said ‘we had a 70-per-cent confidence of reaching’.

    The family now intends to move to an executive flat in the north-east of Singapore.

    Similar units in other redeveloped precincts are also fetching high prices.

    First Tree Properties helped broker the sale of a five-year-old, five-room flat in Toa Payoh last month for $571,000. The flat was on the 30th floor.

    Meanwhile, a similar six-year-old unit in Kim Tian Place sold for $546,000 earlier this year.

    These units can fetch anything from $50,000 upwards in cash above their value.

    Prices of HDB flats reached a record high in 1996, when an HDB executive maisonette in Bishan with a roof terrace changed hands for $770,000.

    But the market plunged when the Asian financial crisis hit shortly after, with an overhang of new HDB flats putting the lid on resale prices.

    It is now catching up again.

    The private property market has taken off in recent months, with prices growing by 4.6 per cent between January and March.

    Many expect the resale flat market, lagging behind at a modest 1.3 per cent, to follow soon as more buyers are priced out of private property.

    Still, the general view among the 10 property agents polled was that the Jalan Membina deal was a one-off event.

    Mr Wilson Lim, the chief operating officer of Century 21, said: ‘I don’t see it having that much of an effect on the rest of the market. HDB flat dwellers and purchasers are generally quite a prudent lot. Unless they have unusual expectations, no one is going to fork out that kind of cash.’

    The chief executive of Propnex, Mr Mohamed Ismail, added that such bullish buying will likely just apply to flats within the central area.

    ‘This is not reflective of the overall HDB market,’ he said.

    Source: The Straits Times, 15 June 2007

    Singapore Mass market condos in the spotlight again

    Posted on June 16th, 2007 by Mindy Yong.
    Categories: Singapore News.

    Mass market condos in the spotlight again

    June 16th, 2007
     

    After years of being the poor cousin in the private home sector, the mass market condominium is back with a vengeance.

    It has been a long time coming with all the attention of developers seemingly on building pricey high-end homes in prime sites over the past couple of years.

    But Thursday’s release of a slew of suburban sites - from Pasir Ris to Woodlands - should spark renewed interest by developers in the mass market sector, where prices are already rising.

    The expected flow of new mass market housing should nip any looming supply crunch in the bud, property consultants said.

    Colliers International director of investment sales Ho Eng Joo said the release of so much suburban land ‘is to prevent any surge in mass market prices’.

    Mr Li Hiaw Ho, executive director of CB Richard Ellis Research, believes buyers will not have it all their own way. ‘Demand for suburban sites will be good because there has been a lack of affordable mass market launches in the past year.’

    The strong response to and some relatively high bids for a recent tender for a suburban Dakota Crescent site show there is demand for non-prime plots.

    Thursday’s release was part of a huge land sales programme for the second half of the year, with 20 residential sites, including those rolled over from the previous programme, up for grabs.

    Some sites are on the confirmed list - that means they will be put up for sale at a scheduled date regardless of whether developers have shown interest.

    The Government also sells sites on the market-friendly reserve list, which are put up for sale only after developers indicate interest.

    There is a wide range of suburban sites - new hotspots like Tiong Bahru, central areas such as Ang Mo Kio and Bishan and outlying areas such as Woodlands.

    Consultants said some of the reserve list sites are far more attractive than those on the confirmed list, and so those are likely to be triggered for sale.

    The hottest site on the reserve list is the 0.89ha plot in Tiong Bahru, which can accommodate about 395 mid-tier homes.

    Consultants said it was in a coveted location given that units at The Metropolitan next door sold well at an initial average price of $780 per sq ft (psf) with values rising further due to sub-sales.

    A new condominium on the site could sell for as high as $1,000 psf, said consultants.

    The large condominium sites in Bishan and Toa Payoh - which can accommodate about 535 units each - could probably fetch prices of $700 psf to $800 psf, they said.

    A new condominium of about 555 units in Simon Road next to Kovan MRT Station could sell for $600 psf to $700 psf while the Boon Lay plot for about 685 units should attract good demand as well, they said.

    ‘The Boon Lay site could sell for about $600 psf. It is in between NUS and NTU and may see demand from expatriates working in the high-value industries in the west,’ said Savills Singapore director of marketing and business development Ku Swee Yong, referring to the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University.

    He also reckons there could be some demand from expatriates for a new condominium in Woodlands, where the Singapore American School and the Singapore Sports School are also located.

    Generally, though, consultants are less enthusiastic about the confirmed list sites in Elias Road, Choa Chu Kang Road and Woodlands. That is good news for home buyers who like those locations because it will mean lower bids and lower end-prices of possibly between $500 psf and $600 psf.

    SUPPLY BOOST

    The expected flow of new mass market housing should nip any looming supply crunch in the bud, say property consultants.

    Source: The Straits Times, 16 June 2007

    Government land sales to see 15 new sites

    Posted on June 16th, 2007 by Mindy Yong.
    Categories: Singapore Real Estate News.

    Govt land sales to see 15 new sites

    THE Government Land Sales programme will be boosted with 15 new sites in the second half of 2007, in response to increased demand and a healthy economy, said the Ministry of National Development (MND).’This is in line with the robust growth of the economy and the increase in demand for various properties,’ MND said on Thursday.

    The MND said the 15 new sites will be made up of eight residential sites, two commercial sites, four hotel sites and one white site.

    The remaining 26 unsold sites from the first half of 2007 will be carried over to the second half.

    The Government Land Sales programme for the second half of 2007 will consist of 41 sites.

    These sites comprise 20 residential sites, five commercial sites, four white sites, 10 hotel sites and two commercial and residential sites.

    The 41 sites have a potential yield of about 8,000 private residential unites, 354,000sqm GFA of commercial space and 6,500 hotel rooms.

    The programme will continue to have sites in both the confirmed list and the reserve list.

    Sites under the confirmed list are released for tender at a pre-determined date, without the need fort he sale to be triggered by an application.

    Under the reserve list, the Government will only release a site for sale if an interested party submits an application for the site to be put up for tender with an offer of minimum purchase price accepted by the Government, said the MND.

    Confirmed list for 2007 H2
    In response to the market conditions and the need for certain sites to be developed early, a total of 14 sites will be sold through the confirmed list in the second half of 2007, said the MND in the statement.

    Out of 14 confirmed sites, three are new sites and 11 are sites carried over from the first half of 2007. The 14 sites are:

    - Eight residential sites at Sembawang Park, Simon Rd, Enggor St (A), Enggor St (B), Woodlands Ave 2 / Rosewood Dr, Elias Rd /  Pasir Ris Dr 3, Boon Lay Way / Yuan Ching Rd and Choa Chu Kang Rd / Woodlands Rd

    - One commercial site at Toa Payoh Lor 6

    - Three white sites at Marina View, Race Course Rd / Rangoon Rd and Serangoon Central

    - Two hotel sites at Upper Pickering St and New Market Rd / Merchant Rd

    Reserve list  for 2007 H2
    A total of 27 sites will be on the reserve list for the second half of 2007. These comprise 15 sites carried over from the reserve list of the first half of 2007, and another 12 new sites.

    The 12 new sites comprise:

    - Five residential sites at Alexandra Rd / Tiong Bahru Rd, Toa Payoh Lor 2/3, Yishun Ave 1 / Ave 2, New Upper Changi Rd / Tanah Merah Kechil Ave and Bishan St 14

    - One Executive Condominium (EC) site at Punggol Rd / Punggol Field

    - Four hotel sites at Jln Bt Merah / Alexandra Rd, Jln Besar / Sturdee Rd, Race Course Rd / Bt Timah Rd and Bernam St / Tanjong Pagar Rd

    - Two commercial sites at Jln Sultan and Tampines Concourse

    Supply in pipeline
    For the private housing sector, a total of about 42,200 new private residential units from projects in the pipeline are expected to be completed up to 2010.

    For the office sector, a total supply of about 640,000sqm of office space is expected to be completed up to 2010.

    For the shop and hotel sectors, a total supply of about 610,000sqm of shop space and 9,100 hotel rooms are expected to be completed up to 2010.

    Source: The Straits Times, 14 June 2007

    St Regis Residences: Penthouse sold for record $4,653.5 psf

    Posted on June 16th, 2007 by Mindy Yong.
    Categories: Singapore Real Estate News.

    St Regis Residences: Penthouse sold for record $4,653.5 psf
    The owner of a two-storey penthouse in St Regis Residences has reaped a profit of $12.77 million in just eight months after a foreigner paid $28 million for the plush apartment last month.

    The buyer smashed the old price benchmark by shelling out a record $4,653.5 per sq ft (psf) for the 6,017 sq ft unit in Tanglin Road, according to the caveat lodged for the purchase. It represents a remarkable capital gain because the penthouse was initially sold for $15.23 million just last August.

    The previous known record for a residential unit in Singapore was set by a four-bedroom unit at Chyau Fwu Group’s 35-unit Parkview Eclat in Grange Road that went for nearly $4,200 psf late last month.

    It also underlines the astonishing surge in demand for high-end property.

    ‘The uber-rich believe Singapore has the potential to grow, reinforcing our point that Singapore is undervalued compared with other global cities such as London and New York,’ said Savills Singapore’s director of marketing and business development, Mr Ku Swee Yong. ‘Nothing short of the very best will do for this group.’

    The 999-year leasehold St Regis Residences, which has penthouses ranging in size from 5,000 sq ft to 7,300 sq ft, was officially launched in June last year. One of its units was sold for what was at the time a record high price of more than $3,000 psf.

    Source: The Straits Times, 14 June 2007

    Singapore Property - Buy , Sell , Rent , Invest

    Mindy Yong
    (+65)91002985
    mindy@mindyyong.com