Farrer Court en bloc sale reaps $1.34 billion

Farrer Court en bloc sale reaps $1.34 billion 
Farrer Court’s (above) sale price is above the owners’ reserve price of $1.2 billion but below their asking price of $1.5 billion. — ST PHOTO: ARTHUR LEE CH
 
PROPERTY giant CapitaLand paid $1.34 billion for the sprawling Farrer Court estate on Thursday - the biggest lump sum ever shelled out for a residential site here.
Owners at the 618-unit complex will get about $2.15 million each, depending on the size of their flats, which range from 1,453 to 1,615 square feet.

The bumper price for the ex-HUDC block beat the reserve of $1.2 billion but fell short of the owners’ $1.5 billion asking price.

It also signals how high and how fast prices have risen this year. The owners’ had demanded $900 million earlier this year but revised that to $1.5 billion when the estate was put up for sale in May.

The deal broker Credo Real Estate said the sale is also the largest in terms of land area, number of units and buildable gross floor area.

Farrer Court, which is 30 years into a 99-year lease, sits on 838,488 sq ft near the junction of Farrer and Holland Roads and the upcoming Farrer MRT Station.

CapitaLand plans to build a 36-storey condominium with about 1,500 flats on the site, which will be ready for launch in early 2009.

Existing Farrer Court owners will have first right of refusal to buy units at the new development.

Capitaland president and chief executive Liew Mun Leong said the deal would further jack up its residential landbank, allowing it to benefit from Singapore’s ‘growth story’.

The site also gives the firm the chance to work with world-renowned architects to create a unique landmark project, said Mr Liew.

The Farrer Court tender closed on Wednesday and attracted two bids, both above the reserve.
Source: The Straits Times, 28 June 2007

Some 1,700 Clementi homes to be redeveloped en bloc

Some 1,700 Clementi homes to be redeveloped en bloc 
CLOSE to 1,700 households in Clementi have been selected for relocation in one of the Housing Board’s largest redevelopment exercises.
Under the Selective En-bloc Redevelopment Scheme (Sers), households in the 30-year-old precinct at Clementi Avenue 1 will be relocated to a new site nearby.

The current site comprises eight blocks of flats, two rental blocks and some shops.

Apart from a Sers exercise in March last year which involved about 1,800 units, earlier exercises typically involved relocation of about 600 to 1,000 units.

The new estate is due for completion by the end of 2011.

It will feature a new park and is situated near the Clementi MRT station, bus interchange and town centre.
Source: The Straits Times, 28 June 2007

Apartment sale smashes record at $5,100 psf

Apartment sale smashes record at $5,100 psf 
SINGAPORE’S most expensive condominium project - The Marq on Paterson Hill - has been fully sold in its first phase, with one unit fetching a record $5,100 per sq ft (psf).
This smashes the week-old record of $4,653.50 psf set by an apartment from St Regis Residences.

The new record set by The Marq also breaches. for the first time, the $5,000 mark for the highest psf unit price.

The Marq’s initial phase, which consists 21 units - or a third of all available apartments - achieved an average selling price of $4,137 psf, said developer SC Global in a statement.

The most expensive condominium sale on record is the uber penthouse at Marina Bay Residences, which was said to have fetched about $28.6 million, or $2,600 psf.

On a psf basis, only three projects have breached the $4,000 level: Orchard Residences in Orchard Turn, Parkview Eclat in Grange Road and St Regis Residences in Cuscaden Road.

Previews to The Marq’s first phase was offered to invited buyers only, said SC Global.

Of the 21 units sold, eight apartments were within The Signature Tower, housing a 15-metre private lap pool in every unit.

The rest of the 21 units were from Premier Tower.

The record-smashing $5,100 psf sale came from an apartment in The Signature Tower.

Prices for the entire development ranged from approximately $11 million to $31 million.

The three penthouses on the top two floors of the 24-storey-high building and apartments on the higher floors were not released in the first phase, SC Global said.

The Signature Tower will be home to 21 five-bedroom apartments averaging 6,195 sq ft.

Beside it will stand the Premier Tower with 42 four-bedroom apartments averaging 3,000 sq ft.

SC Global Developments said it has no confirmed date for the release of the second phase of units.
Source: The Straits Times, 28 June 2007

Land-use intensity: No sudden changes

Land-use intensity: No sudden changes 
THE Government has no plans for a major exercise to raise plot ratios anytime soon.
In the lead-up to next year’s announcement of the Master Plan for Singapore’s physical development, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan quashed expectations in some quarters that plot ratios are headed upwards.

This was to make room for a future population of 6.5 million.

The plot ratio of a site decides how much total floor area it can support.

In other words, whether its buildings can be high-rise or low-rise.

It is also known as a site’s development intensity.

In an interview this week, Mr Mah said there was no need for a massive across-the- board change in development intensity.

This is because the land available today is more than enough to meet needs over the next 10 to 15 years.

That is the time-frame for the upcoming Master Plan 2008, to be unveiled around the middle of next year.

The statutory document regulates what land parcels across the island can be used for and their density.

It is reviewed every five years.
 
Source: The Straits Times, 28 June 2007

Singapore: Who wants to be a millionaire?

Singapore: Who wants to be a millionaire? 
SINGAPORE’S population of US dollar millionaires surged by a staggering 21.2 per cent last year to 66,660 - the fastest growth rate of any nation in the world. The dramatic boost in the membership of this once highly exclusive club came amid a booming stock market, strong economy and the start of the property rebound last year.
This is the second time in three years that the Republic has posted the highest growth globally in the annual World Wealth Report, compiled by Merrill Lynch and research firm Capgemini.

About 11,660 newly minted millionaires joined the ranks here last year, the survey of the well-to-do in 71 countries has found.

A million greenbacks currently converts to about S$1.54 million. The 66,660 millionaires account for about 1.5 per cent of the population ? and that means three out of every 200 people here are millionaires.

The number of millionaires in the world increased by 8.3 per cent in 2006, with about 9.5 million individuals now estimated to have more than a million dollars in financial assets.

The financial assets owned by the group totalled US$37.2 trillion (S$57.3 trillion), an increase of 11.4 per cent from 2005.

Singapore, India, Indonesia and Russia produced the greatest number of new millionaires.

The survey said strong global economic growth and gains on the stock market explained the expansion of the exclusive club of ‘High Net Worth Individuals’ (HNWIs).

‘Real GDP and market capitalisation growth rates, two primary drivers of wealth generation, accelerated throughout 2006, which helped to increase the total number of HNWIs around the world as well as the amount of wealth they control,’ the report said.

The number of Ultra-HNWIs - individuals with financial assets exceeding US$30 million - increased by 11.3 per cent in 2006.

The global population of this extremely affluent group is now estimated at 94,970 people.

The financial assets of Ultra-HNWIs increased by 16.8 per cent compared with 2005, illustrating a trend whereby wealth is increasingly concentrated in the hands of the already wealthy, the report said.

‘Global wealth continued to consolidate in 2006, a trend we have reported for the past 11 years,’ the report said.

Capgemini and Merrill Lynch define a millionaire as someone with more than one million dollars in financial assets such as cash, equities, bonds or funds.

They do not include the value of an individual’s primary residence or private collections of objects such as art, antiques or coins.

Investments of passion
This year’s report included a section looking at the money spent by millionaires on so-called ‘investments of passion,’ meaning investments in luxury goods.

More than a quarter of such investments were in private jets, sports teams, yachts or race horses, with the remainder in art, fine wine and jewelry.

‘On average, art investments comprised 20 per cent of HNWIs’ investments of passion - outlays that were dwarfed by the huge prices paid for private aircraft and yachts,’ the report said.

The survey also highlighted a trend among millionaire investors to put money into the real estate market in 2006, particularly commercial real estate, to take advantage of surging rental and property prices.

The collective fortune of the HNWI population is forecast to hit US$51.6 trillion in 2011, compared with US$37.2 trillion last year.
Source: The Straits Times, 28 June 2007

No plans to ease curbs on foreign buying of landed homes: Govt

No plans to ease curbs on foreign buying of landed homes: Govt 
IN RESPONSE to a recent report by Goldman Sachs suggesting a review of the Residential Property Act to relax restrictions on foreigners buying landed property, the Ministry of Law said that there were ‘no plans to liberalise the existing system’.
‘In land scarce Singapore, landed properties have to be treated as a special category where purchases by foreigners are subject to special approval,’ said the Ministry of Law in a statement on Wednesday.

Goldman Sachs’ report had suggested that Singapore’s increasing popularity with foreigners could signal that it is time to relax restrictions on overseas ownership of landed properties.

The giant investment bank said in a research note that if curbs are relaxed across the board, it could spur further foreign buying of private properties.

It could also boost the residential property market by having ‘positive spillover from rising landed property prices to condominiums and apartments’.

Under the Residential Property Act, foreigners and permanent residents are forbidden from buying landed property without Government approval.

And a foreigner who does win approval can own only one landed property at a time and they must occupy the home, not rent it out.

If the rules are relaxed, developers with land banks for landed projects would benefit, the bank said.

Responding to media queries on the Government’s position on Goldman Sach’s proposal, a Ministry of Law spokesman said on Wednesday that ‘there are no plans to liberalise the existing system’.
 
Source: The Straits Times, 27 June 2007