New URA master plan to provide more housing options

New URA master plan to provide more housing options
By Wong Siew Ying, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 29 June 2007 2215 hrs
 

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New URA master plan to provide more housing options
 

SINGAPORE : More residential sites will be released in Marina South.

Besides providing more housing options in the downtown area, there will also be developments outside the city.

This is all part of the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s upcoming Master Plan Review 2008.

The plan will be put up for public feedback by the middle of next year and is expected to change the way Singaporeans live.

There will be city living in the midst of lush greenery, complete with breath-taking views when the Marina South Gardens by the Bay is ready.

Mah Bow Tan, National Development Minister, said: “We will be developing the area around the Gardens for very high-end, high rise residential use in the city area.

“This would be, I believe, very attractive, because it will not just have views of the Gardens, but it will also have views of the water, the Marina channel and across to the Straits. So that’s something we hope to start within the next five years.”

Analysts say the new sites will attract international players and the units are expected to sell very well.

But they will not come cheap. These areas will command premium prices, just like properties in Manhattan in New York or near Hyde Park in London.

Still, the move to set aside more land for residential use is welcomed as it could take the heat off the property market.

With the government releasing 41 sites in its recent land sales programme, analysts project that there will be potentially some 42,000 new residential units by 2010.

Donald Han, Managing Director, Cushman & Wakefield, said: “I think the government is focusing on the supply. Don’t rush out there (thinking that) there is going to be a supply crunch. Don’t worry, there is a lot of supply, not only in terms of the central area.

“There’s a lot of new areas that the government is developing and creating new residential enclave at Kallang Basin area.”

He said the government is releasing more land outside the central area, which is meant to cater to the mass market.

There are also plans to further develop Seng Kang and Punggol to offer more facilities and activities for residents.

But not everything will change.

The Housing Development Board says it will retain certain icons in old HDB estates, to preserve the memories of Singaporeans. - CNA/ch

Auction volumes grow on en bloc demand

Auction volumes grow on en bloc demand
Colliers says the same trend can be expected for the second half of ‘07
By UMA SHANKARI

THE auction market here is being fuelled by the en bloc fever.
Colliers International observed that the Singapore auction market has witnessed a burgeoning increase in the number of property owners choosing the auction route to sell properties with en bloc potential - a trend in tandem with the sizzling collective sale market. ‘Competitive bidding for properties with en bloc potential was seen among keen buyers, with final transacted price being 20-30 per cent above the opening price,’ said the property firm.

‘It is really an interesting phenomenon - we see a striking difference in the number of bidders present in the auction hall on the days when there are properties with en bloc potential being put up for sale, compared with those days when there are none,’ said Grace Ng, Colliers’ auctioneer. ‘The number of attendees jumps from the usual 100 to as many as 200 people, jam-packing the auction hall.’

Attendees comprise punters, ’specu-investors’, speculators, investors and home sellers/buyers alike, Ms Ng said.

Some examples of properties with en-bloc potential that were successfully sold at auctions include a unit in Watten Estate Condominium which was sold for $2.4 million, a residential unit in Lagoon View that went for $910,000 and a shop unit in Katong Shopping Centre which sold for $280,000.
 
The same trend can be expected for the second half of the year, Colliers said. ‘With the en bloc fever still running high, we can expect to see positive response for condominium and apartment units in the suburban areas from HDB upgraders and collective sale owners who are priced out of the prime areas, for the second half of this year,’ Ms Ng said. All this activity is adding to the robustness of the auction market. Colliers’ figures show that the total sale value of properties (owners’ sale and mortgagee sale) sold at auctions climbed 25 per cent to $263 million in the first half of 2007, up from $210.3 million in the second half of 2006.

Similarly, Knight Frank, which yesterday auctioned off a conservation bungalow at 781 Mountbatten Road for $13.95 million, said that the number and value of properties sold at auctions scaled new heights in the first half.

The firm estimates that with 132 properties sold in the first six months of the year, the number of properties sold rose by more than 36 per cent versus the second half of 2006.

It put total sales value for the first half of 2007 at about $286 million - also about 36 per cent higher than sales in the year ago period.

Going forward, the auction market will remain robust in the second half given the strong performance in the economy and property market as well as assurance from the government that it will not clamp down on the current buzzing property market, predicted Mary Sai, Knight Frank’s auctioneer. She expects a greater variety of properties will be offered at auctions in the coming months.
Source: The Business Times, 30 June 2007

Cashback property scam: Veteran lawyer found guilty

Cashback property scam: Veteran lawyer found guilty 
By Chong Chee Kin 
WENT ALONG: Singh had continued to act for his client even though he knew about the cashback deal. — LAU FOOK KONG
 
A VETERAN lawyer has been convicted for his role in a ‘cashback’ property deal, with the judge admonishing him for carrying on with what was clearly a scam.
Bachoo Mohan Singh, a lawyer for more than 30 years, was convicted in a district court yesterday of helping a Housing Board flat owner make a false declaration in April 2004.

Although the agreed selling price of Mr Koh Sia Kang’s five- room Redhill flat was $390,000, it was inflated by $100,000 as part of the so-called cashback scam.

Such a scam involves a pro- perty seller declaring a higher price in order to secure a higher loan for the buyer.

The cash difference between the actual and declared price is either kept by the buyer or split with the seller. These scams were rife before the relevant law was tightened two years ago.

Singh, 59, got into trouble as a result of the sale falling through. He acted for Mr Koh, 53, a taxi driver, who sued the buyers.

Mr Koh went to court, claiming he was cheated of money in the transaction. He also sued the pro- perty agent who had arranged the aborted sale to a couple.

Property agent Kereen Teo Pei Pei, 28, was the first person to be convicted. She was fined $8,000 last year for trying to cheat DBS Bank by inflating the selling price of Mr Koh’s flat by $100,000. Her manager was similarly fined.

Mr Koh has yet to be charged with any offence.

In arriving at his decision, District Judge Bala Reddy agreed with the prosecution that Singh knew all along about the cashback deal.

The judge added that when Mr Koh went on to make the false $490,000 claim against the couple, Singh continued to act for him to sue them based on the false claim. Singh had thus abused the judicial process, he added.

He showed no emotion when the judge announced his decision.

Soon after, he sought permission through his lawyer to return to Perth in Australia. His immediate family is in Perth.

His lawyer, Mr Ang Cheng Hock, said Singh was not a flight risk as his sister and mother are still living here.

However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Vincent Leow objected, arguing that because Singh’s family is in Perth, he was a potential flight risk.

The judge will decide on Tuesday if Singh may leave the country. The mitigation hearing is set for July 27.

Singh is now out on $20,000 bail. He could be jailed up to two years and fined.

Source: The Straits Times, 30 June 2007