Designer Deco Landed properties showflats for Lease - 15.09.2007

Designer Deco showflats for Lease All brand new stunning designer landed properties for lease .

All with classy furnishings - Modern ! Unique! Cosy !!! Different layouts, fittings but all NEW !!

Cashew terraces, Lentor Semi-Ds, Bedok Corner Terraces !!!! Ready to move-in condition !!

Perfect for those clients who want no hassle and need it fast !!
All 4 rooms plus 1 Guest Room and 1 utility room ..
Fully furnished and min 2 yr lease ..

East :
1. Bedok Grove Corner Terrace : Land 4112, Built-in 4004 Asking $15K

North :
1. Banyan Villas Corner Terrace : Land 3652, Built-in 3079 Asking $13.9K
2. Banyan Villas Terrace : Land 1715, Built-in 3068 Asking $8.7K
3. Florida Park Corner Terrace : Land 2274, Built-in 3843 Asking $10.8K
4. Florida Park Corner Terrace : Land 2846, Built-in 3993 Asking $12.3K
5. Lentor Modern Corner Terrace : Land 3724, Built-in 3165 Asking $13.2K

West :
1. Cashew Hill Corner Terrace: Land 2153, Built-in 3638 Asking $11.3K
2. Cashew Villas Corner Terrace : Land 3208, Built-in 4402 Asking $11.6K
3. Cashew Villas Semi-D : Land 3296, Built-in 4456 Asking $13.2K

Singapore Real Estate - Buy , Sell , Rent ,invest Singapore Property
Buy, sell and rent Singapore real estate: private property, residential apartments, commercial and industrial properties. HDB flats for sale and rental. Foreign investors, buyers, tenants or relocating expats can easily find their ideal landed house, bungalow, semi-d, terrace, condominium, townhouse, private apartment, HDB, HUDC, office, shop, factory, warehouse, land right here.

Mindy Yong
(+65)91002985
mindy@mindyyong.com
http://www.hotvictory.com

Green hotels gain, others spew hot air

Green hotels gain, others spew hot air
Saving the environment can go with lower power bills, but many still reluctant to change
By MATTHEW PHAN

(SINGAPORE) In some parts of the world, conviction is driving hotels to go green. But, as several hotels in Singapore have concluded, common sense points to the same path.

The Far East Organization, for example, realised that its corporate electricity bill for all its properties across Singapore was $33 million a year. ‘Imagine if we can cut that by 10 per cent,’ said Chia Swee Cheng, assistant director of the group’s central engineering & operations department.

And so its Changi Village hotel has new boiler and chiller systems in place and a far more efficient energy use.

Over at the Grand Hyatt, Singapore’s first plant to produce electricity, steam and chilled water at a hotel is under construction. Along with the solar panels planned for a new garden conference room, the plant could slash Hyatt’s energy use by a third and save it $800,000 in bills.

While critics say that many local hotels pay only lip service to eco-programmes, there are others, led by Hyatt, who are changing mindsets, going green - and finding that it pays.
‘In the long run, it makes good corporate sense for hotels to go green as it not only saves the environment but reduces costs.’

- Singapore Hotel Association president Kay Kuok

‘My impression is that all the hotel operators are serious about sustainability, but not necessarily all the owners, who have to pay for changes,’ said Robert Hacker of Horwath, a hotel consultancy. ‘Generally, all the international chains are taking on board green principles.’

The Regent Singapore, for example, in late 2005 replaced a diesel boiler for heating water with a heat exchanger that produces hot and cold water at the same time. This has cut energy use by a fifth.

And at the Shangri-La, energy use improved over 10 per cent through better work processes, such as using small ovens to prepare meals on demand, rather than keeping a large oven fired up all day just to reheat food.

But critics like Tay Kheng Soon, architect and promoter of socially and environmentally conscious architecture in Singapore since the 1970s, say Hyatt is the only energy-efficient hotel in Singapore.

And though the National Environment Agency handed out the new Energy Smart label to some hotels last month, that is only a starting point, said Mr Tay. A more basic change might come about, in his opinion, if there were incentives to use renewable energy sources, like wind and solar energy.

Many hotels ‘hand-wave’ over cosmetic eco-programmes, like using hybrid cars to ferry guests or planting trees, but miss the ‘elephant in the room’ - like the efficiency of their chiller systems - said Lee Eng Lock, general manager of Trane, a US-based energy solutions firm and an accredited Energy Service Company (ESCO) here.

The Hyatt sets the bar but there is no reason why others should not follow suit, with high returns and backed by bank guarantees, said Mr Lee.

But business in the hotel sector is negotiated on the basis of relationships, so it is not necessarily the most efficient solutions that get selected, he said.

Luxury hotels in Singapore run at an energy intensity of 427 kilowatt hours of electricity per square metre of gross floor area, according to a study by the National University of Singapore (NUS) last year. This is down from the 468 KWh/m2 reported by Apec in 1999, but pales beside the under-300 KWh/m2 averages achieved in parts of Europe and Australia.

In other words, local hotels could be using up to 40 per cent more electricity than ideal.

Dr Lee Siew Eang, head of NUS’s Energy Sustainability Unit and leader of the study, recalls some four and five-star hotels saying during the study that energy efficiency was ‘not relevant’ to them - since, as ‘posh hotels’, it was ‘their duty to be extravagant’.

Many hotel managers were not aware of how much energy their buildings were using. One hotel, which had wanted to apply for an eco-award, was found by NUS to be using an exceptionally high 800 KWh/m2, said Dr Lee. That’s almost twice the industry average. According to the Singapore Hotel Association (SHA), which represents about 90 per cent of the total number of gazetted hotel rooms here, most hotels in Singapore pay attention to water and energy conservation. ‘In the long run, it makes good corporate sense for hotels to go green as it not only saves the environment but reduces costs,’ said SHA president Kay Kuok.

Whether the message has sunk home is another matter. With the two integrated resorts set to help up Singapore’s hotel room stock by over 10 per cent by 2010, it is a critical time to move into energy efficiency, said NUS’s Dr Lee. ‘The designs are being drawn right now. If we miss this chance, we have to wait another 20 years.’

Source : Business Times - 15 sept 2007

Singapore Property - Buy , Sell , Rent , Invest
Mindy Yong
(+65)91002985
mindy@mindyyong.com
http://www.hotvictory.com

No signs of bubble in property sector, say two bankers

No signs of bubble in property sector, say two bankers
SOUND FUNDAMENTALS: Home prices have risen but this reflects the strong fundamentals of a balanced economy, says DBS’ Mr Tai.

SINGAPORE’S buoyant property market shows no signs of a speculative bubble, two leading bankers said yesterday.
DBS Group Holdings chief executive Jackson Tai said home prices may have risen but this simply reflects the strong fundamentals of a balanced economy.

Mr Philip Lee, senior country officer of investment bank JPMorgan Chase, echoed Mr Tai’s views.

‘There’s no bubble in Singapore…while luxury prices have soared recently, mass-market prices have not gone up yet.’

They were among five corporate bigwigs from the thriving finance and property sectors who discussed Singapore’s booming economy at an annual Leadership Forum organised by newswire Bloomberg.

Four other speakers from sectors such as consulting and asset management spoke about the global risks at the 90-minute session held at the Ritz-Carlton Milennia Hotel.

Singapore does not face the same problems as the United States, where the US Federal Reserve has created ‘a housing bubble, inducing people to refinance their homes’ with ’spicy loans’ and ‘artificially low rates’, said Mr Tai.

In contrast, 90 per cent of people own their own homes in Singapore, so ‘the culture here of protecting one’s home is very different from that in the US,’ he noted.

While acknowledging that ’speculation is always in the marketplace’, Mr Tai said Singapore is ‘not a one-trick pony’ but has a well-diversified economy.

Property prices and broader economic growth will be sustained by a ‘rising population’ and more diversified economy, added Mr Chris Fossick, South-east Asia managing director at Jones Lang LaSalle, pointed to a ‘rising population’.

Singapore will enjoy new booster engines to its growth with the upcoming integrated resorts which will boost tourism and attract more high-networth clients, said Mr Kenneth Sit, chief executive of Bank Sarasin-Rabo (Asia).

Even in the event of a downturn in Asia or globally, Singapore may benefit from a ‘capital flight to quality’ because it is a reputable Asian financial hub, noted Mr Lim Cheng Teck, chief executive of Standard Chartered Singapore.

Source : Straits Times - 15 sept 2007

Singapore Property - Buy , Sell , Rent , Invest
Mindy Yong
(+65)91002985
mindy@mindyyong.com
http://www.hotvictory.com

CDL attracts heavy buying after clinching iconic site

CDL attracts heavy buying after clinching iconic site

By Goh Eng Yeow, Markets Correspondent
CLINCHING the historic Beach Road military camp site helped ignite fresh buying interest in property giant City Developments (CDL).
The site, which cost the CDL-led consortium $1.69 billion, is just a stone’s throw from the upcoming Marina Bay Sands integrated resort and the Formula One street circuit.

Observers believe the acquisition will enhance CDL’s already high-quality portfolio, which includes top-notch commercial buildings and condos like Republic Plaza and The Sail@Marina Bay.

CDL yesterday surged 50 cents to $15.40 on a heavy volume of 5.8 million shares. It hit an intra-day high of $15.60. Its total gain for the week was 40 cents.

Kim Eng Research analyst Wilson Liew said the iconic Beach Road site is slated to include premium offices, two luxury hotels, exclusive residences and retail space with a total gross floor area of 1.58 million sq ft.

‘Assuming a breakdown of 40 per cent for office use, 30 per cent for hotel use, 15 per cent for residential use and 15 per cent for retail use, we estimate the total development cost at around $2.6 billion, should add 25 cents per share to revalued net asset value (RNAV),’ he said.

Mr Liew raised his target price for CDL to $18, based on a 20 per cent premium to his RNAV of $15.66.

The heavy buying of CDL shares also reflected investors’ conviction that demand would stay buoyant in the red-hot residential market.

On Thursday, BNP Paribas noted that developers had maintained their selling prices ‘and have no intention of lowering them at this juncture’.

This was despite a slowdown in property sales last month, which could have been due to buyers here also taking a ‘wait-and-see’ attitude, as the United States mortgage crisis deepened.

On the secondary resale market, the wide disparity between sellers’ asking prices and buyers’ offer prices is narrowing, suggesting that demand in the property market is sustainable.

‘Singapore developers are currently trading at around 6 per cent to 37 per cent below the peak share price prior to the market correction in late July, which presents an attractive discount, especially as property market fundamentals have not changed much over the period.’

BNP Paribas also expects developers with a big exposure to the Singapore mass market, such as CDL, to benefit from opportunities for collective sales still available on the city’s fringes and in suburban areas where land is still affordable.
Source : Straits Times - 15 sept 2007

Singapore Property - Buy , Sell , Rent , Invest
Mindy Yong
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mindy@mindyyong.com
http://www.hotvictory.com

Is red-hot property market starting to slow down?

Is red-hot property market starting to slow down?

Possible correction seen but underlying demand is still strong, say experts
By Fiona Chan, Property Reporter
UNAFFECTED BY SLOWDOWN: Projects that went on sale last month, including The Soleil@Sinaran condominium (above) in Novena and The Parc in West Coast Walk, did well despite a slowdown in the residential property market. — FRASERS CENTREPOINT, SAVILLS

AFTER months of racing along at a feverish pace, Singapore’s residential property market seems to be finally taking a breather.
Home sales and collective sales slowed last month, and property watchers have started to speak of a possible correction in the market.

‘A correction is going to take place. The question is: How severe?’ OCBC Investment Research analyst Winston Liew told Reuters.

Experts agree, however, that underlying housing demand is still strong, and that home prices will keep rising, although at a slower pace. Prices surged 13.5 per cent in the first six months of the year alone.

‘Property market fundamentals have not changed much over the period,’ said French bank BNP Paribas in a report on Thursday.

It is tipping mid-tier and suburban homes as the big growth areas for the rest of the year. These have lagged in the rebound, which has been led mainly by high-end homes setting new record prices.

‘We still see opportunities available on the fringe of the city and suburban areas, where land remains affordable to developers,’ BNP said.

It noted, however, that home sales had been falling since June, according to caveats lodged. Sales fell from 4,921 in May to 3,917 in June to 3,540 in July.

So far, just 1,127 sales have been lodged for last month, partly due to a time lag in caveats. BNP estimates, however, that even when all the data is in, last month’s sales will hit about 2,500 only.

Collective sales, which set a string of record land prices earlier this year, have also slowed to a trickle, with only one deal recorded last month.

Property analysts have offered several reasons for the current slowdown.

One is the sub-prime home loans crisis in the United States, which triggered weeks of stock market volatility in Singapore and in the rest of the region. Developers say this has led to more caution among foreign investors, some of whom are the biggest buyers of luxury homes in Singapore.

Consultants have also blamed the sharp run-up in property prices since the beginning of the year. With asking prices breaching the stratosphere, many buyers are now holding out for better deals.

Upcoming changes in rules on collective sales and higher development charges are also dampening the collective-sale market, previously a major source of housing supply and demand.

A fourth reason could be the month-long hungry ghost festival that ended last week. Fewer projects were launched during this time compared to previous months.

But projects that did go on sale last month. including The Parc in West Coast Walk and Soleil@Sinaran in Novena, received a strong response.

MCL Land has also quietly sold more than half its strata titled terrace homes in Bukit Timah since Monday, even before official previews. About a third of the 168 units at Hillcrest Villas have been taken up by the developer’s close associates at between $2.5 million and $3 million apiece.

‘Residential demand remains healthy, even though homebuyers and investors will tread cautiously,’ CB Richard Ellis executive director Li Hiaw Ho said.

He and other market experts agree that while market activity has slowed somewhat, the pace of growth will pick up again at year-end.

‘The stock market has started to stabilise and, come November, things will probably go back to the way they were before August,’ said Mr Lui Seng Fatt, regional director at Jones Lang LaSalle.

Source : Straits Times - 15 sept 2007

Singapore Property - Buy , Sell , Rent , Invest
Mindy Yong
(+65)91002985
mindy@mindyyong.com
http://www.hotvictory.com

Extra cool touch for Boon Keng Rd flats

Extra cool touch for Boon Keng Rd flats

More air-con units will be standard for flats, built by private developers
By Tan Hui Yee, Housing Correspondent

THE second batch of public housing built by private developers will boast condominium-style features such as built-in wardrobes, bay windows and large balconies.
The flats in Boon Keng Road will also feature air-conditioning, not just in the bedrooms, but also in the living and dining areas.

This extra air-con was not included in the initial offering of these hybrid public flats, which were designed and built privately and released last year to strong demand.

Units on the top floors of the three 40-storey blocks in Boon Keng Road will offer fine city views, especially a select few that will come with higher ceilings than normal.

Unveiling the design of the project yesterday, the Hoi Hup Sunway Development consortium said just 474 of the 714 flats to be built there will be five-room flats, which will be between 105 sq m and 120 sq m each.

The proportion of five-room flats here - two-thirds - is notably lower than the 94 per cent that made up the first batch of such hybrid flats in Tampines. The HDB had required the second developer to set aside at least 30 per cent of its units for four-room or smaller flats.

That means flat hunters looking for smaller homes will have their pick of 168 four-room flats of 80 sq m to 95 sq m each, as well as 72 three-room units of 60 sq m to 70 sq m each.

The developer declined to disclose prices, as the project will go on sale only in January. Its spokesman, Mr Wong Chee Herng, would only say that flats there would be ‘affordable to the public’.

But in an interview he gave The Straits Times in June, Mr Wong had indicated he expected the average selling price of the project to be almost $500 psf, which would work out to about $645,000 for a 1,290 sq ft five-room flat.

New homes at nearby condominium Kerrisdale were selling for about $550 psf earlier this year.

Property agency Propnex’s chief executive Mohamed Ismail expects the upcoming development to attract young, middle-income families who wish to live close to the city. But he warned that prices would start becoming unpalatable if they breached the $550 psf level.

Under the hybrid housing scheme, private developers get to design, build, price and sell flats according to public housing guidelines. Among other things, this means that only family units earning no more than $8,000 a month can buy these flats, and they have to meet ethnic quotas.

The flats have proved popular so far, because of their condominium-like trappings and their location in mature - and even central - estates.

The first such hybrid project, developed by Sim Lian Land and located in Tampines, received an overwhelming response when it was launched last year. Almost 6,000 people applied for its 616 flats, most of them five-room flats priced from $308,000 to $450,000.

Earlier this week, a third site for such hybrid developments was put up for tender in Ang Mo Kio Street 52, a stone’s throw from Ang Mo Kio MRT station. Analysts expect this project to receive just as much interest from developers and home-buyers.

Source : Straits Times - 15 sept 2007

Singapore Property - Buy , Sell , Rent , Invest
Mindy Yong
(+65)91002985
mindy@mindyyong.com
http://www.hotvictory.com