A Change in Singapore Commission Structure from September For Property Agents

A Change in Singapore Commission Structure from September For Property Agents

A change in the commission structure is supposed to take place from the month of September, 2008, whereby there can be a drop-down in the percentage of commission that is paid to the property agents by the buyers and sellers. This is indeed great news for all the buyers and sellers of Singapore. They will be able to negotiate with the property agents on the commission they pay to them for the real estate service. As of now, the sellers need to pay 2 percent of the purchase price to the property agent. In case of buyers, this is only 1 percent. However, if it is a matter of private property transactions, only the seller pays 2 percent. 1 percent Buyer.

The present commission structure that is 2 percent for the seller and 1 percent for the buyer is quite low when compared to the commission structure in USA. In USA, the commission stands somewhere between 5 to 7 percent. 2 percent from buyer .This is quite higher than the Singapore fee structure. A thing that the buyers and sellers of Singapore must know is that a quality work can be got only if the right value is paid for it. Therefore, it is important that the commission should go up. Then only the property agents can get the right property that is suitable for a buyer or seller. The higher the value the better is the property!

The Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) considers the old fee structure of the 1999 guidelines of the Institute of Estate Agents (IEA) a non-competitive one. These guidelines were issued on the basis of the Government Gazette of 1974. But with the new commission structure, the buyers and sellers will have a good edge over the property agents as they will have enough space to go for bargaining and reject the old fee practices of the property agent if the latter puts it before. But they need to understand that in the long run, they will be a looser. If the commission they pay to a property agent is good, then the latter will always have the boost to find out a home that is perfect for the clients in the hot and ever competitive Singapore real estate.

To excel in quality, it is time that the buyers and sellers come forward and cooperate with the property agents. Real estate investment is probably a lifetime investment for one. Hence, one should get the true worth of it. If the commission structure in Singapore can go as high as 5 to 7 percent as found in USA, then the quality is bound to go up. To prevent deterioration in quality, the percentage of commission must be lifted.

The situation can become tough when the general market condition in the Singapore real estate is poor. Above that, if the commission is low then the buyers and sellers are not going to get what they deserve actually. An important fact that the consumers must know is that a property agent spends about 40 per cent of the commission that they get on transport, marketing, and operational costs. Hence, to get a better service from them, they are required to be paid a good commission by the buyers and sellers.

The new guidelines that will be probably introduced by 25th September this year will provide ample space for the agents and, the buyers and sellers to negotiate among themselves. But who will have an upper hand will depend on the situation, or better to put it, on the market condition. To get a comprehensive and quality Singapore real estate service, the property agents must get the right value. If the rate of commission is good, the property agents may also feel like giving some discounts to the clients.

In this aggressive Singapore real estate market, it is expected that only those property agents will be able to survive who provide quality service to the consumers. The others will be able to eat the fruits but only for a short time. For a better living in Singapore, the buyers and sellers must join their hands today. It will then only be possible for the property agents to give their best service in the tough Singapore real estate market.

Buy Sell Rent Invest In Singapore

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

Citylights For Sale Apartment / Condo, District 08 , 12.08.2008

Citylights For Sale Apartment / Condo, District 08 , 12.08.2008

TY : [C]ondo [D]uplex [H]iRise [L]oRise [T]ownHse [P]enthse [W]alkUp [M]asionette

TNR=Tenure, DT=District, BDRM=Bedroom, AREA=Built-In, STR=Storey, Price $K=In Thousand

Price are subject to changes , please call (+65) 91002985 for lastest update

Type — C
District — 8
Street — CITYLIGHTS, BLK 80 #04
Tenure — 99
Area — 1432
Age — BN
Room — 3
Psf — 1050
PRICE$ — 1503600

Type — C
District — 8
Street — CITYLIGHTS, BLK 80 #06
Tenure — 99
Area — 1313
Age — BN
Room — 3
Psf — 0
PRICE$ — 0

Type — C
District — 8
Street — CITYLIGHTS, BLK 80 #07
Tenure — 99
Area — 1421
Age — BN
Room — 3
Psf — 0
PRICE$ — 0

Type — C
District — 8
Street — CITYLIGHTS, BLK 80 #22
Tenure — 99
Area — 1410
Age — BN
Room — 3
Psf — 1300
PRICE$ — 1833000

Type — C
District — 8
Street — CITYLIGHTS, BLK 80 #34
Tenure — 99
Area — 1356
Age — BN
Room — 3
Psf — 1350
PRICE$ — 1830600

Type — C
District — 8
Street — CITYLIGHTS, BLK 80 #36 ABOVE
Tenure — 99
Area — 1410
Age — BN
Room — 3
Psf — 1400
PRICE$ — 1974000

Type — C
District — 8
Street — CITYLIGHTS, BLK 80 #38
Tenure — 99
Area — 1442
Age — BN
Room — 3
Psf — 1401
PRICE$ — 2020000

Type — C
District — 8
Street — CITYLIGHTS, BLK 86 #30
Tenure — 99
Area — 872
Age — BN
Room — 2
Psf — 1720
PRICE$ — 1500000

Type — C
District — 8
Street — CITYLIGHTS, BLK 86 #35 ABOVE
Tenure — 99
Area — 1900
Age — BN
Room — 3
Psf — 0
PRICE$ — 0

Type — C
District — 8
Street — CITYLIGHTS, BLK 88 #11
Tenure — 99
Area — 721
Age — BN
Room — 1
Psf — 1221
PRICE$ — 880000

Type — C
District — 8
Street — CITYLIGHTS, BLK 88 #31
Tenure — 99
Area — 560
Age — BN
Room — 1
Psf — 0
PRICE$ — 0

Type — C
District — 8
Street — CITYLIGHTS, BLK 88 #39
Tenure — 99
Area — 1900
Age — BN
Room — 4
Psf — 1350
PRICE$ — 2565000

Type — C
District — 8
Street — CITYLIGHTS, BLK 90 #09
Tenure — 99
Area — 893
Age — BN
Room — 2
Psf — 1075
PRICE$ — 960000

Type — C
District — 8
Street — CITYLIGHTS, BLK 90 #14
Tenure — 99
Area — 893
Age — BN
Room — 2
Psf — 1150
PRICE$ — 1026950

Type — C
District — 8
Street — CITYLIGHTS, BLK 90 #26
Tenure — 99
Area — 893
Age — BN
Room — 2
Psf — 0
PRICE$ — 0

Type — C
District — 8
Street — CITYLIGHTS, BLK 90 #30 ABOVE
Tenure — 99
Area — 872
Age — BN
Room — 2
Psf — 0
PRICE$ — 0

Type — C
District — 8
Street — CITYLIGHTS, BLK 90 #30
Tenure — 99
Area — 678
Age — BN
Room — 1
Psf — 1298
PRICE$ — 880000

Type — C
District — 8
Street — CITYLIGHTS, BLK 90 #32
Tenure — 99
Area — 678
Age — BN
Room — 1
Psf — 1250
PRICE$ — 847500

Type — T
District — 8
Street — CITYLIGHTS, BLK 82 #01
Tenure — 99
Area — 3700
Age — BN
Room — 4
Psf — 1216
PRICE$ — 4500000

Buy, Sell, Rent,invest, In Singapore

MINDY YONG

( +65 ) 91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com ( email me )

Employers say job creation in H2 likely to slow down - Singapore

Employers say job creation in H2 likely to slow down - Singapore

By S Ramesh,

Employers say job creation in H2 likely to slow down

SINGAPORE: Expect a slowdown in job creation and hiring in the second half of this year, said manpower planners and employers on Monday, in view of mixed economic signals and a general global slowdown.

Singapore’s Trade and Industry Ministry (MTI) said full-year economic growth is likely to come in at the lower end of the revised 4 to 5 per cent range. The ministry added that Singapore is in for a rough ride ahead, although it will stay above water.

Singapore’s job market continues to remain buoyant, even though it is not as overheated as last year, with companies more cautious in hiring and expanding.

Stephen Lee, president of Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF), said: “We need to be cautious. We need to keep our recurring basic pay low and reward workers well through variables. By keeping our basic costs low, we maintain our competitiveness.”

Philippe Andre Capsie, country manager, Manpower Staffing Services, said: “Overall, I should say employers will continue recruiting according to their needs, but they will be much more conscious about the productivity of the existing employees.

“For the longer term, they would have a wait-and-see mode, wanting to understand better the impact of the US crisis and the European turmoil on the Singapore economy.”

SNEF feels there will not be large-scale retrenchments.

“Companies continue to churn in order to stay ahead and be competitive. That type of restructuring retrenchment is expected to continue, but the figures are not very big,” said Lee.

Manpower planners and SNEF said although the government has revised the economic growth for 2008, new graduates will not find it difficult to get a job. They would, however, need to moderate their salary expectations.

Lee said: “We have heard stories and comments from HR of companies that new grads’ salary expectations remain fairly high because they have seen the data released by the universities last year.”

Graduates have also been urged not to be choosy and to take on part-time jobs to build up their working experience.

- CNA/so

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 12 Aug 2008

Singapore Property - Buy, Sell, Rent, Invest

Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com

Russell to double Asia property investments

Russell to double Asia property investments

(SINGAPORE) US-based Russell Investments, which manages over US$211 billion in assets, wants to boost its exposure to Asian real estate as it sees growing markets in China and India withstanding a global downturn.

The company, which raises money from institutions such as pension funds and invests them with other fund managers, said it expects to more than double its investments in Asia properties over the next three years, from about US$300 million currently.

‘Our clients tell us they want to be in Asia property, and we go where our clients want to go,’ said Martin Lamb, newly appointed Asia Pacific head of property for Russell, the funds and indices unit of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance.

‘Regardless of the downturn in the US and Europe, there is a strong domestic need particularly in India and China that continues to fuel demand for housing and retail,’ said Mr Lamb, who is Russell’s first property chief to be based within the region.

An increasing number of financial and property firms have set up funds to invest in Asia property in the past year, including the property investment units of Jones Lang LaSalle and Prudential, and Singapore developers such as CapitaLand and Keppel Land. — Reuters

Source : Business Times - 12 Aug 2008

Singapore Property - Buy, Sell, Rent, Invest

Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com

State property at Singapore Changi on offer

State property at Singapore Changi on offer

The parcel has a land area of 104,044 sq ft and GFA of 54,864 sq ft

By UMA SHANKARI

HOTEL operators can look forward to another state property to develop - this time at Changi.

The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) yesterday launched the plot - part of a former military camp - for public tender.

The tenancy, for an initial three years, is renewable up to 2018. The guide rental is $28,500 a month.

The parcel has a land area of 104,044 sq ft and a gross floor area (GFA) of 54,864 sq ft. It comprises two three-storey buildings and a shed.

‘SLA is offering a number of vacant state properties for adaptive re- use, such as hotels and lifestyle attractions, in line with the government’s vision for Changi Point as a seaview hotel, resort and recreational destination,’ said Teo Cher Hian, SLA’s director for land operations (private).

Since last year, SLA has awarded four state properties in the Changi area for adaptive commercial re- use. Two are now restaurants, while the former Changi General Hospital is being turned into a spa resort.

Groundbreaking takes place next month and the resort is expected to be ready by next year.

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) says leading hoteliers have expressed keen interest in the latest property.

According to STB, mid- tier and economy hotels enjoyed average room occupancy rates of 85 and 87 per cent respectively in the first half of 2008.

Nicholas Mak, director of research and consultancy at Knight Frank, said the successful tenderer for the Changi plot will have to come up with a unique concept.

He said the hotel needs to play on Changi’s laid- back character and is likely to be mid-tier.

The first state property to be converted for hotel use, at Chin Swee Road, is a boutique establishment with 140 rooms. It officially opened in mid-May, with an initial occupancy rate of about 50 per cent.

Source : Business Times - 12 Aug 2008

Singapore Property - Buy, Sell, Rent, Invest

Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com

Brighter signs behind sombre headlines

Brighter signs behind sombre headlines

Slowdown is not broad-based and laggards may roar back to life soon

By VIKRAM KHANNA

IF THERE were any lingering illusions about the Singapore economy’s ability to ‘decouple’ from a global economic slowdown, the second-quarter Economic Survey would have put paid to them. But that said, it is highly unlikely that Singapore will follow the world’s major economies into recession, even assuming the latter go that way.

The survey, together with the Q2 trade numbers (both of which were released yesterday), has both good and bad news. To start with the bad: the 2.1 per cent year-on-year growth in the second quarter is the lowest number since the third quarter of 2003 - the year of Sars. The manufacturing sector shrank 5.2 per cent; you have to go back again to 2003 for a worse quarterly performance. Non-oil domestic exports (NODX), which fell 5.5 per cent in the second quarter, are projected to shrink by 2-4 per cent this year, with the earlier projection of 2-4 per cent growth being reversed.

But it’s worth looking beyond the headline numbers. First, to take growth, what’s notable is that all sectors of the economy except manufacturing recorded positive growth rates - with a couple of them (construction and financial services) growing at double digits. So, Singapore’s economic slowdown is far from broad-based: a positive sign.

When you look deeper into manufacturing, you find that the sector’s overall contraction in fact masks a mixed story. Four out of six clusters (transport engineering, chemicals, general manufacturing and electronics) actually turned in positive, albeit low, growth. The contraction of manufacturing stemmed almost entirely from a sharp decline in the biomedical manufacturing cluster, which shrank 28 per cent. This in turn was the result of a 31 per cent fall in pharmaceuticals output. Given that pharma accounts for 22 per cent of the manufacturing sector’s value-added, when it tanks, that is sufficient to drag the entire sector into negative-growth territory.

However, the pharma sector in Singapore is notoriously volatile, for unique reasons of its own, such as competition from generics, production schedules of companies and delays in getting approvals for new drugs. These factors are not necessarily related to the slowdown in the major economies.

In the second quarter, the poor performance of pharma was the result of companies switching to producing lower-value items. But this is not a permanent state of affairs; there is higher-value production in the pipeline and MTI reckons that the outlook for pharma manufacturing is good. And with more facilities being set up in Singapore, pharma output will also become less volatile. If pharmaceuticals turns around, the manufacturing sector will get a boost.

No doubt, the Singapore economy is, and will be, affected by the US and European slowdown - but not all of it. And to some extent, it will also be cushioned by domestic developments over the next two years, including the launch of the two integrated resorts, the hosting of the Youth Olympic Games, and major transport and other infrastructure projects. Most of the economy is still healthy and is likely to remain so. And at the end of the day, it is still going to grow at around 4 per cent-plus - not bad at all for a year of a global economic slowdown.

Source : Business Times - 12 Aug 2008

Singapore Property - Buy, Sell, Rent, Invest

Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com