Home developers may put Singapore launches on hold

Home developers may put Singapore launches on hold 

But buyers can expect attractive prices when projects are launched next year 

By Joyce Teo, Property Correspondent 
  
Launch ready

The market is unlikely to see major residential property launches for the rest of the year, given the gloom in the market.

Because buyers are staying away, developers continue to hold back their launches until they see an appropriate time.

But showflat visitors need not fret as launches should come on the market next year, industry experts said. Prices, they suggested, could be more attractive too.

Property consultants said some developers will likely consider marketing their projects from early next year while the rest will continue to sell their already-launched projects.

Where brand-new launches are concerned, ‘the first half of next year could be as quiet as the second half of this year’, said Savills Singapore’s director of marketing and business development Ku Swee Yong.

Demand for new homes slowed this year, with third-quarter sales at just 1,603 units.

Last year, sales reached 14,811 units, with August alone clocking in sales of 1,731 units.

The bulk of the launches are likely to be in the mass market segment since they are targeted at owner-occupiers and upgraders, he said.

And it will be supported by the HDB resale market, where prices rose 4.2 per cent in the third quarter, he added.

In comparison, private home prices fell by 2.4 per cent in the same period, registering the first contraction after 17 consecutive quarters of growth.

For a large part of this year, the deluge of bad news and a weak stock market have served to dampen buying sentiment. The bad news is still coming on strong: Last Friday, DBS Group announced that it will cut 900 jobs, or 6 per cent of its staff.

‘Overall market sentiment is tied to the stock market performance,’ said an industry source who declined to be named.

‘If the Straits Times Index (STI) stops sliding, or if it is less volatile, it might help buyers to consider buying properties.’

The STI closed 44.29 points higher at 1,863.49 on Friday, but it is far from last year’speak of 3,906.

Right now at least, the market is largely at a standstill. Many buyers are not committing themselves because they expect prices to fall further, sources said.

‘While potential buyers prefer direct price cuts, it is a tricky question for developers to decide on how much discount to give in order to move sales,’ said one industry source.

Prices of high-end properties have fallen about 12 per cent since January, though the fall is much bigger for the projects that have yet to be completed.

The good news for developers is that construction costs are expected to come down next year. ‘This may ease the burden on developers and allow them some leeway for price cuts,’ the source said.

Knight Frank director of research and consultancy Nicholas Mak added: ‘If they do not launch now, they can then wait for construction costs to fall before locking in lower costs, which would give them more pricing flexibility.’

Looking ahead, there is a strong pipeline of residential developments ready for launch, according to data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority. Indeed, the current number of unlaunched homes - at 40,400 units - is equivalent to five years’ supply, said Mr Mak.

 
Source : Straits Times - 09 Nov 2008

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Mindy Yong

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mindy@mindyyong.com

Foreign worker population ‘may fall’

Foreign worker population ‘may fall’ 

PM expects numbers to stabilise or drop in most sectors because of slowing economy 

By Aaron Low 
  
PM Lee speaking to members of the Fuchun Malay Activity Executive Committee after his dialogue with Malay grassroots leaders. During the dialogue, he touched on the Government’s policy on the ethnic balance of the population, saying drastic changes are not carried out as they are unsettling for people. — ST PHOTO: ALBERT SIM

Some Malay grassroots leaders worry that the large pool of foreign workers in Singapore will compete with lowly skilled Malays for scarce jobs as economic growth slows.
They are also concerned over a possible shift in the population’s ethnic balance, given the large number of Indian immigrants.

These were among the issues that came up at Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s dialogue yesterday with 350 Malay grassroots leaders.

He acknowledged that the number of foreigners here had gone up very quickly in the past two years.

‘Maybe a bit too fast, and then they become very visible. You see them in Sheng Siong, in supermarkets. So people feel unsettled,’ he said.

But now that economic growth has slowed, Mr Lee said he expects the number of foreign workers to stabilise or fall in most sectors.

He also reiterated the Government’s consistent stand that foreigners help the economy and Singaporeans.

They do jobs that many Singaporeans shun.

They help keep jobs here because their lower wages mean lower costs for companies. To protect Singaporeans, there are quotas in place.

In factories, for example, the Government requires employers to hire one Singaporean for every foreign worker.

Mr Lee said the wrong thing to do in the current economic climate would be to tell companies that they cannot hire foreign workers.

Many firms are already in financial difficulties, he noted.

‘Costs will go up and the company may close. So even the…Singapore workers who now have jobs will lose them.’ he said.

‘So, I don’t think it’s that simple - you send out the foreign workers and the Singaporeans will take over the jobs and you get paid more.

‘I think our interest is to protect the Singaporeans and look after the Singaporeans, but we must do it intelligently, we cannot just react and just do something without thinking.’

Instead, people should upgrade themselves through training programmes so they can find better jobs, he said.

The Workforce Development Agency and the labour union are preparing a new training programme to help such workers, which will be released soon.

On the ethnic balance of the population, Mr Lee said that overall, the proportion of the different races has not changed much.

Although there is Chinese immigration, the birth rate of the Chinese is low. Hence, the share of Chinese in the population has not gone up.

Currently, Chinese make up 74.7 per cent of the population, while the proportion of Malays stands at 14 per cent.

Likewise, Indians now make up 8.9 per cent of the population, up from 7.9 per cent in 2000.

‘If you take all things into account, the immigration and population replacement rates, the change is not very drastic.’

The Government’s policy is not to have major changes in population distribution as it is unsettling for people.

‘So, we cannot guarantee that the Malay proportion is 15.125 per cent, as from year to year it goes up and down a bit, but big changes are not our policy,’ he said.

He added that he hoped well-to-do educated professionals would have more children, while those with fewer resources should have fewer children and focus on giving them the best opportunities in life.
Source : Straits Times - 09 Nov 2008

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Mindy Yong

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All Singapore public hospitals to offer voluntary HIV tests

All Singapore public hospitals to offer voluntary HIV tests 

By Debbie Yong 
  
Currently, Changi General Hospital and Singapore General Hospital are the two hospitals offering voluntary screening for patients. — ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

HIV testing will be offered to all patients aged 21 and above who are admitted to the six public hospitals here by year end.
But patients can opt out of the test. If they agree to it, they will be charged $6 to $25 depending on their ward class.

Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Balaji Sadasivan announced this at the 6th Aids Conference yesterday as part of a strategy to identify more HIV-positive patients in the early stages of the disease.

HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, attacks a person’s immune system. It is spread mainly through unprotected sex, sharing of needles, and from mother to baby during pregnancy, birth or breastfeeding.

Aids, or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, is HIV in its late stages, when sufferers are so weakened that even an ordinary cold may prove fatal.

There were 345 new cases of HIV-positive patients in the first nine months of this year, compared to 423 new cases for the whole of last year. This brings the total number of reported HIV cases to 3,828.

Citing a recommendation by the United States’ Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, DrBalaji said HIV testing should be done as part of routine medical check-ups, and no differently from screenings for other treatable conditions.

Currently, two hospitals offer voluntary screening for patients.

Changi General Hospital started it in December last year, and 50 out of 3,000 patients have tested HIV positive so far. Singapore General Hospital began HIV screening in June. It has not released statistics on the number of cases identified.

Alexandra Hospital, National University Hospital, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, and KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital will follow suit by the end of the year.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) will spend $3.8 million over the next three years to support these screenings. Talks are also being held with private hospitals to offer similar programmes.

Test results are made known only to the patient and the doctors. If the patient is HIV positive, the hospital must inform the ministry.

Third parties, such as employers or insurers, will not be told. Patients who test positive, or who decline to be tested, will still receive the medical treatment they came for in the first place.

Of the new cases so far this year, half were diagnosed when the infection had reached its late stages. This means sufferers could have been infected for seven to eight years and may have unknowingly spread the disease to their partners in that time, said Dr Balaji at the conference held at Suntec City.

Referring to an anonymous survey last year by MOH, which found that one in 350 patients discharged from hospitals was HIV positive but was undiagnosed, he said: ‘This is not something our hospitals can be proud of.’

He acknowledged that HIV is a ‘complex disease’ and the stigma associated with it must be eradicated to encourage more people to accept the HIV tests.

 
Source : Straits Times - 09 Nov 2008

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Mindy Yong

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