Many showflats still open for viewing

Many showflats still open for viewing
Some are open to visitors every day, even on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day
By Joyce Teo

Would-be buyers eyeing Far East Organization’s Adria condominium in Derbyshire Road, near United Square Shopping Mall, can visit its showflat at River Valley Road.

The market for new homes is quiet as most developers and potential buyers have taken time off for the year-end holidays.

‘If you are going to sell one or two units now, you might as well close shop and wait till next year,’ said Cushman & Wakefield managing director Donald Han.

‘Salespeople and consultants have worked very hard this year. So, to be fair, they need a break.’

But for those potential buyers itching to check out new projects, a fair number of showflats are still open. These are mostly projects launched in recent months.

A list compiled by property consultancy Knight Frank shows there are at least 35 showflats staying open this month.

Those keen on mass-market projects can check out Waterfront Key in Bedok Reservoir, Livia in Pasir Ris, Double Bay Residences in Simei and Trevista in Toa Payoh.

For high-end homes, the list includes Ferrell Residences and Cyan in Bukit Timah Road and Reflections at Keppel Bay. The showflat of the luxury St Regis Residences is open this month, but viewing is by appointment only, said developer City Developments.

Those keen on mid-tier to upper mid-tier homes can check out Ascentia Sky in the Alexandra Road area, Parvis in Holland Hill, The Tier in Pegu Road and Sophia Residences in Sophia Road.

Diehard showflat visitors will be happy to know that they can go to some showflats even on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

Far East Organization said its showflats are open every day of the year, except for the first day of Chinese New Year - which falls on Valentine’s Day next year.

And there are a fair number of choices. More than a third of the 35 or so showflats showcase projects developed by Far East Organization, such as Alba in Cairnhill Rise and Adria in Derbyshire Road, near United Square Shopping Mall.

Far East is also keeping its showflats open for some of the projects it released earlier for sale, such as Silversea in Marine Parade Road.

Another developer, Hong Leong Holdings, is also keeping its showflat for The Gale in Flora Road open throughout Christmas and New Year’s Day.

Most other showflats are likely to close on Christmas and New Year’s Day.

Some projects still have units available for sale, but the showflats are already closed for the year, either for the year-end holiday season or renovation work, Knight Frank said.

These include the showflats for The Trizon in Ridgewood Close, Lush on Holland Hill, The Orange Grove and Oasis @ Elias. However, the showflats for these projects can still be viewed by appointment.

The showflats for Dakota Residences and Meier Suites have closed for the year and will not be available for viewing, even by appointment.

Potential buyers or visitors keen on new projects or showflats will have to wait until next year. Experts expect launches to resume mostly after the start of Chinese New Year.

Source : Straits Times - 20 December 2009

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Retail property in Asia Pacific outshines other sectors

Retail property in Asia Pacific outshines other sectors

By UMA SHANKARI

RETAIL property in Asia Pacific continues to outshine other sectors as rents grow, showed a new report by DTZ.

Retail rents have performed well with growth of around 3 per cent per year since 2004 - without any significant falls. The level of growth has been maintained despite overall negative performance during the earlier part of 2009, DTZ noted.

Additionally, retail rents returned to positive growth in Q4 as the more heavily weighted markets (Shanghai and Singapore) have turned positive.

‘Retail markets are generally doing well with quarterly rental growth rates up to 8 per cent being reported during the year,’ said David Green-Morgan, head of DTZ Asia Pacific Research. ‘Strong retail sales have been sustaining retail markets across the region. Government stimulus across the region has helped sustain the retail sector and this is helping to sustain rental levels and boost prices in many locations.’

By contrast, the Asia Pacific office and industrial markets continue to be sluggish as 2009 comes to an end, DTZ said.

Over the course of the year, the office sector experienced the largest fall with a peak to trough decline in office rents of around 27 per cent so far. Industrial rents, on the other hand, have fallen around 3 per cent year-to-date, with the possibility of further falls to come. Despite more encouraging economic fundamentals across the region, occupier demand for these two sectors remains weak on the back of slow global growth, DTZ noted.

But the report also pointed out that both office and industrial sectors around the globe have either reached or are approaching the bottom of the rental cycle as many markets have reached a balance between supply and demand - albeit at a much lower level than the peak of the cycle.

In Q4, global office rents fell by 2 per cent while industrial fell by one per cent. But global retail rents grew by 0.2 per cent on the back of the gains in Asia Pacific and levelling out in Europe.

The report also noted that global capital city prime rents are highlighting the continuing trend for the flight to safety. Prime rents in the main markets have held up far better than anticipated. Rents in London City, Paris’s central business district, Hong Kong and Sydney have all levelled off during Q4 where many tier two cities continued to fall.

Source : Business TTimes - 19 December 2009

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Sluggish rents for past 3 quarters: DTZ

Sluggish rents for past 3 quarters: DTZ

Average monthly rental value of luxury apartments down nearly 40% at $4.65 psf in Q2-Q4 this year

By KALPANA RASHIWALA

RESIDENTIAL rents have stagnated in the past three quarters across the board in Singapore - for luxury apartments, other prime district apartments as well as suburban apartments - according to DTZ. ‘We expect rentals to start to recover gradually next year as the economy grows more strongly. The estimated 5,737 private homes to be completed in 2010 will also be the lowest level since 1993,’ says DTZ’s South East Asia research head Chua Chor Hoon.

REVIVING
Industry watchers add that average monthly rentals for apartments of about 3,000 sq ft at Draycott 8 have recovered to about $18,000 from the low of $15,000 in Q1 of this year
Jones Lang LaSalle’s head of residential Jacqueline Wong reports that luxury apartment rents have started to creep up after sliding in the aftermath of the global financial slump.

‘Rents have been supported by limited supply of large luxury apartments as some developments sold through en bloc sales have effectively come out of the leasing market - either because they have been pulled down such as Habitat One and Two or because the landlord is unwilling to refurbish the apartments and is leasing out units only on an as-is basis, for instance, 18 Anderson.’

Industry watchers add that average monthly rentals for apartments of about 3,000 sq ft at Draycott 8 have recovered to about $18,000 from the low of $15,000 in the first quarter of this year. At its peak in 2007, the figure was about $22,000.

DTZ’s data shows that the average monthly rental value of luxury apartments has declined nearly 40 per cent from a high of $7.70 psf in the first half of 2008 to $4.65 psf in Q2-Q4 this year. For the whole of 2009, the drop has been 27.3 per cent. Average rent for prime district (9,10 and 11) apartments has eased about 33 per cent from $4.93 psf in Q2 last year to $3.32 psf for the past three quarters. Rents of suburban apartments have been more resilient, having come off 18.4 per cent from the $2.12 psf high in Q2 2008 on average.

JLL’s Ms Wong reckons that luxury rents would not drop in 2010, as the outflow of expats from Singapore has slowed and the influx of expats has restarted. ‘Banks and other financial institutions are starting to hire again but they are more cautious, hiring selectively rather than entire teams,’ she observes. ‘So luxury rents should be sustainable next year; as to whether they will go up, will depend on the new supply of luxury apartments expected to be completed next year, including Parkview Eclat, Orchard Residences, Orchard View, The Marq, and Waterfall Gardens.

‘New projects completing next year will put rental pressure on existing developments in the same categories. Tenants tend to prefer brand new products given a choice.’

DTZ’s data also showed that the average price of freehold luxury apartments in the resale market stood at $2,400 psf in Q4 this year, up about 9 per cent from the previous quarter and a 23 per cent full-year increase. The latest capital value of $2,400 psf was, however, still 14.3 per cent shy of the previous peak of $2,800 psf set in Q4 2007/Q1 2008.

The average capital value of prime freehold apartments rose about 2 per cent quarter-on-quarter to $1,403 psf in Q4. For the whole of 2009, the price increase was about 21 per cent. The Q4 figure was just 5.4 per cent below the peak of $1,483 psf in late 2007/early 2008.

For suburban 99-year leasehold apartments, their average capital value stagnated at $610 psf in Q4. The previous high of $615 psf was seen in Q4 2007 to Q2 2008. The capital values refer to the resale market.

In the landed housing segment, DTZ’s numbers also show that second half 2009 prices of freehold resale homes in both prime and non-prime districts have surpassed previous peaks achieved last year. In the prime districts, the average capital value of resale homes rose 5 per cent quarter-on-quarter to $1,447 psf in Q4 - a level that has surpassed the previous high of $1,293 psf (seen in the first three quarters of 2008) by 11.9 per cent. In non-prime districts, the average price of resale freehold landed homes posted a 3 per cent q-o-q gain to $860 psf in Q4. The latest capital value was 7.9 per cent higher than last year’s peak of $797 psf but still 8.8 per cent lower than that recorded during the Q2 1996 property market peak.

Source : Business TTimes - 19 December 2009

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HLF offers new loan packages for HDB flat buyers

HLF offers new loan packages for HDB flat buyers

HDB flat buyers can look forward to new loan packages from Hong Leong Finance (HLF).

It is offering variable rates at 1.33 per cent per annum for the first year, or a two-year fixed rate from 1.63 per cent per annum, for financing of up to 80 per cent.

Rates for smaller loans have also been revised. For loans below $100,000, with financing of up to 80 per cent, the first-year variable rate starts at 1.93 per cent per annum, and the two-year fixed rate at 2.33 per cent per annum.

The new deals come soon after HLF announced packages for Good Class Bungalows and other loans this year.

The company says its rates are currently the lowest in the market.

‘We have received more enquiries for our HDB home loans,’ said HLF president Ian Mcdonald. ‘This is in line with increased activity in the HDB market for new and resale flats.

‘We anticipate continued growth of our HDB home loans portfolio next year, boosted in part by the HDB’s plans to launch at least one build-to-order (BTO) project per month to meet housing demand.’

Earlier this week, HDB announced a 25 per cent increase in supply of BTO flats, bringing flat supply to 13,500 units this year.

HLF said its customers will receive a $20 Millennium & Copthorne International hotels gift voucher for every $100,000 loan.

HLF is Singapore’s largest finance company. Established in the 1960s, it has 28 branches locally.

Source : Business TTimes - 19 December 2009

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All eyes on H1 2010 industrial land sales programme

All eyes on H1 2010 industrial land sales programme

Market sentiment has improved; developers showing much greater appetite for state industrial land than they were last year

By EMILYN YAP

INTENSE bidding for state industrial sites in the past few months has market watchers paying close attention to the industrial government land sales (GLS) programme - all eyes are on whether the confirmed list could be brought back for the first half of next year.

‘There’s a possibility,’ says DTZ’s Southeast Asia research head Chua Chor Hoon, pointing to how the government reinstated the confirmed list for residential sites for first-half 2010 as developers bid aggressively for them recently.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry Ministry (MTI) suspended the confirmed list for the first half of 2009 as the global economy went into a tailspin. It kept the suspension for the second half to ‘provide flexibility for the market to adjust supply in accordance with the current economic conditions’.

Sites on the confirmed list are launched for tender based on a schedule. On the other hand, sites on the reserve list are put up for sale only if interested parties submit applications for them, with minimum offers acceptable to the government.

As the year draws to close, MTI has yet to announce what the industrial GLS programme will be like for H1 2010. In the meantime, market sentiment has improved and developers are showing much greater appetite for state industrial land than they were last year.

The revived interest can be seen from the larger number of bids put in. A site at Woodlands Industrial Park E5/Woodlands Avenue 4 attracted eight bids when tender closed in July; one at Kaki Bukit Road 2 received 18 bids in August; and one at Pioneer Road North/Soon Lee Drive drew eight bids this month. In all three cases, the number of bids exceeded the average of seven in the 2007-2009 period.

In contrast, demand was weak for two sites put up for sale towards the end of last year - just as the financial crisis hit rock-bottom. A site at Ubi Avenue 4 drew two bids in September, and one at Kallang Pudding Road attracted just one bid in October.

There is also fiercer competition for land - the gap between the top and bottom bids had shrunk going into 2008, but widened again for the three sites triggered for sale this year. The highest bid for the site at Kaki Bukit Road 2 in August was more than twice that of the lowest.

Colliers International director (industrial) Tan Boon Leong hopes to see the confirmed list for industrial land brought back for H1 2010. He says interest in industrial sites has grown, not just because the economy seems to be recovering, but also because these plots require relatively smaller investment and development outlays compared with large residential or retail parcels.

His wish-list for the confirmed list includes more sites in mature industrial estates such as Changi and Lower Delta. There may not be empty plots left in those areas, but he suggests the government clear some sites and make them available for industrial use.

CB Richard Ellis’s director of industrial and logistics services Bernard Goh also believes the confirmed list for industrial sites should be re-introduced for H1 2010.

Source : Business TTimes - 19 December 2009

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