Singles and seniors get more help for housing

Singles and seniors get more help for housing

Posted: 15 August 2011 1141 hrs

SINGAPORE: Singles buying a resale flat for the first time will receive more assistance from the government.

The monthly income ceiling to qualify under the single Singapore Citizen scheme will be raised to S$5,000, up from S$3,000. Singles will also enjoy a CPF Housing Grant of S$15,000, up from S$11,000.

And those applying under the Joint Singles Scheme will see the monthly income ceiling raised to S$10,000, and will receive up to S$30,000 in housing grants.

Speaking to reporters after touring the Pinnacle at Duxton, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan said it was necessary to raise the income ceilings and housing grants to match rising salaries.

This was the same reason for raising the income ceiling to qualify for a Build-To-Order (BTO) flat, said Mr Khaw.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that the income ceiling for BTO flats will be revised to S$10,000, up from S$8,000.

To cater to the expect increase in demand, Mr Khaw said HDB is committed to building 25,000 BTO flats this year and next.

This is more than the entire Sembawang Town which has 18,000 flats, noted Mr Khaw.

In addition, the monthly income ceiling to buy Studio Apartments (SAs) will also be increased to S$10,000 from S$8,000. HDB said this gives more elderly households more options.

The changes will be implemented from Monday for applications to buy new or resale HDB flats.

-CNA/ac

Source : Channel NewsAsia – MediaCorp Pte Ltd Copyright

Income ceilings for HDB flats to be raised »« Cash-Over-Valuation is here to stay, says Minister Khaw

Cash-Over-Valuation is here to stay, says Minister Khaw

Cash-Over-Valuation is here to stay, says Minister Khaw

04:46 AM Aug 11, 2011

SINGAPORE – National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan has reiterated that Cash-Over-Valuation (COV) – the premium that HDB resale flat buyers pay to seller – is here to stay.

Responding to netizens on his Facebook page on National Day, Mr Khaw said abolishing COV and relying on a professional valuer to set the price of resale flats was tried “years ago”. “COV then went underground as ‘under counter cash payment’,” he wrote.

The debate over public housing policy began on Tuesday morning after Mr Khaw posted his National Day greetings. Soon, a netizen suggested Mr Khaw remove COV “for good” since it is “an inflationary” component.

But Mr Khaw pointed out that COV is the difference between price of flat as agreed between buyer and seller and the valuation of the flat given by a professional valuer. Abolishing COV means removing the difference between the price of flat between buyer and seller, he noted.

Last month, the HDB decided it will no longer disclose in its quarterly releases the overall median COV figure nationwide. It has also stopped providing overall median COV figures for different housing estates and flat types. Explaining the decision, Mr Khaw said the data could be misleading because there are many other variables involved.

Mr Khaw also said that while the Government is concerned about rising resale flat prices, the problem will be largely resolved in three to five years, when build-to-order (BTO) flats are ready.

Source : TODAYonline – MediaCorp Press Ltd’s copyright

Singles and seniors get more help for housing »« S’pore developers plan more suburban offices

S’pore developers plan more suburban offices

S’pore developers plan more suburban offices

04:45 AM Aug 06, 2011

SINGAPORE – Developers here are building more office space in the city’s suburbs as companies including Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank shift some operations away from downtown to cut costs, according to Cushman and Wakefield.

The city’s supply of suburban office space is expected to rise to 920,000 sq ft in 2014, five times the 190,000 sq ft that is expected to be completed this year, the world’s largest privately held property services company said.

About 44 per cent of office space will be in the suburbs by 2014, up from 6 per cent now, said Cushman and Wakefield’s Singapore-based vice-chairman Donald Han.

CapitaLand, Singapore’s largest listed property developer, said its largest investment commitment this year is a S$1.5 billion office and retail building in the western part of the country.

Rents in the central business district are 2.3 times those in the outskirts, according to Government data. Leasing costs are rising, making Singapore the third most expensive in the Asia-Pacific region in the second quarter, Colliers International said.

“There are a lot of these companies that are now bracing themselves for higher costs, pending a rise in rentals over the next few years,” said Mr Han. “They have to find cheaper options to average down their costs.” BLOOMBERG

Source : TODAYonline – MediaCorp Press Ltd’s copyright

Cash-Over-Valuation is here to stay, says Minister Khaw »« SC Global Developments reports Q2 net profit of S$46.3m

SC Global Developments reports Q2 net profit of S$46.3m

SC Global Developments reports Q2 net profit of S$46.3m

By Arthur Sim | Posted: 12 August 2011 2235 hrs

SINGAPORE: SC Global Developments Ltd has reported a net profit of S$46.3 million for the quarter ended 30 June, an increase of 88 per cent year-on-year.

Revenue for the quarter was S$261.8 million, an increase of 13 per cent year-on-year.

This was attributed to contributions from progressive revenue recognition of the group’s development projects in Singapore, including Hilltops, Martin No. 38, and Seven Palms at Sentosa Cove.

SC Global said The Marq on Paterson Hill set a new record sale price for Singapore at S$5,842 psf. It added that Martin No. 38 achieved a new benchmark price of S$2,963 psf and Seven Palms, Sentosa Cove achieved a new benchmark price of S$3,606 psf.

While revenue from the group’s subsidiary in Australia, AVJennings Ltd, was lower than last year following the disposal of the Contract Building division in August 2010, SC Global said it increased the total number of lots under control or management by about 20 per cent to approximately 11,300 lots from some 9,500 lots since the beginning of the year.

Earnings per share of 11.19 cents for the quarter (fully diluted basis) was higher than 6.17 cents for the same period last year. No interim dividend was declared for the quarter.

-CNA/ac

Source : Channel NewsAsia – MediaCorp Pte Ltd Copyright

S’pore developers plan more suburban offices »« CDL’s Q2 net profit up 17%

CDL’s Q2 net profit up 17%

CDL’s Q2 net profit up 17%

By Amanda Feng / Stella Lee | Posted: 12 August 2011 1720 hrs

SINGAPORE: City Developments (CDL) on Friday announced a 17 per cent year-on-year increase in its second quarter net profit to S$220.9 million.

The company also registered a 0.2 per cent drop in its revenue to S$979.4 million.

The group said that property development continues to be a major contributor to the group’s profits, which include hotel operations and rental properties.

Hotel operations benefited from the continued good trading performance from its main key gateways in London, Singapore and New York, while gains were recognised from the sale and leaseback of Studio M Hotel.

The company added that it currently has several projects in the pipeline, including four property launches.

CDL’s executive chairman, Kwek Leng Beng, commented that the group is watchful of the global economic situation, but estimates that the growth in the region will remain “fairly steady”.

“With a low interest rate environment, developers here will be mindful of market appetite, which will be a major factor in deciding the timing of the launches and purchase or tender for development sites,” he said.

For now Mr Kwek believes the low interest rate environment is still a blessing for the property sector.

He said: “It cannot continue to be low all the time…if the inflation comes about severely or fiercely, we got to do something about interest rates.”

Still, he added that there was presently no reason to increase interest rates.

Mr Kwek also said that the private sector needs to work closely with the Singapore government to brave economic challenges.

He said: “We have to work hand and glove with the government to come up with a viable solution. I believe that with the government’s cooperation, as they have done so during the Lehman brothers’ era not so long ago, the world will recover faster.”

Basic earnings per share increased for the second quarter by 17.4 per cent to 23.6 cents.

A special interim ordinary dividend of 5 cents per ordinary share has been declared.

- CNA/al/ac

Source : Channel NewsAsia – MediaCorp Pte Ltd Copyright

SC Global Developments reports Q2 net profit of S$46.3m »« Grand Tower sold for S$88.5m

Grand Tower sold for S$88.5m

Grand Tower sold for S$88.5m

04:45 AM Aug 05, 2011

SINGAPORE – Grand Tower in Novena has been sold en bloc for S$88.5 million to 27MR, a wholly owned subsidiary of boutique developer New Century Real Estate, marketing agent Savills said yesterday.

Grand Tower is a freehold development with a site area of 21,742 sq ft. The site can accommodate a new high-rise residential development with a maximum permissible gross floor area of about 64,310 sq ft, or more than 70 apartments of about 800 sq ft each.

The price reflects a land rate of S$1,376 per sq ft per plot ratio based on a plot ratio of 2.958. Savills said the breakeven is estimated at S$1,900 to S$2,000 psf.

The existing development comprises 28 apartments with an area of about 1,873 sq ft each. Savills said each owner can potentially receive about S$3.16 million or S$1,688 psf on strata area. Grand Tower is the fourth collective Savills sale for the year following Newton View at S$147.6 million in March,

New Century Real Estate is also the developer of 8Rodyk condominium in Robertson Quay.

Source : TODAYonline – MediaCorp Press Ltd’s copyright

CDL’s Q2 net profit up 17% »« Retail, industrial property gaining favour

Retail, industrial property gaining favour

Retail, industrial property gaining favour

by Linette Lim 04:46 AM Aug 03, 2011

SINGAPORE – Strata units in the retail and industrial sectors are gaining popularity as property investors turn to alternative avenues following cooling measures in the residential market, analysts said at a recent seminar hosted by the Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore.

Transactions for strata shops, which are generally smaller than 300 sq ft and cost between S$500,000 and S$1 million, rose 60 per cent to about 480 units last year, data from property consultancy Knight Frank shows. The total transaction value almost doubled to about S$530 million.

In the first half of this year, 241 strata shops worth a combined S$247 million were transacted.

Mr Png Poh Soon, head of consultancy and research at Knight Frank, said: “We noted that more new strata shops have been released into the market. In the past, when one talked about strata shops, one would think about Sim Lim Square, Peninsula Plaza, People’s Park Complex and older strata shopping malls.

The new supply that has been introduced in the past year includes Space@Kovan, Vibes@East Coast and Viva Vista in Pasir Panjang.”

This trend of smaller units has caught on in the industrial property sector as well.

Ms Chia Siew Chuin, director of research and advisory at property consultancy Colliers International, said: “The industrial market is not affected by the cooling measures. And we would expect non-traditional buyers of properties of industrial sector to continue to look at the industrial segment as they look for more sources, or places to park their funds.”

Based on Colliers research, sales of these industrial units grew 20 per cent on-year to about 900 units in the first half of this year. About 80 per cent of these strata transactions were priced at less than S$1 million. In the same period, more than half of all non-landed properties transacted sold for more than S$1 million.

Source : TODAYonline – MediaCorp Press Ltd’s copyright

Grand Tower sold for S$88.5m »« Bank lending up, home loans robust

Bank lending up, home loans robust

Bank lending up, home loans robust

by Linette Lim 04:46 AM Jul 30, 2011

SINGAPORE – Total bank lending in Singapore amounted to S$374.3 billion last month, up 3 per cent from the previous month, according to data released yesterday by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

On a year-on-year basis, total bank lending surged 26 per cent on the back of robust economic growth.

Housing loans rose 1.3 per cent to S$121.3 billion last month from S$119.7 billion in May. The MAS also, for the first time, provided additional data about home mortgages in its monthly statistical bulletin. The data revealed that the average loan-to-value ratio for housing loans by banks was 44.3 per cent in the second quarter, up from 44.1 per cent a quarter ago.

Commenting on the new data, Mr Song Seng Wun, regional economist of CIMB Research, said the loan-to-value ratio may look high but is “quite normal” for a country like Singapore with a high home ownership level.

He added: “Barring a severe global economic downturn, the risk of having people default on loans is small.”

Of the outstanding housing loans, about S$87.6 billion was for the purchase of owner-occupied property, compared with S$36.9 billion for investment property.

The move to provide additional data may be aimed at increasing transparency in the housing market. “This is to increase transparency not just in terms of supply (figures) but financing (in order to) make sure that banks are prudent in their lending practices,” said Mr Song.

Among the different bank lending segments, total bank loans to businesses registered an increase of 4 per cent month-on-month, rising to S$209.4 billion last month. Within business loans, lending to manufacturing businesses rose 10 per cent month-on-month to hit S$16.1 billion. In the consumer segment, bank lending grew 1.7 per cent to S$165 billion.

Source : TODAYonline – MediaCorp Press Ltd’s copyright

Retail, industrial property gaining favour »« Private home market should be left to market forces: REDAS