Singapore Property Weekly Issue 222

8/20/2019 Singapore Property Weekly Issue 222

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Issue 222Copyright © 2011-2014 www.Propwise.sg. All Rights Reserved.

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CONTENTS

p2 The Fear of Losing Out in Life and

Property Investing

p7 Singapore Property News This Week

p10 Resale Property Transactions

(August 5 – August 11 )

Welcome to the 222th edition of the

Singapore Property Weekly .

Hope you like it!

Mr. Propwise

FROM THE

EDITOR

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 222

Page | 2Back to Contents

By Property Soul (guest contributor)

As the whole nation was in a celebratory

mood for our Jubilee National Day, I couldn’t

help wondering what makes us uniquely

Singaporean. TODAY conducted a street poll

with 525 respondents and asked for three

words that best describe the Singapore

identity. As everyone would have expected,

the word that was mentioned most was

“kiasu”, or the Hokkien word behind “fear of

losing”.

Drive along any expressway in Singapore. If you find a car hogging your left lane some

distance behind, simply signal left and it will

automatically speed up in a second. It works

over 90 percent of the time.

The Fear of Losing Out in Life and Property Investing


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The relaxed driver originally has no intention

to keep pace with the car in front. But when a

perceived competitor is in sight, the fear of

losing immediately prompts the driver to take

action. The drive comes not from the desire to

in, but the uncomfortable feeling of being

overtaken or losing out to a stranger.

The fear of losing starts young

In fact, Singaporeans start instilling the

“kiasu” mentality to the next generation fromtheir preschool years. The Straits Times had

recently conducted a private tuition survey on

500 Singapore households. It found that 7 in

10 parents are sending their children to

tuition, with 4 in 10 parents doing so for their

pre-school kids as young as five.

Despite all their efforts, only 3 in 10 agree

that going for tuition helped to improve grades

to a noticeable extent. Then why are they still

doing it? The survey found that, for many

parents, it is simply because others are doing

it and they want their children to keep up.

Imagine spending a few hundred bucks per month, imposing a tight schedule of tuition

and private classes, and spending weekends

chauffeuring the kids to learning centres – all

these just for the purpose of keeping up with

others to avoid losing on the starting line.

I would rather spend quality time having funwith my two little ones. Children have the right

to play, explore and learn whatever subjects

interest them. Help them find their niche, and

they will develop confidence in life. Help them

find their passion, and they will prosper in the

future. Ask them to do what everyone else is

doing, and they will end up being average.

It is the desire to win, not the fear of lagging

behind, that drives young minds.


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The former builds optimism while the latter

results in pessimism. Sadly, not many parents

see this.

Investing in properties for fear of losingout

The same mentality applies to property

investment. Many people invest in properties

not because they want to make passive

income, achieve financial freedom, or be a

property millionaire one day.

They buy properties because they are told

that money put in the bank will be eroded by

inflation, that the property market is hot and

they must buy now before all units are sold

out, that if they don’t buy today prices will

become unaffordable tomorrow …

It is a purely defensive move rather than a

proactive strategy. People put their life

savings into a property not because of the

desire to win, but for the fear of missing out.

And that fear of missing the boat sounds

more horrible and painful than making a

wrong investment decision.

In fact, people feel more terrible missing the

opportunity to make money, compared with

the consequence of being stuck with a bad

investment. When the market crashes, it is

common to find others who end up with thesame fate. And it is a relief to know that ‘we

are all in the same boat’ .

Are people afraid of missing the boat and

can’t wait to jump into the water? Or do they

think that the sinking boat is safe provided

that the majority of the people are there?

- Property Soul, No B.S. Guide to Property

Investment

http://www.propertyclubsg.com/resources/http://www.propertyclubsg.com/resources/http://www.propertyclubsg.com/resources/http://www.propertyclubsg.com/resources/http://www.propertyclubsg.com/resources/http://www.propertyclubsg.com/resources/http://www.propertyclubsg.com/resources/http://www.propertyclubsg.com/resources/http://www.propertyclubsg.com/resources/http://www.propertyclubsg.com/resources/http://www.propertyclubsg.com/resources/http://www.propertyclubsg.com/resources/http://www.propertyclubsg.com/resources/http://www.propertyclubsg.com/resources/http://www.propertyclubsg.com/resources/http://www.propertyclubsg.com/resources/


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What history has taught us

Remember how desperate buyers queued

overnight for a new launch? Remember how

eager buyers gave blank cheques to their property agents for balloting just to secure a

unit? Remember how new projects are all

sold out on the first day of launch?

Remember how speculators flipped their units

like nobody’s business?

We saw this happening in 1996, 2000 and2012-13. What happened to these projects

now? Where did the prices go a year later?

How did the buyers find their purchase?

Buyers flocked to the market when the

government announced a new MRT line;

hen the industry stakeholders mentioned

some property hotspot; when the media

reported prices of a new project had set a

new high; when property agents told

everyone that industrial properties were hot;

when the paper said that more are buying

overseas properties now ...

How many percent of these buyers truly

understand what they are buying into? What

proportion of buyers make their decision

based on their own research?

Think before you queue

We Singaporeans are very good at queuing.

If queuing is a sport, we would have won a

gold medal.

We see this “national sport” practised every

day at the hawker centres. We can easily

spend over 10 times the time queuing in frontof our favorite food stores, even though the

food is barely two times tastier than another

store selling the same food.


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From today onwards, don’t waste your time

standing at the end of a long queue. You are

a unique individual and what you need is

different from the others. It is meaningless to

make decisions based on what others aredoing. Do your own research and use your

own judgment.

If you are familiar with a certain

neighborhood, why waste time looking for

properties in Geylang just because peoplesay there are gems there? If your strength is

in residential properties, why buy unfamiliar

commercial properties just because agents

say the profits are higher? If you are making

good returns with Singapore properties, why

the need to diversify into high risk overseasproperties just because everyone says they

are hot?

The pros play the property game to win. The

amateurs play the property game to not lose

out.

- Property Soul, No B.S. Guide to Property

Investment

Kiasu buyers go for average properties. So

stop copying what others are doing. When

you buy what others are all buying, you will

only end up being a mediocre investor. If you

want to win the property game, you musthave the courage to deviate from what others

are buying. Find your niche and be a

contrarian.

By guest contributor Property Soul, a

successful property investor, blogger , and

author of the No B.S. Guide to Property

Investment.

SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY I 222

http://www.propertyclubsg.com/resources/http://www.propertyclubsg.com/resources/http://propertysoul.com/http://aktive.com.sg/store/no-b-s-guide-to-property-investment/http://aktive.com.sg/store/no-b-s-guide-to-property-investment/http://aktive.com.sg/store/no-b-s-guide-to-property-investment/http://aktive.com.sg/store/no-b-s-guide-to-property-investment/http://aktive.com.sg/store/no-b-s-guide-to-property-investment/http://aktive.com.sg/store/no-b-s-guide-to-property-investment/http://aktive.com.sg/store/no-b-s-guide-to-property-investment/http://aktive.com.sg/store/no-b-s-guide-to-property-investment/http://aktive.com.sg/store/no-b-s-guide-to-property-investment/http://aktive.com.sg/store/no-b-s-guide-to-property-investment/http://aktive.com.sg/store/no-b-s-guide-to-property-investment/http://aktive.com.sg/store/no-b-s-guide-to-property-investment/http://aktive.com.sg/store/no-b-s-guide-to-property-investment/http://aktive.com.sg/store/no-b-s-guide-to-property-investment/http://aktive.com.sg/store/no-b-s-guide-to-property-investment/http://aktive.com.sg/store/no-b-s-guide-to-property-investment/http://propertysoul.com/http://www.propertyclubsg.com/resources/http://www.propertyclubsg.com/resources/http://www.propertyclubsg.com/resources/http://www.propertyclubsg.com/resources/http://www.propertyclubsg.com/resources/http://www.propertyclubsg.com/resources/http://www.propertyclubsg.com/resources/http://www.propertyclubsg.com/resources/http://www.propertyclubsg.com/resources/http://www.propertyclubsg.com/resources/http://www.propertyclubsg.com/resources/http://www.propertyclubsg.com/resources/http://www.propertyclubsg.com/resources/http://www.propertyclubsg.com/resources/


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Singapore Property This Week


Residential

P ri v at e h o m e s al es i n J u ly i n cr eas ed t o

1,594 unit s

Up from 375 units in June, 1,594 private

home units were sold in July. This figure

excludes executive condominium units.

According to the Business Times, 73% of the

sale was from the High Park Residences in

Fernvale Road sale, where 1,169 units were

sold. Sales were brisk for that condominium

because of its attractive pricing strategy,

added the Business Times. Not only so, it is

conveniently located at the Thanggam LRT

Station. Despite the large volume of sales in

July, market experts believe that sales will fall

in the subsequent month due to the Hungry

Ghost Festival. Furthermore, Desmond Sim

from CBRE added that limited major projects

with more than 300 units would be released in

the coming months. On the other hand, there

has been an increase in sales for private

executive condominiums. 495 units were sold

in July, up from 110 in June this year. Chua

Yang Liang from JLL predicts that developers

will sell 6,500 to 7,500 private homes this

year, while Ismail Gafoor from PropNex

believes that about 8,000 to 9,000 units may

be sold.

(Source: Business Times)

SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY I 222


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M ore HDB l ease op t i ons fo r the el der l y

The elderly will have more flexibility with the

new flexi scheme for the sale of two-room

HDB flats. Under the new scheme, elderly

buyers have short-lease options ranging from

15 to 45 years, instead of a fixed 30-year

lease option as before. The purchase of these

flats must be financed through cash or CPF

savings. Subletting and resale are not

allowed. By barring the sale of two-room flatsith short leases on the open market, the

buyer will not be able to enjoy the possible

capital appreciation from the flat in future.

This ensures that HDB flats function as

homes and not investment assets. Mohamed

Ismail from PropNex said that the greatestbenefit of the scheme is that it allows seniors

to commit to a purchase of a two-room flat

and unlock more cash from the sale of their

existing flat. According to HDB, in the next

five years, more than 70 BTO projects across

Singapore will be launched with two-room

Flexi flats. HDB added that about 300,000

flats in Singapore are owned by citizens aged55 and above.


Bi nj ai Ri se GCB sol d for $13m

Located next to the Pan Island Expressway, a

partially completed good class bungalow

(GCB) at Binjai Rise has been sold for $13m

or $763 psf based on a land area of 17,035

sq ft. In April, the property was put up for

auction at $19.5 million. In a second auction,

the bid price was lowered to $16.575 million.

Yet, there were still no bids. Eventually, the

property was put up for a tender that closed

in July.

SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Iss e 222


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The uncompleted bungalow has two storeys,

a basement and an attic. According to the

Business Times, it may cost another 1 to 2

million to complete the construction.


Commercial

Ki m Chuan Dri ve sol d for $40 m i l l i on

An industrial site located at Kim Chuan Drive

was sold for $40 million or $460 psf ppr. Thefreehold site has a land area of about 34,730

sq ft. The property which is three storeys high

has been vacated after the tenancy

agreement for the units were not renewed.

The site has been zoned for Business 2 use

for heavy industries under the URA Master Plan 2014. It also has a 2.5 plot ratio.



http://www.moneymatters.sg/


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Non-Landed Residential Resale Property Transactions for the Week of Aug 5 – Aug 11

Postal

District

Project NameArea

(sqft)

Transacted

Price ($)

Price

($ psf)

Tenure

1 ONE SHENTON 581 1,100,000 1,892 99

1 ONE SHENTON 1,098 1,750,000 1,594 99

2 ICON 560 1,030,000 1,840 99

3 MERAPRIME 840 1,180,000 1,405 99

4 THE INTERLACE 1,981 2,544,500 1,285 99

4 THE INTERLACE 1,873 2,362,400 1,261 99

4 THE PEARL @ MOUNT FABER 1,819 1,940,000 1,066 99

5 DOVER PARKVIEW 936 970,000 1,036 99

5 VILLA DE WEST 1,722 1,640,000 952 FH5 GOLD COAST CONDOMINIUM 1,475 1,400,000 949 FH

5 FABER CREST 1,238 1,050,000 848 99

8 CITYLIGHTS 872 1,380,000 1,583 99

9 ESPADA 355 923,000 2,598 FH

9 SCOTTS HIGHPARK 1,744 3,150,000 1,806 FH

9 PARC EMILY 592 980,000 1,655 FH

10 ONE TREE HILL RESIDENCE 1,227 2,438,000 1,987 FH

10 THE MARBELLA 1,464 2,280,000 1,557 FH

10 THE TESSARINA 990 1,490,000 1,505 FH

10 TULIP GARDEN 3,401 3,600,000 1,058 FH

11 TRILIGHT 1,195 2,650,000 2,218 FH

Postal

District

Project NameArea

(sqft)

Transacted

Price ($)

Price

($ psf)

Tenure

11 PARK INFINIA AT WEE NAM 1,130 2,100,000 1,858 FH

11 THE ARMADALE 1,119 1,688,000 1,508 FH

11 368 THOMSON 1,302 1,950,000 1,497 FH

11 MONTEBLEU 1,475 2,090,000 1,417 FH

11 THOMSON 800 1,421 1,718,000 1,209 FH

11 HILLCREST ARCADIA 1,798 1,600,000 890 99

14 STARVILLE 1,550 1,490,000 961 FH

15 THE ESTA 1,711 2,450,000 1,432 FH

15 CRESCENDO BUILDING 1,173 1,190,000 1,014 FH15 KINGS APARTMENTS 1,152 1,030,000 894 FH

15 VILLA MARINA 2,024 1,630,000 805 99

15 D-MANSIONS 1,668 1,300,000 779 FH

16 COSTA DEL SOL 1,561 2,050,000 1,313 99

16 THE BAYSHORE 1,432 1,315,000 919 99

17 COASTAL VIEW RESIDENCES 1,163 1,145,000 985 999

17 AZALEA PARK CONDOMINIUM 1,507 1,100,000 730 999

18 RIS GRANDEUR 1,356 1,180,000 870 FH

18 MELVILLE PARK 1,378 950,000 690 99

19 CASA ROSA 1,130 920,000 814 99

21 SIGNATURE PARK 1,421 1,420,000 999 FH



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NOTE: This data only covers non-landed residential resale propertytransactions with caveats lodged with the Singapore Land Authority.Typically, caveats are lodged at least 2-3 weeks after a purchasersigns an OTP, hence the lagged nature of the data.

Postal

DistrictProject Name

Area

(sqft)

Transacted

Price ($)

Price

($ psf)Tenure

21 GRAND CHATEAU 1,216 1,185,000 974 FH

21 PANDAN VALLEY 1,798 1,710,888 952 FH

22 THE CENTRIS 1,238 1,380,000 1,115 99

22 THE CENTRIS 1,389 1,500,000 1,080 9923 DAIRY FARM ESTATE 1,389 1,456,000 1,049 FH

23 YEWTEE RESIDENCES 850 800,000 941 99

23 REGENT HEIGHTS 1,023 880,000 861 99

23 NORTHVALE 1,033 788,888 763 99

26 CASTLE GREEN 1,173 1,000,000 852 99

27 NORTHWOOD 1,453 1,205,000 829 FH

27 YISHUN SAPPHIRE 1,001 768,000 767 99
http://propertymarketinsights.com/

Documents

Singapore Property Weekly Issue 222