Singapore Property Weekly Issue 26

8/3/2019 Singapore Property Weekly Issue 26

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Issue 26Copyright 2011 www.Propwise.sg. All Rights Reserved.
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CONTENTSp2 Singapore Property News This Week

p5 Taking the Road Less Travelled Part One

p12 Resale Property Transactions

(October 29 November 4)

p14Singapore Property Classifieds #16

Welcome to the 26th edition

of the Singapore Property

Weekly.

Hope you like it!

Mr. Propwise

FROM THE

EDITOR
mailto:[email protected]://www.propwise.sg/advertise/http://www.propwise.sg/http://www.propwise.sg/advertise/mailto:[email protected]


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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 26

Singapore Property This Week

Page | 2Back to Contents

Residential

540,314 sq ft Upper Thomson site, 24,265

sq ft Lavender site and 17,997 sq ft Mount

Elizabeth site up for sale

540,314 sq ft Thomson View Condominium

located along Upper Thomson Road is zoned

for residential use. The gross plot ratio is 2.1with a maximum height of 24 storeys. The site

with 65 years of lease remaining, is asking for

$595 million to $635 million, about $694 to

$732 psfppr, including lease top uppremium,

differential premium, and assuming the

developer taps the 10 per cent balconyallowance. It could potentially yield 1,012

1,100 sq ft apartment units and 33 2,500 sq ft

strata landed houses.

Meanwhile, two adjoining freehold sites at 165

and 167 Tyrwhitt Road with a total land areaof 24,265 sq ft is asking for $36 million to $40

million or $500 to $550 psfppr. Zoned for

residential use with commercial at first floor,

the site with a plot ratio of three could be

redeveloped into a six-storey commercial-

cum-residential development with gross floorarea of 72,795 sq ft. It is expected to draw

interest from developers interested in small

sites.

17,997 sq ft freehold residential Chateau Eliza

located along Mount Elizabeth is asking for

$111 million to $115 million equivalent to

$2,099 psfppr to $2,174 psfppr. It has a

proposed gross floor area of 52,887 sq ft that

a new development could build on the site.


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Breakeven cost is estimated at $2,700 psf to

$2,800 psf.

The tenders for each site will close on Jan 12

at 3pm, Dec 8 at 3pm and Dec 15 at 3pmrespectively.

October sales a sign of private home

market slowing down? No, say analysts.

Analysts say that despite the lower sales for

private homes in October, this does not meana slowing down in the market. The 1,387 units

sold in October excluding executive

condominiums (ECs), are 15% lower than the

1,631 units sold in September. Nonetheless,

given the 1,398 and 1,351 private homes sold

in July and August respectively, Octobers

sales are considered strong, especially since

the total number of units sold (1,387)in

October exceeded the total number of units

launched (1,337). Furthermore, the 13,688

private homes and 2,702 ECs sold in the first

10 months of 2011 compared to the 13,117

private residential units sold in the same

period last year shows the strong demand

from home buyers, driven by the low interest

rate, the high liquidity in the market, and real

estate being seen as a hedge against

inflation.

However, there is also an increase in the

number of units launched but unsold and alarge number of units that haveyet to be

launched. Should demand decrease, the

surplus supply may lead to a fallin prices.

99-year leasehold residential site at

Miltonia Close draws eight bids

The highest bid of $138.9 million or $364

psfppr for the private condo site, a joint bid

from TG Development and Master Contract

Services was in line with market expectations.


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The project is estimated to cost$850 psf to

$900 psf when launched. Situated on the fringe

of Yishun New Town,it is likely to be developed

intoa high-rise project of 350-400 apartments,

where units on higher floors will have a view of

The Orchid Country and Golf Club and the

Lower Seletar Reservoir.

Khaw Boon Wan: First-timers stand high

chance of getting flats

National Development Minister Khaw BoonWan posted on his blog that 73% of newlywed

first timers who applied for HDB's build-to-

order (BTO) flats for the first time in July this

year were invited to choose one, compared to

11% of second-timers. First-timers are

applicants who have never bought an HDB flatdirectly from HDB, nor received a CPF

Housing Grant. Since only 5% of new flats

were reserved for second-timers, their success

rate would be low. He assures second-timers

that balloting rules will be changed to increase

their chances after the most of the first-timer

queue was cleared and stated that it should be

towards the end of the next year.

Industrial

60-year leasehold Ganbas Ave industrial

plot draws top bid from HLS Development

The bid of $78.2 million that beat out four other

bids came from HLS Development, a unit of

Singapore-listed Hock Lian Seng Holdings.

This translates to $136 psfppr given

themaximum gross floor area of 576,587 sq ft

and 2.5 plot ratio for the 230,635 sq ft site

zoned for Business 1. Breakeven is estimated

at $300 psf and the prospective market price is

estimated to be $350 psf. The bid is lower

than what other sites in the area had fetched

earlier this year, reflecting the developers

negative outlook for the market.


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Taking the Road Less Travelled Part One

by Mr. Propwise

This is Part One of an interview with Getty

Goh on his tips for investing in overseas

property, and his experiences developing an

overseas property project. In Part One we

ask Getty whether it makes sense to even

look at overseas property investments, the

differences between investing overseas and

in Singapore, and the risks involved when

buying foreign property.

Getty is the author of two real estate

bestsellers (Buy, Bye Property: Mistakes you

want to Avoid in Property Investing and BuyRight Property: the R.I.G.H.T. Approach to

Property Investing in Singapore), as well as

the Director of Ascendant Assets Pte Ltd,


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a real estate research and investment

consultancy based in Singapore. With his

latest foray into Krabi, Thailand, Getty is

adding development to his real estate CV.

Getty has an MSc in Real Estate and a BSc inBuilding from the National University of

Singapore.

For someone who is interested to invest in

property, is it a better choice to invest in

Singapore or overseas?

When you think about it, the key objective of

any investor is to make money from the

property market. In other words, anywhere

where you can make good profits will be a

good place to invest.

At present, the Singapore private residential

market is not a good place to invest as the

series of anti-speculation measures introduced

by the government has significantly reduced

that segments profitability quotient.

I am aware that as a result of the anti-

speculation measures, investor interests have

shifted to the non-residential sector (i.e.

commercial and industrial properties). My

company, Ascendant Assets Pte Ltd, did

research recently and we found that from 1995

till 2011 (16 years), there were only 109 and

2083 profitable commercial and industrial

transactions respectively. This translates to

approximately 70% of commercial and 65% of

industrial properties being profitable. We did a

separate analysis for residential transactions

and using a sample of 5 years from 2003 to

2008, we found that there were more than

12,700 profitable transactions. This was

approximately 95% of all residential

transactions. I find this information to be very

telling as some investors would assume non-

residential units would be as profitable as

residential units. This is clearly not the case.

SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY I 26


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We often think that investing in properties

abroad can be risky as we do not often hear of

people making good returns from it. What we

more often hear about (and remember) are

the horror stories of how overseas

investments had gone awry.

I agree that overseas investment can

potentially be risky, however I have also come

across instances where investors made

significant returns from their purchases

abroad. For example, several years back, I

came across one particularly savvy investor

who bought a mountain in New Zealand for

about S$1 million and sold it for S$16 million

several years later. The view was fantastic

and he value added to the site by building asmall lodge on it. Back then, no one knew that

a mountain could see such price appreciation.

Ultimately, the foresight as well as courage of

the investor (to invest in such an

unconventional real estate) paid off.

I also know some friends who bought

properties in China before the Chinese

economy boomed and they are sitting on

handsome profits right now. Even one of my

wifes relatives managed to make good profits

by investing in an apartment in Kensington

(near Harrods in London). All these examples

made me realise that there is really no such

thing as a good or bad location and profits (as

well as losses) can be made almost

anywhere. So if I were to invest in real estate

now, I would consider looking at overseas

properties as I believe that there may

presently be some interesting real estate

deals abroad. I must emphasize that thisremark is made based on current market

conditions. As the real estate market is

constantly evolving, this view may not be valid

or relevant in three to six months time.

SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY I 26


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What are the differences between investing

overseas and in Singapore?

At the macro level, investing in overseas

properties is actually not very different from

investing in Singapore as the considerationsare largely the same. In my second book Buy

Right Property: The R.I.G.H.T. Approach to

Investing in Singapore Properties, I wrote

about five key considerations (i.e. market

Realities, Investment considerations, Goals,

Hotspots and Target price) that people shouldtake note of before they buy. These five

conditions are also applicable when buyers

are sourcing for good investment opportunities

abroad.

The differences are more apparent at themicro level and the specific rules and

regulations vary significantly from one country

to another. It is not possible for me to list all

the differences down.

But a general piece of advice is that investors

should do their due diligence before making a

purchase. Some examples of due diligence

include checking up on the developers

credibility, financing terms, property tenure,making a site visit, consulting a lawyer, etc.

But when you think about it, are these not

things that you should also do when you buy a

property in Singapore?

What are the things investors should checkbefore investing overseas? What are the

risks?

Let me state up front that buying a property,

whether in Singapore or abroad, can be

potentially risky. The risks of buying an

overseas property is generally more asinformation is not as readily available as

compared to Singapore. The uncertainty is

compounded for countries where English is

not the native or working language and



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some of the nuances are lost in translation.

If I were to list a single success factor, I

believe that the secret lies with who your

service providers (i.e. property agents, legaladvice, financial advice, etc.) are. For

example, if you are lucky enough to come

across a very professional and competent

property agent who is familiar with the

overseas market, they will be able to value-

add to your investment decisions by pre-empting the pitfalls as well as giving valuable

advice. In other words, they would be able to

help make the most complicated deals as

smooth sailing as possible.

On the other hand, if you are unlucky come toacross agents who are not well versed in

handling overseas deals, they may mess up

even the most straightforward process.

To illustrate, for my companys development

project, we hand-hold potential buyers from

the point of purchase to when they sell their

units. We assist them in all aspects of the

purchase, ranging from bringing buyers to see

the site, helping them with the contract,sourcing for financing, reselling their units,

managing of property, etc. I also make it a

point to be personally involved when we

communicate with our clients. I have observed

that it helps when I personally explain to my

buyers what we are trying to do, what ourfuture plans are and how they can make

money from it. It reassures them that I have a

personal stake in the development and that we

are with them all the way. It gives them the

confidence in the development when they

know that my own money is involved. Moreimportantly, my buyers know that if anything is

not right, they will be able to get in touch with

me directly and we will fix it. Ultimately, it is

this level of commitment that my team and



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I put in which assures our buyers.

Risk-wise, I have come across investors who

are hesitant to buy overseas properties and

the common concerns cited are (1) frequentchanges in ownership regulations and (2)

natural calamities. In general, many assume

that it is safer to buy properties in Singapore

as the government is stable and they do not

think that anything would likely happen to their

property once they buy it. How wrong theyare!

In Singapore, the Land Acquisition Act gives

our government the authority to acquire any

land that it deems necessary for public good.

If you have been following the recent news, alarge land acquisition exercise was recently

announced due to the construction of the

North-South Expressway (NSE). Whether you

had recently bought a million-dollar property

or are a long-time HDB occupant for a

development that lies in the path of the NSE,

do you really think that your property would

not be affected? In view of this, can you really

say that your Singapore property is risk free?

Another common reason that put some

people off buying overseas properties is the

risk of natural calamities. They believe that

Singapore is relatively safe from calamities

like earthquake and typhoon. However, if yourecall, Singapores famous shopping belt and

Bukit Timah were hit by a series of major

floods in 2010 and in 2011. It is anyones

guess if these areas will flood again in 2012.

My purpose of highlighting these is toreinforce my earlier statement that property

investments are risky and almost anything can

go wrong. The only way to minimise such

risks is to thoroughly do your homework.



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However, not everyone has the time or

expertise to do such detailed research so the

next best alternative is to find reliable third

parties (e.g. developers, marketing agencies,lawyers, etc.) whom investors can trust to do

the leg work for them.

Hope you enjoyed Part One of this interview!

In Part Two we ask Getty which countries

have the most upside for property investors,how to find deals, how much capital you need

to invest overseas, and his experience

developing property overseas.

http://www.propwise.sg/secretsofsingaporepropertygurus/


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Non-Landed Residential Resale Property Transactions for the Week of Oct 29 Nov 4

Postal

DistrictProject Name

Area

(sqft)

Transacted

Price ($)

Price

($ psf)Tenure

2 ICON 581 1,150,000 1,978 992 THE ARRIS 915 1,550,000 1,694 FH

3 QUEENS 1,184 1,435,000 1,212 99

3 THE ANCHORAGE 883 980,000 1,110 FH

3 EMERALD PARK 1,012 1,050,000 1,038 99

4 MARINA COLLECTION 2,390 4,880,000 2,042 99

4 HARBOURLIGHTS 915 1,250,000 1,366 FH

5 PASIR VIEW PARK 1,464 1,465,000 1,001 FH

7 SOUTHBANK 969 1,400,000 1,445 99

8 CITYLIGHTS 904 1,500,000 1,659 99

8 CITYLIGHTS 689 1,067,000 1,549 99

8 CITYLIGHTS 1,421 1,800,000 1,267 99

8 KENTISH GREEN 1,076 868,000 806 99

9 BELLE VUE RESIDENCES 2,820 6,550,000 2,323 FH

9 WATERMARK ROBERTSON QUAY 1,076 1,950,000 1,812 FH

9 CAIRNHILL PLAZA 2,293 4,050,000 1,766 FH

9 ESTILO 517 875,000 1,694 FH

9 MACKENZIE 88 807 1,050,000 1,301 FH

10 ARDMORE PARK 2,885 9,000,000 3,120 FH

10 TANGLIN PARK 1,109 2,060,000 1,858 FH

10 VENTUNO BALMORAL 1,313 2,150,000 1,637 FH

10 WILLYN VILLE 861 1,370,000 1,591 FH

10 THE CAPRI 603 900,000 1,493 FH

10 THE ESTORIL 2,088 3,100,000 1,485 FH

10 SIXTH AVENUE VILLE 710 980,000 1,379 FH

Postal


Area

(sqft)

Transacted

Price ($)

Price

($ psf)Tenure

10 VILLA AZURA 1,270 1,515,000 1,193 FH11 PARK INFINIA AT WEE NAM 1,442 2,580,000 1,789 FH

11 GILSTEAD 38 980 1,350,000 1,378 FH

11 WATTEN ESTATE CONDOMINIUM 2,594 2,975,000 1,147 FH

11 THE TREVOSE 1,367 1,418,000 1,037 99

11 HILLCREST ARCADIA 1,884 1,900,000 1,009 99

12 PARC HAVEN 452 695,000 1,537 FH

12 ONE ST MICHAEL'S 1,249 1,480,000 1,185 FH

12 TRELLIS TOWERS 1,647 1,930,000 1,172 FH

12 BOON TECK TOWERS 1,722 1,578,000 916 FH

14 COSMO 420 693,000 1,651 FH

14 LE REVE 840 930,000 1,108 FH

14 DENG FU VILLE 1,044 1,038,888 995 FH

14 VISTAYA VIEW 1,270 1,234,000 972 FH

14 D' PALMA 969 927,000 957 FH

14 SIMSVILLE 1,238 1,110,000 897 99

14 BLOSSOM VIEW 980 800,000 817 FH

14 THE SUNNY SPRING 1,066 830,000 779 FH

14 GUILLEMARD VIEW 1,335 888,888 666 FH

15 THE SEAFRONT ON MEYER 1,604 2,967,400 1,850 FH

15 GRAND DUCHESS AT ST PATRICK'S 1,389 1,850,000 1,332 FH

15 WATER PLACE 1,227 1,530,000 1,247 99

15 OCEAN PARK 2,110 2,590,000 1,228 FH

15 ONE AMBER 1,453 1,730,400 1,191 FH

15 AMBER POINT 1,668 1,830,000 1,097 FH



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

Postal


Area

(sqft)

Transacted

Price ($)

Price

($ psf)Tenure

15 COTE D'AZUR 1,324 1,435,000 1,084 99

15 THE GERANIUM 1,001 1,000,000 999 FH

15 TANJONG RIA CONDOMINIUM 1,281 1,260,000 984 99

15 EAST VIEW 18 1,163 1,030,000 886 FH

15 C RESCENDO BUILDING 1,173 1,028,000 876 FH

15 CHELSEA LODGE 1,302 1,110,000 852 FH

15 VILLA MARINA 1,130 960,000 849 99

15 LE CONNEY PARK 1,087 920,000 846 FH

16 COSTA DEL SOL 1,227 1,660,000 1,353 99

16 LANDBAY CONDOMINIUM 1,238 1,340,000 1 ,083 FH

16 CHANGI COURT 1,098 1,125,000 1,025 FH

16 BAYSHORE PARK 936 850,000 908 99

16 BAYSHORE PARK 936 840,000 897 99

16 TANAMERA CREST 1,195 925,000 774 9916 TANAMERA CREST 1,184 835,000 705 99

16 BEDOK COURT 2,271 1,430,000 630 99

17 AVILA GARDENS 1,324 980,000 740 FH

17 ESTELLA GARDENS 1,259 920,000 731 FH

18 TROPICAL SPRING 1,496 1,320,000 882 99

18 CHANGI RISE CONDOMINIUM 1,023 858,000 839 99

18 CHANGI RISE CONDOMINIUM 1,023 850,000 831 99

18 SAVANNAH CONDOPARK 1,367 950,000 695 99

18 EASTPOINT GREEN 1,012 670,000 662 99

18 ELIAS GREEN 1,507 975,000 647 99

19 KOVAN PRIMERA 1,270 1,270,000 1,000 FH

19 CHERRYHILL 1,195 1,010,000 845 FH

19 COMPASS HEIGHTS 2,390 1,448,000 606 99

20 GRANDEUR 8 1,119 993,000 887 99

20 BISHAN PARK CONDOMINIUM 1,507 1,168,000 775 99

Postal


Area

(sqft)

Transacted

Price ($)

Price

($ psf)Tenure

20 FAR HORIZON GARDENS 1,152 788,000 684 99

21 SYMPHONY HEIGHTS 926 980,000 1,059 FH

21 SIGNATURE PARK 1,399 1,330,000 950 FH

21 THE HILLSIDE 1,302 1,180,000 906 FH

21 HIGH OAK CONDOMINIUM 1,884 1,573,000 835 99

22 PARC OASIS 1,389 1,065,000 767 99

22 LAKESIDE TOWER 1,970 898,000 456 99

23 THE DAIRY FARM 1,572 1,620,000 1,031 FH

23 THE PETALS 1,765 1,628,000 922 FH

23 HILLVIEW REGENCY 969 838,000 865 99

23 HILLVIEW REGENCY 1,130 950,000 841 99

23 MERALODGE 1,130 920,000 814 FH

23 HILLTOP GROVE 1,238 908,000 734 99

23 HILLVIEW APARTMENTS 1,206 8 80,000 730 FH26 BULLION PARK 807 820,000 1,016 FH

26 CASTLE GREEN 947 810,000 855 99

26 CASTLE GREEN 947 800,000 845 99

26 CASTLE GREEN 947 800,000 845 99

26 SEASONS PARK 1,249 968,000 775 99

26 FOREST HILLS CONDOMINIUM 1,195 860,000 720 99

26 CASTLE GREEN 1,152 818,000 710 99

27 EUPHONY GARDENS 764 720,000 942 99

27 SELETARIS 1,356 1,020,000 752 FH

28 GRANDE VISTA 1,636 1,320,000 807 999



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Singapore Property Classifieds #16For Sale



Bliss Residences @ Kembangan. FH1500+sf 3+1BR Penthouse. Only$1000psf. 1 min to MRT, 15 min to CBD.Rooftop pool and BBQ. TK Tan 98206228.

HDB BLK 112 SIMEI (5I), 122sqm, 7 min toMRT, #02 Nicely Renovated Corner. Val$520k. Main Door Face North East. CallNelson Lim 83680693

Attention Agents & Owners

Want to get your property classified ads seen by thousands of property buyers and

investors from only $10? Head to www.propwise.sg/advertise/ to find out more.
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Singapore Property Weekly Issue 26