Singapore Property Weekly Issue 94

7/29/2019 Singapore Property Weekly Issue 94

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Issue 94Copyright 2011-2012 www.Propwise.sg. All Rights Reserved.
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CONTENTS

p2 HDB New Flat Prices to Fall by 30%?

p7 Property Buying Tip #10: Co-Ownership

p8 Singapore Property News This Week

p15 Resale Property Transactions

(February 20 February 26)

Welcome to the 94th edition of the

Singapore Property Weekly.

Im glad to announce that the 2012Q4

URA data has been updated for

PropertyMarketInsights.com members.

>> Click here to find out more


3/16

SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 94

Page | 2Back to Contents

HDB New Flat Prices to Fall by 30%?

By Mr. Propwise

In a recent parliamentary speech, Minister

Khaw Boon Wan suggested that his Ministry

is looking at ways to bring Build-To-Order

(BTO) flat pricing in non-mature estates downto four years ofsalary, where it was before

the current property bull market started more

than six years ago, down from the current 5.5

times. The media has suggested that this

means a potential fall of 30% for BTO prices,

which would be disastrous for both HDBresale flat and mass market private property

prices.
http://app.mnd.gov.sg/Newsroom/NewsPage.aspx?ID=4289&category=Parliamentary%20Speech&year=2013&RA1=&RA2=&RA3=http://app.mnd.gov.sg/Newsroom/NewsPage.aspx?ID=4289&category=Parliamentary%20Speech&year=2013&RA1=&RA2=&RA3=http://app.mnd.gov.sg/Newsroom/NewsPage.aspx?ID=4289&category=Parliamentary%20Speech&year=2013&RA1=&RA2=&RA3=http://app.mnd.gov.sg/Newsroom/NewsPage.aspx?ID=4289&category=Parliamentary%20Speech&year=2013&RA1=&RA2=&RA3=http://app.mnd.gov.sg/Newsroom/NewsPage.aspx?ID=4289&category=Parliamentary%20Speech&year=2013&RA1=&RA2=&RA3=http://app.mnd.gov.sg/Newsroom/NewsPage.aspx?ID=4289&category=Parliamentary%20Speech&year=2013&RA1=&RA2=&RA3=


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New flat prices unlikely to fall by 30% on

an apples-to-apples basis

However, I believe such an outcome is very

unlikely to happen.

First, it is unclear what combination of

household income base and flat type Minister

Khaw is referring to. Even currently, most

households earning the median household

income can afford 4-room BTO flats in non-

mature estates. Over the last two years, therehas been a gradual de-linking of BTO prices

from the resale market by increasing

subsidies and keeping BTO prices stable

even as resale prices rise. Now almost all

HDB first-timers buy new flats instead of

resale flats, reflecting the current attractivepricing of BTO flats, at least on a relative

basis.

Also, the characteristics of such cheaper flats

could be different from the current HDB flats.

They could be smaller, have shorter leases or

be located in less desirable estates. Thus it

would not be an apples-to-apples

comparison.

We should not forget that home ownership

has crossed 90% in Singapore, one of the

highest levels in the world. Policies that are

implemented will have to avoid negatively

impacting the majority of Singaporeans who

already own a home. Thus while drastic

policies such as reinstating a pre-1971 rule

that HDB flats can only be sold back to the

Housing Board have been suggested, I

believe that they are highly unlikely.

I also believe that its unlikely that we will see

new BTO launches of flats at prices that are30% lower than those of recent neighboring

launches. Imagine the angry outcry from

those who had previously bought! The whole

point of these changes to the housing policy


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is to placate angry Singaporeans, and not

piss off the silent majority who already own

property.

Deflating the property bubble

Instead, the governments focus is on

controlling the property market and

preventing prices from rising further to create

(or more accurately, inflate) a property

bubble. Even the media has been

admonished for their role in highlightingresale flats that go for record high prices.

One way the government hopes to cool the

market is by increasing supply. Minister Khaw

announced that 25,000 BTO flats would be

launched in 2013, a slight increase from the

23,000 previously announced by the HDB in

January. Compared to the roughly 25,000 in

2011 and 27,000 in 2012, the pipeline of BTO

flats in 2013 has been kept stable, higher

than the 15,000 or so marriages each year, in

order to clear the demand backlog.

There is also the hope that the large

upcoming supply of homes 30,000 units to

be completed this year, 50,000 in 2014,

54,000 in 2015 and 63,000 in 2016 will help

to moderate price and rental increases.

Minister Khaw also pointed out that as

Singapores years of high GDP and wage

growth in the 7% to 10% range are over,property prices (and especially HDB flat

prices) are unlikely to rise as quickly in the

future as they have done so as in the past.

But is the property market out of control?

The problem is that property prices inSingapore are not being driven by purely

fundamental factors such as wage growth,

but also by the sustained low interest rate

environment which the government has no


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control over due to Singapores monetary

policy.

The affordability of property is a function of

not just property prices and income, but also

by the cost of financing (i.e. mortgage rates).

Add to that Singapores open economy and

attractiveness to foreigners as a place to park

their wealth (due to factors such as the low

tax rates, stability, strong Singapore dollar

etc), and the result is the continuing strongdemand for property.

Thus despite seven (!) rounds of property

cooling measures since September 2009

(and various tweaks such as those

announced in the Budget 2013), both

volumes and price growth have remainedstrong. If we really think about that, we can

only come to two conclusions.

First, government policy on the housing

market is reactive and incremental they

watch the data on housing prices and

volumes and try to put in place incremental

policies to try and control the future direction

of the market.

Second, the measures have not been terribly

effective transaction volumes in the past

few years have been much higher than

previously, and prices have grown strongly

(the URA Property Price Index has risen by37% since 2009Q3). So either the

government simply cannot do much to control

the market, or they have severely

underestimated the demand for property and

have introduced measures that are too weak

to tame the animal spirits in the market.More cooling measures on the way?

The market seems to just shrug off each new

round of measures, while developers and
http://www.propwise.sg/the-3-critical-impacts-of-budget-2013-for-property-owners/http://www.propwise.sg/the-3-critical-impacts-of-budget-2013-for-property-owners/http://www.propwise.sg/the-3-critical-impacts-of-budget-2013-for-property-owners/http://www.propwise.sg/the-3-critical-impacts-of-budget-2013-for-property-owners/http://www.propwise.sg/the-3-critical-impacts-of-budget-2013-for-property-owners/http://www.propwise.sg/the-3-critical-impacts-of-budget-2013-for-property-owners/http://www.propwise.sg/the-3-critical-impacts-of-budget-2013-for-property-owners/http://www.propwise.sg/the-3-critical-impacts-of-budget-2013-for-property-owners/http://www.propwise.sg/the-3-critical-impacts-of-budget-2013-for-property-owners/http://www.propwise.sg/the-3-critical-impacts-of-budget-2013-for-property-owners/http://www.propwise.sg/the-3-critical-impacts-of-budget-2013-for-property-owners/http://www.propwise.sg/the-3-critical-impacts-of-budget-2013-for-property-owners/http://www.propwise.sg/the-3-critical-impacts-of-budget-2013-for-property-owners/http://www.propwise.sg/the-3-critical-impacts-of-budget-2013-for-property-owners/http://www.propwise.sg/the-3-critical-impacts-of-budget-2013-for-property-owners/http://www.propwise.sg/the-3-critical-impacts-of-budget-2013-for-property-owners/http://www.propwise.sg/the-3-critical-impacts-of-budget-2013-for-property-owners/http://www.propwise.sg/the-3-critical-impacts-of-budget-2013-for-property-owners/http://www.propwise.sg/the-3-critical-impacts-of-budget-2013-for-property-owners/


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agents introduce gimmicks (such as ABSD

rebates, furniture vouchers and other forms of

hidden discounting) and play on buyer

psychology (e.g. using the 6.9 million

population target) to drum up demand for new

launches, which remains strong.

I believe that the strong property market

despite the multiple rounds of cooling

measures has now almost become an

embarrassment to the government, and thusthe risk of a new draconian set of property

measures is significant. If we make it to the

tenth round of cooling measures and the

property market is still going strong, would the

cooling measures become just a joke? So

every time prices and/or volumes make a newhigh, brace yourself!

SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY I 94
http://propertymarketinsights.com/


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Property Buying Tip #10: Co-Ownership

In Singapore, there are two forms of co-

ownership for residential property.

(1) Joint Tenancy [right to survivorship]

Two or more parties have rights to the land as

if they were a single owner. It also implies the

right to survivorship i.e. when one party dies,

his or her share automatically passes on tothe other parties, over-riding any disposition

by a Will or the rules on intestacy, and the

process continues until the sole survivor

becomes the absolute owner.

(2) Tenancy-In-Common [no right of

survivorship]

Unlike joint tenancy, interests in this form of

co-ownership contain no right of survivorship,

where land is held by two or more persons

but words of severance are used in the

grant to show their intention to hold separate

(even if they are equal) shares in the land.As

such, if you are the sole owner or having a

Tenancy-In-Common Ownership, it is

important to have a Will indicating the

property distribution.

When you buy a property with your friends

and/or relatives, besides discussing on the

shares, it is also vital to determine the exit

strategy of the investment property prior to

entering into a co-ownership contract.

By Eileen Tan and Ui Wei Teck, propertyinvestors and authors of Enjoying Mid-Life

Without Crisis. This tip and dozens more are

from theirbook.

SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY I 94
http://aktive.com.sg/store/enjoying-mid-life-without-crisis/http://aktive.com.sg/store/enjoying-mid-life-without-crisis/http://aktive.com.sg/store/enjoying-mid-life-without-crisis/http://aktive.com.sg/store/enjoying-mid-life-without-crisis/http://aktive.com.sg/store/enjoying-mid-life-without-crisis/http://aktive.com.sg/store/enjoying-mid-life-without-crisis/http://aktive.com.sg/store/enjoying-mid-life-without-crisis/http://aktive.com.sg/store/enjoying-mid-life-without-crisis/http://aktive.com.sg/store/enjoying-mid-life-without-crisis/http://aktive.com.sg/store/enjoying-mid-life-without-crisis/http://aktive.com.sg/store/enjoying-mid-life-without-crisis/http://aktive.com.sg/store/enjoying-mid-life-without-crisis/http://aktive.com.sg/store/enjoying-mid-life-without-crisis/


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Singapore Property This Week


ResidentialSlew of launches expected in March

With a slew of launches expected in March,

sales figure for the month is expected to be

strong. The launches expected include The

Trilinq in Clementi, Sennett Residence in

Potong Pasir, Urban Vista in Tanah Merah,

Bartley Ridge and Kingsford.Hillview Peak; all

are 99-year leasehold projects.

The Trilling, which is located near The

Clementi Mall and Clementi MRT Station, will

offer 200-250 of its 755 units for the initialphase at an early-bird average price of about

$1,400-1,500 psf after discounts. There will

be two 36-storey towers with an attic, and a

33-storey block housing 112 one-bedroom

units (538-603 sq ft), 192 two-bedroom units,

346 three-bedroom units, 94 four-bedroom

units and 11 penthouses (2,573- 4,456 sq ft),

some of which offer a double-volume, six-

metre floor-to-ceiling height in either the living

room or the master bedroom. Facilities

include a tennis court and three swimming

pools.

Meanwhile, Sennett Residence near Potong

Pasir MRT station is expected to be launched

at an average price of $1,400 psf, with the

absolute prices starting from $700,000 for a485-sqft one-bedroom unit and ending at

$5-6 million for the most expensive

penthouse.



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It offers a total of 332 residential and three

shop units in four blocks linked by a sky

terrace which will house a 50-metre infinity

pool and a sky-gym. Sizes of the one, two,

three and four-bedroom apartments andduplex penthouses will range from 485 sq ft

to 4,252 sq ft.

Also expected for a March launch are the

582-unit Urban Vista in Tanah Merah

(expected average price of $1,300-1,400 psf),

868-unit Bartley Ridge near Bartley MRT

Station ($1,300 psf) and Kingsford.Hillview

Peak, which has around 500 units named.

(Source: Business Times)

Public housing policies under review to

bring down BTO prices

To ensure the affordability of public housing,

the housing policy would need to be reviewed

with the changing demographics and

economy in mind. In addition to cooling

measures such as increasing the BTO flat

supply from 23,000 to 25,000 flats, HDB will

also be looking into designing alternative

housing options.

Meanwhile, first-timer singles aged 35 and

above who earn up to $5,000 per month will

be able to buy new two-room flats directly

from the HDB with effect from the July BTO

exercise, with the first BTO exercise in

Sengkang. They will get to choose between

35-sq-m and 45-sq-m flats in non-mature

estates.

Other changes announced also include the

extension of the Parenthood Priority Scheme

to pregnant mothers with effect from the MayBTO launch. This will be further extended to

cover those already married but without

children next year. The Parenthood

Provisional Housing Scheme, previously only



11/16



an option for first-timer married couples with a

child, will be extended to married HDB first-

timers without children. Second-timers

intending to downgrade will also benefit from

the increased quota for two-room and three-room flats in non-mature estates doubled

from 15% to 30%. Of the 30%, 5% will be

reserved for divorcees or widows with below

16 years. The debarment period from

subsidised flats for divorcees will also be

shortened from five years to three years.

In addition to building more studio

apartments, a new Studio Apartment Priority

Scheme (SAPS) where half of the supply of

studio apartments will be set aside for seniors

who apply for one near their current flat ornear where their children live will be

introduced. This will replace both the Ageing-

in-Place Priority Scheme, and the Married

Child Priority Scheme.

Measures to prevent growth of foreigner

enclaves in some HDB blocks such as a cap

on approvals for all new and renewal of HDB

tenancy agreements, involving non-citizens,

to one-and-a-half years will also beintroduced.


Freehold Kovan Lodge back on the

collective sale market

After an unsuccessful earlier attempt, Kovan

Lodge, a freehold four-storey development

with 16 apartments of 1,200 sq ft to 1,800 sq

ft has been put up for collective sale by

tender again, with an asking price of under

$30 million or around $790 psf of potential

GFA with no development charge. This is

lower than the earlier asking price of $31.5

million. Zoned for residential use, the 27,090

sq ft site has a 1.4 GPR. Buyers of Koan



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lodge may be able to buy an adjoining 505 sq

ft plot of state land. The tender will close on

March 26.


Freehold residential project the Maisons in

Braddell to be launched by months end

The Maisons consist of the twin residences R

Maison and E Maison are are expected to be

priced at around $1,350-1,450 psf, 10-15%

from what was originally planned in responseto the recent hike in ABSD rates. There will be

a total of 175 units in the project, ranging from

570 sq ft for a one-bedroom apartment to

2,357 sq ft for a two-storey penthouse.


Steady sales at Sennett Residence brisk;

less so at The Trilinq

Despite the similar average pricing of $1,400-

$1,500 psf, the sales of Sennett Residence

near Potong Pasir MRT and The Trilinq at

Clementi showed a marked difference as a

result of their locations.

332-unit Sennett Residence near Potong

Pasir MRT station had sold 175 units at anaverage price of $1,450 psf after upfront

discounts of 10% plus 8%. Units sold include

a 2,600 sq ft penthouse and a 3,600 sq ft

penthouse at $3.5 million and $5.2 million

respectively. Absolute prices start from

$734,000 for a 485 sq ft one-bedroom unit.

On the other hand, 755-unit Trilinq at

Clementi is said to have sold around 85 units

of its 200 released units at an average price

of $1,400-$1,500 psf. The prices for each unit

vary from $1,200 psf to $1,800 psf depending

on whether the units have void space whichwould usually mean a lower psf price. 38% of

the units offer a double-volume, six-metre

floor-to-ceiling height. One reason for the

slower sales is the plan to sell the project over



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its construction period rather than selling all

within a month and another is that they only

process options only for buyers who were

physically present. The lowest absolute price

was $855,000 for a 538 sq ft one-bedroomunit and the lowest absolute price for a 1,518-

sq-ft unit four-bedroom unit with void space

was $1.82 million.


Freehold Ultra Mansion sold in collectivesale for $149.13 m

13-storey Ultra Mansion which sits on a

45,512 sq ft site at 4, Derbyshire Road near

Novena MRT station, has been sold for

$149.13 million or $1,170 psf of potential GFA

with no development charge payable. Zoned

for residential use, the site has a 2.8 plot ratio

and 140,000 sq ft potential GFA, including a

10% bonus gross floor area allowance, which

can generate 170 one- and two-bedroom

units ranging from 600 sq ft to 900 sq ft each.


Commercial

2HR at 2 Havelock Road sold to Guthrie at$283m

Seven-storey commercial building 2HR which

sits on a 54,560 sq ft site with a remaining

lease of about 69 years has been sold at

$282.88 million, or $1,626 psf based on its

current NLA of 173,912 sq ft (36,992 sq ft

retail and 136,920 sq ft offices). Located near

Clarke Quay MRT station and the future

Chinatown MRT station on the Downtown

Line, the building offers 95 basement carpark

lots. It offers a net yield of 3.2% based on itscurrent average monthly rental of about $6

psf. Outline approval for redevelopment into a

12-storey hotel has been given.




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Steady sales for 99-year SBF Centers

small offices; sales slower for medical

suites

60% of the 196 small strata office units (590-

1,500 sq ft) on the 10th to 28th levels on the

10th to 28th levels at SBF Center at Robinson

Road/Cecil Street near Tanjong Pagar MRT

Station is said to have been released, of

which most of which have been sold. The

units are said to be priced at $3,200 psf after

100 of them had been sold. It is believed that

the top-three levels consisting of whole-floor

office units of 10,850 sq ft have yet to be

released.

On the other hand, sales for the 48 medical

suites (680-1,300 sq ft) located on Levels 3 to5 and priced at $3,800-$4,000 psf are slower.

This could be due to the lack of an existing

hospital or key medical facility nearby.


Four strata retail units at freehold

Queensway Shopping Centre up for sale

The four retail strata units totalling 10,388 sq

ft in size is asking for at least $32 million or

$3,080 psf. The four units include the street-

facing second-floor 2,734-sq-ft unit currently

leased to McDonald's and three adjacent

units on the third-floor totalling 7,654 sq ft that

are leased to Sports Link. The monthly rental

of $50,000 would mean a nearly 2% net yield

based on the price of $32 million. The four

units make up 11% of the share value in the

overall development which includes

apartments. While the sellers prefer to sell to

a single buyer, they are open to selling in two

lots (one on second-floor, another on the

third) if it brings in more profit. The

expression-of-interest exercise will closes on

April 2.




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Freehold Ibis Novena sold for $150m

The 241-room Ibis Novena at Irrawaddy Road

has been sold for $150 million or $622,000

per room. This will mean substantial profits

for the owner, the Kum family, which bought it

at $118 million less than two years ago. While

the hotel faced competition from two new

hotels in the area - the 405-room Days Hotel

Singapore and the the 384-room Ramada

Singapore, both at Zhongshan Park, the

buyer, Alpha Investment will gain from the fact

that the hotel is managed by the well-

established Accor group and the resilience of

such three-star hotels in weathering market

cycles.


http://www.moneymatters.sg/


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S G O O ssue 9


Non-Landed Residential Resale Property Transactions for the Week of Feb 20 Feb 26

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

DistrictProject Name

Area

(sqft)

Transacted

Price ($)

Price

($ psf)Tenure

5 PARC IMPERIAL 388 698,000 1,801 FH

5 THE GRANDHILL 926 1,313,000 1,418 FH

5 HERITAGE VIEW 1,195 1,440,000 1,205 99

5 PASIR PANJANG COURT 1,378 1,280,000 929 FH

9 LEONIE PARC VIEW 2,013 4,850,000 2,409 FH

9 THE INSPIRA 1,259 2,168,888 1,722 FH

10 ARDMORE PARK 2,885 10,500,000 3,640 FH

10 GALLOP GREEN 3,692 7,310,160 1,980 FH

10 GALLOP GREEN 3,563 7,054,740 1,980 FH

10 LATITUDE 2,788 5,322,500 1,909 FH

10 SOMMERVILLE PARK 1,948 3,200,000 1,642 FH

10 BALMORAL HEIGHTS 1,163 1,885,000 1,621 FH

10 BOTANIKA 2,605 4,200,000 1,612 FH

12 THE ARTE 1,399 1,835,000 1,311 FH

12 THE CALLISTA 1,109 1,080,000 974 999

13 D' ALMIRA 947 1,130,000 1,193 FH

15 ONE AMBER 1,335 2,020,000 1,513 FH

15 THE SEAFRONT ON MEYER 1,066 1,600,000 1,501 FH

15 THE ESTA 1,345 1,860,000 1,382 FH

15 CASERO @ DUNMAN 646 875,000 1,355 FH

15 ARTHUR MANSIONS 1,227 1,650,000 1,345 FH

15 AQUENE 753 935,000 1,241 FH

15 STILLZ RESIDENCE 1,012 1,110,000 1,097 FH

16 COSTA DEL SOL 1,475 1,965,000 1,333 99

Postal

DistrictProject Name

Area

(sqft)

Transacted

Price ($)

Price

($ psf)Tenure

16 THE DAFFODIL 732 700,000 956 FH

16 CASAFINA 1,528 1,460,000 955 99

16 CASAFINA 1,345 1,253,500 932 99

17 CARISSA PARK CONDOMINIUM 1,302 1,130,000 868 FH

20 GOLDENHILL PARK CONDOMINIUM 1,335 1,850,000 1,386 FH

21 JARDIN 1,701 3,146,850 1,850 FH

21 THE CASCADIA 581 1,068,000 1,837 FH

21 JARDIN 1,722 2,910,000 1,690 FH

21 REGIS MANSIONS 1,023 970,000 949 FH

23 MAYSPRINGS 915 825,500 902 99

23 REGENT GROVE 1,259 1,018,888 809 99

28 SERENITY PARK 1,324 1,280,000 967 FH

Documents

Singapore Property Weekly Issue 94