RESIDENTIAL MARKET
China buyers lose property top spot
BUYERS from China have lost pole position among foreign purchasers of Singapore property in the wake of December's tough cooling measures.
Mainland buyers, and other foreigners, have fled the local market in droves, stung by a hefty 10 per cent additional stamp duty.
A report found that Chinese, including permanent residents, bought just 292 homes in the first quarter. This is 54 per cent down from the 640 homes bought in the fourth quarter last year and the lowest volume in more than two years.
The proportion of Chinese buyers among non-Singaporean buyers fell correspondingly to 23 per cent from 29 per cent in the three months before, the sharpest drop among all nationalities.
Malaysians reclaimed the top spot with 362 home purchases - a 28 per cent share among foreign buyers - possibly due to the larger number of Malaysian permanent residents here.
As a result of ABSD, demand from non-permanent resident foreigners has nosedived 75 per cent to just 336 units. Their proportion of the private market fell to a three- year low of just 6 per cent. Permanent residents took a 16 per cent share, while Singaporeans made up the remaining 78per cent.
The report also touched on the trend of HDB owners buying shoebox homes of less than 500 sq ft. These tiny units make up 16 per cent of homes bought by those with HDB addresses.
This strong demand for shoebox units, which tend to command higher unit prices, also led to units costing between $1,000 and $1,500 per sq ft (psf) making up the majority of all homes sold in the first quarter. Previously, most homes sold were typically under $1,000 psf.
About 65 per cent, or 461 shoebox units, sold in the first quarter were located in suburban towns, a marked increase from 29 per cent in the previous quarter. Almost half of the shoebox units sold in these suburban areas came from Parc Rosewood. In the city fringe area, the top selling project for these units was Guillemard Edge.
Source: The Straits Times – 25 May 2012
Shoebox flats 'almost inhuman'
SINGAPORE should curb the increasing trend of so-called shoebox apartments because they are 'almost inhuman', CapitaLand chief executive officer Liew Mun Leong said.
The Government last week said it was concerned that shoebox apartments are mushrooming as private home sales surged to a three-year high with record purchases of units that are smaller than 50sq m, or 538 sq ft.
'I am dead against shoebox developments,' Mr Liew said, in an interview at the downtown Singapore headquarters of South-east Asia's biggest developer. 'The Government should intervene. Singapore's land is very precious and you are wasting your scarce resources.'
Population growth, scarce land and surging property values have prompted developers to shrink apartment space.
Home prices surged to a record at the end of last year.
The Government may introduce measures to regulate the sale of shoebox apartments after a record number were sold in the first quarter, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan said in Parliament last week.
Developers sold 1,764 shoebox units in the first quarter, or 27per cent of all home sales, the most since the Urban Redevelopment Authority began collating the data in 2007.
'It's almost inhuman, it's not good for the welfare of the family to feel that constrained,' said Mr Liew, 65, who grew up in a one-bedroom apartment with nine people and often slept along the corridor.
Government controls have not slowed housing transactions in Singapore, driven by suburban projects, he said, reiterating the company's aim to sell as many as 1,000 homes annually over the next two to three years.
'We don't think we have an issue with' the target, he said. 'If you're aiming for the high-end, central core areas like Orchard Road, the numbers will not be so optimistic. If you're selling to the mass market, then the demand is still there.'
The next set of curbs may be targeted at smaller apartments, said Maybank Kim Eng Holdings analyst Wilson Liew.
CapitaLand is lobbying against shoebox units, said Mr Liew, citing a recent visit to a 400sq ft unit in Hong Kong.
'I used to joke that when I sat on the sofa, I didn't need the remote control to switch on the TV, I used my toes,' he said. 'If you build 200 sq ft, 300 sq ft for a family of two or three, you might as well stay in a box. There needs to be some degree of comfort level.'
Source: The Straits Times – 25 May 2012
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