RESIDENTIAL MARKET
Over 320 new private homes sold in a week
NEW private home sales continued their strong run, with at least 325 homes snapped up over the past week as rock bottom interest rates and new project launches kept propping up the market.
A report by UBS Investment Research said that more than 200 units at 99-year leasehold Eight Riversuites in Whampoa East were sold during a private preview over the weekend.
The average selling price was $1,400 per sq ft (psf), after buyers were given a 5 per cent early-bird discount. This is higher than Allgreen's 999-year leasehold Riviera 38, previewed in October last year, which is priced at about $1,100 psf on average. Allgreen's project, however, is farther from Boon Keng MRT station.
Eight Riversuites' one-bedroom units of about 450 sq ft were priced at about $600,000 while the two-bedroom units of about 700 sq ft cost about $900,000.
They made up about 60 per cent of the 862-unit project and were the most popular among buyers, the report added.
Far East Organization sold another 67 units at 338-unit Seahill in West Coast Link, bringing total sales to 185 units since the 99-year leasehold project previewed at the end of last month. The average price of the units sold was $1,329 psf.
The developer also sold 34 more units in its other projects like Hillsta in Choa Chu Kang, euHabitat in Eunos and Silversea along the East Coast.
Over at 679-unit Ripple Bay in Pasir Ris, MCL Land said that it sold another 27 homes, bringing total sales to 532 units at an average of $870 psf.
Buyers have snapped up new private homes at such a blistering pace that the 6,682 homes sold in the first three months of the year set a new quarterly record. Many of these are tiny shoebox apartments of 500 sq ft and less.
Source: The Straits Times – 8 May 2012
Six months' condo living - for free
A PROPERTY developer is offering a family the chance to live for free for six months in a fully furnished condominium unit in Kovan.
But it is not really a marketing gimmick to whip up interest in Fiorenza, launched last year, as all but two of its 28 units have been sold.
Rather, it is a test bed of sorts for Koh Brothers, which hopes to gather useful feedback on 'lifestyle living', as opposed to just selling an unfurnished unit.
Touted as a 'concept home', the two-bedder has space-saving, tech-savvy furniture suitable for smaller homes.
Smart features in the fifth-floor unit include a dining table that converts into a coffee table, a foldable bed which can double as a study table, motorised sun shades and multi-room surround sound.
The successful family - who will not be obliged to purchase the unit - should be a family of three, including a child, and be able to give fair feedback and comments about their experience.
Utility bills will be paid by the developer but the family will have to bear costs such as cleaning the apartment.
The flat, fitted with everything from a washing machine to cutlery, measures 1,367 sq ft, of which nearly 500 sq ft make up the rooftop garden, leaving about 872 sq ft of indoor living space.
Units at Fiorenza have been sold at an average price of $1,000 to $1,100 per sq ft. The 'concept home', with all its furnishings, will cost some $1.6 million; the unit alone costs about $1.4 million.
Source: The Straits Times – 8 May 2012
Strong interest in Pasir Ris exec condo
WATERCOLOURS, a new executive condominium (EC) to be built in Pasir Ris, is nearly two times oversubscribed.
Huge Development - a consortium made up of Ho Lee Group, UE E&C, GPS Alliance Development and Investment, and Evia Real Estate - is behind the EC.
Mr Jeffrey Hong, chief executive of GPS Alliance, reported that a total of 807 e-applications had been tallied by 10pm yesterday. But the 99-year leasehold project has only 416 units available, which can be booked from June 1. The EC was launched last Tuesday.
The condo will be at the intersection of Pasir Ris Drive 3 and Pasir Ris Link.
Property consultants have said they expect the condo to do well, given that some of its prices seem to be comparable to those at a Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) project nearby. They said those eyeing the pricier Pasir Ris One DBSS units could do better to buy units at Watercolours, which also has facilities.
Indicative prices released by Pasir Ris One's developer, SingXpress KayLim, put a three-room, 700 sq ft unit there at between $390,000 and $490,000. A five-room, 1,130 sq ft unit there works out to about $650,000 to $770,000. E-applications for that project closed last week. It was also oversubscribed.
By comparison, the average indicative prices for Watercolours are reportedly between $680 per sq ft (psf) and $720 psf.
Two-bedroom EC units starting from 743 sq ft are $500,000 to $600,000, while three-bedroom units starting from 915 sq ft are $600,000 to $700,000.
The EC will also have three-bedroom and four-bedroom dual-key units, for multi-generational living.
Source: The Straits Times – 8 May 2012
SINGAPORE
Firms start dragging their feet on payments
More companies are facing cash flow problems and delaying their payments as the economy slows, says DP Information Group.
The problem seems most acute in the services sector where, in the first quarter, 50 per cent of the debts owed were deemed delinquent. This is a massive jump as, in the previous quarter of Q4 2011, only 16 per cent - less than a third of this number - were delinquent, the group said.
A debt is considered delinquent when it remains unpaid 90 days past its due date.
The services sector covers a wide range of businesses including advertising, design, education, employment agencies and rental/property.
While it stood out starkly for dragging its feet on making payments, other sectors also became more tardy. In Q1 2012, 23 per cent of all monies owed across all industries remained unpaid 90 days after the debt was due, an increase of 5 percentage points from Q4 2011.
The average credit extended by industries here is 30 days.
The debts-turned-cash (DTC) national average - a tool for measuring the number of days a company takes to pay its creditor once the debt is due - is holding steady at 41 days for Q1 2012; this compares with 40 days in Q4 2011. The DTC national average has been deteriorating over the past six quarters; it was 35 days in Q3 2010.
According to Ong Siew Kim, senior general manager, DP Information Group, the amount of long-term debt was still below its historic peak of 27 per cent recorded during the global financial crisis in Q1 2009.
"Companies are becoming selective about which debts to pay on time, and which they are allowing to extend out. If a creditor is not putting pressure on the debtor to settle an account, then many companies just choose to let the debt ride for a couple of months," she said.
On the surge in overdue payments in the services sector, Ms Ong said it is partly due to the nature of the business in that companies here generally deal with individuals.
Individuals could be postponing payments because they are feeling the pinch from a slowing economy.
Growth this year is projected to range from 1-3 per cent, down from 4.9 per cent last year.
This has a ripple effect on a services company, affecting its cash flow since it is finding it harder to collect debt owed by its customers, she said.
Another reason for the higher delinquent debts showing up is that more than 200 companies joined the credit bureau and most of them were from the services industry in the past 12 months, Ms Ong added.
Source: Business Times – 8 May 2012
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