Punggol residential project to be launched at $850 psf
ANOTHER private residential project in Punggol, FLO Residence, is being launched this May.
The project, a joint-venture between Capital Development Pte Ltd and ZACD Investments Pte Ltd, is located at Punggol Field Walk, near Coral Edge LRT.
Comprising a total of 530 apartments, FLO Residences offers 106 two-bedders (between 764 and 861 sq ft), 317 three-bedders (between 926 and 1,044 sq ft), 92 four-bedders (between 1,227 sq ft and 1,346 sq ft) as well as 15 penthouse units (between 1,500 and 2,500 sq ft).
The project is priced at an average of $850 psf, according to SLP International, the marketing agent, with the cost of two-bedders starting at $620,000, three-bedders at $750,000 and four-bedders at $990,000.
The site adjacent to FLO Residence has recently been earmarked for an international school. This immediately increases the investment potential of FLO as international schools traditionally bring about increased rental demand for housing nearby.
Source: Business Times – 4 May 2012
Woodlands executive condo site draws 5 bids
A STATE tender for a 99-year leasehold executive condo (EC) site at Woodlands Avenue 5/Woodlands Drive 16 has fetched five bids.
Top bidder Hao Yuan Investment, controlled by mainland China parties, offered $247 million or $317.65 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr). Its bid was 3.5 per cent higher than the next highest offer of $238.7 million or nearly $307 psf ppr by MCL Land.
A spokesman for Hao Yuan said yesterday evening that the group's scheme for the site is a project with about 700 units comprising three and four-bedroom apartments. The plan is to launch the project before year end, he added.
The project's breakeven cost is estimated at around $630-650 psf.
Hao Yuan's top bid of about $318 psf ppr was a confident bid and takes into account the fact that there are no new EC projects in Woodlands, hence tapping into demand from upgraders in the vicinity.
Source: Business Times – 4 May 2012
Shoebox units pulling down value of new homes
THE dramatic rise of 'shoebox' units here, with their low total price tags, are causing a major drop in the value of new private homes in the pipeline.
The total value of uncompleted condominiums slid 22 per cent last year as these miniature homes rose to prominence, a recent property study found.
The 13,611 caveats lodged for new homes amounted to $16.6 billion last year, a drop from the $21.2 billion in 2010, even though the number of caveats that year was only a little higher at 13,933.
The median size of new units has dropped from 1,249 sq ft in the third quarter of 2009 to 721 sq ft in the first quarter of this year.
Recent property statistics bear out their popularity: more than one in four new home sales in the first quarter of the year was a shoebox unit, as investors went looking for decent rental yields.
Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) data also showed that the stock of small units will surge from about 2,400 at the end of last year to 8,200 units or more by the end of 2015 - a figure which could prove to be higher. Some upcoming projects featuring these flats include Punggol's Watertown and Parc Rosewood in Woodlands.
Despite the attractive price, critics say shoebox units are too small to live in. But if the shoebox market remains hot, property consultants foresee some measures or curbs being rolled out.
Still, the jury is out on the viability of shoebox units. It remains to be seen if there is really widespread demand from tenants or owner-occupation, if it doesn't pan out, it'll be an economic waste.
Source: The Straits Times – 4 May 2012
OFFICE MARKET
Marina Bay attracting finance, insurance firms
MARINA Bay is growing in popularity with financial and insurance companies, drawing them away from their traditional Raffles Place business hub.
A recent study found that about 75 per cent of occupied office space in Marina Bay was taken up by firms from the sector, compared with about 55 per cent in Raffles Place.
However, the absolute amount of office space occupied by such companies in the older hub is higher than that for Marina Bay because of the larger stock in the traditional prime office area.
The report stated that these companies occupied slightly over 4 million sq ft of office space in Raffles Place, while the corresponding figure in Marina Bay is 2.6 million sq ft.
The study covered buildings with more than 100,000 sq ft of net lettable area.
Still, Marina Bay is expected grow - to more than 3.3 million sq ft in the next few quarters - as finance and insurance players move into newly completed buildings such as Asia Square Tower 1 and Marina Bay Financial Centre Tower 3.
The study also noted that office stock in the Marina area is expected to be boosted to 2.6 million sq ft with various additions including the land swop parcels from the former KTM railway lands which are set to be developed around 2016.
Comparatively, Raffles Place will see an expansion of only 720,000 sq ft from the redevelopment of the Market Street carpark to an office building in 2014.
Still, despite financial and insurance companies flocking to Marina Bay, Raffles Place's office occupancy rates held up better - 91.3 per cent - in the first quarter because of a bigger tenant base.
But the average occupancy rate of office space in Marina Bay fell more than 30 percentage points year-on-year to 68.1 per cent in that period.
Rent-wise, landlords of buildings with high occupancy rates are maintaining gross face rents, the same study found.
However, more leasing incentives are being offered by landlords keen to fill up space.
This comes in the form of longer rent holiday ranging from two to six months.
Although the net increase in supply is low this year, there will nonetheless be downward pressure on rents as occupiers remain cautious and a substantial amount of existing space could be returned to the market for lease.
Source: The Straits Times – 4 May 2012
No comments:
Post a Comment