RESIDENTIAL MARKET
South Beach developer set to market project
The much-anticipated South Beach project is gathering pace with the developer preparing to market the homes, offices and shop space.
The City Developments (CDL) and IOI Corporation consortium is "at the stage of preparing to market or pre-lease" the development, but has not finalised the launch date and pricing, a CDL spokesman said.
The mixed-use project - located between Raffles Hotel and Suntec City, and next to the Esplanade MRT station - will feature 190 homes, 651 hotel rooms, 49,000 sq m of office space and 7,900 sqm of retail space. A 2,700 sq m area will also be set aside for a private club.
Some agents gathering interest for the high-end complex told The Straits Times that flats could be sold at about $4,000 per sq ft (psf) on average.
They added that some regulatory approvals are still needed before flats can be sold, but the development - which had been hit by delays due to the global financial crisis - is finally in motion.
The landmark site was acquired for nearly $1.69billion from the Urban Redevelopment Authority in 2007, at a price that worked out to $1,069 psf of potential gross floor area.
Originally, Dubai World unit Istithmar, United States-based Elad Group and CDL each held a one-third stake in the South Beach Consortium.
The original plan would have seen the development completed by this year at a total cost, including land, estimated at $2.5billion.
But during the financial crisis in November 2008, CDL announced a deferment until building costs eased.
A series of sales and restructuring also marked the exit of two of the original investors - Elad and Istithmar - and led to the entry of Malaysian heavyweight IOI last year.
The project is now scheduled for completion in 2015.
CDL declined to give the revised total development cost, but added that "there have been no changes or enhancements made to the original plans for the site with IOI's participation to the shareholder structure".
Source: The Straits Times – 6 October 2012
New package deal for BTO flat buyers
The Housing Board has introduced a doors-and-sanitary fittings package for Build-To-Order (BTO) flats launched from September.
The package costs between $3,190 and $4,330, depending on the flat type.
Home owners say this scheme goes some way to address concerns about the cost of the HDB's doors-only package, which costs about $3,000 on average for four- and five-room flats.
Under HDB's Optional Component Scheme (OCS), buyers can opt to pay for extra finishes such as flooring and internal doors.
They pick their options when selecting their flat at HDB Hub, and can use their Central Provident Fund or mortgage loan for this.
The OCS includes an internal doors package that ranges from $600 to $3,080, depending on how big the flat is.
A set of five laminated semi-solid timber doors, for instance, costs $2,830 for BTO projects launched in March this year such as Fajar Hills and Clementi Ridges. At Punggol Opal, a project launched in July, the set costs $3,080.
This works out to $566 to $616 per door for four- and five-room flats.
However, suppliers say that similar quality doors can be got for about $230 each, including installation.
Best Industrial in Kaki Bukit Crescent, a specialist in timber doors, charges $230 for a laminated semi-solid door with a timber frame. A full timber door - solid with no coat - costs $200.
This package, which includes installation, works out to $1,150 for home owners, including HDB home buyers.
Yong Fang Doors in Upper Bukit Timah Road sells and installs timber doors at $330 each. UHome Interior Design in Upper Paya Lebar Road charges a similar rate and its doors come with a 15-month warranty.
Last month, the HDB offered a new package offering doors and sanitary fittings including wash basins, taps and shower mixers costing between $3,190 and $4,330.
Sanitary fittings have never featured in the OCS before.
An HDB spokesman said sanitary fittings were introduced to provide greater flexibility and to minimise wastage when buyers choose to customise their own fittings during renovation.
The market rate for taps ranges from $20 to $300. Sinks cost between $40 and $300 and shower mixers start below $100 and can go up to $500.
Some home buyers, like Miss L. P. Lim, 37, who is unemployed, said the doors-plus-sanitary-fittings deal makes the package more attractive.
She added that she was generally pleased with what HDB has on offer. "One is really paying for convenience. You don't have to worry about the basics because those are taken care of and it's hassle free for owners. All in all it works out to be quite a good deal."
An HDB spokesman said the doors are sourced from suppliers and it requires its suppliers to ensure good workmanship and finishes. The agency sets out detailed specifications for the installation, ironmongery and locksets of its doors. Its doors also go through a series of tests to ensure their durability.
"Installation works are carried out by professional contractors and supervised by a team of consultants. HDB also provides a one-year Defects Liability Period, during which all defective items, if any, will be rectified," he said.
He added: "As these standards are good practices and not regulations, it is likely the doors supplied by renovation contractors may not meet similar standards."
The HDB spokesman said optional components are generally popular among home buyers.
About 70 per cent of those who selected a flat in this year's January and March BTO sales exercises, for instance, opted for at least one item under the scheme - for either doors or flooring, or both.
He said: "Many buyers continue to select them as they do not then have to engage their own contractors to do the works later on."
Source: The Straits Times – 28 October 2012
Home supply to see record surge
Bedok and nearby areas will be at the epicentre of a record breaking surge in private home completions over the next two years, new analysis shows.
This burst of construction is, in part, the fruit of recent government efforts to cool the red-hot property market with a bumper release of residential sites.
More than 35,000 private non-landed homes are set to be completed in 2013 and 2014 alone, the National Development Ministry said in Parliament recently.
This is far more than the 9,900 units completed in 2010 and the 11,700 homes built last year. Another 12,500 homes are slated for completion this year.
The greatest number of these new homes will be built in an area known as the Bedok planning area, covering neighbourhoods such as Telok Kurau, Siglap, East Coast Road and Jalan Eunos.
Almost 10 per cent of all non-landed homes - about 3,500 units - built in the two-year period will be in this eastern estate.
Examples of new projects in the area include Flamingo Valley, Vacanza@East, Suites@East Coast, The Sound and Waterfront Key.
But while Bedok topped the table for both 2013 and 2014, thousands of homes to be built next year will be in other areas such as Geylang and Hougang. The Bukit Timah and Bukit Merah planning areas rank second and third for 2014.
About 1,240 units - or 9.4 per cent - of the 13,231 non-landed private homes expected to be completed next year are in this north-east planning area. Hougang includes areas such as Upper Serangoon, Yio Chu Kang Road and the Kovan area.
In 2014, the projected number is set to increase to 1,681 units. Its share of the year's total, however, is expected to decline to 7.6 per cent of the 22,042 homes that are slated to be built nationwide.
Projects slated for completion next year include The Minton on the former Minton Rise site, Isuites@Palm on a former landed housing site, and 21 Richards on the former Richards Mansions site.
Projects due to be completed in 2014 include Boathouse, Terrasse and Parc Vera. These three projects are built on land sold by the Government and boast a total of 1,359 units. They represent 81 per cent of the total expected completions of private non-landed homes in Hougang during the year.
Experts note, however, that the expected completions are based on developers' declarations.
The actual completion period may change according to developers' adjustments to their plans or construction schedules, according to market conditions, they add.
"Prices of homes in the north-east are expected to stagnate but may not come down as low interest rates mean that buyers can still afford to hold... But we can expect the rental market to be very competitive."
Punggol projects such as the 992-unit Watertown are expected to be completed in 2017 while 882-unit A Treasure Trove is slated for completion in November 2015.
Source: The Straits Times – 27 October 2012
Property investors keen on Tiong Bahru
Tiong Bahru may have few amenities to boast about but that has not deterred property investors and tenants from scouting for homes.
Property consultants say the city fringe area is one of the country's oldest housing estates, with about 10 private condominiums.
Conservation apartments built by the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) - the Housing and Development Board's (HDB) predecessor - years ago also feature prominently on the landscape, they said.
But since 2006, more modern additions in the form of four private projects, such as the 2010- completed Regency, have sprung up, adding more than 680 new units to the mix.
There is a site on the reserve list at Kim Tian Road, a stone's throw away from Tiong Bahru Plaza and the MRT station but that has not been triggered yet.
The limited number of recently completed homes means the area is not at risk of oversupply - a draw for investors who want to preserve the value of their properties and see higher potential for capital appreciation.
But on the flip side, it means some investors - especially those with smaller budgets - have to settle for older condos that lack modern designs and conditions.
The area's oldest condo, Yong Siak View, was completed more than 30 years ago.
Over the past year, prices have gone up about 5per cent, in line with slow resale price recovery.
Average resale prices at Central Green Condominium were between $1,100 and $1,200 per sq ft (psf) in the first half of the year, and $1,400 to $1,550 psf at the newer Regency.
The area has Tiong Bahru Plaza, several eateries at shophouses and Tiong Bahru market and its famous hawker stalls. Tiong Bahru station on the East-West MRT line is the key transport link.
Source: The Straits Times – 27 October 2012
Sentosa bungalow believed to have set new record psf price
A new record price in terms of per square foot of land area is believed to have been set for a bungalow on Sentosa Cove.
According to caveats evidence, a bungalow on Ocean Drive with views of the Pulau Brani container terminal was recently sold for $32.5 million, which works out to $3,214 psf on land area of 10,111 sq ft.
This busts the record set in late 2010 for a property just a few doors away that fetched $2,989 psf on land area of 9,436 sq ft, amounting to $28.2 million.
In the latest deal, the seller is a seasoned Singaporean bungalow investor, while the buyer is understood to be a Malaysia citizen.
Homes on Sentosa Cove have a 99-year leasehold tenure.
Some market watchers point out that the property was last transacted in November last year at $24.5 million, which means the seller would be forking out the maximum 16 per cent seller's stamp duty (SSD) payable for the sale of properties involving a holding period of a year or less.
The SSD on the $32.5 million sale would thus amount to $5.2 million. That, along with around $730,000 for the standard 3 per cent buyer's duty on the $24.5 million purchase price, would mean the owner's gain would be slightly over $2 million, before taking into account commissions, interest and other expenses.
Last month, there were two separate deals involving the sale of two adjacent prime seafronting bungalows along Cove Grove boasting views of the Southern Islands - at $25.5 million or $2,524 psf based on land area of 10,102 sq ft, and nearly $24 million, reflecting a price of $2,468 psf on 9,725 sq ft land area.
A caveat has also been lodged for a bungalow along Cove Drive with waterway and golf course views, sold for $2,202 psf in August.
However, there seems to be more anecdotal evidence of bungalow transactions on Sentosa Cove than caveats lodged, suggesting that in most cases, options have yet to be exercised by the buyers.
Source: Business Times – 29 October 2012
ABSD reins in foreigners' foray into private homes
The introduction of the additional buyer's stamp duty (ABSD) last December has had its intended effect of shrinking non-permanent resident foreigners' share of total private-home purchases in the first three quarters of this year.
Conversely, Singaporeans have seen a 10.6-percentage point jump in their share of the home-buying pie. PRs' share has risen slightly.
Foreigners who were not Singapore PRs accounted for just 6.2 per cent of the 23,312 caveats lodged for private homes excluding executive condos in the first nine months - down from their 17.5 per cent share in full-year 2011. In 2010, they accounted for 11.9 per cent of home purchases.
PRs' share has risen slightly in Jan-Sept this year to 15.6 per cent from 13.4 per cent in 2011 and 13.1 per cent in 2010. PRs pay 3 per cent ABSD when buying their second and subsequent residential property here.
For non-PR foreigners, a 10 per cent ABSD rate is payable on all residential property purchases. The same applies to companies.
Singapore citizens also foot 3 per cent ABSD, but only on their third and subsequent residential property. Between January and September this year, they bought 77.4 per cent of private homes transacted, a significant increase from their 66.8 per cent share in 2011 and also surpassing their 72.1 per cent share in 2010.
Companies picked up just 0.8 per cent of private homes sold in the first three quarters of this year - down from 2.3 per cent in 2011 and 2.8 per cent in 2010.
BT Weekend reported recently that in the Sentosa Cove upscale waterfront housing district - the only place in Singapore where non-PR foreigners may buy a landed home, albeit with government approval - some prospective buyers have asked sellers for long option periods of several months in the hope of becoming a Singapore PR and thus qualifying for the lower 3 per cent ABSD rate. Or they would not even have to pay any ABSD if they don't own any other existing residential property here.
6,881 caveats were lodged for private home purchases in Q3 2012, down 28.9 per cent from 9,676 in the preceding quarter and 9.1 per cent lower than the 7,566 in Q3 last year. The final figure for Q3 2012 is expected to be higher as more caveats stream in over the next few weeks.
Singaporeans acquired 5,190 homes in July-Sept 2012, down 31.3 per cent Q-on-Q but up 5.1 per cent y-on-y. PRs bought 1,159 units in Q3, down 19.2 per cent quarter on quarter but up 12.4 per cent y-on-y. As for non-PR foreigners, the 451 units they acquired in Q3 is down 29.6 per cent q-on-q. It was also just about 32 per cent of the 1,415 units they bought in Q3 last year.
Non-PR foreigners' share of private home purchases was 6.6 per cent in Q3, unchanged from the preceding quarter. As for PRs, their contribution to the home-buying pie rose from 14.8 per cent in Q2 to 16.8 per cent in Q3.
Singaporeans' share fell from 78 per cent to 75.4 per cent. Companies' share rose from 0.5 per cent to 1.2 per cent.
Source: Business Times – 29 October 2012
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