RESIDENTIAL MARKET
Launch of new flats marks record supply
The Housing Board has launched almost 6,500 new Build-To- Order (BTO) flats in five towns, making this another record year in terms of public housing supply.
The offerings announced yesterday are in three mature estates - Ghim Moh, Toa Payoh and Bedok - and the two newer estates of Choa Chu Kang and Sengkang.
With the rollout of 6,463 new units, the total number of BTO flats made available this year will reach 27,084 - the highest since the system was introduced in 2002.
Together with another 7,153 unsold "balance flats" that were relaunched for sale, this year's total supply comes to 34,237 flats.
Prices for a three-room flat start from as low as $146,000 - excluding housing grants - in Choa Chu Kang.
Yesterday, the HDB highlighted the affordability of these and other flats on offer.
It said that a typical applicant, who has a monthly household income of $4,000 and qualifies for a $15,000 housing grant, will need pay just $11 in monthly cash instalment for a $275,000 four-room flat at Keat Hong Mirage in Choa Chu Kang - after deductions from the Central Provident Fund.
National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan said in Parliament last week that new flats - the bulk of which are reserved for first-time applicants - were still affordable for them.
He noted that the prices for new HDB flats had risen by 12 per cent, compared to the 34 per cent rise in the HDB resale price index since 2009.
Buyers will have to pay more, however, for flats in mature estates, with the cost of a four- room flat in Ghim Moh ranging from $450,000 to $594,000. A five-room unit in Bedok costs between $471,000 and $537,000.
Still, property analysts said the latest prices in this launch showed the HDB's consistency in keeping prices relatively stable. ERA Realty key executive officer Eugene Lim said the new flats are priced at a considerable discount, given the upbeat property market which has seen some resale units fetching up to a million dollars.
He said a resale four-room flat in Ghim Moh, which is about a decade old, can fetch $600,000 to $670,000 now.
"Although buyers have to wait about three years for their flats to be completed, they will get a brand new flat and skip paying a cash premium, which has to be paid upfront," he said.
Data collated from various agencies showed that these premiums - known as cash-over-valuation or COV - have now climbed to a median of $33,000 nationwide, up from $30,000 in the third quarter of this year.
The HDB launched 25,000 BTO flats last year, and plans to offer at least 20,000 more next year. Applications close next Tuesday.
Source: The Straits Times –22 November 2012
A 'presidential suite' at new EC project
A vast penthouse nearly as big as four HDB five-room flats combined is spicing up the attractions at the upcoming CityLife@ Tampines executive condominium (EC).
The 4,349 sq ft "presidential penthouse suite" at what the developers brand "Singapore's first luxury hotel-style" EC is a sign of the intense competition to attract EC buyers.
If the 4,349 sq ft penthouse costs $550 psf and its buyer gets a 30-year loan of 80 per cent at an interest rate of 1.2 per cent, the monthly instalment would be $6,332 - more than half the $12,000 monthly income ceiling for EC buyers. The 20 per cent out-of-pocket cost would be nearly $480,000.
The 514-unit CityLife, which is being built by Amara Holdings, Kay Lim Holdings and SingXpress Land, will have an infinity pool and four- to five-bedder "Skysuite" units with open terraces.
CityLife is next to another EC project, The Tampines Trilliant, launched in January and expected to be completed in 2016.
Another recent EC project, Heron Bay, paired private pools with jacuzzis in 12 ground-floor units. These were booked up "within the first weekend" of the launch, said Mr Vincent Ong, managing partner of Evia Real Estate Management, a partner in Heron Bay's development consortium.
Analysts said some buyers would be keen on such fancy projects as these gilt-edged features were relatively rare and ECs were still up to 25 per cent cheaper than mass market condos.
A 2,713 sq ft penthouse at One Canberra in Yishun fetched $1.61 million in August, a record for a new EC unit. The highest psf price is $888 for a unit at The Tampines Trilliant.
E-applications for CityLife can be made from Nov 29. Bookings open next month.
Source: The Straits Times –22 November 2012
INDUSTRIAL MARKET
Cathay unit buys Upper Paya Lebar industrial building
A unit of Cathay Group is understood to have bought an eight-storey freehold industrial building in Upper Paya Lebar for $31.8 million.
The price being paid for Tropical Industrial Building along Little Road, about 400m from Tai Seng MRT Station, works out to about $632 per square foot (psf) based on the building's total strata area of about 50,300 sq ft.
Going by the building's existing gross floor area of 62,375 sq ft, the price works out to $510 psf.
The buyer, Keris Investments, is said to be looking at using at least part of the premises for its own film operations and storage use.
Seven of the building's eight storeys are now leased. Leases for four floors run out in Q1 next year; the last lease expires in June 2014.
Tropical Industrial Building is being sold by an entity controlled by the Ng family that owns the Tat Hong group. The property, which received its Temporary Occupation Permit in September 1998, is on a site zoned for Business 1 use, which includes light industrial and warehouse use. It has a 2.5 plot ratio.
The property has eight strata titles, one per floor; its basement houses 20 parking lots.
Earlier this year, Tat Hong Investment sold One Howard, a five-storey freehold industrial building at the corner of MacPherson and Howard roads, for $30.3 million.
Separately, 700 Beach, sited between Golden Mile Complex and Golden Mile Tower and near Nicoll Highway MRT Station, is back on the market.
This time, its owners Fine Grain Property Consortium (Singapore) Pte Ltd and international interior design firm Hirsch Bedner Associates, are marketing the property themselves through a tender, which will close on Dec 10.
Fine Grain is an Irish private equity firm arranged by Colin MacDonald, who said: "The recent buzz in the Ophir-Rochor Corridor, along with ongoing developments at the Sports Hub and in the vicinity have generated some interest in the area in recent months."
The pricing expectation remains around $115 million or $1,759 psf based on its existing net lettable area (NLA) of 65,374 sq ft.
The property is on a site with a 99-year-leasehold tenure that started in April 2004. It was earlier marketed through an expression-of-interest exercise which closed in July. The exercise did generate interest, but some parties were concerned about not being able to obtain vacant possession because of ongoing lease terms, said Mr MacDonald.
But things have since changed. GroupM, part of the WPP Group and which occupies 34,500 sq ft, is set to move out when its lease runs out in March.
BT understands that GroupM will move to 18 Cross Street, where it will take up part of the space vacated by Marsh & McLennan Group, which is now in Asia Square Tower 1.
Hirsch Bedner, which occupies 12,000 sq ft at 700 Beach, is open to either leasing back this space from the building's new owner or moving out if that is the owner's preference.
Mr MacDonald said: "Effectively, what this means is that we'll be in a position to offer vacant possession for about 70 per cent of the building's NLA."
Outline planning permission for converting 700 Beach to hotel use was obtained from the Urban Redevelopment Authority last year. This has since lapsed, but there is an option to pursue full planning permission for a conversion to hotel use, said Mr MacDonald.
Fine Grain and Hirsh Bedner acquired the building - formerly a small office-home office development known as In-City Lofts - in 2008 for $70 million and pumped in a further $3.5 million to reposition it as a boutique office block.
Source: Business Times –22 November 2012
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