RESIDENTIAL MARKET
Whitley Residences, The Village previewed
At least two freehold residential projects were rolled out last week. Hoi Hup sold 19 freehold cluster homes at The Whitley Residences at about $5 million each during a preview on Sunday. The average price is about $850 per square foot (psf) on strata area - after a 12 per cent discount and absorption of the standard 3 per cent buyer's stamp duty.
Selangor Dredging is said to have moved 40-plus units at its five-storey condo, Village at Pasir Panjang.
A Hoi Hup spokeswoman said all buyers of the 19 units sold in The Whitley Residences were Singaporeans.
Non-Singapore citizens need permission from the Land Dealings (Approval) Unit to buy units in the development, as it is a form of landed housing.
The units sold comprise a corner terrace and 18 semi-detached houses. The semi-Ds fetched $4.9 million (for a unit with a strata area of 6,125 sq ft) to $5.12 million (for a 6,071 sq ft unit). The 6,620 sq ft corner terrace sold for $4.85 million.
Cluster housing developments are landed homes that have shared condo-like facilities. At The Whitley Residences, these will include a clubhouse, pool, gym, hot spa and playground.
The District 11 project is near the upcoming Mount Pleasant Station under the Thomson Line. All 61 units in the development span four levels, including a basement and attic, and each has its own lift.
The project comprises 58 semi-Ds and three terrace homes - all with five bedrooms.
Strata areas of the semi-Ds are 5,156 sq ft to 7,190 sq ft. Following the sale of a corner terrace unit, the remaining corner unit of 6,448 sq ft (priced at $4.8 million) and a 4,801 sq ft intermediate terrace house costing $4.3 million are available.
Strata area includes car parking area, private enclosed space lift, void areas and roof terrace.
For its preview, Hoi Hup released 27 semi-Ds and all three terrace units.
Selangor Dredging began previewing Village at Pasir Panjang condo on Friday, and is said to have found buyers for 40-plus of the 80 units it has released in the 148-unit project. The average price is understood to be around $1,650 psf for typical apartments, which do not have private enclosed space or roof terrace.
Village is a five-storey project - comprising two to four-bedroom apartments, and penthouses.
In the executive condo (EC) segment, Kheng Leong has sold 230 units at The Topiary in the Seletar location. The average price is said to be around $720 psf.
Sales bookings for the 700-unit project began on Friday.
All 16 penthouses in the development were snapped up in the first one- and-a-half hours. Priced at between $1.3 million and $1.5 million, the penthouses range from 1,970 sq ft to 2,476 sq ft.
Kheng Leong is developing The Topiary jointly with Qingjian Realty. The project is being marketed by ERA and CBRE.
From Dec 21 to 26, Hao Yuan Investment is expected to accept e-applications for Forestville EC at Woodlands Avenue 5 - next to the completed La Casa EC.
The average price is expected to be above $700 psf. MCC Land is Hao Yuan's development and marketing consultant, in addition to being its main contractor for the project's construction.
Forestville will have two to five-bedroom apartments. Dual-key units will make up 30 per cent of the 653 units.
In addition, there will be 29 penthouses - ranging from 1,550 sq ft to 2,756 sq ft. Hao Yuan is offering "a holiday bonanza" package to draw buyers.
It will absorb the first-year maintenance fees. It has also tied up with StarHub to offer fibre-optic broadband service, a basic cable TV package and a fixed-line service - all free for the first three years.
ERA and PropNex are marketing Forestville.
Source: Business Times –11 December 2012
Private home sales seen falling 25% next year
Sales in the private residential market could fall by more than 25 per cent next year, as a result of local buying fatigue from the many new launches over the past years and increasing home completions.
This would mean that from the record breaking 20,000 units sold in the past 10 months of this year, transaction numbers are likely to hover between 16,000 and 18,000 next year.
Prices, however, are expected to continue their upward trend, in line with rising land costs and demand from overseas investors.
The average unit price of luxury condos in Singapore posted a second quarterly rise of 2 per cent quarter on quarter (q-o-q) from $2,350 per square foot (psf) to $2,395 psf in the fourth quarter of 2012.
For the full year of 2012, luxury condo prices have risen 5 per cent from $2,286 psf in Q4 2011, but are still 4 per cent lower than the peak price of $2,495 psf in Q4 2007.
Given the rising trend, market analysts expect a price increase of about 10 to 15 per cent for mass-market non-landed properties, while luxury properties may rise by about 3-5 per cent.
The report also highlighted that quantitative easing in the United States could see liquidity flowing into Asian economies such as Singapore in search of a safe haven and currency appreciation. Coupled with rock-bottom interest rates that are likely to remain low next year, some fresh external demand can hence be anticipated.
Although an influx of new demand can be expected, the purchases made by overseas buyers are likely to be kept at modest levels, owing to the Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty (ABSD).
The percentage of purchases made by non-permanent residents remained low at 7 per cent in Q3 this year and 6 per cent in the first half of Q4.
This was significantly lower than the 20 per cent recorded in Q4 last year, before the implementation of the ABSD.
Additionally, the strong affinity towards executive condominium (EC) developments is likely to continue given the confident sentiments among EC buyers.
Close to 3,500 EC units were snapped up in the first 10 months of this year and this number is expected to reach 4,000 once three more EC developments - CityLife@Tampines, The Topiary and Forestville - are launched before the year ends.
This will surpass the 3,935 ECs sold in 2010 and 2011 combined.
The report also noted that demand for shoebox units declined in the fourth quarter of this year to a low of 7 per cent from its three-year peak of 21 per cent in the third quarter of 2011, a possible result of government curbs.
Although these new measures, which require developers to build homes with a prescribed average unit size of between 500 sq ft and 700 sq ft, will curb the growing number of shoebox units, it could in turn heighten the median prices of these small-format homes.
Prices of shoebox condos sized below 500 sq ft have already risen for three consecutive quarters to a high of $1,474 psf in Q4 this year. This translates to increases of 6 per cent q-o-q and 10 per cent y-o-y.
Source: Business Times –12 December 2012
Alexandra View site draws top bid of $332.7m
A closely watched tender for a residential site at Alexandra View drew a top bid of $332.7 million, or $970.18 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr), yesterday.
Singland Homes, which put up the top bid for the 99-year leasehold site, Alexandra View (Parcel B), beat five other bidders.
Singapore Land has in the nearby vicinity a low-rise condo with about 109 units on a plot that it clinched at a state tender in February.
The project, which has a Jervois Road address, is expected to be launched in late January.
"(For the Jervois Road site) we are looking at about $2,000 psf," said Michael Ng, group general manager of Singapore Land and its parent, UIC.
Assuming it is awarded the site, the developer plans to erect a 43-storey residential tower.
The break-even cost will be about $1,500 psf, which translates to a selling price of about $1,700 psf, said Mr Ng.
"(The project will be) geared towards younger executive couples looking to buy for owner-occupation, or investors looking to rent the units out to expatriates working in the central business district or Orchard Road vicinity."
The majority of the units will feature two bedrooms or two-plus-one and will be in the range of 800-1,000 square feet.
Joining the fray to protect its unlaunched project was a consortium comprising City Developments' unit Sunmaster Holdings, Hong Leong Group's Intrepid Investments and Hong Realty's Garden Estates, which put up a bid of $271 million, or $790.30 psf ppr.
The consortium's Echelon is a 43-storey condo with 508 units, and is located next to the subject site.
The second highest bid, which was put up by Far East Orchard and FCL Topaz, came in at $300.1 million, or $875.1 psf ppr.
The lowest offer for the land parcel was $268 million, or $781.56 psf ppr, which came from Mezzo Development.
Source: Business Times –12 December 2012
COMMERCIAL MARKET
79 Anson Rd on verge of being sold for over $400m
At least one major office block transaction could be sealed before the year ends, BT understands. A deal is close to being stitched for 79 Anson Road, with both owners - German fund manager SEB and Central Provident Fund Board - selling their space.
Expectations are running high that the price will cross $1,400 per square foot based on the freehold building's existing gross floor area (GFA) of 289,185 square feet (sq ft). On a lumpsum basis, this would translate to $405 million or more. Assuming the price is in the $400-410 million range, this represents $2,000-2,050 psf based on the building's current net lettable area (NLA) of around 200,000 sq ft, say market watchers.
Industry watchers tipped United Engineers group as a possible buyer of the 23-storey tower. Others which had been in the running earlier are said to include Sun Venture.
Market watchers compare the pricing for 79 Anson Road to that for Tower 15 in Cantonment Road, which Fragrance Group bought in May this year for $1,420 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr) based on the building's existing GFA. Tower 15 is also freehold.
Fragrance is said to be exploring the possibility of redeveloping Tower 15 into strata office and shop units for sale. Some residences may also be included.
The buyer of 79 Anson Road could potentially redevelop the site in the mid to long term, depending on market conditions closer to when the last of the building's existing leases run out in 2016, say analysts.
Its 289,185 sq ft existing GFA is higher than the 236,566 sq ft based on the 8.4 plot ratio designated for the site under Urban Redevelopment Authority's Master Plan 2008. The site, with a land area of 28,163 sq ft, is zoned for commercial use and can be built up to 35 storeys. Most property market watchers reckon the building can potentially be rebuilt up to its existing GFA without any development charge payable to the state.
However, 79 Anson Road's new owner may also be keen on keeping the office block as a long-term investment property generating steady rental income. Located some 250 metres from Tanjong Pagar MRT Station, the building was completed 20 years ago. A major draw is its generous carpark provision, with 145 lots on levels 2-4.
SEB's space, on Levels 1 and 5-15, adds up to 117,423 sq ft in strata area. CPF Board owns 100,007 sq ft comprising eight office floors (levels 16-23) along with a ground-floor retail unit fronting Anson Road.
The most recent transaction of an office building in the vicinity is Mapletree Commercial Trust's (MCT) proposed purchase announced earlier this month of Mapletree Anson from a unit of its sponsor, Mapletree Investments. MCT will be paying $680 million or $2,049 psf based on its NLA of 331,854 square feet. Some market watchers have hailed it as the first acquisition of an office asset in Singapore undertaken by a real estate investment trust without income support or yield stabilisation structure.
Mapletree Anson's pricing is slightly lower than the $2,121 psf (without yield stabilisation support) that CapitaCommercial Trust paid earlier this year for the next-door Twenty Anson.
It acquired the property from LaSalle Investment Management's Asia Opportunity III fund.
Both buildings are on sites with remaining leases of about 94-95 years.
In late September, a property fund managed by Alpha Investment Partners acquired a half stake in 78 Shenton Way from a global fund managed by Germany's Commerz Real.
That deal valued 78 Shenton Way at $608 million, or $1,686 psf on NLA. The property is on a site with a remaining lease of about 70 years.
In July, Sun Venture clinched Robinson Point, a freehold 21-storey office block, from a fund of US-based AEW. The deal valued the asset at $284 million or $2,132 psf on NLA.
Source: Business Times –12 December 2012
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