RESIDENTIAL MARKET
Year's first condo comes with 7% price cut
The average price for units at Q Bay Residences - the first private condominium launch for 2013 - has dipped 7 per cent in response to the new property cooling measures introduced last Friday.
From an originally planned price of $1,050 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr), the developers, a consortium of Frasers Centrepoint, Far East Organization, and Sekisui House, launched the 630-unit residential project at an average of $985 psf ppr at its preview sale yesterday.
This translates to about $525,000 for the smallest 527 sq ft one-bedroom unit and $1.7 million for the largest 1,981 sq ft five-bedroom unit.
The price takes into consideration the maximum possible discount - a 15 per cent early bird discount as well as a 7 per cent stamp duty discount to cushion the additional buyer's stamp duty (ABSD) imposed on Singaporeans who purchase their second and subsequent home, and permanent residents (PRs) who purchase a home here.
Home buyers can choose to either take the 7 per cent as an upfront discount or as a rebate.
According to property agents, the price change is necessary to attract buyers amid uncertain market conditions as a result of the tighter regulations imposed by the government.
Singaporeans previously did not pay ABSD even on their second home purchase. But with the new measures, they will have to pay 7 per cent ABSD.
For their third and subsequent home purchase, they previously paid 3 per cent ABSD, which has now been raised to 10 per cent.
PRs, too, who were previously exempt from ABSD for their first home purchase will now have to pay 5 per cent on their first purchase and 10 per cent on their second and subsequent home purchase.
Thus, developers are bracing themselves for a 20-25 per cent dip in volume of sales as a result of third-time buyers being deterred due to the steeper ABSD.
However, Cheang Kok Kheong, CEO of Frasers Centrepoint Homes, said: "I think the measures are a wise move by the government because although it affects us as far as the third-time home buyers are concerned, it is a very good time for new home owners and the real upgraders to purchase a property."
Speaking at a press briefing at the Q Bay Residences showflat yesterday, Mr Cheang also shared his projections for the property market this year.
"It is likely that prices for mass and mid-tier condos will drop by 5-7 per cent this year, and higher-end condos that depend more on foreigners see a drop of 10-15 per cent in price."
Mr Cheang also added that with the new restrictions imposed on permanent residential households, the PRs are likely to shift their demands away from the HDB sector towards private residences.
"The PRs anticipate more restrictions, so the first home they buy, they might as well start with a two to three bedroom condo."
The new property rules recently introduced mandate that PR households be disallowed from subletting their entire HDB flats and PRs owning HDB flats must sell their flats within six months of buying a private residential property in Singapore.
Although a sizeable proportion of PRs are expected to purchase units at Q Bay Residences, Elson Poo, general manager of marketing and sales, Frasers Centrepoint Homes, said that the majority of those who have indicated interest are new home owners and families looking to upgrade from their current HDB apartments.
Furthermore, since the 99-year leasehold development at the junction of Tampines Avenue 1 and Tampines Avenue 10, is the first private condominium to be launched in Tampines in the last two years, the developers are optimistic that demand will be strong.
With a total of 11 different unit configurations such as one bedroom, two bedroom, Trio, and four bedroom verandah units, the development aims to cater to a wide profile of potential home owners.
The Trio units allow for inter-generation homes which basically sees one or more bedrooms that come together with an adjoining studio apartment under a single strata title to allow for three generations of a family to live together.
"Q Bay Residences has the highest percentage of Trio units among Frasers Centrepoint Homes' developments to-date and we expect strong demand for the Trio units as the idea of multi-generational families living together continues to become more viable and prove popular," said Mr Cheang.
Source: Business Times –18 January 2013
Two more MRT lines by 2030
Two new rail lines will be built and three existing lines extended to improve the coverage of Singapore's rail network.
The rail network will be doubled by 2030, from the current 178 km to about 360 km, placing 8 out of 10 households within a ten-minute walk of a train station. The improvements will support Singapore's long-term development and ensure the network will have more than the capacity needed to meet the expected increase in public transport ridership in the next two decades.
Announcing this during a visit to the Downtown Line 1's Chinatown station yesterday, Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew said the Cross Island Line (CRL) will be a major MRT line running across "the span of Singapore".
Starting from Changi, the CRL will pass through Loyang, Pasir Ris, Hougang and Ang Mo Kio, before reaching Sin Ming. The roughly 50 km line will serve areas such as Bukit Timah, Clementi and West Coast, and terminate at Jurong Industrial Estate. It will be ready by 2030.
The other new line is the 20 km-long Jurong Region Line (JRL), due to open around 2025. It will provide greater connectivity to areas such as Jurong West, Jurong Industrial District, West Coast, Choa Chu Kang and new developments in Tengah. These areas will be connected to main activity nodes in Boon Lay, Jurong East and the future Jurong Gateway.
In addition, Mr Lui said the government will extend the Circle Line, the North-East Line and the Downtown Line (DTL).
The gap in the Circle Line - between Harbour Front and Marina Bay Station - will be closed with Circle Line Stage 6 (CCL6).
"CCL6 will provide another avenue for commuters in the west to travel directly to the CBD," he said. "With the new stations on the CCL6 and Thomson Line, we estimate that more than 90 per cent of buildings in the CBD will be within 400 metres of an MRT station by around 2025."
DTL3 will also be extended, connecting the Downtown Line, East-West Line and Eastern Region Line.
"This extension strengthens the resilience of our rail network, as commuters can more easily re-route themselves in the event of a disruption," said Mr Lui.
As for the North-East Line, it will be extended by one station to serve Punggol North and future residents there.
He said: "This will make Punggol North an even more attractive location to stay and work, which is part of the government's overall de-centralisation strategy."
When the new projects are completed, Mr Lui said the 360 km rail network will trump that of Tokyo or Hong Kong today, and comparable to New York City.
"Many more households will be served by the rail network, and about eight in 10 households will then be within a 10-minute walk of a train station," said Mr Lui.
During his visit to Chinatown Station, the minister said DTL1 is on track to open by the end of this year, with DTL2 and DTL3 also on schedule for completion in 2015 and 2017.
"The Downtown Line, at 42 km in length, will be the most significant line to be added to our rail network since we started our MRT journey in the 1980s," he said. "It will also be the first of the new MRT lines resulting from the Land Transport Masterplan (LTMP) 2008, in which we mapped out our plans to double our rail network from 138 km then, to about 280 km by around 2020."
But while progress has been made in the five years since the launch of LTMP 2008, Mr Lui said a review was necessary because much more remains to be done. This is because of further changes to the environment due to a growing population and economy, changing commuter expectations and norms, and even tighter land constraints.
Source: Business Times –18 January 2013
INDUSTRIAL MARKET
Industrial property prices tipped to slide
Industrial firms planning to expand will benefit most from the property cooling measures imposed last week, according to market experts.
They predict that prices of industrial property will slide in the wake of the new seller's stamp duty, which is expected to curb speculation.
That in turn will help lower business expenses as occupancy costs decrease, alleviating some of the impact from the slowing economy.
Industrial property sold within a year of its purchase will be levied 15 per cent; 10 per cent if sold in the second year and 5 per cent in the third year.
Bloomberg reported yesterday that industrial building sales are likely to drop by 10 per cent this year as speculators are driven out of the market.
Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said last week that evidence of flipping compelled the Government to intervene in the industrial segment.
Analysts welcomed the measures as Singapore needs to retain its cost advantages to remain attractive as a business hub, the Bloomberg report said.
Source: The Straits Times –18January 2013
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