singapore property weekly issue 109

7/28/2019 Singapore Property Weekly Issue 109

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Issue 109Copyright 2011-2013 www.Propwise.sg. All Rights Reserved.
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CONTENTS

p2 My Experience with Property Agents in a Haze

p7 Property Selling Tip #2: Increase the Value

of your Property

p8 Singapore Property News This Week

p14 Resale Property Transactions (June 5 June 12)

Welcome to the 109th edition of the

Singapore Property Weekly.

Hope you like it!

Mr. Propwise

FROM THE

EDITOR
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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 109

Page | 2Back to Contents

By Property Soul (guest contributor)

With no better suggestion from the

government, the only way Singaporeans can

deal with the haze from Indonesia is to stay

at home, with all the doors and window

closed. Despite poor visibility, through the

glass window we could still see a property

agent showing the house of our neighbor

living opposite us. And there he was, walking

his clients to the house in the midst of a

smog, with the PSI reaching 170 and the

worst haze hitting Singapore since 1997.

The potential buyers probably couldnt see

much of the houses exterior. But the smell of

smoke might help them better visualize

holding barbecue parties at the house

My Experience with Property Agents in a Haze


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during weekends. I could imagine our

neighbor shutting all the doors and windows

like us, while turning on the air conditioning in

full blast.

Property agents in a haze

The scene reminded me of a similar incident

that happened months ago. Well, it was not

exactly a haze the property agents were so

confused that they behaved as if they were in

a haze.

A friend was interested to see some houses

in my estate. Being a first time buyer, the

couple came to me for advice and I promised

to join them for house viewing. One fine

Sunday I rushed home after lunch for a jointviewing just a few houses away from mine.

When I arrived, they were already half-way

through the viewing. Up on the third storey, I

overheard the couple asking about some

cracklines on the walls and the ceiling.

The property agent was touching the lines on

the wall, trying to figure out what they were.

The owner mentioned that they were the firstowner of the house, with a look on his face

that said we have been staying here for 10

years so what do you expect. The couple, on

the other hand, had the usual worried buyer

look on their face.

Dont know the difference between a crack

and a hairline

I immediately told them that I had seen these

fine lines appearing in my apartment before.

They were the result of prolonged exposure

to direct sunlight. That explained why thelines were only found on the highest floor

because it was the hottest under the sun. The

quality of the paint chosen by the developer

also contributed to it.


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I also explained the differences between a

crack and a hairline. For the latter, you could

cover it by putting a fresh coat of paint over it

after you took over the house. I added that I

ust stayed a few houses away. We didnt

have those lines in the house because we

repainted the whole house with good quality

paint when we moved in five years ago.

My friend was relieved after my explanation.

The property agent was also relieved that shewas able to move on to show other parts of

the house.

But the rest of the house was dark, stuffy and

gloomy. The place looked like it was waiting

for its weekly house-keeping. The curtains at

the windows were not drawn up and the air-

conditioning was not on, except for a small

fan in one of the bedrooms. That made us all

sweating like hell in a fiercely hot afternoon!

Dont know anything about the property

The next house was a co-broke case. The

agent murmured the address and looked at a

loss. Then she turned to me and said, Sinceyou are staying here, can you show us the

shortest way to this house?

It didnt help that the property agent on the

other side was also in a haze. He was not

familiar with the layout of the corner terrace.

For most of the time, we were walking aroundthe house free and easy.

When my friend couldnt get the size of the

land and the floor area from the two agents, I

had to whisper to them the exact numbers. It

might be more than five years back, but I had

those numbers hammered in my mind after

viewing at least twelve houses in the same

estate.


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Before we left, my friend asked for a layout

plan of the house. Both agents said that they

didnt have one. What about the floor plan of

the whole development? Sorry, we dont have

that either. I had to whisper again behind the

agents back. Yes, I keep those at my place

and please drop by for a copy after this.

This is the first house viewing experience of

the couple. They probably think that it is

normal not getting any answer or anythingyou need from a property agent. This is one

of countless times doing a house viewing for

me. I just have one question in mind: If you

are selling a two million dollar house, will you

risk showing it in a haze?

By Property Soul, a successful property

investor and enthusiast who shares her

experiences and knowledge on her blog.
http://propertysoul.com/http://www.moneymatters.sg/http://propertysoul.com/http://propertysoul.com/http://propertysoul.com/


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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY I 109
http://buybyeproperty.com/


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Besides benefitting from the impact of

hedging against inflation, you can increase

the value of your property via some cost

effectivemethods.

One of them is to do some simple renovation

such as patching up cracks, re-painting,

epoxy-coating, and re-lamination,instead of

major renovation,to give the property a new

look.

You can also re-install fittings such as lights

and curtains to make the place morepleasant and saleable.

If your unit has a large un-used space, you

can partition it to have an additional room to

increase the value of your private

property.Note that his can be done with

private property only.For HDB flats, do check

the HDB Home Renovation Guidelines andobtain a renovation work permit to ensure

compliance.

By Eileen Tan and Ui Wei Teck, property

investors and authors of Enjoying Mid-Life

Without Crisis. This tip and dozens more are

from theirbook.

Property Selling Tip #2: Increase the Value of your Property

SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY I 109
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Singapore Property This Week


Residential

Rising interest in ci ty- f ringe hom es cause

May sales of priv ate hom es to increase

With the rising interest in city-fringe homes,

the sales of new private homes for May

increased by 5.4 percent with a total of 1,455

units sold, compared to the 50 percent drop

of the previous month. 41.4 percent of the

sales were taken by the Rest of Central

Region (RCR). In fact, transactions within

RCR have been on the rise since Q3 of 2012.

In addition, RCR projects such as Corals at

Keppel Bay, KAP Residences, and Bartley

Ridge accounted for the top five sellers by

volume for May. It was reported that the rise

in sales of RCR was caused by the high

selling price of mass-market homes in the

Outside Central Region and the narrowing

price gap between RCR and OCR homes. On

the other end, the high-end market was bleak

with only 125 out of 144 units launched, the

lowest monthly sales recorded for the region

in 2013.

(Source: Business Times)

Government to release land parcels for

houses and comm ercial use

The government will release five sites that

can yield 3,600 private and executive

condominium (EC) housing units as well as

commercial development.



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Four of the five sites have been confirmed

under the Government Land Sales

programme list. They consist of two EC sites

and Punggol Drive and Yuan Ching Road, a

residential plot at Mount Sophia and a mixed-use commercial and residential plot at Yishun

Central 1. All four sites have been or will be

launched for sale within next week. The fifth

site, a mixed-use site at Meyappa Chettiar

Road in Potong Pasir, will be on the reserve

list next week.


Resident ial site on Faber Walk draws 18

bids at tender close

A 99-year leasehold 162,808 sq ft residential

site at Faber Walk drew 18 bids at the close

of its tender. The top bid was $156.7 million

from Aspial Corps World Class Land, or

$687.42 per square foot per plot ratio (psf

ppr) for the site. This was closely followed by

Keng Hoe Developments bid of $155 million

and Greatview Development with $153.8

million. Consultants said that the price

difference between the top bid and secondand third highest bidders is a mere 1.1 per

cent and 1.8 per cent showed confidence of

developers. Other factors could be the sites

exclusive location and a possible limited

supply of vacant land parcels within the area

for development in the future.


Forestvi l le EC is to be launc hed

The Forestville executive condominium (EC)

project will finally launch for sale this week,

six months from its intended date, due to

delay in contravening regulations. Hao Yuan

Investment is the developer for the project.

Hao Yuan had launched the 653-unit project



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in Woodlands for balloting on Dec 28, 2012

without having obtained the necessary

approvals for adjustments made to private

enclosed spaces (PES) in some units.

Following this, Controller of Housing (COH)had instructed Hao Yuan to stop selling the

units, hence potential buyers could only make

an expression of interest instead. COH is now

satisfied that necessary approvals for the

project have been given. Public sales will be

open next Friday.


CapitaLand bids $366m for Coronat ion

Road site, topping 11 others

Capitaland's Athens Residential Development

bid higher than 11 others at the close of

tender for the 99-year leasehold site at

Coronation Road. CapitaLand bid $366

million or $908.17 per square foot of land,

compared to the closet rivals bid by Far East

Organization unit Astor Properties at $313.3

million, or $777.49 psf of land. CapitaLand

Singapore claimed that it plans to develop a

prestigious landed development comprisingsemi-detached houses and bungalows on the

site, which will be ready for launch around Q2

of 2014. The top bid was 17 per cent higher

than the second highest bid was reported to

illustrate CapitaLand's confidence in this

market.


Roxy-Pac buys f reehold apartment block

for $136mil

Roxy-Pacific Holdings was reported to have

acquired the freehold Yi Mei Garden in

Tampines Road through a collective sale for

$136 million, hence $856 per square foot per

plot ratio (psf ppr) including a development



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charge of $4 million-plus. In a statutory filing

with Singapore Exchange, Roxy-Pacific said

the acquisition is subject to approval of the

collective sale by the Strate Titles Board

(STB) or the High Court. Yi Mei Garden is a

14-storey residential block of 44 apartments

and four penthouses and is located 600

meters from Kovan MRT Station. Roxy-

Pacific plans to redevelop the site into a

condominium project with 200 units.


Eunosv i l le up for col lect ive sale at reserve

price of $688mil

Located opposite Eunos MRT Station,

Eunosville has a land area of 376,712 sq ftand is planned for residential use under

Master Plan 2008. Eunosville is now up for

collective sale at a reserve price of $688

million. If the sale is successful, it will boost

up this years tally of en bloc sales and works

out to $799 per square foot of potential gross

floor area including an estimated sum of $155

million payable to the state regarding the

sites lease from a balance term of around

74.5 to 99 years and intensifying the sites

use. The reserve price for Eunosville is

expected to help Eunosville set the record to

become the second largest ex-HUDC

(Housing and Urban Development Company)

estate sold collectively in absolute price terms

as well as the largest en bloc sale in 6 years.

Jones Lang LaSalle consulting group is

marketing Eunosvilles collective sale through

a tender exercise until July 24.




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Commercial

Yomas acquis i t ion o f Yangon si te delayed

due to bureaucrat ic discuss ions

Bureaucratic discussions have delayed YomaStrategic Holdings 80 percent acquision of a

10-acre plot of land in Yangon. The land

acquisition was reported to be US$81.28

million and it would now be extended until

Dec 31 this year. Serge Pun & Associates,

vendor of the site, was still discussing withauthorities regarding the new leasehold title

of the land before the land deal could

proceed. Yoma announced that it would

develop the former site of the Yangon railway

headquarters into a landmark hotel,

condominium and commercial developmentcosting between US$330 million and US$350

million. On top of that, Yoma had also signed

a non-legally binding agreement with

Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels to jointly

redevelop the former Burma Railway

Company building into a Peninsula Hotel.

(Source: Business Time)

22 industr ia l plots to be released in

secon d half of 2013

The Ministry of Trade and Industry launched

the Industrial Government Land Sales (IGLS)

programme for the latter six months of the

year. Under this programme, the government

will make 22 plots of industrial land available

to moderate land prices and provide space for

industrial end-users. 19 sites will be on

confirmed list and three will be on reserve list.

The 22 sites have a total area of 22.84

hectares. 14 confirmed plots are in Tuas, 4

other confirmed plots in Woodlands and one

at Tai Seng Street. The three reserve list sites

are at Woodlands Avenue 12, Tuas Bay Close



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and Gambas Crescent.


Q2 property investment sales dro p b y 10%

Investment sales of property continued todrop this quarter with the tally for the second

quarter is around $4.5 billion and the final

number expected to be $4.9-5 billion. This is

10 percent lower than that of Q1s $5.6 billion,

which was a big drop from $8.3 billion and

$9.4 billion in Q4 and Q3 last yearrespectively. Q3 and Q4 of last year witness

huge transactions such as the flotation of Far

East Hospitality Trust worth $2.1 billion, the

$825 million sale of a half-stake in Nex mall in

Serangoon and DBS $1.035 billion purchase

of 30 percent stake in Marina Bay Financial

Centre Tower 3. On the other hand,

investment sales for this year is pretty active

but relatively smaller.


Red House to become commercia l -

resident ial project in 2016

Red House and its five adjacent shophouses

in Katong, collectively known as the Red

House, are to be reborn as an integratedcommercial and residential project in 2016

and managed by Muis investment arm,

Warees Investments. Red House will include

a new five-storey residential block with 42

units of between 441 and 1,206 sq ft, priced

from $1,499 psf. The commercial componentof the new development will be the ground

floor units at the six conserved shophouses.

One of the units will be used as a bakery to

reserve its heritage as the place of the former

Katong Bakery and Confectionary. Warees

was reported to spend much time and effortto improve returns from the properties

because time has taken its toll on the six

shophouses.




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Non-Landed Residential Resale Property Transactions for the Week of Jun 5 Jun 12

Postal

DistrictProject Name

Area

(sqft)

Transacted

Price ($)

Price

($ psf)Tenure

1 MARINA BAY RESIDENCES 2,379 9,040,200 3,800 99

1 THE RIVERSIDE PIAZZA 1,012 1,280,000 1,265 99

3 QUEENS 1,195 1,640,000 1,373 99

4 CARIBBEAN AT KEPPEL BAY 1,485 2,450,000 1,649 99

4 TERESA VILLE 1,959 2,400,000 1,225 FH

5 BOTANNIA 1,572 2,150,000 1,368 956

5 VARSITY PARK CONDOMINIUM 1,012 1,300,000 1,285 99

5 C LEMENTIWOODS CONDOMINIUM 1,679 1,980,000 1,179 99

5 THE INFINITI 2,497 2,467,036 988 FH

8 R66 APARTMENTS 538 740,000 1,375 FH

9 THE RITZ-CARLTON RESIDENCES SINGAPORE CAIRNHILL 2,831 10,800,000 3,815 FH

9 HILLTOPS 1,335 4,071,750 3,051 FH

9 RHAPSODY ON MOUNT ELIZABETH 1,044 2,500,000 2,394 FH

9 GRANGE INFINITE 2,573 5,917,900 2,300 FH

9 LUMA 904 1,928,000 2,132 FH

9 ESTILO 581 1,000,000 1,720 FH

9 ORCHARD TOWERS 1,970 3,000,000 1,523 FH

9 TOWNHOUSE APARTMENTS 2,368 2,450,000 1,035 99

10 THE BOULEVARD RESIDENCE 2,034 5,000,000 2,458 FH10 VOLARI 1,324 3,250,000 2,455 FH

10 ONE JERVOIS 1,701 3,080,000 1,811 FH

10 ASTRID MEADOWS 3,800 6,830,000 1,798 FH

10 VENTUNO BALMORAL 1,313 2,250,000 1,713 FH

10 THE SIXTH AVENUE RESIDENCES 1,356 2,300,000 1,696 FH

Postal


Area

(sqft)

Transacted

Price ($)

Price

($ psf)Tenure

10 CASA JERVOIS 1,593 2,300,000 1,444 FH

10 SPANISH VILLAGE 2,056 2,638,000 1,283 FH

10 RIDGEWOOD 1,744 2,230,000 1,279 999

12 THE ARTE 1,625 2,030,000 1,249 FH

12 ST FRANCIS COURT 1,270 1,053,000 829 99

14 THE ALCOVE 2,336 1,550,000 664 99

15 THE SEAFRONT ON MEYER 2,088 3,600,000 1,724 FH

15 PARADISE PALMS 1,141 1,650,000 1,446 FH

15 THE WATERSIDE 2,400 3,450,000 1,437 FH

15 THE MAKENA 1,152 1,600,000 1,389 FH

15 THE MAKENA 1,636 2,220,000 1,357 FH

15 CELESTIA 1,389 1,410,000 1,015 FH

16 CHANGI COURT 872 1,118,000 1,282 FH

16 TANAMERA CREST 861 938,000 1,089 99

17 FERRARIA PARK CONDOMINIUM 1,195 1,280,000 1,071 FH

18 OASIS @ ELIAS 1,249 1,200,000 961 99

18 MELVILLE PARK 1,302 968,000 743 99

19 KOVAN RESIDENCES 1,442 1,820,000 1,262 99

19 KOVANA 1,163 1,300,000 1,118 FH19 RIO VISTA 1,249 1,120,000 897 99

19 CHUAN PARK 2,045 1,750,000 856 99

20 GRANDEUR 8 1,421 1,490,000 1,049 99

22 THE CENTRIS 1,238 1,380,000 1,115 99

22 THE MAYFAIR 753 780,000 1,035 99



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S G O O ssue 09


NOTE: This data only covers non-landed residential resale propertytransactions with caveats lodged with the Singapore LandAuthority. Typically, caveats are lodged at least 2-3 weeks after apurchaser signs an OTP, hence the lagged nature of the data.

Postal


Area

(sqft)

Transacted

Price ($)

Price

($ psf)Tenure

23 HILLINGTON GREEN 1,356 1,548,888 1,142 999

23 MONTROSA 1,184 1,330,000 1,123 999

23 HILLINGTON GREEN 1,356 1,418,000 1,046 999

23 MI CASA 1,324 1,320,000 997 99

23 THE AMSTON 1,313 1,200,000 914 999

23 HILLTOP GROVE 861 780,000 906 99

23 REGENT HEIGHTS 1,163 1,046,700 900 99

23 REGENT HEIGHTS 1,023 908,000 888 99

23 REGENT HEIGHTS 1,163 1,020,000 877 99

27 YISHUN SAPPHIRE 1,206 915,000 759 99

28 SERENITY PARK 1,313 1 ,260,000 959 FH
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