DC for non-landed residential sites is lowered!

The government has lowered the development charge (DC) for non-landed residential sites by 3% on average.

 

This compared to the 12.2% increase during the last revision exercise six months ago.

The most significant decreases are in the Punggol Town/Upper Serangoon Road area, and the Hougang/Paya Lebar Road/Toa Payoh/Bishan areas, which will see rates fall by 14%.

Analysts say the cautious stance among developers in land tender bids may have prompted the government to cut DC rates for the non-landed residential sites.

Colliers International director of research and advisory Ms Chia Siew Chuin said in a statement that this could be due to a number of factors.

These include ample state land supply, concerns of a slowing economy amid global uncertainties as well as the possible bearing of the Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty (ABSD) on the market that caused developers to bid conservatively for those sites.

Typically, development charges are paid to the government when land-use for a particular site is enhanced upon redevelopment, or more simply put, when a bigger building replaces a smaller one.

It also reflects changing land values.

For residential uses, DC rates mostly apply to the redevelopment of en bloc sale sites.

At the same time, DC rates for luxury residential sites like Sentosa Cove have been reduced by as much as 6.5%.

Analysts say falling prices of luxury homes and rents have caused a lack of interest for land in the high-end locations.

DC rates remained unchanged for non-landed residential uses.

Meanwhile, DC rates have been revised upwards for commercial property uses by an average of 6%.

This is lower than the 21.7% hike in September last year.

For commercial uses, the Sengkang/Seletar Area will see the highest DC rates increases of 52% or $3,500 per square metre.

DC rates for Hotel and Hospital uses have increased by an average of 15%.

All other DC rates, including those for industrial and warehousing uses remain unchanged.

Source: Channel News Asia

First is the aggressive launch of GLS sites, now comes the lowering of DC (which lowers the cost of en bloc sites).

Much as the wife and I like to think that these are genuine attempts by Government to cool the market, the cynic in us cannot help but wonder if this is in fact a last-ditch attempt to milk the market before the jolly good time ends...

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Private home resale prices fall in January 2012... again!

Prices of resale private homes dipped by 0.4% in January, according to the Singapore Residential Price Index (SRPI) flash estimate published by the Institute of Real Estate Studies at the National University of Singapore.

It is the second straight month of decline, after resale prices fell by 1% in December.

The SRPI for January showed that resale prices for private homes in the central area fell 1.9% while prices of small units dropped by 1%.

Meanwhile, prices of resale units outside the central area climbed 1% in January.

Releasing the data, the Institute of Real Estate Studies says the Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty announced by the government on December 7 has had some impact on home prices.

For the next few months, industry players said prices for resale private properties are likely to soften slightly.

They say transaction volume in the secondary market has been slowing since last year.

Donald Han, Special Advisor at HSR Property Group said, "Transactions for resale non-landed private homes fell from 24,000 in 2010 to 16,000 in 2011. Moving into the first quarter of 2012, in terms of transaction volume, the bulk of the activity is likely to be dominated by new units."

According to the Urban Redevelopment Authority, 1,872 units of new homes were sold last month.

The strong sales for January was driven by mass market projects like Watertown, The Hillier and Parc Rosewood.

Mr Han added, "More home buyers are now looking at the primary market, they are drawn by the appeal of newer developments as well as discounts offered by developers for example. People have more confidence in the market in the mid to long term, and they feel that by the time the units are completed, perhaps they could see an appreciation in value."

Despite the slower sales in the resale private property market, analysts say prices will not fall drastically.

Mr Ong Teck Hui, Head of Research and Consultancy at Credo Real Estate said, "I don't think we will see big price cuts if the economic conditions do not deteriorate badly. For the first quarter, we expect overall resale prices for private homes to remain flat or just marginally negative."

Source: Channel News Asia

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New project sales status: Parc Rosewood, Guillemard Edge & Bartley Residences etc

Home sales over the past week stayed strong, with few signs of the expected declines brought about by December's property measures.

Parc Rosewood
Parc Rosewood at Woodlands has moved 55 more units since Monday last week, bringing total sales at the 689-unit project to 565. Prices have averaged $1,000psf.

Guillemard Edge
Macly Group's Guillemard Edge in Geylang has nearly sold out. Last week, the developer reported sales of more than 230 units. Since then, about 40 units have been sold with prices ranging between $1,180psf to $1,250psf.

Bartley Residences
Hong Leong Group is understood to have sold about 160 units at Bartley Residences since Tuesday last week. the average price after discounts is $1,240psf.

In addition, 917 of the 992 units at Watertown have been taken since sales began in January. As for The Hillier, 446 of the 528 units have found takers, while the 748-unit euHabitat has seen 651 units being snapped up.

Source: The Straits Times & Business Times

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Property Spotlight: Tai Keng Gardens

The quiet landed housing enclave of Tai Keng Gardens located off Jalan Lokham in the Paya Lebar area has seen a flurry of activity. Two houses in the neighbourhood recently changed hands, according to caveats lodged with URA Realis at end-January. One was a semi-detached house sitting on a 3,423sqft freehold plot on Tai Keng Gardens (the street bearing the name of the estate) that was sold for close to $2.69 million ($786psf), while the other was an intermediate terrace house located across the road and sitting on a 1,873sqft freehold plot that was sold for $1.76 million ($939psf).

Peggy Ong, a Singaporean and mother of four, has been a resident in Tai Keng Gardens for the last five years. Ong had paid $1.4 million for her intermediate terraced house on 2,000sqft of land back in 2007. She moved there because of her four school-going children. Tai Keng Gardens is within 1-km radius of well-respected schools - Paya Lebar Methodist Girls' School and Maris Stella High School.

"Many of the aging houses have been sold by owners whose children have grown up and moved out," says Ong, " So, a lot of young couples and families have moved in because of the schools. Most of them tend to do extensive renovations or tear down the existing structure and redevelop into a brand-new three-storey house."

Tai Keng Gardens is a mature estate, made up mainly of terraced and semi-detached houses developed more than 30 years ago by Keng Seng Group, according to property agent who knows the area very well. The residential neighbourhood is tucked away from the bustling Upper Paya Lebar Road and the nearby light industrial estates, and yet accessible to teh CBD via the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway, and to Orchard Road via the Central Expressway, he adds. Shopping malls such as nex and Hougang Mall are also within a five-minute drive of Tai Keng Gardens.

Interest in the area has picked up because of a spill-over effect from other more popular landed housing enclaves in the area, including Serangoon Gardens and Kovan. "It's going to be the next wave in landed housing," says Particia Zoey Tan, senior realty adviser at Knight Frank. Tan is marketing a two-storey, four-bedroom corner terraced home at Thrift Drive, a short walk from Tai Keng Gardens. The 2,550sqft terraced unit is priced at $2.7 million ($1,500psf, based on a built-up area of 1,800sqft). She notes that the asking price is on par with those of terraced houses in Serangoon Gardens, which are typically at a 10% to 20% premium to those at Tai Keng Gardens. "This reflects the optimism of the seller," she adds.

The newly opened Bartley MRT station could also play a part, as Tan has seen the number of transactions in the Serangoon Gardens neighbourhood increase significantly since the Serangoon and Lorong Chuan MRT stations opened.

Ong says most residents in Tai Keng Gardens, which is dominated by owner-occupiers, prefer the location to Serangoon Gardens, as it is quieter and less congested. The transformation of Paya Lebar into a commercial hub, which is part of the government's 2008 master plan, is also expected to speed up the rejuvenation of the ageing estate.

Located just off the busy Upper Paya Lebar main road is Tai Keng Court, an old mixed-use development with residential-cum-commercial units fronting Jalan Lokam, just one street away from Tai Keng Gardens. The property has been put up for collective sale with an indicative price of $130 million ($903psf ppr), according to sole marketing agent Jones Lang LaSalle. With a potential gross floor area of 152,301sqft, including an adjoining piece of state land of 4,988sqft, the freehold site could yield a five-storey building with 121 residential units averaging 950sqft in size, and 30 commercial units averaging 700sqft. "Tai Keng Court is the largest condo site in the Tai Keng Gardens area," says Stella Hoh, head of investments at Jones Lang LaSalle. She sees interest coming mainly from mid-sized developers because of its low price. "Such sites will appeal to developers, as there's scarcely any supply of land parcels of this size that can be redeveloped into a mixed-use project in the Tai Keng Gardens neighbourhood," adds Hoh.

If the collective sale of Tai Keng Court is successful, it will also speed up the renewal of the landed housing area.

Source: THEEDGE SINGAPORE

Click on link below to read our previous post on the collective sale of Tai Keng Court:
http://sgproptalk.blogspot.com/2012/02/enbloc-news-tai-keng-court.html
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Bartely Residences: 65 units sold on preview!

Hong Leong Group yesterday sold 65 units at Bartley Residences at an average price of $1,240psf after a discount of up to 20%.

During yesterday's preview, it released 120 units in the 702-unit, 99-year leasehold private condo next to Bartley MRT Station. According to Hong Leong, 90% of the buyers at yesterday's preview were Singaporeans and permanent residents.

The absolute price of a one-bedroom unit ranges from approximately $610,000 to $670,000; a two-bedroom unit ranges from $970,000 to $1.1 million; three-bedroom unit is between $1.2 million and $1.4 million; a four-bedroom ranges from approximately $1.65 million to $1.9 million; and a dual-key unit ranges from around $1.8 million to $2.1 million.

The average price psf of $1,240 is after absorption of 18% (including the standard 3% buyer's stamp duty discount, and 3% early bird discount), and an additional 2% district discount.

The project - developed by Bartley Development, a joint venture between Hong Leong Holdings, City Developments, and TID Residential - is located next to Bartley MRT station, and offers a range of unit types, from one-bedroom units (464sqft) to four-bedroom units (1,345 - 1,377sqft), and dual key units (1,603sqft).

In January, the consortium won the 99-year leasehold private condominium housing plot at Mount Vernon Road. their bid came in at $388.1 million, or $495psf ppr.

Source: The Business Times

This looks to be another "gold mine" for Hong Leong and company, if the take-up rate is anything like that for Watertown...
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