Singapore Residential Update (30-10-2012)

The good folks at Maybank-Kim Eng Research has published an update detailing the latest 3Q 2012 private homes statistics released by the URA. It also provided a rundown of the 6 rounds of property cooling measures that the Government have rolled out since September 2009 - a good summary for those who wish to know exactly what was implemented when.

Another interesting bit of information is the comparison of Additional Buyers' and Sellers' stamp duties that are currently being imposed in both Singapore and Hong Kong. It looks like our ABSD and SSD are getting some traction in other cities as well.


Click on the link below to read the full report:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/111659282/Singapore-Residential-Update-301012#fullscreen

3Q 2012 private home prices rose 0.6%

Singapore's private home prices in the third quarter rose 0.6% from the previous quarter.

This is the highest rate of increase this year compared to the 0.1% drop in the first quarter and the 0.4% increase in the second quarter.

It was also higher than the flash estimate of 0.5% released earlier this month.

Meanwhile, resale prices of Housing & Development Board (HDB) flats in Singapore hit a record high.

HDB's Resale Price Index (RPI) rose from 194 in the second quarter of this year to 197.9 in the third quarter.

This represents an increase of 2% over the previous quarter, the same as that of the flash estimate released on 1 October.

Growth for the first three quarters of this year is 3.9%. 

This is lower than the annual RPI growth of 14.1% in 2010, and 10.7% last year.

"With private property prices still rising, it's no surprise that HDB prices will follow suit," said Mr Chris Koh, housing analyst and director of Chris International.

"We saw quite a number of people who wanted to buy a property, aspired to own one, but when they could not afford it anymore, they instead decided to buy in the HDB resale market. They chose particularly larger flats: five-room flats, executive flats, and this could have pushed percentage prices up."

The volume of resale transactions also fell for the first time in 12 months. Resale transactions also fell by about 6% from 7,011 cases in second quarter to 6,560 cases in the third.

The last fall in resale transactions was in the third quarter of last year when transactions fell from 6,581 in the second quarter, to 5,903 in the third.

In the rental market, subletting transactions rose by about 4%.

The number of cases increased from 6,891 in the second quarter to 7,142 cases in the third quarter.

Source: Channel News Asia

The Real Deals (25-10-2012)

It's all about HUDC in the latest issue of "The Real Deals" by Maybank-Kim Eng Research.

The report also highlighted Lakeview Estate, which should be a good candidate for redevelopment... technically that is.

It may surprise many that Lakeview is currently transacting at a discount of only 9.4% compared to the other private estates around the area. This is especially when Lakeview has no facilities other than a small playground. However, the estate is located near to (but far enough away from all the traffic noise) the main Upper Thomson Road and within walking distance to Marymount MRT station. There is also unconfirmed report that an access to the new Thomson Line will be built relatively close to the estate.

But what is most appealing about Lakeview (at least in our opinion) is its proximity to FOOD - there are options aplenty that are almost at your doorsteps so you will never ever go hungry. Families with school kids will also appreciate the various enrichment schools that are located along Upper Thomson Road. And for those who loves greenery and nature, Lakeview is situated right next to the Macritchie Reservoir and its forest trails. Matter of fact, one can access these directly from within the estate!

Given the supposed excellent location, why did the wife and I say that the en bloc potential of Lakeview is only "technically" good? We understand from very reliable sources that the bulk of the residents within the estate are elderly folks who have lived in Lakeview for tens of years. Many are even first owners! As such, it will be extremely challeneging to entice these group of people to vacate the estate. And one cannot underestimate the power of sentimental values especially with the older generation.

However, we feel that it may not be all bad if Lakeview does not go en bloc within this boom cycle (or whatever's left of this boom cycle, that is). There are no that many plots of vacant land left around the area that the Government can put out for sale. One such is a plot directly in front of Lakeview, which should be considered prime land (given its location). And if this plot is sold and a new condo project is built at this site, it should benefit residents of Lakeview as the values of their apartments will most definitely appreciate (remember Sky Habitat?). And once the supposed "nearby access" to the Thomson Line is confirmed, the site that Lakeview currently sits on will definitely be worth more than what it can fetch currently (think Thomson View Condo).

So we reckon Lakeview will probably be better off waiting a couple more years before they decide to do a collective sale... in our humble opinion, of course.


Click on below to read the Maybank-Kim Eng report:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/111187346/The-Real-Deals-25-10-2012#fullscreen

New project sales status: eCO & Sky Green

According to a Channel News Asia report, 515 units out of the 603 units released at eCO condominium project have been sold within a month. They were launched for sale on September 22.

The 748-unit development, located at Bedok South is a joint venture between Far East Organization, Frasers Centrepoint and Sekisui House.

The developers said all 240 two- and three-bedroom condominium units have been sold out.

Meanwhile, about half of the SOHO and suite units were snapped up, mostly by buyers aged 30 to 49 years.

In a joint statement released on Tuesday, the developers added that over 90% of the buyers were Singaporeans or Singapore Permanent Residents.

And majority of the buyers are living in the Bedok, Chai Chee, Marine Parade, and East Coast districts.

Prices for units at eCo start from $810,000 for a one-bedroom suite.

The project is estimated to be completed in 2017.

And in a separate report, Sky Green condominium, located along MacPherson Road, has seen strong buying demand.

About 80% of the 176 units available at the freehold development have been sold during its soft launch, according to the consortium behind the project.

The consortium comprises Heeton Holdings, KSH Holdings, TEE International and Zap Piling.

In a statement, the consortium said the units were sold at an average price of $1,502psf and the buyers were mainly Singaporeans.

The official launch of the development will take place next weekend.

Sky Green is expected to be completed in 2016.


Below are the project details for Sky Green for those who are interested:

Project:                    SKY GREEN
District:                   13
Address:                  570 MacPherson Road
Tenure:                   Freehold
Site Area:               66,928sqft
No. of Units:          176
Expected T.O.P:    2016

Unit Type                         Floor Area (sqft)
1-Bedroom                           441 - 624
1+Study                                474 - 721
2-Bedroom                           614 - 990
3-Bedroom                        1,152 - 1,163
4-Bedroom (dual key)             1,496
3-Bedroom (penthouse)    2,207 & 2,293
4-Bedroom (penthouse)          2,906

Shoeboxes: Challenging times ahead..?

Sales of small private apartments, commonly known as shoebox units in Singapore, have taken a downward turn. Data compiled by analysts show that new sales fell about 57% in September from the previous month to 99 units.

The fall in the sale of shoebox units occured after the government announced that it will moderate the number of shoebox apartments entering the market.

Analysts said buyers are now taking a "wait-and-see" approach in response to the measures. This caused new sales of shoebox units to drop across the board last month.

Vicinities under the "Outside Central Region" category were hit the hardest, with sales falling some 80% to only 24 units sold in September. This is also the region where the new government regulations apply.

On September 4, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) issued new guidelines that capped the total number of units that can be built on a site for non-landed private residential developments outside the Central Area. The new rules are to curb developers' enthusiasm to build shoebox units in 'suburban neighbourhoods' which are largely designated for families.

But analysts said the impact on buyers' appetites are only temporary. They said shoebox unit buyers are largely investors, and they may bounce back more quickly after each round of cooling measures introduced by the authorities.

Alan Cheong, director of research and consultancy at Savills, said: "Although we have one or two stories where people have decided to put off their purchases, we believe the market will revert to some sense of normalcy in a shorter period of time than it had been for the past five rounds of cooling measures.

"People have now got used to measures being thrown into the market, every year probably two or so."

Analysts added that recent launches in the last three months like Sky Green, Parc Centros and Skies Miltonia, still reflect "brisk" demand.

Sky Green, located in McPherson, sold all 68 studio units within a single day during its pre-launch last week. Parc Centros in Punggol and Skies Miltonia in Yishun, have sold out 88% and 75% of their units respectively.

They added that this trend is unlikely to change as long as investors hold enough cash to splash around.

Mohamed Ismail, CEO of PropNex, said: "They sell mainly because of two reasons. One being the fact that the quantum of such properties are relatively low, coupled with today's liquidity and low interest rate."

Moving forward however, analysts said the appeal of holding a shoebox unit as an investment is likely to wane.

Eugene Lim, key executive officer of the ERA Realty Network, said: "I think buyers are becoming more aware that there is actually a huge supply that is going to be completed in 2014, 2015. And that would mean this would put pressure on rental. It is this type of investments that is actually losing flavour."

About 11,000 shoebox units are expected to hit the market by 2015.

Source: Channel News Asia