Oct 1, 2010
Pasir Ris condo plot receives four tenders
By Joyce Teo
A CONDOMINIUM plot in Pasir Ris attracted four bidders, though the offers were relatively conservative.
The top tender - from a joint venture between Frasers Centrepoint and Far East Organization - came in slightly lower than expected at $151.38 million, or $334.85 per sq ft (psf) per plot ratio (ppr).
That was 7.6 per cent above the $140.69 million offered by a tie-up between Hoi Hup Realty, Sunway Developments and SC Wong Holdings.
Allgreen Properties was next with $131.89 million, with Meadows Investment, a firm owned by Tiong Aik Group executive director Neo Tiam Boon, in fourth place with $106 million.
Property experts said the response shows that developers who lodged bids were in two minds - cautious following the August cooling measures but fairly keen on this particular site even though it is not near an MRT station.
The 99-year leasehold plot at the junction of Pasir Ris Drive 3 and Pasir Ris Drive 4 is a 10-minute walk from the Downtown East lifestyle and entertainment hub. It has a site area of about 20,000 sq m and an allowable gross floor area of 42,000 sq m.
If successful, Frasers Centrepoint and Far East plan to build a 12-storey condo with 11 blocks comprising 400 to 450 units in all and aimed at HDB upgraders.
'The quantum of the bids indicates that the developers are optimistic about this site, given the strong sales at the recently launched NV Residences in Pasir Ris Drive 1, in addition to the sea view for units on the higher floors,' said CBRE Research executive director Li Hiaw Ho.
Before the August cooling measures were introduced, industry sources said the site might not attract strong bids as it was not near an MRT station. One forecast bids of between $350 and $390 psf ppr, although even that proved optimistic.
The bid from Frasers and Far East translates into a break-even cost of $650 to $680 psf, according to CBRE Research. Units in the new project on the site would possibly sell for about $800 psf.
NV Residences nearby reportedly sold around 350 units at the average price of $835 psf last month, it added.
Units in Livia, adjacent to NV Residences, were sold at between $720 and $840 psf in the July to September period.
And units at Oasis @ Elias in Elias Road sold for between $650 and $740 psf in the same period, noted Mr Li.
The Frasers and Far East joint offer was similar to the highest bid some executive condominium sites received in the first half, noted Cushman & Wakefield's senior manager of research, Asia Pacific, Mr Ong Kah Seng.
Lower prices are ultimately beneficial for developers as the break-even price will be lower, he added.
The potential for better profit margins is there should prices not fall significantly, he said.
Developers are increasingly cautious given an expected economic slowdown after robust first-half growth, uncertainties in the wider economy and a temporary slowdown in buying interest, he added.
The HDB said it will evaluate the tender bids and announce the results within two weeks.
Friday, October 1, 2010
ST : Foreigners parking assets for PR must invest $10m
Oct 1, 2010
Foreigners parking assets for PR must invest $10m
Minimum asset value to double from next year under MAS investor scheme
By Teh Joo Lin
FOREIGNERS aiming to become permanent residents in Singapore through a government scheme will have to double the minimum value of assets they park here to $10 million.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore's (MAS) Financial Investor Scheme (FIS) is the second permanent residency programme targeted at wealthy foreigners which has tightened its qualifying criteria recently.
Stricter rules for the Economic Development Board's Global Investor Programme (GIP), some of which kick in today, were reported early this week.
These moves come as the Government acts to better manage the pace and flow of immigrants to address concerns among Singaporeans.
The new FIS rules, effective from Jan 1 next year, require applicants to place at least $10 million in assets for a continuous period of five years, up from a minimum of $5 million previously. The assets must be placed with a financial institution regulated by the MAS, although a portion - up to $2 million - can be used to buy private residential properties.
The MAS declined to comment on the changes. But The Straits Times understands that some banks were notified of the new rules about a month ago.
While the more stringent criteria may dampen response for the PR scheme in the short run, analysts are confident that over time, wealthy individuals will still be attracted to park their funds and settle here.
Bank of Singapore's executive director Lee Woon Shiu told The Straits Times they will 'realise Singapore is a serious private wealth banking hub which doesn't want to attract just a quick inflow of funds'.
'Ten million is a fair amount to attract the right pedigree of clients - not just the newly minted crowd who have struck the jackpot once,' he said.
Other changes to the FIS scheme include allowing the applicant's parents and parents-in-law to apply only for five-year long-term visit passes. Currently, they can be included as part of his PR application if he puts up $2.5 million per parent.
Banks and immigration specialists The Straits Times spoke to expect a surge in applications from China, Taiwan and Indonesia before the changes take effect.
For many prospective FIS applicants, the raised bar was an issue of willingness, not affordability, said Mr Pearce Cheng, an immigration and relocation specialist.
Noting that current applicants generally need a personal net worth of $20 million, he said: 'It could be a turn-off for them to park so much money and be locked in for five years, because there are many other options such as Canada and the United States.'
Sociologist Tan Ern Ser said: 'The point is how you balance the need for good global talent while satisfying local citizens, so maybe they did some linear programming and found this is the optimum solution.'
joolin@sph.com.sg
Foreigners parking assets for PR must invest $10m
Minimum asset value to double from next year under MAS investor scheme
By Teh Joo Lin
FOREIGNERS aiming to become permanent residents in Singapore through a government scheme will have to double the minimum value of assets they park here to $10 million.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore's (MAS) Financial Investor Scheme (FIS) is the second permanent residency programme targeted at wealthy foreigners which has tightened its qualifying criteria recently.
Stricter rules for the Economic Development Board's Global Investor Programme (GIP), some of which kick in today, were reported early this week.
These moves come as the Government acts to better manage the pace and flow of immigrants to address concerns among Singaporeans.
The new FIS rules, effective from Jan 1 next year, require applicants to place at least $10 million in assets for a continuous period of five years, up from a minimum of $5 million previously. The assets must be placed with a financial institution regulated by the MAS, although a portion - up to $2 million - can be used to buy private residential properties.
The MAS declined to comment on the changes. But The Straits Times understands that some banks were notified of the new rules about a month ago.
While the more stringent criteria may dampen response for the PR scheme in the short run, analysts are confident that over time, wealthy individuals will still be attracted to park their funds and settle here.
Bank of Singapore's executive director Lee Woon Shiu told The Straits Times they will 'realise Singapore is a serious private wealth banking hub which doesn't want to attract just a quick inflow of funds'.
'Ten million is a fair amount to attract the right pedigree of clients - not just the newly minted crowd who have struck the jackpot once,' he said.
Other changes to the FIS scheme include allowing the applicant's parents and parents-in-law to apply only for five-year long-term visit passes. Currently, they can be included as part of his PR application if he puts up $2.5 million per parent.
Banks and immigration specialists The Straits Times spoke to expect a surge in applications from China, Taiwan and Indonesia before the changes take effect.
For many prospective FIS applicants, the raised bar was an issue of willingness, not affordability, said Mr Pearce Cheng, an immigration and relocation specialist.
Noting that current applicants generally need a personal net worth of $20 million, he said: 'It could be a turn-off for them to park so much money and be locked in for five years, because there are many other options such as Canada and the United States.'
Sociologist Tan Ern Ser said: 'The point is how you balance the need for good global talent while satisfying local citizens, so maybe they did some linear programming and found this is the optimum solution.'
joolin@sph.com.sg
ST : New Buangkok EC attracts keen interest
Oct 1, 2010
New Buangkok EC attracts keen interest
300 at showflat viewing of first new executive condo project in 5 years
By Esther Teo
HOME buyers showed keen interest at a viewing of Esparina Residences near Buangkok MRT Station yesterday - the first new executive condominium (EC) up for sale in five years.
Despite light rain, more than 300 potential buyers visited the showflat yesterday, with 220 registering interest in a ballot next Friday to book a preferred unit.
They came in droves even though new rules allow the so-called sandwich class - households earning between $8,000 to $10,000 - to also buy the cheaper design, build and sell scheme (DBSS) flats.
The EC is among the first new housing projects to hit the market since new rules unveiled in August to curb speculation.
Experts say the keen interest was due to the limited supply of ECs, pent-up demand from first-time home buyers, and affordable price tags for smaller units.
These flats boast condo-like facilities and were once the only way the sandwich class - ineligible for build-to-order (BTO) flats - could buy new HDB flats.
But they can now buy DBSS flats after the Government raised the income cap for these homes to $10,000. The last DBSS project launched was Parc Lumiere in Simei in April last year.
Esparina developer Frasers Centrepoint Homes said many of those visiting yesterday were young couples, young families and professionals under 40.
The 99-year leasehold project with 573 units will be the first EC launched since Far East's La Casa in Woodlands in 2005. Units range from 829 sq ft for a two-bedroom flat to 2,583 sq ft for a four-bedroom penthouse, with prices ranging from $730 to $750 per sq ft on average, Frasers said.
Two-bedders will be sold for between $590,000 and $723,000, three-bedders for between $697,000 and $981,000, and four-bedders at $1.005 million to $1.181 million. Penthouse prices will range from $864,000 to $1.3 million.
Frasers will also offer 71 dual-key units - a studio attached to either a two- or three-bedder - to cater to extended families who want to live close together.
Frasers chief operating officer Cheang Kok Kheong said the keen interest was driven by a sandwich class aspiring to the lifestyle element that an EC offers: 'The sandwich class is very interesting because with their income at $10,000, they must be rising up the corporate ladder somehow, or having their own businesses, so their expectations are high but yet they want something to start with first.'
Although up to 30 per cent might be interested in DBSS flats, the other 70 per cent like condo facilities, and this would sustain demand, Mr Cheang said.
ERA Asia-Pacific associate director Eugene Lim said that demand was expected to be strong since it was the logical and affordable choice for the sandwich class.
'DBSS flats might be priced lower but they lack facilities; an EC is more lifestyle-driven and many home buyers aspire to live in condos,' he added.
But one industry player said that the pricing of Esparina was on the high side. ECs are usually about 20 per cent below private condos to make up for their sale restrictions, he said. 'With NV Residences in Pasir Ris selling at $830 psf, the pricing here might not be that attractive.'
One potential buyer, who wanted to be known only as Mrs Ong, said she and her husband of two years will apply for Esparina's ballot as they had been unable to get a flat through the BTO scheme. They are now above the $8,000 income ceiling.
'Compared with an HDB resale flat, we feel an EC provides more value for money,' she said, adding the facilities would be good as they have a child.
esthert@sph.com.sg
More than 300 attended an Esparina Residences viewing yesterday, even though new rules allow the 'sandwich' class to also buy design, build and sell scheme flats. -- ST PHOTO: CHEW SENG KIM
New Buangkok EC attracts keen interest
300 at showflat viewing of first new executive condo project in 5 years
By Esther Teo
HOME buyers showed keen interest at a viewing of Esparina Residences near Buangkok MRT Station yesterday - the first new executive condominium (EC) up for sale in five years.
Despite light rain, more than 300 potential buyers visited the showflat yesterday, with 220 registering interest in a ballot next Friday to book a preferred unit.
They came in droves even though new rules allow the so-called sandwich class - households earning between $8,000 to $10,000 - to also buy the cheaper design, build and sell scheme (DBSS) flats.
The EC is among the first new housing projects to hit the market since new rules unveiled in August to curb speculation.
Experts say the keen interest was due to the limited supply of ECs, pent-up demand from first-time home buyers, and affordable price tags for smaller units.
These flats boast condo-like facilities and were once the only way the sandwich class - ineligible for build-to-order (BTO) flats - could buy new HDB flats.
But they can now buy DBSS flats after the Government raised the income cap for these homes to $10,000. The last DBSS project launched was Parc Lumiere in Simei in April last year.
Esparina developer Frasers Centrepoint Homes said many of those visiting yesterday were young couples, young families and professionals under 40.
The 99-year leasehold project with 573 units will be the first EC launched since Far East's La Casa in Woodlands in 2005. Units range from 829 sq ft for a two-bedroom flat to 2,583 sq ft for a four-bedroom penthouse, with prices ranging from $730 to $750 per sq ft on average, Frasers said.
Two-bedders will be sold for between $590,000 and $723,000, three-bedders for between $697,000 and $981,000, and four-bedders at $1.005 million to $1.181 million. Penthouse prices will range from $864,000 to $1.3 million.
Frasers will also offer 71 dual-key units - a studio attached to either a two- or three-bedder - to cater to extended families who want to live close together.
Frasers chief operating officer Cheang Kok Kheong said the keen interest was driven by a sandwich class aspiring to the lifestyle element that an EC offers: 'The sandwich class is very interesting because with their income at $10,000, they must be rising up the corporate ladder somehow, or having their own businesses, so their expectations are high but yet they want something to start with first.'
Although up to 30 per cent might be interested in DBSS flats, the other 70 per cent like condo facilities, and this would sustain demand, Mr Cheang said.
ERA Asia-Pacific associate director Eugene Lim said that demand was expected to be strong since it was the logical and affordable choice for the sandwich class.
'DBSS flats might be priced lower but they lack facilities; an EC is more lifestyle-driven and many home buyers aspire to live in condos,' he added.
But one industry player said that the pricing of Esparina was on the high side. ECs are usually about 20 per cent below private condos to make up for their sale restrictions, he said. 'With NV Residences in Pasir Ris selling at $830 psf, the pricing here might not be that attractive.'
One potential buyer, who wanted to be known only as Mrs Ong, said she and her husband of two years will apply for Esparina's ballot as they had been unable to get a flat through the BTO scheme. They are now above the $8,000 income ceiling.
'Compared with an HDB resale flat, we feel an EC provides more value for money,' she said, adding the facilities would be good as they have a child.
esthert@sph.com.sg
More than 300 attended an Esparina Residences viewing yesterday, even though new rules allow the 'sandwich' class to also buy design, build and sell scheme flats. -- ST PHOTO: CHEW SENG KIM
ST : Shatec in $4m rental dispute
Oct 1, 2010
Shatec in $4m rental dispute
Company sues tourism training school over lease on building space
By Selina Lum
HOSPITALITY and tourism training school Shatec is being sued for nearly $4million in a rental dispute.
The company that has filed the lawsuit, multimedia products manufacturer and distributor General Magnetics, claims it had leased out space in its building in Toa Payoh to Shatec, but the school repeatedly pushed back the handover date.
It also refused to take over the premises or to formalise the tenancy agreement, said General Magnetics. The company, in its suit filed last week in the High Court, is claiming $3.98 million in rent from August last year to 2012.
In the second half of 2008, it appointed Savills to handle the leasing out of the first three storeys of its five-storey GenMag building in Lorong 4 Toa Payoh.
It said in court filings that around October, Shatec - set up in 1983 as the training arm of the Singapore Hotel Association - indicated through Savills that it was keen to rent the space and use it as a food catering and ancillary training centre.
General Magnetic, represented by Mr Adrian Wong, claims there was an agreement to lease out the premises to Shatec. A letter dated Nov 3, 2008 offered Shatec the five floors, totalling 104,185 sq ft, at $1.30 per sq ft.
The rent for the first three floors, about $86,000, was payable in advance, while that for the fourth and fifth floors was to be paid on handover.
General Magnetics claims that the terms and conditions were 'unconditionally and irrevocably' accepted by Shatec. To formalise the lease, draft agreements were circulated.
In March last year, General Magnetics told Shatec that it was ready to hand over the first three floors, but Shatec refused to take delivery until approvals from the relevant authorities were obtained.
It was later agreed that the first three floors would be handed over on the Housing Board's approval, and the fifth floor, two months after that.
On April 23, General Magnetics received in-principle approval from HDB to change the use of the premises to a food catering and training centre, and told Shatec it would hand over the building by May 1.
Shatec asked for this to be delayed until May 30. General Magnetics delayed the handover to May 15, and a draft agreement with this new date was sent to Shatec, but it went unsigned.
Later, the handover was again pushed to June 29, and still Shatec asked for another extension.
On July 13, when the school was asked again to finalise the tenancy agreement, it said the document had to be cleared by its board, which would take a few weeks.
After the board meeting, the two sides could not agree on the issues of the capping of rent and the availability of the fourth floor.
General Magnetics then pressed Shatec to sign the agreement by Aug 25. The school brought up three matters to be resolved, and the deadline was pushed to Sept 1.
That day, Shatec asked for two more rent-free months to fit out the building, but General Magnetics rejected this.
At a meeting on Sept 9, Shatec asked General Magnetics to waive a month's rent. The company said it would waive half a month's rent if Shatec returned a signed copy of the agreement.
The school asked for more time. In its suit, General Magnetics said it has not received a signed agreement from Shatec.
Contacted by The Straits Times, Shatec said it will be 'vigorously defending the claim'.
selinal@sph.com.sg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Key dates
· October 2008: Shatec indicated it was keen to rent General Magnetics' five-storey building in Toa Payoh.
· March 2009: General Magnetics told Shatec it was ready to hand over the first three floors, but Shatec refused to take delivery.
· April 2009: General Magnetics received in-principle approval from the HDB to change the use of the premises to a food catering and training centre.
· July 2009: When Shatec was again asked to finalise the tenancy agreement, it said the agreement had to be approved by its board.
· Sept 1, 2009: Shatec asked for two more months rent-free so it could fit out the building, but General Magnetics rejected this.
· Sept 9, 2009: At a meeting Shatec asked General Magnetics to waive a month's rent, and again asked for more time.
Shatec in $4m rental dispute
Company sues tourism training school over lease on building space
By Selina Lum
HOSPITALITY and tourism training school Shatec is being sued for nearly $4million in a rental dispute.
The company that has filed the lawsuit, multimedia products manufacturer and distributor General Magnetics, claims it had leased out space in its building in Toa Payoh to Shatec, but the school repeatedly pushed back the handover date.
It also refused to take over the premises or to formalise the tenancy agreement, said General Magnetics. The company, in its suit filed last week in the High Court, is claiming $3.98 million in rent from August last year to 2012.
In the second half of 2008, it appointed Savills to handle the leasing out of the first three storeys of its five-storey GenMag building in Lorong 4 Toa Payoh.
It said in court filings that around October, Shatec - set up in 1983 as the training arm of the Singapore Hotel Association - indicated through Savills that it was keen to rent the space and use it as a food catering and ancillary training centre.
General Magnetic, represented by Mr Adrian Wong, claims there was an agreement to lease out the premises to Shatec. A letter dated Nov 3, 2008 offered Shatec the five floors, totalling 104,185 sq ft, at $1.30 per sq ft.
The rent for the first three floors, about $86,000, was payable in advance, while that for the fourth and fifth floors was to be paid on handover.
General Magnetics claims that the terms and conditions were 'unconditionally and irrevocably' accepted by Shatec. To formalise the lease, draft agreements were circulated.
In March last year, General Magnetics told Shatec that it was ready to hand over the first three floors, but Shatec refused to take delivery until approvals from the relevant authorities were obtained.
It was later agreed that the first three floors would be handed over on the Housing Board's approval, and the fifth floor, two months after that.
On April 23, General Magnetics received in-principle approval from HDB to change the use of the premises to a food catering and training centre, and told Shatec it would hand over the building by May 1.
Shatec asked for this to be delayed until May 30. General Magnetics delayed the handover to May 15, and a draft agreement with this new date was sent to Shatec, but it went unsigned.
Later, the handover was again pushed to June 29, and still Shatec asked for another extension.
On July 13, when the school was asked again to finalise the tenancy agreement, it said the document had to be cleared by its board, which would take a few weeks.
After the board meeting, the two sides could not agree on the issues of the capping of rent and the availability of the fourth floor.
General Magnetics then pressed Shatec to sign the agreement by Aug 25. The school brought up three matters to be resolved, and the deadline was pushed to Sept 1.
That day, Shatec asked for two more rent-free months to fit out the building, but General Magnetics rejected this.
At a meeting on Sept 9, Shatec asked General Magnetics to waive a month's rent. The company said it would waive half a month's rent if Shatec returned a signed copy of the agreement.
The school asked for more time. In its suit, General Magnetics said it has not received a signed agreement from Shatec.
Contacted by The Straits Times, Shatec said it will be 'vigorously defending the claim'.
selinal@sph.com.sg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Key dates
· October 2008: Shatec indicated it was keen to rent General Magnetics' five-storey building in Toa Payoh.
· March 2009: General Magnetics told Shatec it was ready to hand over the first three floors, but Shatec refused to take delivery.
· April 2009: General Magnetics received in-principle approval from the HDB to change the use of the premises to a food catering and training centre.
· July 2009: When Shatec was again asked to finalise the tenancy agreement, it said the agreement had to be approved by its board.
· Sept 1, 2009: Shatec asked for two more months rent-free so it could fit out the building, but General Magnetics rejected this.
· Sept 9, 2009: At a meeting Shatec asked General Magnetics to waive a month's rent, and again asked for more time.
BT : China's property stocks jump despite new curbs
Business Times - 01 Oct 2010
China's property stocks jump despite new curbs
Rally likely to be short-lived because of sector's cloudy outlook: traders
(SHANGHAI) China's property shares unexpectedly soared yesterday, a day after the government announced fresh measures to subdue bubbly real estate prices.
Shanghai's property sub-index closed up 3.9 per cent, with one major developer, Poly Real Estate Group Co Ltd, climbing 8.9 per cent.
Traders said investors were jumping back into the market after a slump in property shares since mid-April, in response to a clampdown on real estate speculation.
But they cautioned that the rally was likely to be short-lived because of a cloudy outlook for the sector.
Surging property prices that are unbalancing the economy have become a serious headache for the government and pose a potential threat to social stability. Prices are beyond the reach of large segments of the population.
Following up on its April campaign, Beijing on Wednesday instructed banks to demand a downpayment of at least 30 per cent from all mortgage applicants and to restrict loans to buyers of third homes.
'The market was expecting negative news on new property controls, so now that the information is out, property companies like Vanke which have been in a continuous slump are able to gain,' said Ren Chengde, an analyst at Galaxy Securities in Shanghai.
Shanghai's stock market, one of the world's worst-performing bourses, gained 11 per cent in the third quarter but is still down nearly 21 per cent so far this year. China's restrictions on bank lending and the property market have taken a toll despite robust economic growth.
Industry experts said the government had responded to a rebound in property transactions and prices, worrying that they could set the stage for a new flurry of speculative buying.
'The new steps were taken at the perfect time, when potential buyers are hesitating whether to enter the market,' said Liu Yuan, a senior research manager at the Centaline Group, a leading domestic property service and research institution.
Property companies helped the Shanghai market close up 1.7 per cent at a three-week high.
The country's largest listed developer, China Vanke Co Ltd jumped 7.6 per cent, while Gemdale Corp rose 5.3 per cent.
China's property inflation slowed to 9.3 per cent in the year to August, down from a peak of 12.8 per cent in April. But real estate investment has remained buoyant, with growth picking up to 34.1 per cent in the year to August from 33 per cent in July.
'These gains may just be a short-term burst. I expect property shares could gain a maximum of 10-15 per cent,' said Zheng Weigang, a senior trader at Shanghai Securities. -- Reuters
Copyright © 2010 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.
China's property stocks jump despite new curbs
Rally likely to be short-lived because of sector's cloudy outlook: traders
(SHANGHAI) China's property shares unexpectedly soared yesterday, a day after the government announced fresh measures to subdue bubbly real estate prices.
Shanghai's property sub-index closed up 3.9 per cent, with one major developer, Poly Real Estate Group Co Ltd, climbing 8.9 per cent.
Traders said investors were jumping back into the market after a slump in property shares since mid-April, in response to a clampdown on real estate speculation.
But they cautioned that the rally was likely to be short-lived because of a cloudy outlook for the sector.
Surging property prices that are unbalancing the economy have become a serious headache for the government and pose a potential threat to social stability. Prices are beyond the reach of large segments of the population.
Following up on its April campaign, Beijing on Wednesday instructed banks to demand a downpayment of at least 30 per cent from all mortgage applicants and to restrict loans to buyers of third homes.
'The market was expecting negative news on new property controls, so now that the information is out, property companies like Vanke which have been in a continuous slump are able to gain,' said Ren Chengde, an analyst at Galaxy Securities in Shanghai.
Shanghai's stock market, one of the world's worst-performing bourses, gained 11 per cent in the third quarter but is still down nearly 21 per cent so far this year. China's restrictions on bank lending and the property market have taken a toll despite robust economic growth.
Industry experts said the government had responded to a rebound in property transactions and prices, worrying that they could set the stage for a new flurry of speculative buying.
'The new steps were taken at the perfect time, when potential buyers are hesitating whether to enter the market,' said Liu Yuan, a senior research manager at the Centaline Group, a leading domestic property service and research institution.
Property companies helped the Shanghai market close up 1.7 per cent at a three-week high.
The country's largest listed developer, China Vanke Co Ltd jumped 7.6 per cent, while Gemdale Corp rose 5.3 per cent.
China's property inflation slowed to 9.3 per cent in the year to August, down from a peak of 12.8 per cent in April. But real estate investment has remained buoyant, with growth picking up to 34.1 per cent in the year to August from 33 per cent in July.
'These gains may just be a short-term burst. I expect property shares could gain a maximum of 10-15 per cent,' said Zheng Weigang, a senior trader at Shanghai Securities. -- Reuters
Copyright © 2010 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.
BT : CDL sells The Corporate Office for $215m
Business Times - 01 Oct 2010
CDL sells The Corporate Office for $215m
Price around $1,956 psf of net lettable area; buyer led by Oxley Holdings
By KALPANA RASHIWALA
(SINGAPORE) City Developments Ltd (CDL) is said to be selling a 21-storey freehold office block at the corner of Robinson Road and McCallum Street for $215 million.
The buyer of The Corporate Office is understood to be a consortium led by Oxley Holdings group. The price works out to $1,956 per square foot based on the building's net lettable area of 109,920 sq ft.
The Corporate Office, which is about 25 years old, has 112 carpark lots, something of a rarity in office towers in that part of the CBD. About 15 per cent of the building's net lettable area is currently vacant and the lease for a further 7-8 per cent of space is said to expire early next year. But that's not necessarily a bad thing for the buyers.
Sources suggest that Oxley - which is headed by Ching Chiat Kwong - is looking to move its headquarters into The Corporate Office. The group currently operates out of Singapore Land Tower in Raffles Place and is said to be gunning for an initial public offer by year end. Oxley has been in the news lately for developing projects with shoebox apartments, including Suites@Guillemard and VivaVista in Pasir Panjang.
On the group's purchase of The Corporate Office along Robinson Road, market watchers suggest that in the medium term, Oxley and its partners may consider redeveloping the property, which has a land area of 16,032 sq ft, into a residential project with commercial use on the first storey or into a commercial-residential development. Under Master Plan 2008, the site is zoned for commercial use with an 11.2+ plot ratio (ratio of maximum potential gross floor area to land area). The site can be developed up to 35 storeys high. The Corporate Office's existing gross floor area is said to reflect a plot ratio of about 9.27, which points to some unutilised plot ratio.
DTZ is thought to have brokered the sale of The Corporate Office through a private treaty deal. The property consultancy also brokered the sale of Chow House next door a couple of months ago for $101 million to a group led by WyWy Group' founder, YY Wong.
The price for Chow House, a six-storey freehold office block which has redevelopment potential, is said to work out to about $1,300 per square foot per plot ratio assuming it is redeveloped into apartments. The site has a land area of 9,084 sq ft and is zoned for commercial use with an 11.2+ plot ratio under Master Plan 2008. However, outline planning permission has been granted to redevelop the Chow House site into residential use with commercial use on the first storey.
Chow House sits between The Corporate Office and another CDL-owned property - The Corporate Building.
The property giant's sale of The Corporate Office is its latest divestment of non-core assets. In recent years, CDL has also sold North Bridge Commercial Complex (near Bugis Junction), The Office Chamber along Jalan Besar, Chinatown Point mall, and Commerce Point near Raffles Place MRT Station.
Copyright © 2010 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.
CDL sells The Corporate Office for $215m
Price around $1,956 psf of net lettable area; buyer led by Oxley Holdings
By KALPANA RASHIWALA
(SINGAPORE) City Developments Ltd (CDL) is said to be selling a 21-storey freehold office block at the corner of Robinson Road and McCallum Street for $215 million.
The buyer of The Corporate Office is understood to be a consortium led by Oxley Holdings group. The price works out to $1,956 per square foot based on the building's net lettable area of 109,920 sq ft.
The Corporate Office, which is about 25 years old, has 112 carpark lots, something of a rarity in office towers in that part of the CBD. About 15 per cent of the building's net lettable area is currently vacant and the lease for a further 7-8 per cent of space is said to expire early next year. But that's not necessarily a bad thing for the buyers.
Sources suggest that Oxley - which is headed by Ching Chiat Kwong - is looking to move its headquarters into The Corporate Office. The group currently operates out of Singapore Land Tower in Raffles Place and is said to be gunning for an initial public offer by year end. Oxley has been in the news lately for developing projects with shoebox apartments, including Suites@Guillemard and VivaVista in Pasir Panjang.
On the group's purchase of The Corporate Office along Robinson Road, market watchers suggest that in the medium term, Oxley and its partners may consider redeveloping the property, which has a land area of 16,032 sq ft, into a residential project with commercial use on the first storey or into a commercial-residential development. Under Master Plan 2008, the site is zoned for commercial use with an 11.2+ plot ratio (ratio of maximum potential gross floor area to land area). The site can be developed up to 35 storeys high. The Corporate Office's existing gross floor area is said to reflect a plot ratio of about 9.27, which points to some unutilised plot ratio.
DTZ is thought to have brokered the sale of The Corporate Office through a private treaty deal. The property consultancy also brokered the sale of Chow House next door a couple of months ago for $101 million to a group led by WyWy Group' founder, YY Wong.
The price for Chow House, a six-storey freehold office block which has redevelopment potential, is said to work out to about $1,300 per square foot per plot ratio assuming it is redeveloped into apartments. The site has a land area of 9,084 sq ft and is zoned for commercial use with an 11.2+ plot ratio under Master Plan 2008. However, outline planning permission has been granted to redevelop the Chow House site into residential use with commercial use on the first storey.
Chow House sits between The Corporate Office and another CDL-owned property - The Corporate Building.
The property giant's sale of The Corporate Office is its latest divestment of non-core assets. In recent years, CDL has also sold North Bridge Commercial Complex (near Bugis Junction), The Office Chamber along Jalan Besar, Chinatown Point mall, and Commerce Point near Raffles Place MRT Station.
Copyright © 2010 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.
BT : Frasers C'point launches Esparina Residences EC
Business Times - 01 Oct 2010
Frasers C'point launches Esparina Residences EC
FRASERS Centrepoint's new 573-unit executive condominium (EC), Esparina Residences, drew more than 300 visitors who took up 230 ballot numbers at the project's launch yesterday.
Apartment sizes at the Sengkang project range from 829 square feet for a two-bedroom flat to 2,583 sq ft for a four-bedroom penthouse. Prices range from $590,000 to $723,000 for a two-bedder; $697,000 to $981,000 for a three-bedder; and $1 million to $1.18 million for a four-bedroom unit. Penthouses are priced at between $864,000 and $1.3 million. Applications are open until Oct 5. Successful applicants will be issued a ballot number. On Oct 8, they will get priority to enter the showflat for the balloting and booking of units. Those without a ballot number will be admitted to the showflat only after all ballot numbers have been processed.
Frasers Centrepoint, which is the property arm of Fraser and Neave, said 71 units - or 12 per cent of all apartments - at Esparina Residences will be dual-key units. This means they can be divided into two separate apartments with different entrances. The design was conceptualised and introduced at Frasers Centrepoint's Caspian and 8@Woodleigh condominiums. More such units are available at Esparina Residences due to their past popularity, said Cheang Kok Kheong, chief executive of Frasers Centrepoint Homes. 'These dual-key units were snapped up very quickly in our previous launches,' he said.
There will also be seven thematic spas in the development. ECs are a hybrid of public and private housing. New ECs are sold with initial eligibility, ownership and resale restrictions similar to public housing, but these restrictions cease to apply after 10 years.
Copyright © 2010 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.
Frasers C'point launches Esparina Residences EC
FRASERS Centrepoint's new 573-unit executive condominium (EC), Esparina Residences, drew more than 300 visitors who took up 230 ballot numbers at the project's launch yesterday.
Apartment sizes at the Sengkang project range from 829 square feet for a two-bedroom flat to 2,583 sq ft for a four-bedroom penthouse. Prices range from $590,000 to $723,000 for a two-bedder; $697,000 to $981,000 for a three-bedder; and $1 million to $1.18 million for a four-bedroom unit. Penthouses are priced at between $864,000 and $1.3 million. Applications are open until Oct 5. Successful applicants will be issued a ballot number. On Oct 8, they will get priority to enter the showflat for the balloting and booking of units. Those without a ballot number will be admitted to the showflat only after all ballot numbers have been processed.
Frasers Centrepoint, which is the property arm of Fraser and Neave, said 71 units - or 12 per cent of all apartments - at Esparina Residences will be dual-key units. This means they can be divided into two separate apartments with different entrances. The design was conceptualised and introduced at Frasers Centrepoint's Caspian and 8@Woodleigh condominiums. More such units are available at Esparina Residences due to their past popularity, said Cheang Kok Kheong, chief executive of Frasers Centrepoint Homes. 'These dual-key units were snapped up very quickly in our previous launches,' he said.
There will also be seven thematic spas in the development. ECs are a hybrid of public and private housing. New ECs are sold with initial eligibility, ownership and resale restrictions similar to public housing, but these restrictions cease to apply after 10 years.
Copyright © 2010 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.
BT : Top bid for Pasir Ris site from Frasers Centrepoint, Far East
Business Times - 01 Oct 2010
Top bid for Pasir Ris site from Frasers Centrepoint, Far East
FRASERS Centrepoint and Far East Organization have jointly put in the top bid of $151.4 million, or $335 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr) for a residential site at Pasir Ris.
Just four bids were received for the 99-year leasehold site at the junction of Pasir Ris Drive 3 and Pasir Ris Drive 4 at close of the state tender yesterday.
Frasers Centrepoint and Far East plan to build a project with 400-450 units through a 50:50 joint venture if the site is awarded to them. The project, which will be completed in about five years, will target HDB upgraders in the east and the vicinity.
The offer by the two developers was 8 per cent above the second-highest offer of $140.7 million or $311 psf ppr from Hoi Hup Realty, Sunway Developments and SC Wong Holdings.
The two other bids came from Allgreen Properties ($131.9 million or $292 psf ppr) and Meadows Investment ($106 million or $234 psf ppr).
The tender result mirrors that for an executive condominium site at Punggol which closed on Sept 23 and drew just four bids.
Since the government introduced new measures to cool the property market on Aug 30, developers have been increasingly cautious with land tender bids, said Nicholas Mak, executive director of SLP International Property Consultants.
He also noted that in the current second half-year, no Reserve List site has been triggered for tender as the government is pushing out a large supply of land under the Confirmed List.
The top bid of $335 psf ppr for the Pasir Ris site translates to a breakeven cost of $650-$680 psf, said Li Hiaw Ho, executive director of CBRE Research. He expects that units in the new residential project could sell for about $800 psf.
CBRE's data shows that private homes nearby have been selling for around that price.
Around 350 units at the nearby NV Residences have reportedly been sold at an average price of $835 psf in the past month. And units at Livia, adjacent to NV Residences, went for between $720 psf and $840 psf between July and September. Over at Elias Road, units at Oasis@Elias sold at between $650 psf and $740 psf in the same period.
Separately, the Urban Redevelopment Authority yesterday released detailed sale conditions for an industrial site at Woodlands Avenue 12.
Developers interested in purchasing the site can now apply to URA for it to be put up for tender.
The 60-year leasehold parcel - the first of four new sites to be released for sale under the Reserve List of the government's H2 2010 industrial land sales programme - covers about 2.1 ha and has a gross plot ratio of 2.5.
Copyright © 2010 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.
Top bid for Pasir Ris site from Frasers Centrepoint, Far East
FRASERS Centrepoint and Far East Organization have jointly put in the top bid of $151.4 million, or $335 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr) for a residential site at Pasir Ris.
Just four bids were received for the 99-year leasehold site at the junction of Pasir Ris Drive 3 and Pasir Ris Drive 4 at close of the state tender yesterday.
Frasers Centrepoint and Far East plan to build a project with 400-450 units through a 50:50 joint venture if the site is awarded to them. The project, which will be completed in about five years, will target HDB upgraders in the east and the vicinity.
The offer by the two developers was 8 per cent above the second-highest offer of $140.7 million or $311 psf ppr from Hoi Hup Realty, Sunway Developments and SC Wong Holdings.
The two other bids came from Allgreen Properties ($131.9 million or $292 psf ppr) and Meadows Investment ($106 million or $234 psf ppr).
The tender result mirrors that for an executive condominium site at Punggol which closed on Sept 23 and drew just four bids.
Since the government introduced new measures to cool the property market on Aug 30, developers have been increasingly cautious with land tender bids, said Nicholas Mak, executive director of SLP International Property Consultants.
He also noted that in the current second half-year, no Reserve List site has been triggered for tender as the government is pushing out a large supply of land under the Confirmed List.
The top bid of $335 psf ppr for the Pasir Ris site translates to a breakeven cost of $650-$680 psf, said Li Hiaw Ho, executive director of CBRE Research. He expects that units in the new residential project could sell for about $800 psf.
CBRE's data shows that private homes nearby have been selling for around that price.
Around 350 units at the nearby NV Residences have reportedly been sold at an average price of $835 psf in the past month. And units at Livia, adjacent to NV Residences, went for between $720 psf and $840 psf between July and September. Over at Elias Road, units at Oasis@Elias sold at between $650 psf and $740 psf in the same period.
Separately, the Urban Redevelopment Authority yesterday released detailed sale conditions for an industrial site at Woodlands Avenue 12.
Developers interested in purchasing the site can now apply to URA for it to be put up for tender.
The 60-year leasehold parcel - the first of four new sites to be released for sale under the Reserve List of the government's H2 2010 industrial land sales programme - covers about 2.1 ha and has a gross plot ratio of 2.5.
Copyright © 2010 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.
BT : Office investment deals surge in Q3
Business Times - 01 Oct 2010
PROPERTY
Office investment deals surge in Q3
Retail property deals jump from $6.8m in Q2 to $250m in Q3
By UMA SHANKARI
THE property investment market gained further momentum in the third quarter of this year, as transactions in the rebounding office sector crossed $1 billion - a level not breached since Q2 2008.
And the tally does not include deals for Chow House, Samsung Hub and Chevron House, which are pending legal completion.
Figures compiled by DTZ Research show office investment deals more than quadrupled quarter on quarter in Q3 to $1.7 billion, driven by the sale of DBS Towers 1 & 2. The $870.5 million that Overseas Union Enterprises paid for the two buildings accounted for half of all office sales.
Deals involving retail properties also jumped significantly, from just $6.8 million in Q2 to $250 million in Q3, partly due to the sale of 287 strata-titled units in Chinatown Point to a consortium led by Perennial Real Estate Group.
'The upturn in the commercial property market is creating opportunities for buyers and sellers,' said Shaun Poh, senior director for investment advisory services and auction at DTZ. 'More sales are envisaged in the next few months as a few deals are being finalised.'
Growing demand is likely to be hampered by a lack of supply, he said. Total investment sales in Q3 rose to $6.1 billion, up 23 per cent from $5 billion in Q2 2010.
Residential property investments hit $1.9 billion in Q3, accounting for the largest share - about 30 per cent - of all investment purchases.
Unlike in Q2 2010, when investments were mainly geared towards government land sales of residential sites, the private sector had a 59 per cent share of all residential transactions in Q3.
More than half of the private residential investment amount came from the collective sale market. Bulk purchases of luxury condominium units by institutions and funds accounted for the rest.
Collective sale deals totalled $634.8 million in Q3 2010, up from $329.9 million in Q2.
In contrast, government land sales of residential sites were less buoyant. After 15 sites were sold in the first half of the year, and with plenty of parcels yet to be released, government sales of residential sites fell 59 per cent quarter on quarter to $760.9 million in Q3.
The industrial segment gained ground during the quarter, with transactions rising 65 per cent quarter on quarter to $758.3 million.
Investment figures compiled by DTZ Research comprise transactions of more than $5 million. They exclude about $1.4 billion of transactions involving single residential units, lots that cannot be redeveloped or subdivided and deals deemed to be interested person or party transactions.
Copyright © 2010 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.
PROPERTY
Office investment deals surge in Q3
Retail property deals jump from $6.8m in Q2 to $250m in Q3
By UMA SHANKARI
THE property investment market gained further momentum in the third quarter of this year, as transactions in the rebounding office sector crossed $1 billion - a level not breached since Q2 2008.
And the tally does not include deals for Chow House, Samsung Hub and Chevron House, which are pending legal completion.
Figures compiled by DTZ Research show office investment deals more than quadrupled quarter on quarter in Q3 to $1.7 billion, driven by the sale of DBS Towers 1 & 2. The $870.5 million that Overseas Union Enterprises paid for the two buildings accounted for half of all office sales.
Deals involving retail properties also jumped significantly, from just $6.8 million in Q2 to $250 million in Q3, partly due to the sale of 287 strata-titled units in Chinatown Point to a consortium led by Perennial Real Estate Group.
'The upturn in the commercial property market is creating opportunities for buyers and sellers,' said Shaun Poh, senior director for investment advisory services and auction at DTZ. 'More sales are envisaged in the next few months as a few deals are being finalised.'
Growing demand is likely to be hampered by a lack of supply, he said. Total investment sales in Q3 rose to $6.1 billion, up 23 per cent from $5 billion in Q2 2010.
Residential property investments hit $1.9 billion in Q3, accounting for the largest share - about 30 per cent - of all investment purchases.
Unlike in Q2 2010, when investments were mainly geared towards government land sales of residential sites, the private sector had a 59 per cent share of all residential transactions in Q3.
More than half of the private residential investment amount came from the collective sale market. Bulk purchases of luxury condominium units by institutions and funds accounted for the rest.
Collective sale deals totalled $634.8 million in Q3 2010, up from $329.9 million in Q2.
In contrast, government land sales of residential sites were less buoyant. After 15 sites were sold in the first half of the year, and with plenty of parcels yet to be released, government sales of residential sites fell 59 per cent quarter on quarter to $760.9 million in Q3.
The industrial segment gained ground during the quarter, with transactions rising 65 per cent quarter on quarter to $758.3 million.
Investment figures compiled by DTZ Research comprise transactions of more than $5 million. They exclude about $1.4 billion of transactions involving single residential units, lots that cannot be redeveloped or subdivided and deals deemed to be interested person or party transactions.
Copyright © 2010 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
ST : Fresh steps to cool China's property market
Sep 30, 2010
Fresh steps to cool China's property market
BEIJING: China yesterday announced it had taken further steps to cool its red-hot property market, ordering banks not to provide loans for third or more home purchases.
The new measures are aimed at preventing house prices from rising too fast, the State Council, or Cabinet, said in a statement, amid fears of a speculative bubble that analysts say could derail the world's second largest economy.
The State Council said down-payments on all home purchases would now have to be at least 30 per cent. It also limited the number of homes that people can buy in cities where prices are too high, have risen too quickly or where supply is tight.
In April, Beijing announced it would increase deposits on first homes of over 90 sq m to 30 per cent from 20 per cent. Prior to April, all first-time buyers had to make a deposit of 20 per cent.
The new measures urged banks to strengthen their oversight of consumer loans, banning them from being used to buy homes.
The State Council also called for a trial property tax reform now being carried out in some cities to be sped up and gradually expanded to the whole of China. This is widely expected to entail an expansion of the tax on commercial real estate to cover residential houses.
'The new measures are not dramatic, but they convey a clear policy message: Beijing is serious about controlling property prices,' Mr Qu Hongbin, a Hong Kong-based economist with HSBC Holdings, said in e-mailed comments yesterday. 'This should help dampen the expectations' that housing prices will rise quickly, he said.
The new measures are the latest in a series issued this year to try and prevent the property market from overheating.
Official data has suggested that these efforts have started to pay off, with growth in China's property prices slowing for the fourth straight month in August.
But the government has eschewed draconian measures, anxious not to topple a vital pillar of the economy. Real estate accounts for a quarter of investment and 10 per cent of total output.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, BLOOMBERG, REUTERS
Fresh steps to cool China's property market
BEIJING: China yesterday announced it had taken further steps to cool its red-hot property market, ordering banks not to provide loans for third or more home purchases.
The new measures are aimed at preventing house prices from rising too fast, the State Council, or Cabinet, said in a statement, amid fears of a speculative bubble that analysts say could derail the world's second largest economy.
The State Council said down-payments on all home purchases would now have to be at least 30 per cent. It also limited the number of homes that people can buy in cities where prices are too high, have risen too quickly or where supply is tight.
In April, Beijing announced it would increase deposits on first homes of over 90 sq m to 30 per cent from 20 per cent. Prior to April, all first-time buyers had to make a deposit of 20 per cent.
The new measures urged banks to strengthen their oversight of consumer loans, banning them from being used to buy homes.
The State Council also called for a trial property tax reform now being carried out in some cities to be sped up and gradually expanded to the whole of China. This is widely expected to entail an expansion of the tax on commercial real estate to cover residential houses.
'The new measures are not dramatic, but they convey a clear policy message: Beijing is serious about controlling property prices,' Mr Qu Hongbin, a Hong Kong-based economist with HSBC Holdings, said in e-mailed comments yesterday. 'This should help dampen the expectations' that housing prices will rise quickly, he said.
The new measures are the latest in a series issued this year to try and prevent the property market from overheating.
Official data has suggested that these efforts have started to pay off, with growth in China's property prices slowing for the fourth straight month in August.
But the government has eschewed draconian measures, anxious not to topple a vital pillar of the economy. Real estate accounts for a quarter of investment and 10 per cent of total output.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, BLOOMBERG, REUTERS
ST : Site of 'showbiz central' up for sale
Sep 30, 2010
Site of 'showbiz central' up for sale
THE site of the old Singapura Theatre that served as showbiz central for thousands of Malay and Indian movie fans is up for sale at $45 million.
In its heyday in the 1970s, the cinema in Geylang Serai was ablaze with neon signs and colourful posters proclaiming the latest Hindustani and Malay hits.
It closed in 1985, reportedly because of competition from the video industry. It was turned into a furniture exhibition centre and later a temporary shopping complex.
Owner Shaw Brothers renovated the three-storey building in 1992, and the cinema screened Tamil movies for a while.
The building has been only partly used for the past couple of years. A section of the first floor is leased to a foodcourt while the rest is taken up by an entertainment centre that also occupies the second floor. The third floor is vacant.
Shaw Brothers wants to sell the freehold site at No. 55 Changi Road in order to capitalise on the rejuvenation of the Paya Lebar area, said marketing agent Knight Frank.
The land is next to the upcoming Paya Lebar Central, a commercial hub to be developed as part of the Urban Redevelopment Authority's decentralisation strategy to provide alternative zones for businesses.
It is also near the Paya Lebar station on the Circle Line and the Eunos station on the East West Line.
The asking price of $45 million translates to a land price of $769 per sq ft (psf) on the potential gross floor area of about 58,490 sq ft.
No development charge is payable, Knight Frank said.
The regular-shaped plot sits on a land area of about 19,497 sq ft. Under the 2008 Master Plan, it is zoned for commercial use at a plot ratio of 3.0.
'The site is not fully built-up currently. It is likely to be torn down and can be redeveloped into a taller building subject to approval,' said Mr Ian Loh, Knight Frank's senior manager, investment.
He said the site would be suitable for a superstore like Courts or a private school.
The tender closes on Nov 11.
JOYCE TEO
In its heyday in the 1970s, the Singapura Theatre in Geylang Serai was ablaze with neon signs and colourful posters proclaiming the latest Hindustani and Malay hits. -- PHOTO: KNIGHT FRANK
Site of 'showbiz central' up for sale
THE site of the old Singapura Theatre that served as showbiz central for thousands of Malay and Indian movie fans is up for sale at $45 million.
In its heyday in the 1970s, the cinema in Geylang Serai was ablaze with neon signs and colourful posters proclaiming the latest Hindustani and Malay hits.
It closed in 1985, reportedly because of competition from the video industry. It was turned into a furniture exhibition centre and later a temporary shopping complex.
Owner Shaw Brothers renovated the three-storey building in 1992, and the cinema screened Tamil movies for a while.
The building has been only partly used for the past couple of years. A section of the first floor is leased to a foodcourt while the rest is taken up by an entertainment centre that also occupies the second floor. The third floor is vacant.
Shaw Brothers wants to sell the freehold site at No. 55 Changi Road in order to capitalise on the rejuvenation of the Paya Lebar area, said marketing agent Knight Frank.
The land is next to the upcoming Paya Lebar Central, a commercial hub to be developed as part of the Urban Redevelopment Authority's decentralisation strategy to provide alternative zones for businesses.
It is also near the Paya Lebar station on the Circle Line and the Eunos station on the East West Line.
The asking price of $45 million translates to a land price of $769 per sq ft (psf) on the potential gross floor area of about 58,490 sq ft.
No development charge is payable, Knight Frank said.
The regular-shaped plot sits on a land area of about 19,497 sq ft. Under the 2008 Master Plan, it is zoned for commercial use at a plot ratio of 3.0.
'The site is not fully built-up currently. It is likely to be torn down and can be redeveloped into a taller building subject to approval,' said Mr Ian Loh, Knight Frank's senior manager, investment.
He said the site would be suitable for a superstore like Courts or a private school.
The tender closes on Nov 11.
JOYCE TEO
In its heyday in the 1970s, the Singapura Theatre in Geylang Serai was ablaze with neon signs and colourful posters proclaiming the latest Hindustani and Malay hits. -- PHOTO: KNIGHT FRANK
ST : Lifestyle hub a buffer for Serangoon Gardens residents
Sep 30, 2010
Lifestyle hub a buffer for Serangoon Gardens residents
Sited next to workers' dorm, it aims to offer family-centric activities
By Jessica Lim & Cheryl Ong
COMING up next to the controversial foreign workers' dormitory in Serangoon Gardens: a lifestyle centre with art workshops, drama studios and sports facilities.
The $1 million refurbishment of the Lifestyle Hub @ Burghley includes building a carpark, renovating existing buildings and constructing sheltered walkways. It is likely to be ready next month.
The centre's operator, Hean Nerng Facilities Management, was awarded the tender by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) in June.
The subsidiary of LHN Group, which manages more than 10 properties including residential and commercial properties, said there are 15 units available for rent. A list of prospective tenants is awaiting SLA's approval, but so far none of them had been given units.
The 6,880 sq m site - slightly larger than a football field - is about 15m away from the dormitory and is separated from it by a fence about 2m high.The site, a sub-plot of the old Serangoon Garden Technical School, currently has three single-storey blocks with a gross floor area of about 1,900 sq m. The rest of the former school compound now houses the controversial foreign workers' dormitory.
Residents in the area were upset when the Government proposed building the dormitory there two years ago. More than 1,400 residents petitioned against it, citing concerns that it would increase crime rates and lower their property values.
To address the problem, the quarters took in 600 workers to prevent the area from becoming overcrowded. An access road was also built so the workers would not have to go through the estate to get to the dormitory.
The lifestyle centre was, in fact, 'deliberately carved out to form a buffer between the dorm and the residential areas in Serangoon Gardens', said Member of Parliament for the area Lim Hwee Hua, who had previously met residents to allay their fears.
The member of the Aljunied GRC team pointed out that there is no direct access between the centre and the dorm. Describing the new hub as 'largely family-centric', she said pains were taken to ensure that businesses in the centre would be compatible with the surrounding residential area. 'We were concerned about potential traffic issues if too many people were to descend onto this area, or if there were noise and other disruption to the residents,' she said.
The site is approved for art schools and studios, and for sports facilities such as tennis and squash courts. It is not approved for retail or food and beverage outlets.
However, this might be exactly the problem for the new sub-tenants there, said property developers.
Research director Colin Tan of Chesterton Suntec International said it might be tough for tenants to succeed unless they can attract those who live beyond the estate.
'The catchment is quite restricted to people who drive or those who live nearby,' he said. 'Tenants have to be quite well known to draw people from outside the estate.' The short lease, he added, made it a challenge for them to establish themselves in the area.
Hean Herng's initial lease agreement is for two years, but can be renewed until 2014. The company was the only bidder. It offered to pay $21,008 a month, more than $6,000 above the estimate given by the SLA.
Residents have been enthusiastic about the centre.
Retired teacher Rajakrishnan, 71, who lives a minute's walk away from the centre, said: 'We have a lot of retired folk in this area so it'll be good if we don't have to travel too far to participate in activities. It's just a hop, skip and jump away from my home.'
Asked about the dormitory, she said: 'The situation is not bad at all. The fence around it has helped to keep the workers from coming into our estate. None of my neighbours has grouses against the foreign workers. The hub will be in between us and the dorm - it helps things.'
Others such as retiree John Leow, who chaired a residents' committee on the dormitory issue, said he did not object to the hub as it would 'add to the facilities in Serangoon Gardens'.
However, the 69-year-old, who met SLA about two months ago to discuss plans for the site, said some tenants were a no-go. 'We would definitely object to tenants such as bars or karaoke lounges,' he said, adding that he will be meeting SLA again to find out more about the tenants who will be moving in.
limjess@sph.com.sg
ongyiern@sph.com.sg
The new lifestyle centre being built next to the workers' dormitory at Serangoon Gardens will feature art workshops and sports facilities, but not retail or food and beverage outlets. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND FOO
Lifestyle hub a buffer for Serangoon Gardens residents
Sited next to workers' dorm, it aims to offer family-centric activities
By Jessica Lim & Cheryl Ong
COMING up next to the controversial foreign workers' dormitory in Serangoon Gardens: a lifestyle centre with art workshops, drama studios and sports facilities.
The $1 million refurbishment of the Lifestyle Hub @ Burghley includes building a carpark, renovating existing buildings and constructing sheltered walkways. It is likely to be ready next month.
The centre's operator, Hean Nerng Facilities Management, was awarded the tender by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) in June.
The subsidiary of LHN Group, which manages more than 10 properties including residential and commercial properties, said there are 15 units available for rent. A list of prospective tenants is awaiting SLA's approval, but so far none of them had been given units.
The 6,880 sq m site - slightly larger than a football field - is about 15m away from the dormitory and is separated from it by a fence about 2m high.The site, a sub-plot of the old Serangoon Garden Technical School, currently has three single-storey blocks with a gross floor area of about 1,900 sq m. The rest of the former school compound now houses the controversial foreign workers' dormitory.
Residents in the area were upset when the Government proposed building the dormitory there two years ago. More than 1,400 residents petitioned against it, citing concerns that it would increase crime rates and lower their property values.
To address the problem, the quarters took in 600 workers to prevent the area from becoming overcrowded. An access road was also built so the workers would not have to go through the estate to get to the dormitory.
The lifestyle centre was, in fact, 'deliberately carved out to form a buffer between the dorm and the residential areas in Serangoon Gardens', said Member of Parliament for the area Lim Hwee Hua, who had previously met residents to allay their fears.
The member of the Aljunied GRC team pointed out that there is no direct access between the centre and the dorm. Describing the new hub as 'largely family-centric', she said pains were taken to ensure that businesses in the centre would be compatible with the surrounding residential area. 'We were concerned about potential traffic issues if too many people were to descend onto this area, or if there were noise and other disruption to the residents,' she said.
The site is approved for art schools and studios, and for sports facilities such as tennis and squash courts. It is not approved for retail or food and beverage outlets.
However, this might be exactly the problem for the new sub-tenants there, said property developers.
Research director Colin Tan of Chesterton Suntec International said it might be tough for tenants to succeed unless they can attract those who live beyond the estate.
'The catchment is quite restricted to people who drive or those who live nearby,' he said. 'Tenants have to be quite well known to draw people from outside the estate.' The short lease, he added, made it a challenge for them to establish themselves in the area.
Hean Herng's initial lease agreement is for two years, but can be renewed until 2014. The company was the only bidder. It offered to pay $21,008 a month, more than $6,000 above the estimate given by the SLA.
Residents have been enthusiastic about the centre.
Retired teacher Rajakrishnan, 71, who lives a minute's walk away from the centre, said: 'We have a lot of retired folk in this area so it'll be good if we don't have to travel too far to participate in activities. It's just a hop, skip and jump away from my home.'
Asked about the dormitory, she said: 'The situation is not bad at all. The fence around it has helped to keep the workers from coming into our estate. None of my neighbours has grouses against the foreign workers. The hub will be in between us and the dorm - it helps things.'
Others such as retiree John Leow, who chaired a residents' committee on the dormitory issue, said he did not object to the hub as it would 'add to the facilities in Serangoon Gardens'.
However, the 69-year-old, who met SLA about two months ago to discuss plans for the site, said some tenants were a no-go. 'We would definitely object to tenants such as bars or karaoke lounges,' he said, adding that he will be meeting SLA again to find out more about the tenants who will be moving in.
limjess@sph.com.sg
ongyiern@sph.com.sg
The new lifestyle centre being built next to the workers' dormitory at Serangoon Gardens will feature art workshops and sports facilities, but not retail or food and beverage outlets. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND FOO
ST : Banks feel chill of new property rules
Sep 29, 2010
Banks feel chill of new property rules
Some report dip in home loan applications
By Esther Teo
SOME banks are starting to feel the chill of property cooling measures, a month after tougher home ownership rules were unveiled to rein in speculators.
They have reported a dip in home loan applications, in tandem with weakened buying sentiment as the measures kick in.
Most banks said, however, that there has also been an increase in the number of enquiries on the new measures, as buyers consider their financing options.
A DBS Bank spokesman said yesterday that it has seen a rise in enquiries from customers over the new measures on their loan applications.
United Overseas Bank's (UOB), head of loans division Chia Siew Cheng said that the property market has slowed down, with potential homebuyers staying on the sidelines to assess the impact of the new measures.
It seems that most property developers, however, are still proceeding with their latest project launches, she said.
It was a different story at Maybank Singapore, though. Its head of consumer banking Helen Neo said there has been no significant impact in terms of loan applications.
The turnaround time for processing loans, though, has been affected, owing to the additional checks required as a result of the new guidelines, she added.
Ms Neo said that while no customers had cancelled their loan applications as yet, many were taking a wait-and-see stance, even as the bank received a higher number of enquiries from prospective homebuyers.
The new rules, announced on Aug 30, state that buyers with one or more outstanding housing loans will now have to stump up a downpayment of at least 30 per cent of the property's price, up from 20 per cent previously.
At least 10 per cent must be in cash - up from 5 per cent before - but the remainder can come from their Central Provident Fund (CPF) accounts.
This means that buyers will now be able to borrow up to only 70 per cent of the property's purchase price, instead of 80 per cent previously.
A report by Moody's Investors Service earlier this month said that Singapore banks will benefit over the medium term, as their exposure to heavily indebted customers and future property price shocks will be reduced. This will enable their earnings to stabilise due to a decline in potential loan losses.
'In the short term, however, these benefits will be less obvious because credit costs on housing loans usually remain low until property prices start falling. Furthermore, a decrease in loan demand could negatively impact banks' interest income,' the report said.
A healthy property sector is critical for the three local banks - DBS, UOB and OCBC Bank - Moody's said.
All have 'significant exposures to the property market' - 52 per cent to 54 per cent of total loans as of June 30 - through their housing loans and lending to the construction and real estate sectors, of which a majority of borrowers are Singaporean.
On the ground, the picture is not clear yet. All eyes were on Hoi Hup Sunway Development's preview launch of its 473-unit Vacanza@East - a freehold project in Lengkong Tujoh near the Pan-Island Expressway in the east - yesterday. It is the third project to be launched after the measures were introduced.
In the first phase of the preview, 141 units were launched, the majority of which were two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments. Hoi Hup Sunway, however, declined to reveal sales figures.
When The Straits Times visited its showflat yesterday afternoon, however, more than 100 people were milling around to view the property.
One potential buyer, who wanted to be known only as Ms Poh, said she was eyeing a 1,012 sq ft three-bedroom apartment listed at $1.14 million - or $1,126 per sq ft.
She decided against the purchase eventually, as she had an existing mortgage and would be able to take out only a 70 per cent loan with the tighter financing rules. 'With the new measures, it's now out of (my) price range,' she said.
esthert@sph.com.sg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A report by Moody's Investors Service earlier this month said that Singapore banks will benefit over the medium term, as their exposure to heavily indebted customers and future property price shocks will be reduced. This will enable their earnings to stabilise due to a decline in potential loan losses.
Banks feel chill of new property rules
Some report dip in home loan applications
By Esther Teo
SOME banks are starting to feel the chill of property cooling measures, a month after tougher home ownership rules were unveiled to rein in speculators.
They have reported a dip in home loan applications, in tandem with weakened buying sentiment as the measures kick in.
Most banks said, however, that there has also been an increase in the number of enquiries on the new measures, as buyers consider their financing options.
A DBS Bank spokesman said yesterday that it has seen a rise in enquiries from customers over the new measures on their loan applications.
United Overseas Bank's (UOB), head of loans division Chia Siew Cheng said that the property market has slowed down, with potential homebuyers staying on the sidelines to assess the impact of the new measures.
It seems that most property developers, however, are still proceeding with their latest project launches, she said.
It was a different story at Maybank Singapore, though. Its head of consumer banking Helen Neo said there has been no significant impact in terms of loan applications.
The turnaround time for processing loans, though, has been affected, owing to the additional checks required as a result of the new guidelines, she added.
Ms Neo said that while no customers had cancelled their loan applications as yet, many were taking a wait-and-see stance, even as the bank received a higher number of enquiries from prospective homebuyers.
The new rules, announced on Aug 30, state that buyers with one or more outstanding housing loans will now have to stump up a downpayment of at least 30 per cent of the property's price, up from 20 per cent previously.
At least 10 per cent must be in cash - up from 5 per cent before - but the remainder can come from their Central Provident Fund (CPF) accounts.
This means that buyers will now be able to borrow up to only 70 per cent of the property's purchase price, instead of 80 per cent previously.
A report by Moody's Investors Service earlier this month said that Singapore banks will benefit over the medium term, as their exposure to heavily indebted customers and future property price shocks will be reduced. This will enable their earnings to stabilise due to a decline in potential loan losses.
'In the short term, however, these benefits will be less obvious because credit costs on housing loans usually remain low until property prices start falling. Furthermore, a decrease in loan demand could negatively impact banks' interest income,' the report said.
A healthy property sector is critical for the three local banks - DBS, UOB and OCBC Bank - Moody's said.
All have 'significant exposures to the property market' - 52 per cent to 54 per cent of total loans as of June 30 - through their housing loans and lending to the construction and real estate sectors, of which a majority of borrowers are Singaporean.
On the ground, the picture is not clear yet. All eyes were on Hoi Hup Sunway Development's preview launch of its 473-unit Vacanza@East - a freehold project in Lengkong Tujoh near the Pan-Island Expressway in the east - yesterday. It is the third project to be launched after the measures were introduced.
In the first phase of the preview, 141 units were launched, the majority of which were two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments. Hoi Hup Sunway, however, declined to reveal sales figures.
When The Straits Times visited its showflat yesterday afternoon, however, more than 100 people were milling around to view the property.
One potential buyer, who wanted to be known only as Ms Poh, said she was eyeing a 1,012 sq ft three-bedroom apartment listed at $1.14 million - or $1,126 per sq ft.
She decided against the purchase eventually, as she had an existing mortgage and would be able to take out only a 70 per cent loan with the tighter financing rules. 'With the new measures, it's now out of (my) price range,' she said.
esthert@sph.com.sg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A report by Moody's Investors Service earlier this month said that Singapore banks will benefit over the medium term, as their exposure to heavily indebted customers and future property price shocks will be reduced. This will enable their earnings to stabilise due to a decline in potential loan losses.
ST : The housing bubble trouble
Sep 29, 2010
THE ST INTERVIEW
The housing bubble trouble
In Singapore, Government's repeated intervention in the market is a good thing, says US expert
By Tan Hui Yee
IN MOST parts of the world, a government that intervened in the property market three times in one year would heighten uncertainty.
But not so in Singapore, observes Professor Joseph Gyourko, a housing economist from the University of Pennsylvania who was in town recently to speak at a forum conducted by the National University of Singapore's (NUS) Institute of Real Estate Studies.
He says: 'If the government gets into a habit of intervening all the time, it will harm market development. Investors won't want to invest because they can't be sure what the government is going to do Monday versus Friday.'
But the picture is clearly different in Singapore, he notes. The Government tried to temper speculation by abolishing developers' interest absorption schemes in September last year, and followed that with two additional rounds of measures in February and August this year that made it increasingly expensive for speculators to flip properties.
'You are sending a clear signal to investors that you are going to stop the price boom. The fact that you're doing the third round is a signal that you are going to do whatever it takes,' he says.
'And that actually may be providing clarity. You are telling everyone, 'Okay, we're just not stopping, we'll come up with something else down the road.''
This show of political will may just be what it takes to deflate Singapore's property bubble, he says.
Prof Gyourko, 54, knows bubbles intimately, having studied the sizzling property market in China and being privy to local developments as a board member of NUS' real-estate institute.
He believes home prices in Hong Kong, Singapore and China are being driven up by a mixture of real economic growth and short-term capital flows.
'Singapore's inflation rate is above the rate banks pay on deposits. When that happens, people want to put their money elsewhere. And one of the few alternative investments you can make is in housing.
'That's shifting a lot of money into homes. And that's not permanent or sustainable,' he says.
When the economy grows rapidly again, companies will ramp up production, the competition for capital will heat up, interest rates will rise - leaving over-leveraged property buyers in danger of defaulting on their loans. That could send property prices into a tailspin.
That said, he concedes that housing bubbles are by nature unpredictable, and the fact the Government here had to intervene three times indicates it had difficulty calibrating the measures required to tame the beast.
'Clearly, if the Singapore Government had known, it would have introduced Round Three right up front,' he says.
He rejects claims that rising property prices widen inequality, based on his experience in the United States market.
'The housing market is cyclical, so the claim is not true in the long run. In the US, when we had the boom...people were worried about wealth gains along coastal California and the East Coast of the US, which had the highest price rises. But prices cycle, and guess what? They fell - by a lot. What generates long-run inequality are skill differences, not home ownership,' says Prof Gyourko.
He predicts property prices in Hong Kong, China and Singapore will take a hit in the next one to three years, effectively cancelling out the gains owner-occupiers have made in the recent run-up.
'I don't worry about the fact that people got a bunch of capital gains because I think they are going to lose those capital gains,' he says, pointing out that these are paper gains.
But although property gains and losses even out over a lifetime, the resulting short-term frustrations may be hard to handle. 'It's easy for an academic to go, 'Don't worry, this stuff cycles.' If you are a politician, you've got to worry about that person being angry now because he has the vote, and you've got an election coming up.'
He acknowledges that while land in Singapore is scarce and property prices can be chased up without adequate control, the Government here has tried its best to make housing affordable through its public housing programme.
'You guys do public housing about as good as it's done anywhere in the world,' he says. 'For such a small place, it's well-planned. It's affordable to people with modest incomes,' says Prof Gyourko.
But one suggestion he has is that Singapore could be more flexible about the housing grants or similar subsidies it gives households, to give them more freedom over what homes they can buy and where they can live.
Currently, subsidised households can use their housing grant of $30,000 to $40,000 to buy only HDB resale flats. With a voucher system, they would not be limited to government housing.
He also questions Singapore's system of allowing Central Provident Fund savings to be used to pay for homes. This encourages people to base a huge chunk of their retirement savings on the fortunes of the property market in a tiny country. In investment speak, this is considered 'undiversified'.
'That's a really risky thing to do. What happens if there is a housing market collapse?' he asks.
The Singapore property market has had its hairy moments: Housing prices plunged after the 1997 Asian financial crisis, although they have since bounced back and even surpassed 1996 levels.
Singaporeans, he says, have to understand that the CPF housing scheme amounts to an 'implicit subsidy' as it lowers the interest payable on bank loans by reducing a home buyer's loan amount.
'I view housing as a consumption good. I view it literally as 'I'm eating my house.'' That means retirement savings should be kept separate from housing expenditure, he says.
In his view, owner-occupied homes especially are not investments that can yield returns, so people should not devote their retirement savings to their homes in the hope of growing their money.
Asked about the attributes of an ideal housing system, he offers a verbal sketch of its key planks: It should be equitable, responsive and flexible.
This means society would have to determine some minimum quality of housing that everyone should be entitled to. Households that cannot afford to pay for this minimum standard would get subsidies. Poor households with children would get more subsidies because 'kids do not get to pick their parents, and thus, are not responsible in any way for their poverty'.
Ideally, housing supply should be plentiful, in the sense that the rules should allow developers to easily ramp up home building to meet increased demand.
This moderates housing prices, he says, as it will allow prices to be close to or at the level required to cover land costs, construction costs and a builder's usual profit.
Finally, an ideal system would offer different kinds of housing - including rental housing - to meet the needs of the population over its life cycle. It is also one where the population is 'educated on the true benefits and costs of the different types of housing'.
He accuses governments worldwide of a bias 'towards encouraging owning' homes instead of being upfront on the opportunity cost of doing that.
As a result, most people underestimate the costs of owning a property, he says. They forget the transaction costs of buying and selling a home are 'quite high', and it does not occur to them to set aside money for long-term maintenance.
Buyers also risk getting stuck with their homes if a sharp drop in prices pulls the value of their homes below the mortgage amount.
Unless a home owner in such a predicament has enough cash to make up the shortfall, he cannot move house. Some academics have fingered such 'underwater' mortgages as a possible explanation for stubbornly high unemployment figures in the US, as it means people living in declining cities cannot move to places where jobs are more plentiful.
In Singapore, which takes just about an hour to cross by car, the problems posed by such immobility are less serious. Still, he thinks being stuck in such 'underwater' homes could result in longer commutes to workplaces and stop families from moving close to the school they want their children to attend.
Prof Gyourko - a home owner himself in Philadelphia - is careful to declare he has nothing against home ownership, especially as it makes someone a stakeholder in his community. In the case of Singapore, it makes one a stakeholder in the nation.
But the goal of the Government should be to get people to 'make the right choice about owning versus renting, not that owning always is better'.
In sum, housing choices should follow people's needs over their lifetime, instead of determining how they have to live their lives.
Young people, he says, make 'natural renters' instead of home buyers because this arrangement allows them to respond quickly to changing circumstances.
'You can move to opportunity. You can get married. You can do all types of different things instead of being stuck in a house,' he says.
tanhy@sph.com.sg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An authority on real estate and housing policy
'I bet that housing does not drive child-bearing decisions'
· What do you make of Singapore's quotas for different ethnic groups in public housing estates to discourage racial enclaves from forming?
I've never been a fan of quotas. My preference is to always incentivise people positively.
I would prefer paying a positive price for you to live in someone else's neighbourhood if you were of a different ethnicity. I'd bribe you to go into an area where you are not the majority. You get a bounty.
It provides more freedom of mobility and choice. But governments don't like my way because it is costly.
· Young couples in Singapore have complained that they are not able to start families because they have been priced out of the housing market. Your view?
I understand the claim, but I don't put much credibility in it. Governments like yours are famous for trying to encourage child-bearing through financial inducements. It doesn't work very well, does it?
It's because this decision is incredibly complex, incredibly long-term. My gut feel is the claim is made by people who just want a subsidy, and it's not affecting child-bearing decisions at all.
If it were a simple matter of finance, Singapore would not have a fertility problem. And there'd be no one with kids in Bangladesh.
· How has your view of housing as a consumption good shaped your own consumption of housing?
I certainly did not buy a bigger house than I needed because I knew the costs were very high. I tried to figure out with my wife how many kids we were going to have, and how much space we needed. We thought we wanted to have two kids; we bought our house when our first was coming.
But our family decisions drove our housing decisions, not the other way around.
Having said that, there's no doubt that incomes can affect fertility. For instance, in the Great Depression, fertility dropped worldwide. If you don't think you can support a family, you won't start a family.
Back then, it was about unemployment of 25 per cent and the danger of starving. Here, you are talking about an extra bedroom. There's a big difference.
· Still, wouldn't the lack of an extra bedroom make you delay child-bearing?
I think so. Living with mum and dad could delay it because of the lack of space. But the right way to do deal with this is to develop a rental market.
· So isn't housing cost an opportunity cost vis-a-vis having a family?
Without a doubt. Kids are expensive that way. The correlation could be worth looking at across countries. And you will have to take into account a lot of stuff.
Just think about Catholic countries where you have a religious group saying 'no' to birth control. You're going to see high fertility rates, no matter how low the income and what type of housing there is.
That's what makes it so hard to tell. But I still bet that housing does not drive child-bearing decisions.
THE ST INTERVIEW
The housing bubble trouble
In Singapore, Government's repeated intervention in the market is a good thing, says US expert
By Tan Hui Yee
IN MOST parts of the world, a government that intervened in the property market three times in one year would heighten uncertainty.
But not so in Singapore, observes Professor Joseph Gyourko, a housing economist from the University of Pennsylvania who was in town recently to speak at a forum conducted by the National University of Singapore's (NUS) Institute of Real Estate Studies.
He says: 'If the government gets into a habit of intervening all the time, it will harm market development. Investors won't want to invest because they can't be sure what the government is going to do Monday versus Friday.'
But the picture is clearly different in Singapore, he notes. The Government tried to temper speculation by abolishing developers' interest absorption schemes in September last year, and followed that with two additional rounds of measures in February and August this year that made it increasingly expensive for speculators to flip properties.
'You are sending a clear signal to investors that you are going to stop the price boom. The fact that you're doing the third round is a signal that you are going to do whatever it takes,' he says.
'And that actually may be providing clarity. You are telling everyone, 'Okay, we're just not stopping, we'll come up with something else down the road.''
This show of political will may just be what it takes to deflate Singapore's property bubble, he says.
Prof Gyourko, 54, knows bubbles intimately, having studied the sizzling property market in China and being privy to local developments as a board member of NUS' real-estate institute.
He believes home prices in Hong Kong, Singapore and China are being driven up by a mixture of real economic growth and short-term capital flows.
'Singapore's inflation rate is above the rate banks pay on deposits. When that happens, people want to put their money elsewhere. And one of the few alternative investments you can make is in housing.
'That's shifting a lot of money into homes. And that's not permanent or sustainable,' he says.
When the economy grows rapidly again, companies will ramp up production, the competition for capital will heat up, interest rates will rise - leaving over-leveraged property buyers in danger of defaulting on their loans. That could send property prices into a tailspin.
That said, he concedes that housing bubbles are by nature unpredictable, and the fact the Government here had to intervene three times indicates it had difficulty calibrating the measures required to tame the beast.
'Clearly, if the Singapore Government had known, it would have introduced Round Three right up front,' he says.
He rejects claims that rising property prices widen inequality, based on his experience in the United States market.
'The housing market is cyclical, so the claim is not true in the long run. In the US, when we had the boom...people were worried about wealth gains along coastal California and the East Coast of the US, which had the highest price rises. But prices cycle, and guess what? They fell - by a lot. What generates long-run inequality are skill differences, not home ownership,' says Prof Gyourko.
He predicts property prices in Hong Kong, China and Singapore will take a hit in the next one to three years, effectively cancelling out the gains owner-occupiers have made in the recent run-up.
'I don't worry about the fact that people got a bunch of capital gains because I think they are going to lose those capital gains,' he says, pointing out that these are paper gains.
But although property gains and losses even out over a lifetime, the resulting short-term frustrations may be hard to handle. 'It's easy for an academic to go, 'Don't worry, this stuff cycles.' If you are a politician, you've got to worry about that person being angry now because he has the vote, and you've got an election coming up.'
He acknowledges that while land in Singapore is scarce and property prices can be chased up without adequate control, the Government here has tried its best to make housing affordable through its public housing programme.
'You guys do public housing about as good as it's done anywhere in the world,' he says. 'For such a small place, it's well-planned. It's affordable to people with modest incomes,' says Prof Gyourko.
But one suggestion he has is that Singapore could be more flexible about the housing grants or similar subsidies it gives households, to give them more freedom over what homes they can buy and where they can live.
Currently, subsidised households can use their housing grant of $30,000 to $40,000 to buy only HDB resale flats. With a voucher system, they would not be limited to government housing.
He also questions Singapore's system of allowing Central Provident Fund savings to be used to pay for homes. This encourages people to base a huge chunk of their retirement savings on the fortunes of the property market in a tiny country. In investment speak, this is considered 'undiversified'.
'That's a really risky thing to do. What happens if there is a housing market collapse?' he asks.
The Singapore property market has had its hairy moments: Housing prices plunged after the 1997 Asian financial crisis, although they have since bounced back and even surpassed 1996 levels.
Singaporeans, he says, have to understand that the CPF housing scheme amounts to an 'implicit subsidy' as it lowers the interest payable on bank loans by reducing a home buyer's loan amount.
'I view housing as a consumption good. I view it literally as 'I'm eating my house.'' That means retirement savings should be kept separate from housing expenditure, he says.
In his view, owner-occupied homes especially are not investments that can yield returns, so people should not devote their retirement savings to their homes in the hope of growing their money.
Asked about the attributes of an ideal housing system, he offers a verbal sketch of its key planks: It should be equitable, responsive and flexible.
This means society would have to determine some minimum quality of housing that everyone should be entitled to. Households that cannot afford to pay for this minimum standard would get subsidies. Poor households with children would get more subsidies because 'kids do not get to pick their parents, and thus, are not responsible in any way for their poverty'.
Ideally, housing supply should be plentiful, in the sense that the rules should allow developers to easily ramp up home building to meet increased demand.
This moderates housing prices, he says, as it will allow prices to be close to or at the level required to cover land costs, construction costs and a builder's usual profit.
Finally, an ideal system would offer different kinds of housing - including rental housing - to meet the needs of the population over its life cycle. It is also one where the population is 'educated on the true benefits and costs of the different types of housing'.
He accuses governments worldwide of a bias 'towards encouraging owning' homes instead of being upfront on the opportunity cost of doing that.
As a result, most people underestimate the costs of owning a property, he says. They forget the transaction costs of buying and selling a home are 'quite high', and it does not occur to them to set aside money for long-term maintenance.
Buyers also risk getting stuck with their homes if a sharp drop in prices pulls the value of their homes below the mortgage amount.
Unless a home owner in such a predicament has enough cash to make up the shortfall, he cannot move house. Some academics have fingered such 'underwater' mortgages as a possible explanation for stubbornly high unemployment figures in the US, as it means people living in declining cities cannot move to places where jobs are more plentiful.
In Singapore, which takes just about an hour to cross by car, the problems posed by such immobility are less serious. Still, he thinks being stuck in such 'underwater' homes could result in longer commutes to workplaces and stop families from moving close to the school they want their children to attend.
Prof Gyourko - a home owner himself in Philadelphia - is careful to declare he has nothing against home ownership, especially as it makes someone a stakeholder in his community. In the case of Singapore, it makes one a stakeholder in the nation.
But the goal of the Government should be to get people to 'make the right choice about owning versus renting, not that owning always is better'.
In sum, housing choices should follow people's needs over their lifetime, instead of determining how they have to live their lives.
Young people, he says, make 'natural renters' instead of home buyers because this arrangement allows them to respond quickly to changing circumstances.
'You can move to opportunity. You can get married. You can do all types of different things instead of being stuck in a house,' he says.
tanhy@sph.com.sg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An authority on real estate and housing policy
'I bet that housing does not drive child-bearing decisions'
· What do you make of Singapore's quotas for different ethnic groups in public housing estates to discourage racial enclaves from forming?
I've never been a fan of quotas. My preference is to always incentivise people positively.
I would prefer paying a positive price for you to live in someone else's neighbourhood if you were of a different ethnicity. I'd bribe you to go into an area where you are not the majority. You get a bounty.
It provides more freedom of mobility and choice. But governments don't like my way because it is costly.
· Young couples in Singapore have complained that they are not able to start families because they have been priced out of the housing market. Your view?
I understand the claim, but I don't put much credibility in it. Governments like yours are famous for trying to encourage child-bearing through financial inducements. It doesn't work very well, does it?
It's because this decision is incredibly complex, incredibly long-term. My gut feel is the claim is made by people who just want a subsidy, and it's not affecting child-bearing decisions at all.
If it were a simple matter of finance, Singapore would not have a fertility problem. And there'd be no one with kids in Bangladesh.
· How has your view of housing as a consumption good shaped your own consumption of housing?
I certainly did not buy a bigger house than I needed because I knew the costs were very high. I tried to figure out with my wife how many kids we were going to have, and how much space we needed. We thought we wanted to have two kids; we bought our house when our first was coming.
But our family decisions drove our housing decisions, not the other way around.
Having said that, there's no doubt that incomes can affect fertility. For instance, in the Great Depression, fertility dropped worldwide. If you don't think you can support a family, you won't start a family.
Back then, it was about unemployment of 25 per cent and the danger of starving. Here, you are talking about an extra bedroom. There's a big difference.
· Still, wouldn't the lack of an extra bedroom make you delay child-bearing?
I think so. Living with mum and dad could delay it because of the lack of space. But the right way to do deal with this is to develop a rental market.
· So isn't housing cost an opportunity cost vis-a-vis having a family?
Without a doubt. Kids are expensive that way. The correlation could be worth looking at across countries. And you will have to take into account a lot of stuff.
Just think about Catholic countries where you have a religious group saying 'no' to birth control. You're going to see high fertility rates, no matter how low the income and what type of housing there is.
That's what makes it so hard to tell. But I still bet that housing does not drive child-bearing decisions.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
ST Forum : The other story - rogue clients
Sep 28, 2010
The other story - rogue clients
I REFER to the article ("Do your checks before signing the cheques"; Aug 22) and Miss Koh Wee Leng's letter on Sunday ("It can be tough for property agents").
The reality of the business is that it is far from easy to be a successful property agent. Besides needing the skills and tenacity to edge out competition in this highly competitive industry, there are also rogue clients to deal with.
We often hear complaints about rogue agents, yet the total number of complaints is only about 1 to 2 per cent, based on the Consumers Association of Singapore's complaints against the number of HDB transactions.
What people do not often hear about are the clients who make life even more difficult for agents. Those who refuse to pay commission after the deal, not just those who delay payment.
Those who try to renegotiate the commission after the transaction is complete.
Those who engage multiple agents to begin multiple deals, none of which can, therefore, be completed.
Those who take advantage of agents by asking for personal loans to settle their outstanding service and conservancy charges so their flat can be sold, and so on.
The Ministry of National Development is regulating the real estate industry, and rightly so. If only there was a way to regulate those rogue consumers as well.
Adam Tan
Corporate Communications Manager
PropNex Realty
The other story - rogue clients
I REFER to the article ("Do your checks before signing the cheques"; Aug 22) and Miss Koh Wee Leng's letter on Sunday ("It can be tough for property agents").
The reality of the business is that it is far from easy to be a successful property agent. Besides needing the skills and tenacity to edge out competition in this highly competitive industry, there are also rogue clients to deal with.
We often hear complaints about rogue agents, yet the total number of complaints is only about 1 to 2 per cent, based on the Consumers Association of Singapore's complaints against the number of HDB transactions.
What people do not often hear about are the clients who make life even more difficult for agents. Those who refuse to pay commission after the deal, not just those who delay payment.
Those who try to renegotiate the commission after the transaction is complete.
Those who engage multiple agents to begin multiple deals, none of which can, therefore, be completed.
Those who take advantage of agents by asking for personal loans to settle their outstanding service and conservancy charges so their flat can be sold, and so on.
The Ministry of National Development is regulating the real estate industry, and rightly so. If only there was a way to regulate those rogue consumers as well.
Adam Tan
Corporate Communications Manager
PropNex Realty
ST : Tougher for investors to apply for PR status
Sep 28, 2010
Tougher for investors to apply for PR status
Minimum investment, turnover levels go up, and houses don't count
By Melissa Kok
FOREIGNERS who want to become Singapore permanent residents (PRs) under a scheme for investors must now meet stricter requirements.
Under new rules for the Global Investor Programme (GIP), they will have to more than double their investments here to $2.5 million.
Their companies must also have an annual turnover of $30 million - up from $10 million previously.
And they will no longer be allowed to count the cost of buying a private home as part of their required investment.
The changes - some of which take effect from this Friday - come on the heels of other measures by the Government to better manage the pace of the growth of immigrants.
The GIP is offered by Contact Singapore, an alliance of the Economic Development Board and the Manpower Ministry.
It was started in 2004 to ease the way for foreign entrepreneurs and businessmen to set up and run businesses here.
A spokesman for Contact Singapore would not say how many investors have become PRs this way.
As for the changes, the spokesman said they were intended 'to fine-tune the criteria and the mode of investment to ensure a higher calibre of investors who are participating in the programme'.
The amendments were announced without fanfare on the Contact Singapore website on Aug 31.
Currently, foreign entrepreneurs and businessmen applying for the GIP must have an annual company turnover of at least $10 million a year, and an average turnover of the same amount for the last three years.
That will be tripled to $30 million from this Friday.
How much they need to invest will also change.
Right now, GIP applicants must invest a minimum of $1 million. From January next year, this will be raised to $2.5 million.
Under current rules, those investing at least $2 million can use up to half the amount on an owner-occupied private home. That option will no longer be available.
Parents and parents-in-law will also be excluded from the main candidate's GIP application for PR status.
Although some of the changes take effect in January, applications received from this Friday will be subject to the new requirements as the average processing time for an application is eight months.
The changes follow the Government's move late last year to tighten the PR and citizenship framework. Those applying for PR status and citizenship now, for example, face more stringent eligibility criteria such as a higher income bar and residential requirements to ensure they can contribute to Singapore economically and also integrate well into society.
The tougher rules seem to have an effect.
Last year, 59,500 foreigners were granted PR status, compared with 79,200 in 2008. The slowdown becomes more apparent when comparing with the figures between April last year and the end of March this year, after the new rules kicked in. During this period, 46,300 foreigners were granted PR status.
The GIP is similar to other government schemes which aim to attract the wealthy by offering PR status. They include the Monetary Authority of Singapore's Financial Investor Scheme, targeted at foreigners with at least $20 million in net personal assets.
Other countries such as New Zealand, Australia and Canada offer similar schemes.
Mr Leong Wai Ho, senior regional economist at Barclays Capital, said the changes would not deter investors from applying for the scheme as most 'definitely will have more than that amount to invest'.
But he added: 'Removing the property option might be detrimental for the property market outlook in the near term, particularly in the top end, but it removes speculative pressure.'
Political observer Eugene Tan of the Singapore Management University said the changes show the Government is addressing the concerns of Singaporeans, particularly those who feel PR status is given away easily.
He said: 'In a way, it is raising the bar, and so that helps enhance the talent pool here.'
melk@sph.com.sg
Additional reporting by Amanda Tan
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Changes to the criteria
CURRENT RULES
1. Applicants with entrepreneurial experience and a business track record must have a company turnover of at least $10 million per annum in the most recent year, and at least $10 million per annum on average for the last three years.
2. In addition, applicants must make an investment. Their options:
· Invest at least $1 million in a new business start-up or expansion of an existing business operation.
· Those who invest at least $1.5 million can also choose to do so in a fund approved by the Global Investor Programme (GIP).
· For those who invest $2 million or more, up to 50 per cent of the amount can be in a private residential property occupied by the applicant.
3. Parents and parents-in-law of applicants are eligible for PR at an additional investment of $300,000 per person.
NEW RULES
From Oct 1, the company turnover requirement will be raised to at least $30 million per annum.
From Jan 1 next year:
· Minimum investment sum will be raised to at least $2.5 million.
· Money spent on residential property will no longer be considered part of the applicant's investments.
· Parents and parents-in-law are no longer eligible to be included in the candidate's GIP application for PR status. They can instead apply for a five-year Long Term Visit Pass, which is renewable and tied to the validity of the main applicant's re-entry permit.
· These changes will apply to all applications received from Oct 1.
Tougher for investors to apply for PR status
Minimum investment, turnover levels go up, and houses don't count
By Melissa Kok
FOREIGNERS who want to become Singapore permanent residents (PRs) under a scheme for investors must now meet stricter requirements.
Under new rules for the Global Investor Programme (GIP), they will have to more than double their investments here to $2.5 million.
Their companies must also have an annual turnover of $30 million - up from $10 million previously.
And they will no longer be allowed to count the cost of buying a private home as part of their required investment.
The changes - some of which take effect from this Friday - come on the heels of other measures by the Government to better manage the pace of the growth of immigrants.
The GIP is offered by Contact Singapore, an alliance of the Economic Development Board and the Manpower Ministry.
It was started in 2004 to ease the way for foreign entrepreneurs and businessmen to set up and run businesses here.
A spokesman for Contact Singapore would not say how many investors have become PRs this way.
As for the changes, the spokesman said they were intended 'to fine-tune the criteria and the mode of investment to ensure a higher calibre of investors who are participating in the programme'.
The amendments were announced without fanfare on the Contact Singapore website on Aug 31.
Currently, foreign entrepreneurs and businessmen applying for the GIP must have an annual company turnover of at least $10 million a year, and an average turnover of the same amount for the last three years.
That will be tripled to $30 million from this Friday.
How much they need to invest will also change.
Right now, GIP applicants must invest a minimum of $1 million. From January next year, this will be raised to $2.5 million.
Under current rules, those investing at least $2 million can use up to half the amount on an owner-occupied private home. That option will no longer be available.
Parents and parents-in-law will also be excluded from the main candidate's GIP application for PR status.
Although some of the changes take effect in January, applications received from this Friday will be subject to the new requirements as the average processing time for an application is eight months.
The changes follow the Government's move late last year to tighten the PR and citizenship framework. Those applying for PR status and citizenship now, for example, face more stringent eligibility criteria such as a higher income bar and residential requirements to ensure they can contribute to Singapore economically and also integrate well into society.
The tougher rules seem to have an effect.
Last year, 59,500 foreigners were granted PR status, compared with 79,200 in 2008. The slowdown becomes more apparent when comparing with the figures between April last year and the end of March this year, after the new rules kicked in. During this period, 46,300 foreigners were granted PR status.
The GIP is similar to other government schemes which aim to attract the wealthy by offering PR status. They include the Monetary Authority of Singapore's Financial Investor Scheme, targeted at foreigners with at least $20 million in net personal assets.
Other countries such as New Zealand, Australia and Canada offer similar schemes.
Mr Leong Wai Ho, senior regional economist at Barclays Capital, said the changes would not deter investors from applying for the scheme as most 'definitely will have more than that amount to invest'.
But he added: 'Removing the property option might be detrimental for the property market outlook in the near term, particularly in the top end, but it removes speculative pressure.'
Political observer Eugene Tan of the Singapore Management University said the changes show the Government is addressing the concerns of Singaporeans, particularly those who feel PR status is given away easily.
He said: 'In a way, it is raising the bar, and so that helps enhance the talent pool here.'
melk@sph.com.sg
Additional reporting by Amanda Tan
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Changes to the criteria
CURRENT RULES
1. Applicants with entrepreneurial experience and a business track record must have a company turnover of at least $10 million per annum in the most recent year, and at least $10 million per annum on average for the last three years.
2. In addition, applicants must make an investment. Their options:
· Invest at least $1 million in a new business start-up or expansion of an existing business operation.
· Those who invest at least $1.5 million can also choose to do so in a fund approved by the Global Investor Programme (GIP).
· For those who invest $2 million or more, up to 50 per cent of the amount can be in a private residential property occupied by the applicant.
3. Parents and parents-in-law of applicants are eligible for PR at an additional investment of $300,000 per person.
NEW RULES
From Oct 1, the company turnover requirement will be raised to at least $30 million per annum.
From Jan 1 next year:
· Minimum investment sum will be raised to at least $2.5 million.
· Money spent on residential property will no longer be considered part of the applicant's investments.
· Parents and parents-in-law are no longer eligible to be included in the candidate's GIP application for PR status. They can instead apply for a five-year Long Term Visit Pass, which is renewable and tied to the validity of the main applicant's re-entry permit.
· These changes will apply to all applications received from Oct 1.
ST : Resale home price rises slowing
Sep 28, 2010
Resale home price rises slowing
Sales of new homes also reported to be quiet over weekend
By Joyce Teo
PRICES of private resale homes are continuing to hit record highs, although the pace of increase has generally continued to slow this quarter, according to a report by property consultancy DTZ.
Over the rest of the year, this weakening growth is likely to grind to a halt as recent government measures to cool the residential market take effect, it said.
'Sales volume is expected to be lower as sellers continue to maintain their asking prices while potential buyers hold out for lower prices.'
The DTZ report said resale prices of suburban leasehold homes increased by 2 per cent to $660 psf in this third quarter.
This compares with a 4 per cent rise in the second quarter, which took prices to $648 psf. The 2007 peak for these homes was $615 psf.
In the new homes market last weekend, sales were generally fairly quiet, as buyers may have been distracted by the Singapore Grand Prix, said an industry source.
NV Residences in Pasir Ris sold another 35 units, lifting total sales to 335 out of 380 launched units, said a City Developments Ltd (CDL) spokesman.
It sold 50 units the previous weekend and 90 units over the Hari Raya weekend.
The 642-unit condo had sold 160 units at its Sept 8 preview despite the Aug 30 cooling measures having kicked in by then.
The CDL spokesman said a 'good mix of all types' of homes were sold and that there had been no change in price. CDL had earlier raised the price by 1 to 2 per cent from $830 psf on average.
Over in Leonie Hill Road, Overseas Union Enterprise could not provide a sales update for its 99-year leasehold Twin Peaks project launched about a week ago.
But executive chairman Stephen Riady said he is confident of selling the 462-unit project, where homes are sold on a fully furnished basis.
The firm released 70 units for sale last weekend - the number needed to cover construction costs. It sold half of them, achieving prices of $2,890 psf.
Another 12 units are booked, having been reserved two months ago by buyers wanting to delay their decisions because of the cooling measures, he said.
The DTZ report said resale freehold condo prices in prime districts 9, 10 and 11 rose 1.4 per cent to touch $1,513 psf, slowing from a 2.6 per cent rise in the second quarter as well-heeled investors remained cautious about the growth of major economies in the West.
Still, the price level is already above the previous 2007 record of $1,483 psf.
Luxury condos - the only segment where prices are still just below the 2007 peak - also saw a slower rise, of 1.6 per cent quarter-on-quarter, to $2,630 psf.
The landed homes segment, which has seen robust growth since the second quarter of last year, was not spared the slowdown, DTZ research shows.
Prices of prime freehold landed homes rose by 2 per cent quarter-on-quarter to $1,611 psf, compared with the 3.3 per cent growth clocked up in the second quarter of this year.
Outside the prime districts, landed home prices inched up by 1.7 per cent to $952 psf. But this rise means these prices have, for the first time, surpassed the high of $943 psf recorded during the 1996 boom, DTZ said.
joyceteo@sph.com.sg
Resale home price rises slowing
Sales of new homes also reported to be quiet over weekend
By Joyce Teo
PRICES of private resale homes are continuing to hit record highs, although the pace of increase has generally continued to slow this quarter, according to a report by property consultancy DTZ.
Over the rest of the year, this weakening growth is likely to grind to a halt as recent government measures to cool the residential market take effect, it said.
'Sales volume is expected to be lower as sellers continue to maintain their asking prices while potential buyers hold out for lower prices.'
The DTZ report said resale prices of suburban leasehold homes increased by 2 per cent to $660 psf in this third quarter.
This compares with a 4 per cent rise in the second quarter, which took prices to $648 psf. The 2007 peak for these homes was $615 psf.
In the new homes market last weekend, sales were generally fairly quiet, as buyers may have been distracted by the Singapore Grand Prix, said an industry source.
NV Residences in Pasir Ris sold another 35 units, lifting total sales to 335 out of 380 launched units, said a City Developments Ltd (CDL) spokesman.
It sold 50 units the previous weekend and 90 units over the Hari Raya weekend.
The 642-unit condo had sold 160 units at its Sept 8 preview despite the Aug 30 cooling measures having kicked in by then.
The CDL spokesman said a 'good mix of all types' of homes were sold and that there had been no change in price. CDL had earlier raised the price by 1 to 2 per cent from $830 psf on average.
Over in Leonie Hill Road, Overseas Union Enterprise could not provide a sales update for its 99-year leasehold Twin Peaks project launched about a week ago.
But executive chairman Stephen Riady said he is confident of selling the 462-unit project, where homes are sold on a fully furnished basis.
The firm released 70 units for sale last weekend - the number needed to cover construction costs. It sold half of them, achieving prices of $2,890 psf.
Another 12 units are booked, having been reserved two months ago by buyers wanting to delay their decisions because of the cooling measures, he said.
The DTZ report said resale freehold condo prices in prime districts 9, 10 and 11 rose 1.4 per cent to touch $1,513 psf, slowing from a 2.6 per cent rise in the second quarter as well-heeled investors remained cautious about the growth of major economies in the West.
Still, the price level is already above the previous 2007 record of $1,483 psf.
Luxury condos - the only segment where prices are still just below the 2007 peak - also saw a slower rise, of 1.6 per cent quarter-on-quarter, to $2,630 psf.
The landed homes segment, which has seen robust growth since the second quarter of last year, was not spared the slowdown, DTZ research shows.
Prices of prime freehold landed homes rose by 2 per cent quarter-on-quarter to $1,611 psf, compared with the 3.3 per cent growth clocked up in the second quarter of this year.
Outside the prime districts, landed home prices inched up by 1.7 per cent to $952 psf. But this rise means these prices have, for the first time, surpassed the high of $943 psf recorded during the 1996 boom, DTZ said.
joyceteo@sph.com.sg
ST : Uninhabited isles in Malaysia for sale
Sep 26, 2010
Uninhabited isles in Malaysia for sale
Foreigners invited to form joint ventures with locals or build homes there to spur economy
Osaka - Malaysia welcomes foreigners who wish to buy or develop any of its uninhabited islands as this could help stimulate the country's economy and bring in more tourist dollars.
Foreigners can develop these islands as joint ventures with locals or even build their homes there and make Malaysia their second home, said Tourism Minister Ng Yen Yen. She stressed, however, that state governments would have the final say on such transactions as land is a state matter.
'We are, however, open to this idea. It will help open up our economy and provide more opportunities to Malaysians as well,' she said, adding that there were 1,007 islands around the country with the majority uninhabited.
Dr Ng, on a promotion tour of Japan, was speaking to a group of Japanese investors, travel agents and operators, and airline representatives in Osaka. She said Malaysia enjoyed political stability, was not exposed to natural disasters and was a reasonably cheap place to live in.
The Star/Asia News Network
Uninhabited isles in Malaysia for sale
Foreigners invited to form joint ventures with locals or build homes there to spur economy
Osaka - Malaysia welcomes foreigners who wish to buy or develop any of its uninhabited islands as this could help stimulate the country's economy and bring in more tourist dollars.
Foreigners can develop these islands as joint ventures with locals or even build their homes there and make Malaysia their second home, said Tourism Minister Ng Yen Yen. She stressed, however, that state governments would have the final say on such transactions as land is a state matter.
'We are, however, open to this idea. It will help open up our economy and provide more opportunities to Malaysians as well,' she said, adding that there were 1,007 islands around the country with the majority uninhabited.
Dr Ng, on a promotion tour of Japan, was speaking to a group of Japanese investors, travel agents and operators, and airline representatives in Osaka. She said Malaysia enjoyed political stability, was not exposed to natural disasters and was a reasonably cheap place to live in.
The Star/Asia News Network
ST : Er, what is COV?
Sep 26, 2010
FINANCIAL QUOTIENT
Er, what is COV?
Where do you see this?
In articles on HDB resale flats and online or classified advertisements.
What does it mean?
COV is short for cash- over-valuation. It refers to the cash amount that buyers typically pay on top of the valuation of an HDB resale flat. It occurs when buyers choose to pay more than the market value of the flats as determined by an HDB panel of independent professional valuers.
COV payments are not compulsory, though they can be the norm in a booming market.
Why is it important?
It affects the price of a resale flat; it has to be paid upfront in cash as the amount the HDB or the banks will lend is based only on the flat's valuation.
So you want to use the term. Just say...
'I am waiting for COV to drop before I go flat-hunting.'
Joyce Teo
FINANCIAL QUOTIENT
Er, what is COV?
Where do you see this?
In articles on HDB resale flats and online or classified advertisements.
What does it mean?
COV is short for cash- over-valuation. It refers to the cash amount that buyers typically pay on top of the valuation of an HDB resale flat. It occurs when buyers choose to pay more than the market value of the flats as determined by an HDB panel of independent professional valuers.
COV payments are not compulsory, though they can be the norm in a booming market.
Why is it important?
It affects the price of a resale flat; it has to be paid upfront in cash as the amount the HDB or the banks will lend is based only on the flat's valuation.
So you want to use the term. Just say...
'I am waiting for COV to drop before I go flat-hunting.'
Joyce Teo
ST : Calls to preserve train station
Sep 26, 2010
Calls to preserve train station
Heritage buffs say Tanjong Pagar site has rich history and must stay open to the public
By Amanda Tan
Now that the land around the Tanjong Pagar railway station has been given to Singapore, the next question is: What should the Government do with the site?
While there are no concrete plans for the station, which sits on prime land, people familiar with the place are calling for it to remain open and accessible to all.
A group is lobbying for it to be turned into a transportation museum, much like how some people wanted to turn the old Collyer Quay into a maritime museum.
Whatever it is, experts and people who have a special attachment to the station feel it should retain some of its old flavour, to honour its historical significance.
Above all, it should remain a public space, one that people from all walks of life can enjoy.
Said Ms Carolyn Seet, 38, who started a petition in July to turn the station into a transportation museum: 'The railway was for everyone - rich or poor, or those who could not afford other means of travel in the past. So we must keep it accessible and not so posh that only a select few can go there.'
The assistant general manager of an IT firm hopes to send her petition to the Prime Minister's Office once she garners 1,000 signatures. She has now collected about 300 online.
She also started a group on social networking site Facebook that now has more than 1,000 followers, many of whom have fond memories of the station. Ms Seet herself rode on the trains on her first trip out of the country almost 30 years ago.
'I feel a sense of loss, with so many of the places I knew as a child gone or demolished. We've lost so much in one generation. If we lose that nostalgia and memories, then we have less to grasp of our past,' said the mother of two young boys.
In a land swop agreement reached last week between Singapore and Malaysia, Malaysia received six land parcels in Marina South and the Ophir-Rochor area in exchange for giving up six Malayan Railway sites in Tanjong Pagar, Kranji, Woodlands and Bukit Timah.
Development of the land around the station will be carried out by M-S Pte Ltd, a 60-40 joint venture between Khazanah Nasional and Temasek Holdings.
Tanjong Pagar station reminds people of an important point in local history, said Dr Chua Ai Lin, a historian at the National University of Singapore (NUS).
'The railway was crucial to our economic development as it was the main mode of transporting key commodities such as tin and rubber from across the peninsula.'
Singapore's port thrived because of the goods the country processed and exported internationally. Trains supported this by being efficient in transporting large volumes of goods, she said.
Dr Lai Chee Kien, an assistant professor at NUS' architecture department who has done research on the railway's history, said the place represents the social relations between Singapore and Malaysia.
'Our connections go beyond politics: We have economic, geographical, historical and social ties,' he said, adding that pre-1965 history has not yet been taught comprehensively to the younger generation.
He hopes the space can be used to help educate the public about this aspect of history.
Heritage buffs also want the building to be gazetted as a national monument. Said Mr Ho Weng Hin, director of Studio Lapis, an architectural conservation specialist consultancy: 'It is great architecturally, historically and socially. Its significance in these three areas is very high,' he said.
The 36-year-old feels the land should be developed holistically because 'the value is in the entire whole'. This includes the greenery along the railway tracks.
Mr Ho also urged developers to consider the environmental impact when deciding what to do with the site.
He has done extensive research on the station for a book he is co-authoring on architecture in Singapore from the 1920s to 1970s. Published by the Singapore Heritage Society, it is expected to be out in stores by the end of next year.
Modelled after great early 20th century train terminals in the United States - in which modern technology was used to create huge spaces - the Tanjong Pagar station was designed by D.S. Petrovich of Swan & McLaren, one of Singapore's earliest architectural firms. It opened in 1932.
'No matter what it becomes, it should not be a place for a limited few,' argued Mr Ho.
'The new use should be meaningful not just to future generations, but to people who identified with the building in the past.'
tamanda@sph.com.sg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Worthy of preservation
Most will agree that the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station and the railway line are historically significant. Those familiar with the place say there are some important artefacts there. We take a look at what these are, and why they are of value.
Four statues at the front of the station, each with an emblem above and the letters F, M, S and R
FMSR stands for Federated Malay States Railways, as the railway operator was previously called, and refers to the consolidated train operation that allowed for interstate travel. It tells the story of developments in then Malaya - economically, politically and socially.
The railway enabled trade and allowed the British to expand their political clout and economic power from the 1870s to 1930s.
The four statues also represent four economic pillars - agriculture, industry, transport and commerce. They are a powerful statement to all who see that this station has enabled these elements to flourish.
Mr Ho Weng Hin, an architectural conservation specialist and consultant, said art was one way of conveying messages to the public, who were mostly non-literate.
The same message of economic activities is repeated on the murals inside the station.
Murals inside station
Each measuring about 8m by 3m, the murals depict the economic activities of the people of pre-war Singapore and Malaya.
The murals capture scenes such as shipping, agriculture, mining and rubber cultivation.
It is interesting to note, Mr Ho said, that the murals were made of the same material that made Singapore rich - rubber.
Keeping the murals in the same space as the passengers' waiting hall conveys a sense of grandeur, and arrival to Singapore as a principal city in British Malaya, said Mr Ho.
Key token system
The key tokens were exchanged between train drivers or crew whenever they reached a station or intersection. Gaining the key token signified permission to proceed, based on security and traffic conditions.
Introduced in 1885 when the Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) trains first rolled out, the system is still being used in several regions along the trains' routes.
Only the Central route, which includes stops such as Kuala Lumpur, has switched to electronic signalling systems, which are more efficient and require less manpower to handle.
Mr Mohd Fazil Ismail, senior corporate communications manager at KTM Berhad, said the key token system will be fully replaced with the electronic system in the next 10 years.
Push trolleys
Push trolleys were introduced in 1885 and were used by station inspectors daily to check the railway. They used to be pulled by coolies, or general workers of that time.
Last used in the 1960s, they have now been replaced by higher-functioning machines such as the EM20, which monitors track strength, the diesel trolley, and the ultrasonic trolley, which can detect problems with the tracks.
Amanda Tan
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Keep it accessible
'The railway was for everyone - rich or poor, or those who could not afford other means of travel in the past. So we must keep it accessible and not so posh that only a select few can go there.'
MS CAROLYN SEET, 38, who started a petition to turn the station into a transportation museum
Calls to preserve train station
Heritage buffs say Tanjong Pagar site has rich history and must stay open to the public
By Amanda Tan
Now that the land around the Tanjong Pagar railway station has been given to Singapore, the next question is: What should the Government do with the site?
While there are no concrete plans for the station, which sits on prime land, people familiar with the place are calling for it to remain open and accessible to all.
A group is lobbying for it to be turned into a transportation museum, much like how some people wanted to turn the old Collyer Quay into a maritime museum.
Whatever it is, experts and people who have a special attachment to the station feel it should retain some of its old flavour, to honour its historical significance.
Above all, it should remain a public space, one that people from all walks of life can enjoy.
Said Ms Carolyn Seet, 38, who started a petition in July to turn the station into a transportation museum: 'The railway was for everyone - rich or poor, or those who could not afford other means of travel in the past. So we must keep it accessible and not so posh that only a select few can go there.'
The assistant general manager of an IT firm hopes to send her petition to the Prime Minister's Office once she garners 1,000 signatures. She has now collected about 300 online.
She also started a group on social networking site Facebook that now has more than 1,000 followers, many of whom have fond memories of the station. Ms Seet herself rode on the trains on her first trip out of the country almost 30 years ago.
'I feel a sense of loss, with so many of the places I knew as a child gone or demolished. We've lost so much in one generation. If we lose that nostalgia and memories, then we have less to grasp of our past,' said the mother of two young boys.
In a land swop agreement reached last week between Singapore and Malaysia, Malaysia received six land parcels in Marina South and the Ophir-Rochor area in exchange for giving up six Malayan Railway sites in Tanjong Pagar, Kranji, Woodlands and Bukit Timah.
Development of the land around the station will be carried out by M-S Pte Ltd, a 60-40 joint venture between Khazanah Nasional and Temasek Holdings.
Tanjong Pagar station reminds people of an important point in local history, said Dr Chua Ai Lin, a historian at the National University of Singapore (NUS).
'The railway was crucial to our economic development as it was the main mode of transporting key commodities such as tin and rubber from across the peninsula.'
Singapore's port thrived because of the goods the country processed and exported internationally. Trains supported this by being efficient in transporting large volumes of goods, she said.
Dr Lai Chee Kien, an assistant professor at NUS' architecture department who has done research on the railway's history, said the place represents the social relations between Singapore and Malaysia.
'Our connections go beyond politics: We have economic, geographical, historical and social ties,' he said, adding that pre-1965 history has not yet been taught comprehensively to the younger generation.
He hopes the space can be used to help educate the public about this aspect of history.
Heritage buffs also want the building to be gazetted as a national monument. Said Mr Ho Weng Hin, director of Studio Lapis, an architectural conservation specialist consultancy: 'It is great architecturally, historically and socially. Its significance in these three areas is very high,' he said.
The 36-year-old feels the land should be developed holistically because 'the value is in the entire whole'. This includes the greenery along the railway tracks.
Mr Ho also urged developers to consider the environmental impact when deciding what to do with the site.
He has done extensive research on the station for a book he is co-authoring on architecture in Singapore from the 1920s to 1970s. Published by the Singapore Heritage Society, it is expected to be out in stores by the end of next year.
Modelled after great early 20th century train terminals in the United States - in which modern technology was used to create huge spaces - the Tanjong Pagar station was designed by D.S. Petrovich of Swan & McLaren, one of Singapore's earliest architectural firms. It opened in 1932.
'No matter what it becomes, it should not be a place for a limited few,' argued Mr Ho.
'The new use should be meaningful not just to future generations, but to people who identified with the building in the past.'
tamanda@sph.com.sg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Worthy of preservation
Most will agree that the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station and the railway line are historically significant. Those familiar with the place say there are some important artefacts there. We take a look at what these are, and why they are of value.
Four statues at the front of the station, each with an emblem above and the letters F, M, S and R
FMSR stands for Federated Malay States Railways, as the railway operator was previously called, and refers to the consolidated train operation that allowed for interstate travel. It tells the story of developments in then Malaya - economically, politically and socially.
The railway enabled trade and allowed the British to expand their political clout and economic power from the 1870s to 1930s.
The four statues also represent four economic pillars - agriculture, industry, transport and commerce. They are a powerful statement to all who see that this station has enabled these elements to flourish.
Mr Ho Weng Hin, an architectural conservation specialist and consultant, said art was one way of conveying messages to the public, who were mostly non-literate.
The same message of economic activities is repeated on the murals inside the station.
Murals inside station
Each measuring about 8m by 3m, the murals depict the economic activities of the people of pre-war Singapore and Malaya.
The murals capture scenes such as shipping, agriculture, mining and rubber cultivation.
It is interesting to note, Mr Ho said, that the murals were made of the same material that made Singapore rich - rubber.
Keeping the murals in the same space as the passengers' waiting hall conveys a sense of grandeur, and arrival to Singapore as a principal city in British Malaya, said Mr Ho.
Key token system
The key tokens were exchanged between train drivers or crew whenever they reached a station or intersection. Gaining the key token signified permission to proceed, based on security and traffic conditions.
Introduced in 1885 when the Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) trains first rolled out, the system is still being used in several regions along the trains' routes.
Only the Central route, which includes stops such as Kuala Lumpur, has switched to electronic signalling systems, which are more efficient and require less manpower to handle.
Mr Mohd Fazil Ismail, senior corporate communications manager at KTM Berhad, said the key token system will be fully replaced with the electronic system in the next 10 years.
Push trolleys
Push trolleys were introduced in 1885 and were used by station inspectors daily to check the railway. They used to be pulled by coolies, or general workers of that time.
Last used in the 1960s, they have now been replaced by higher-functioning machines such as the EM20, which monitors track strength, the diesel trolley, and the ultrasonic trolley, which can detect problems with the tracks.
Amanda Tan
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Keep it accessible
'The railway was for everyone - rich or poor, or those who could not afford other means of travel in the past. So we must keep it accessible and not so posh that only a select few can go there.'
MS CAROLYN SEET, 38, who started a petition to turn the station into a transportation museum
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
