Residential
Rental transaction volumes increase in March in private and public residential market while rentals fall
In March, the rental volume for condos, private apartments and HDBs have increased as rentals decline. Market experts believe that the increase in rental volume is likely to be due to rental renewals and the tenants hopping from one property to another rather than due to an increase in new demand. Not only so, February is a typical lull period due to the festivities, thus the base comparison was lower in March. On the private residential front, rental volumes have increased by 35.5% from 3,197 units in February to 4,331 units in March. Year-on-year, rental volumes were also 9.3% higher than in 2015. Rents fell by 0.8%, 1.9% and 0.4% in the city centre, city fringe and suburbs respectively. On the other hand, HDB rents fell by 0.1% month-on-month in March while rental volumes increased by 44.3% to 2,214 flats from 1,534 units in February. Year-on-year rental volume had gone up by 3% from March 2015. Rentals fell by 0.8%, 1% and 0.1% for three-room, four-room and executive flats respectively. On the other hand, rentals of five-room flats had increased by 1.5%.
(Source: Business Times)
Private resale prices up by 0.3% in March
According to SRX Property, resale prices of non-landed private homes have gone up by 0.3% month-on-month in March. Particularly, resale prices have increased by 0.1% and 1.3% in the rest of central region and outside central region respectively. In the core central region, prices fell by 1.7% over the same period. However, year-on-year, resale prices in the core central region had increased by 1.95%. Resale volume had also increased by 47.6% month-on-month to 577 units in March. Lee Nai Jia from DTZ said that despite the increase in resale prices and volume, it is still too early to determine if the market has stabilised. Nonetheless, market experts believe that private property resale market will remain active in March to July before the onset of the Hungry Ghost festival.
(Source: Business Times)
New EC launched in Sembawang
Parc Life, an executive condo (EC) located in Sembawang has been launched for sale at an average price of $770 to $800 psf. Market experts believe that the property will attract HDB homeowners who are looking to re-invest or upgrade. The EC comes with a full suite of facilities including a 50m long infinity pool, spa areas, gymnasium and even a pet pavilion for pet grooming. The project consists of 11, 15 and 16-storey blocks, with a total of 628 units. E-applications for Parc Life have begun on 16 April. The project’s Temporary Occupation Permit is expected to be issued in Q1 2018.
(Source: Business Times)
Commercial
Woh Hup awarded contract for construction of CityGate
To begin in May 2016, the construction of CityGate is expected to take 32 months. The construction of the 30-storey commercial and residential developed located near Beach Road has been awarded to Woh Hup. Its expected Temporary Occupation Permit is to be issued in January 2019. The site has a land area of 7,269 sqm and could yield a gross floor area of about 38,525 sqm. It is expected to yield 188 commercial units and 311 residential units. Sizes of the apartments range from 431 sq ft to 1,819 sq ft and is sold at an average price of $1,800 psf. 99% and 57% of the project’s residential and commercial units have been sold respectively, amounting to about $805 million in sales.
(Source: Business Times)
Cheung Kong Property eyes GLS sites
Cheung Kong Property’s Justin Chiu has indicated that the company is interested in acquiring more commercial, residential and mixed-used sites under the Government Land Sales (GLS) programme. Particularly, Chiu said that Cheung Kong is interested in sites near the Marina Bay Financial Centre and the company is looking at partnering other developers to acquire more sites from the GLS programme. Chiu said that Cheung Kong intends to take a long term view and look at each piece of land on its own merit rather than to time the market. Made up of 30 staff in Singapore, Chueng Kong is slated to commence sales for its 8th residential project in Singapore next month. The project, Stars of Kovan, is a residential cum retail project that consists of 390 residential apartments, 5 strata terrace units and 46 commercial shops. The average price for the residential apartments are expected to be between $1,550- 1,600 psf.
(Source: Business Times)
Perceived inflation of property prices deters high-net worth investors in Singapore
According to a survey commissioned by Legg Mason Global Asset Management (LMGAM), 78% of core investors who are aged 40 to 75 have said that local property prices are overvalued. 89% of millennials who are defined as between 18 and 39 years old also shared the same sentiments. Market experts believe that as property expectations fall in Singapore, investors may focus more on international investments instead. LMGAM added that local and overseas investors still view US to provide one of the best opportunities especially in equity investing. This is likely to be due to historical performance of the US market.
(Source: Business Times)