Residential
Bungalow along Kingsmead Road sold for S$29million
Bungalow along Kingsmead Road belonging to the late Raffles Institution principal Philip Liau was sold at S$1,065 per square foot based on the freehold land area of 27,228 sq ft. The buyer is said to be Darwin Indigo, a nephew of Wilmar executive deputy chairman Martua Sitorus. The squarish plot has a frontage of about 50 metres along and is next to the former residence of the late pioneer artist Chen Wen Hsi. It is also a stone’s throw from the popular Nanyang Primary School.
(Source: Business Times)
Small completed apartments still lag behind bigger units
Based on the latest flash estimates for April 2016 for NUS’ Singapore Residential Price Index (SRPI) series, the sub-index for small units islandwide has dropped 0.7 per cent since December last year. In comparison, the sub-index for the Central Region (excluding small units) fell 0.3 per cent while the sub-index for Non-Central Region (again excluding small units) even had a 0.1 per cent increase. R’ST Research director Ong Kah Seng said the more notable price drop for completed small units is due to weak leasing demand due to competition from comparable HDB apartments and small land area for a typical household of four to live in.
(Source: Business Times)
GEM Residences tweak triple-key units
Buyers of triple-key units at GEM Residences will get their apartments with only one kitchen instead of the three kitchens originally depicted in the floor plan of the sales brochure. A URA spokesman noted that the URA-approved floor plan comprises three bedrooms and a kitchen and did not reflect three separate kitchens or sub-units. Triple-key units, typically with each of the three bedrooms having an ensuite bathroom, give investors the convenience of renting out to different tenants, and to save on the additional buyer’s stamp duty and legal fees they would otherwise incur from buying multiple units.
(Source: Business Times)
Commercial
Information about shophouses made more accessible
Businessmen, investors and shophouse owners who wish to look up allowable and last-approved uses for private shophouses in Singapore will no longer have to write in to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), pay a search fee and wait for days to do so. They will be able to instantly search for the information at no charge via their computers and smartphones through an online portal called URA SPACE.
(Source: Business Times)