Singapore Property News This Week #90

Residential

99-year leasehold Queenstown private housing site attracts 3 bids

The 1.2 ha site located at Commonwealth Avenue opposite the Queenstown MRT Station attracted only three bids, with the top bid of $562.8 million, or $883 psf ppr. While the bid prices were within expectations, the number of bids attracted fell below expectations since it was expected to attract five to 10 bids given the fact that strata landed homes could be built on it and the popularity of homes in the Queenstown area. However, with the recent cooling measures and the upcoming supply from nearby sites, some developers might have chosen not to bid for the site. The site can potentially yield 700 units in a condominium of over 40 storeys given its 4.9 GPR. The estimated breakeven price and selling price are $1,300-1,350 psf and $1,550-1,600 psf respectively.

(Source: Business Times)

Better quality for the next generation of HDB flats

The next generation of HDB flats will look like those in Punggol South. Each precinct consists of 1,000 and 3,000 homes and has a high GPR of 3-3.5 which would mean that there will be more units available. There will also be a neighbourhood park of 0.4-0.7 ha in size within walking distance of each block in a precinct, unlike the parks in older estates which serves more households. In addition, to save space, some carparks make up the first few floors of a block and gardens were also built on the rooftops of integrated carparks.

(Source: Business Times)

Housing Developers (Control and Licensing) (Amendment) Bill provides more transparency

Under the amendment, developers are required to submit information on sales transactions in their projects (including purchase price and agreements such as reimbursements) that might be published or used for compilations, analysis, research studies or surveys. This will ensure that the caveats logged reflects true property values since the prices for caveats logged usually does not include reimbursements or vouchers. In addition, the showflats presentation will also be regulated, and the criteria for granting licences to developers tightened. Fines will also be increased by five times while offences under the Act and subsidiary legislations would be compounded.

(Source: Business Times)

Getting private home loans may be more difficult

While MAS have not extended the restriction of the mortgage servicing ratio (MSR) to 30% to private home loans, it has advised financial institutions to do so to encourage prudence. In addition, broader rules on the debt servicing ratio (DSR) will be introduced. Property loans, car loans, payment of credit card bills and repayment for any personal credit lines are all included in the computation of the DSR.

(Source: Business Times)

Private resale transaction volumes rose 16.7% in January

As a result of buyers trying to avoid the latest cooling measures, the private resale volumes saw a 16.7% increase from December 2012 to 920 deals. The OCR saw the highest increase of 30% to 501 units, followed by the 17% increase to 229 units in the RCR. The resale volumes in the CCR, on the other hand, fell by 9% to 109 units in January. Meanwhile, prices of homes in the RCR and OCR increased by 2.5% and 1.1% in January to reach $1,256 psf and $997 psf respectively while prices of homes in the CCR fell by 2.9% to $1,878 psf. While the transaction volume in February is expected to remain lacklustre, stable prices could attract buyers and bring it up again.

Meanwhile, the HDB resale market is seen to be stabilising, with the slight increase of COV by $1,000 to $34,000 and the slip in overall median resale price by 0.7% to $457,000.This attributed to the lowered MSR and the upcoming 23,000 HDB flats in 2013. An estimated 1,500 resale flats were sold in January, down from the monthly average of 1,560 in Q4 2012 while the HDB median rents remained at $2,400. Looking ahead, COVs can potentially fall by up to 10% in 2013.

(Source: Business Times)

Commercial

Industrial sites continue to draw interest

A 30-year leasehold 3.96-ha plot at Tuas with a 1.4 GPR attracted eight bids, with a top bid of $61 million or $102.18 psf ppr from Soon Hock Group. Zoned for B2 development, its popularity is attributed to its size and its potential for development of both strata-landed factories and multi-storey factories.

Another plot which drew much interest is a 22-year-and-5-month leasehold 0.3-ha plot with a 1.0 GPR in Tuas South Street 8 which attracted 13 bids with the top bid of $2.4 million or $73.45 psf ppr from Boilermaster Holdings. The site zoned ‘B2’ cannot be strata-subdivided within five years of the TOP.

The third is a 30 year leasehold 0.35-ha plot with a 2.5 GPR at Ubi Avenue 4 which attracted 10 bids with the top bid of $16.2 million or $172.00 psf ppr from Boustead Singapore’s BP-Ubi Industrial. Its popularity is attributed to the lack of B1 sites as well as its location. It cannot be strata-subdivided within 10 years of the TOP.

(Source: Business Times)