Singapore Property Weekly Issue 251

8/19/2019 Singapore Property Weekly Issue 251

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Issue 251Copyright © 2011-2016 www.propwise.sg . All Rights Reserved.

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CONTENTS

p2 Does Ranting Against the Property

Cooling Measures Help?

p7 Singapore Property News This Week

p11 Resale Property Transactions

(February 29 – March 4)

Welcome to the 251 st edition of theSingapore Property Weekly .

Hope you like it!

Mr. Propwise

FROM THE

EDITOR

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 251

Page | 2Back to Contents

By Property Soul (guest contributor)

In my twelve years studying in a Catholic girls’school, I was taught to pray. Till today,whenever I run into trouble, I just keeppraying. And I also visit different temples to

say the same prayer just in case. I believethat, in the end, some God will do something.It may have nothing to do with my devotion,but the fact that God just can’t stand mynagging any more.

Pray it again, Sam

I am not alone.

Recently, stakeholders in the propertyindustry are sharing

Does Ranting Against the Property Cooling Measures Help?

http://propertysoul.com/http://propertysoul.com/http://propertysoul.com/http://propertysoul.com/


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the same belief: The more you say it, themore likely your wish will come true.

On February 18, President of REDAS (Real

Estate Developers' Association of Singapore) Augustine Tan said there was an “urgentneed” to bring stability and ensure a softlanding in the property market “to preventfurther damage to the fragile economy. ”

A week later, KwekLengBeng, Chairman of

Hong Leong Group and City Developments,told the press that the government will pressthe button at the right time. He suspected thatthe Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD)will be abolished first and he hoped theauthorities would do it sooner rather than

later.

In July 2014, Mr. Kwek had told thegovernment to review the cooling measures,or risk losing property investment dollars to

other countries.

And just recently PropNex put forward aproposal to advise the government why and

how to tweak property cooling measures,including loosening the ABSD, loan-to-valuelimits and Mortgage Servicing Ratio.

See how the industry stakeholders aresinging the same tune. Their philosophy is: If you want the government to do something,

you have to say it again and again.

But the question is: What make them thinktheir problems will be solved if thegovernment relaxes the cooling measurestomorrow?

No one can tell what will happen tomorrow.The lifting of the property buying restrictionsmay coincide with an untimely stock marketcrash, financial crisis or economic recession.


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In 2005, the government introduced a seriesof property measures trying to stimulate theproperty market. That’s when the loan-to-value limit was raised from 80 percent to 90

percent. But still, there were few takers.

What the developers and their marketingagents really want is to offload the unsoldunits to the buyers. Never mind the fact that,the moment buyers sign the Option to

Purchase, they are bound by the rules of TDSR, ABSD and Seller Stamp Duty. Buyersare exposed to the risks of supply glut, softrental, interest rates hike and economicdownturn.

Afterall, it is no longer the developers’

problem once their problem becomessomeone else's problem.

Many projects in the market are on siteswhere developers had bought from the

government at all time highs. But justbecause developers have submitted a highbid to secure the land parcels doesn’t meanthat buyers have to foot the bill.

Two ways to save the market

There are two feasible solutions to help inclearing developers’ outstanding stock:

1. Stimulate the demand

The government can loosen the existingproperty cooling measures in TDSR, stampduties and loan-to-value limits. Or it canincrease housing demand by the importing of more foreigners.

On the other hand, developers can offer attractive discounts on their unsold units.Potential buyers might be tempted to take theplunge if the price is right.


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Lowering prices can make the units moreaffordable which automatically expands thepool of buyers.

2. Limit the supply

This is under the complete control of theSingapore Land Authority. The governmenthas announced that it would cut land sales.But in the first half of 2016, it is still be sellingthree confirmed residential sites and another

eight sites on the reserve list, with thepotential to build 7,420 new homes. This is ontop of the 7,825 homes from residential sitesreleased by Singapore land sales in secondhalf of 2015.

REDAS claimed that, as of end of last year,there are over 60,000 units in the pipeline anda record 26,500 vacant units.

There is no way for developers to clear their stock if there is incessant supply in the

pipeline.

Developers fighting an uphill battle

Developers have five years to sell all units in

a residential project, or pay ABSD on theunsold units. REDAS’ Mr Tan estimated thatthere are some 700 unsold units from 13projects that will be affected by the QualifyingCertificate rule by the end of this year, withextension charges amounting to S$100

million.

This is under the law that developers have toobtain Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP)for their projects five years after the landsales and sell all the units two years after TOP. Failing to do so, they have to payextension charges of 8 to 24 percent of theland cost in the subsequent years. Moreover,land purchased after Dec 8, 2011 are subjectto ABSD of 10 percent after five years.


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The first batch of projects to pay ABSD will bein December this year.

Of course, developers can take the easy wayout by selling the unsold units to aninvestment holding subsidiary or a cash-richcorporate buyer. Or they can simply delistfrom the Singapore stock exchange.

Looks like the industry stakeholders have nochoice but to continue their prayers until

some deity takes pity on them.

By guest contributor Property Soul, asuccessful property investor, blogger , and author of the No B.S. Guide to PropertyInvestment .

http://propertysoul.com/http://aktive.com.sg/store/no-b-s-guide-to-property-investment/http://aktive.com.sg/store/no-b-s-guide-to-property-investment/http://www.moneymatters.sg/http://aktive.com.sg/store/no-b-s-guide-to-property-investment/http://aktive.com.sg/store/no-b-s-guide-to-property-investment/http://aktive.com.sg/store/no-b-s-guide-to-property-investment/http://aktive.com.sg/store/no-b-s-guide-to-property-investment/http://aktive.com.sg/store/no-b-s-guide-to-property-investment/http://aktive.com.sg/store/no-b-s-guide-to-property-investment/http://aktive.com.sg/store/no-b-s-guide-to-property-investment/http://aktive.com.sg/store/no-b-s-guide-to-property-investment/http://aktive.com.sg/store/no-b-s-guide-to-property-investment/http://aktive.com.sg/store/no-b-s-guide-to-property-investment/http://aktive.com.sg/store/no-b-s-guide-to-property-investment/http://aktive.com.sg/store/no-b-s-guide-to-property-investment/http://aktive.com.sg/store/no-b-s-guide-to-property-investment/http://aktive.com.sg/store/no-b-s-guide-to-property-investment/http://propertysoul.com/


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Singapore Property This Week


ResidentialCondo resale prices fall by 0.3% in Feb

In February this year, resale prices of privatecondos have fallen by 0.3% following a 0.8%increase in January. Year-on-year, prices hadfallen 1.6% from February 2015 and 7.4%since January 2014. In February 2016, therewas no change in transaction prices in theCore Central Region, however there was a0.1% increase in prices in the Rest of CentralRegion. According to market experts, the

price increase recorded in January was ananomaly. Eugene Lim from ERA Realtyblamed monthly fluctuations, aggravated byreduced market activity. Ong Kah Seng fromR’ST Research added that as the total debt

servicing ratio has not been lifted, the generaltrend for completed property prices is stillexpected to fall. Resale volumes for condoshad also fallen by 10.8% month-on-month thisFebruary even though no new project waslaunched. About 356 units changed handscompared to 399 units in January. Year-on-year, the resale volume had increased 3.8%compared to 343 units in February 2015. Asmore buyers purchase for their ownoccupation, resale units are more appealingdue to their larger home sizes and due to the

higher bargaining power of the buyers, saidLim. Thus, he expects to see increase intransaction volumes in the resale market thisyear from March to July before the onset of the hungry ghost month,

S GA O O 2 1


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which is a traditionally slow sales period.

(Source: Business Times)

HDB rents more resilient than non-landed

private home rents

Rentals of both condos and HDB flats hadfallen in February this year. SRX Property’slatest flash estimates showed that HDB flatrents had fallen by just 3.7% while the rentalindex for non-landed private homes had fallenby 5%. Market experts said that thissuggested that HDB flat rents are moreresilient than non-landed private home rentson a longer-term basis. Since their peak inJanuary 2013, non-landed private home rentshave fallen by 15.2%. On the other hand,HDB rents had fallen by 9.1% from their highin August 2013. ERA Realty’s Eugene Limsaid that HDB flats enjoy a stronger base of rental demand from the more budget-

conscious tenants, such as foreignprofessionals who come to Singapore withtheir families. Overall, non-landed privatehome rental index had fallen by 0.7% month-

on-month this February, following a 0.2%month-on-month increase in January thisyear. Year-on-year, non-landed private homerentals in the Core Central Region hadincreased 0.22% while those in the Rest of Central Region had fallen by 8.4% and those

in the Outside Central Region had also fallenby 6.9%. On the other hand, the overall rentalindex for HDB flats had fallen by 0.9% month-on-month in February, and four-room HDB flatrental index had gone down by 2.6% year-on-year. Three-room HDB flat rents had fallen by3.6% year-on-year while five-room andexecutive flat rents saw a 5.8% fall year-on-year.


SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY I 251


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JLL: Singapore prime homes more“affordable” now

According to JLL, buying a prime residentialproperty in Singapore now is more“affordable” than in other global cities, in spiteof loan curbs and tax burdens. The averageluxury prime home is estimated to be pricedaround $1,991 psf in Q4 2015 in Singapore.This is about 20% less than in 2011. Office,retail and industrial property prices havefallen by 4 to 6% while suburban residentialprices had gone down by 12%, thus makingthe fall in luxury homes prices the largestacross domestic asset classes in the last 4years. While the prices of luxury homes in

Singapore have been falling, market expertssaid that other cities’ prices have continued toclimb in the last 4 years. Prime home pricesin Hong Kong are now 165% higher than inSingapore. In New York and London, prime

home prices are about 10 to 30% higher thanSingapore in 2010, but are 80 to 90% higher in 2015 because prices had rose by 20 to25% in New York and London while prices in

Singapore had fallen by 20%. Regina Limfrom JLL said that despite the increase inbuying and selling stamp duties, the cost of property ownership in Singapore of 19% iscomparable to that of other global cities whichrange from 14 to 26%. Lim added that she

believes developers could seek to sell around1,000 prime residential units in 2016 to 2018if the market does not improve.


Market experts recommend reviewing

cooling measures

PropNex Realty had proposed a tieredapproach to tweaking the additional buyer’sstamp duty (ABSD) in its recommendations

SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY I 251


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on how property cooling measures can beadjusted. Chief among its proposal is for the

ABSD to be lifted for Singaporeans buyingsecond homes and to pare down the ABSD

on their third purchases to 5% from thecurrent 10%. This proposal came amidincreasing calls for the government to reviewcurrent cooling measures. Not only so,PropNex proposed for the ABSD of 15% to bemaintained for foreigners buying homes of $3

million or less but for it to be reduced to 5%on first-time purchases and 10% for second-time purchases for foreigners buying homesof over $3 million. PropNex said that thistiered approach will protect Singaporeanslooking to buy a home from foreigncompetition. For ECs, PropNex hadrecommended to increase the mortgageservicing ratio from 30% to 45% since thequantums for ECs are higher than new HDB

flats. Minister for Social and FamilyDevelopment Tan Chuan-Jin said that other factors such as interest rates and the macro-economic condition need to be considered

before any adjustments are made to currentmeasures.



http://propertymarketinsights.com/


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Non-Landed Residential Resale Property Transactions for the Week of Feb 29 – Mar 4

PostalDistrict

Project NameArea(sqft)

TransactedPrice ($)

Price($ psf)

Tenure

1 MARINA BAY RESIDENCES 980 2 ,380,000 2,430 993 TANGLIN VIEW 1,195 1,160,000 971 99

4 CARIBBEAN AT KEPPEL BAY 1,335 2,177,000 1,631 99

4 THE INTERLACE 1,593 1,900,000 1,193 99

4 THE OCEANFRONT @ SENTOSA COVE 1,647 1,894,050 1,150 99

5 HERITAGE VIEW 1,195 1,380,000 1,155 99

5 REGENT PARK 1,163 1,000,000 860 99

5 DOVER PARKVIEW 1,647 1,399,900 850 99

8 KERRISDALE 1,259 1,400,000 1,112 99

9 RIVERGATE 1,023 2,210,000 2,161 FH

9 THE PIER AT ROBERTSON 732 1,240,000 1,694 FH

10 PARVIS 2,013 3,500,000 1,739 FH

10 THREE THREE ROBIN 1,636 2,550,000 1,559 FH

11 WATTEN ESTATE 4,295 10,380,000 2,416 FH

11 AMARYLLIS VILLE 1,259 1,750,000 1,390 99

12 REGAL COURT 1,173 1,210,000 1,031 FH

13 ONE LEICESTER 1,528 1,600,000 1,047 FH

14 RESERVOIR VILLAS 2,530 1,969,000 780 99

15 THE LUCENT 474 680,000 1,436 FH

15 COSTA RHU 1,012 1,180,000 1,166 99

15 THE GRANDIFLORA 1,012 999,000 987 FH

15 NATURE MANSIONS 1,249 1,200,000 961 FH

16 THE SUMMIT 1,238 1,370,000 1,107 FH

16 THE BAYSHORE 947 820,000 866 99

PostalDistrict

Project NameArea(sqft)

TransactedPrice ($)

Price($ psf)

Tenure

16 BEDOK COURT 2,411 1,500,000 622 9917 EDELWEISS PARK CONDOMINIUM 1,281 1 ,050,000 820 FH

17 CARISSA PARK CONDOMINIUM 1,324 1,030,000 778 FH

18 THE EDEN AT TAMPINES 1,238 945,000 763 99

18 SIMEI GREEN CONDOMINIUM 1,733 1,260,000 727 99

18 MELVILLE PARK 936 673,000 719 99

19 THE MINTON 1,324 1,460,000 1,103 99

20 WELLINGTON PARK 1,862 2,700,000 1,452 FH

21 BEAUTY WORLD CENTRE 1,873 1,650,000 881 99

22 THE MAYFAIR 926 870,000 940 99

22 PARC VISTA 1,259 950,000 754 99

23 HILLVISTA 1,130 1,308,000 1,157 FH

23 TREE HOUSE 861 890,000 1,034 99

23 MAYSPRINGS 818 720,000 880 99

23 PALM GARDENS 958 760,000 793 99

23 REGENT HEIGHTS 1,023 810,000 792 99

23 PARKVIEW APARTMENTS 980 730,000 745 99

23 NORTHVALE 1,281 850,000 664 99

26 BULLION PARK 1,238 1,010,000 816 FH

27 THE ESTUARY 1,528 1,290,000 844 99

28 SELETAR HILLS ESTATE 4,424 3,850,000 871 999

NOTE: This data only covers non-landed residential resale propertytransactions with caveats lodged with the Singapore Land Authority.Typically, caveats are lodged at least 2-3 weeks after a purchasersigns an OTP, hence the lagged nature of the data.

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