Singapore Property Weekly Issue 262

8/16/2019 Singapore Property Weekly Issue 262

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Issue 262Copyright © 2011-2016 www.propwise.sg. All Rights Reserved.

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CONTENTS

p2 Buying an HDB BTO Flat – One Young Working

Heartlander’s Experience and Advice

p9 Singapore Property News This Week

p12 Resale Property Transactions

(May 15 – May 20)

Welcome to the 262th edition of the

Singapore Property Weekly .

Hope you like it!

Mr. Propwise

FROM THE

EDITOR

mailto:[email protected]://www.propwise.sg/advertise/http://www.propwise.sg/advertise/mailto:[email protected]


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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 262

Page | 2Back to Contents

By Heartland Boy (guest contributor)

It was not too long ago that I participated in

an HDB BTO (Housing Development Board

Build to Order) exercise. For the foreign

readers, this is a public housing system in

Singapore that allocates new HDB flats to

aspiring home owners. For first-timers, this

can be a pretty harrowing and confusing

experience. This is especially so when

everyone claims to be an “expert” when it

comes to property. Over-zealous parents,

well-meaning relatives and friends who

have gone through this baptism of fire

would chip in with their golden nuggets of

advice on how to game the HDB BTO

exercise.

Buying an HDB BTO Flat – One Young WorkingHeartlander’s Experience and Advice


4/15



For Heartland Girl (that’s my wife) and

myself, it was indeed a roller-coaster ride of

emotions. Not to exaggerate, tears were

shed and fault lines were drawn, all

unnecessary experiences that does not

have to happen to other couples out there

when shopping for an HDB BTO. Therefore,

having emerged better and stronger as a

couple from our own HDB BTO exercise, I

wish to share a few tips for aspiring home

owners out there.

4 TIPS ON BUYING AN HDB BTO

1. Propose as early as possible if you

have “decided” on the one

I had long decided on asking Heartland Girlto be my wife early on in our relationship in

2013. For practical reasons, I felt that the

wedding proposal and marriage could wait

as the HDB BTO would require

approximately four years to be built and

ready. Therefore, like every Singaporean

guy out there, I asked Heartland Girl if she

would like to buy an HDB flat before

proposing to her. But I never expected the

backlash.

I was put to the guillotine and almost never

lived to see another day because in that

moment, I obliterated the perfect white

knight in shining armour wedding proposaldream she had since she was a kid. To her,

this was akin to putting the cart before the

horse. It was taking her for granted .

So instead of time spent participating in

HDB BTO exercises, I spent months

appeasing the queen. Meanwhile, HDB

BTO launches for Toa Payoh, Kallang and

TelokBlangah all flew by. These were all

ideal locations.


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It was too heart wrenching for me to watch

and I finally nipped the problem in the bud

by proposing to Heartland Girl in July 2014.

Thankfully, the stars remained aligned as

shortly after, there was an HDB BTO launch

in September 2014 that featured Boon

Keng!

Of course, another more practical reason

for proposing early is to take advantage of

financial schemes from the HDB when youare still not earning much.

2. Separate needs from wants

Besides Tip No.1, which may not be

applicable to everyone, the other equally

important tip is to separate needs from

wants. If you ask Heartland Girl what her

dream house looks like, it would be as

follows:

“I want a house that is centrally located, has

a walk-in closet, big enough for my Barbie

doll collection, near to an MRT stop, near to

amenities, has a big balcony, big enough to

accommodate a kennel for a Golden

Retriever etc.”

Honestly, the list would have gone on had I

not stopped her. That was a good wish list

to have for the future, but definitely not for

now. It is important that the couple sitsdown to have a proper, mature adult

conversation and sieve out the needs from

the wants. In the end, we settled on the

following needs:

Minimally, the HDB BTO has to be

within the city fringe

It has to be truly accessible by MRT,

buses and expressways

http://heartlandboy.com/poh-kim-jewellery-offers-the-best-value-for-engagement-ring/http://www.hdb.gov.sg/cs/infoweb/residential/buying-a-flat/new/cpf-housing-grants-for-hdb-flatshttp://www.hdb.gov.sg/cs/infoweb/residential/buying-a-flat/new/cpf-housing-grants-for-hdb-flatshttp://heartlandboy.com/poh-kim-jewellery-offers-the-best-value-for-engagement-ring/


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It has to be near a hawker center and

wet market (you can never take the

Heartlander out of both of us)

It has to be sufficiently big for a family

We settled on this set of needs so that we

had the most exit options when

the Minimum Occupation Period is up.

3. Prioritise your needs

After you have separated your needs fromwants, it is important to rank them in order

of importance. Some of the most common

needs are:

I want a big house (5 room flat)

I want to stay near my parents

I want to be in a mature estate as the

amenities are better

I want to be within walking distance to

the MRT

I want a central location

I want an affordable HDB BTO flat

For myself, the need to stay in a central

location far outweighs any of the other

needs. The commute to the Central

Business District is drastically reduced

when staying in a city fringe location

compared to a suburban location. I value

time as much as money. For Heartland Girl,

being within walking distance to an MRT

was the most important. Therefore, when

the Boon Keng HDB BTO was launched, it

was a dream location for us as it was

exactly what we needed.

http://www.hdb.gov.sg/cs/infoweb/business/estate-agents--salespersons/selling-a-flat/mop-undone-pagehttp://www.hdb.gov.sg/cs/infoweb/business/estate-agents--salespersons/selling-a-flat/mop-undone-pagehttp://www.hdb.gov.sg/cs/infoweb/business/estate-agents--salespersons/selling-a-flat/mop-undone-pagehttp://www.hdb.gov.sg/cs/infoweb/business/estate-agents--salespersons/selling-a-flat/mop-undone-pagehttp://www.hdb.gov.sg/cs/infoweb/business/estate-agents--salespersons/selling-a-flat/mop-undone-pagehttp://www.hdb.gov.sg/cs/infoweb/business/estate-agents--salespersons/selling-a-flat/mop-undone-page


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Picture 1: Location of St George’s

Towers HDB BTO Project

To some couples, the need to stay near

their parents could be the most important.

The convenience of having trusted adults

babysit their child in the day may be

something that cannot be bought with

money. It is OK to have different needs;what’s most important is to fully rationalize,

and understand as a couple, why both of

you had bought a specific HDB BTO in that

particular location.

Another piece of advice: this set of needs

should be unique to the couple, not to the

couple’s parents!

4. Remember that the HDB BTO is a

demand-supply game

Allocation of the HDB BTO flat is ultimately

a mathematical exercise based on demandand supply. Thus it is important to

understand how the demand and supply

factors affect your choice.

SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY I 262


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Some demand factors to consider include:

Is the HDB BTO in a mature estate?

Is the project located near to the MRT?

What is the impact of the salary ceiling

revision by the government?

Some supply factors to consider include:

What is the size of the current launch

and the preceding launches?

Whether a Sale of Balance Exercise is

concurrently launched at the same

time?

When was the last time there was an

HDB BTO exercise conducted in that

location?

Within the project, were both 5 room

and 4 room flats being offered?

Picture 2: St George’s Towers Artist’s

Impression

We eventually decided to bid for a 3-room

HDB BTO flat at Boon Keng instead of a 4-

room flat.

SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY I 262


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This was to give us a 10X better chance of

landing an HDB BTO flat at that location.

Accordingly, this meant giving up on the

need for the flat to be “sufficiently big for

the family.” This was a painful decision andnot a decision popular with their family or

friends. But remember Tip No. 3 – only the

couple truly knows their own set of needs.

Allocation of an HDB BTO is also not based

on a “first come, first serve” basis, so itwould be wise to monitor the demand first

during the exercise period. This allows you

to test your hypothesis before making the

final decision.

So here you go, roll the dice and good luck!

By Heartland Boy , a young working

heartlander who blogs about his chase for

financial independence.


http://heartlandboy.com/http://www.moneymatters.sg/http://heartlandboy.com/http://heartlandboy.com/http://heartlandboy.com/


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Singapore Property This Week


Residential

More BTO flats in popular mature estates

8,940 flats were launched for sale on

Tuesday by the Housing & Development

Board (HDB) under the build-to-order (BTO)and sale of balance flats (SBF) exercise in

May, with one-quarter of the BTO flats

located in the popular mature estates of Ang

Mo Kio and Bedok. Experts are already

expecting the BTO flats in these mature

estates to be in high demand, with about four to five applications per unit for BTOs in Ang

Mo Kio and Bedok; and two applications per

unit in Bukit Panjang and Sembawang.

(Source: Business Times)

Qingjian tops bid at Bukit Batok West site

The tender for the 1.5-hectare, 99-year

leasehold land parcel in Bukit Batok West

Avenue 6 drew 11 bids. Qingjian tops the bid

with S$301.16 million or S$634.57 per

square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr) was 8.3

per cent more than the next highest bid of

S$277.98 million (S$585.73 psf ppr) from

Robert Kuok's Allgreen Properties.



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The site is in a less-developed locale of Bukit

Batok and not within walking distance of any

MRT station.


Stars of Kovan units fetch even less than

expected

Cheung Kong Property Holdings has sold

around 60 units of its private condominium

project Stars of Kovan at an average price of

S$1,408 per square foot - lower than the

average pricing of S$1,550 to S$1,600 as

indicated. The one-bedroom to three-

bedroom units ranged between S$1,227 and

S$1,554 psf. However, Francis Wong,

director of Property Enterprises Development,

a member of Cheung Kong Property Holding

was pleased at the high take-up rate of 90%

seen over this weekend.


Mixed views about reserve site in West

Coast Vale

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA)

on Wednesday released detailed sales

conditions for a residential reserve site in

West Coast Vale, which property specialists

are mixed in their views about the site's

appeal. The 99-year leasehold site can

potentially yield up to 520 residential units

with a site area of 16,378 square metres. It is

located along Sungei Pandan and linked to

West Coast Highway and Ayer Rajah

Expressway (AYE). Some positive attributes

of the site are that it is easily accessible to the

highways while shielded by neighbouring

condominium development from the trafficnoise of AYE. However, the site is also

relatively far from the MRT stations and

amenities.




12/15



Commercial

Good time to purchase commercial

properties: CityDev

Rising interest rates makes such assetscheaper worldwide, making it a good time to

purchase commercial properties, says CEO

of City Development. City Developments has

been diversifying outside Singapore after

government curbs stifled demand back at

home. It will focus on five markets as part of its diversification - China, Australia, Japan,

the US and the UK. Its CEO opined that

market volatility has increased the appeal of

property as an investment, even amidst an

uncertain global economic outlook.


ShunTak acquires first hotel site in

Singapore

Hong Kong-Listed Shun Tak Holdings, a

company founded by casino tycoon Stanley

Ho, has acquired a prime freehold site at 9

Cuscaden Road, belonging to the late Tan

Hoon Siang, the great-grandson of the

famous philanthropist Tan Tock Seng. The

site is opposite Tanglin Shopping Centre, and

is between St Regis Hotel and Orchard

Parade Hotel. The sale price reflects a land

rate of about S$2,145 psf and there are

considerations to turn the site into a

residential project, subject to approval and

payment of development charges, as

suggested by The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).




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Non-Landed Residential Resale Property Transactions for the Week of May 15 – May 20

Postal

DistrictProject Name

Area

(sqft)

Transacted

Price ($)

Price

($ psf)Tenure

1 ONE SHENTON 1,195 1,830,000 1,532 99

4 CARIBBEAN AT KEPPEL BAY 1,227 1,800,000 1,467 99

4 THE INTERLACE 2,067 2,450,000 1,185 99

5 BOTANNIA 1,216 1,500,000 1,233 956

5 HERITAGE VIEW 969 1,110,000 1,146 99

5 FABER CREST 1,033 918,000 888 99

5 FABER CREST 1,658 1,370,000 826 99

5 FABER CREST 1,798 1,480,000 823 99

7 TEXTILE CENTRE 883 800,000 906 99

8 CITYLIGHTS 678 1,100,000 1,622 99

8 BRISTOL LODGE 958 987,000 1,030 FH

9 OUE TWIN PEAKS 549 1,625,000 2,960 99

9 OUE TWIN PEAKS 549 1,597,050 2,909 99

9 OUE TWIN PEAKS 570 1,573,600 2,758 99

9 URBAN SUITES 1,604 4,280,000 2,669 FH

9 OUE TWIN PEAKS 549 1,454,850 2,650 99

9 OUE TWIN PEAKS 549 1,452,654 2,646 99

9 OUE TWIN PEAKS 549 1,438,280 2,620 99

9 OUE TWIN PEAKS 549 1,400,000 2,550 99

9 OUE TWIN PEAKS 549 1,394,460 2,540 99

9 OUE TWIN PEAKS 549 1,388,000 2,528 99

9 OUE TWIN PEAKS 549 1,383,900 2,521 99

Postal


Area

(sqft)

Transacted

Price ($)

Price

($ psf)Tenure

9 OUE TWIN PEAKS 1,055 2,637,500 2,500 99

9 OUE TWIN PEAKS 1,055 2,637,500 2,500 99

9 OUE TWIN PEAKS 1,055 2,616,400 2,480 99

9 OUE TWIN PEAKS 1,604 3,889,700 2,425 99

9 HILLTOPS 1,335 3,200,000 2,397 FH

9 OUE TWIN PEAKS 549 1,281,915 2,335 99

9 CAIRNHILL CREST 1,733 3,150,000 1,818 FH

9 THE TRILLIUM 1,399 2,540,000 1,815 FH

9 ASPEN HEIGHTS 1,044 1,655,000 1,585 999

9 THE BOTANIC ON LLOYD 3,488 5 ,200,000 1,491 FH

10 ARDMORE THREE 1,787 5,687,605 3,183 FH

10 ARDMORE THREE 1,744 5,390,530 3,091 FH

10 FOUR SEASONS PARK 2,874 7,500,000 2,610 FH

10 CUSCADEN ROYALE 1,399 2,600,000 1,858 FH

10 GOODWOOD RESIDENCE 3,089 5,180,000 1 ,677 FH

10 THE SIXTH AVENUE RESIDENCES 1,302 1,990,000 1,528 FH

10 THE CORNWALL 1,927 2,820,000 1,464 FH

10 THE ELEMENT @ STEVENS 1,389 2,020,000 1,455 FH

10 VALLEY PARK 1,216 1,750,000 1,439 999

10 MONTVIEW 1,507 2,160,000 1,433 FH

10 CHIVERTON 1,292 1,820,000 1,409 FH

10 SOMMERVILLE PARK 2,325 3,120,000 1,342 FH



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Postal


Area

(sqft)

Transacted

Price ($)

Price

($ psf)Tenure

11 RESIDENCES @ EVELYN 1,141 2,025,000 1,775 FH

11 SKY@ELEVEN 2,271 3,715,000 1,636 FH11 NEWTON ONE 1,916 3,050,000 1,592 FH

11 SKY@ELEVEN 2,713 4,200,000 1,548 FH

11 NOVELIS 807 1,230,000 1,524 FH

11 AMARYLLIS VILLE 958 1,391,888 1,453 99

11 SHELFORD REGENCY 1,281 1,825,000 1,425 FH

12 VISTA RESIDENCES 904 1,310,888 1,450 FH

12 R IVERSIDE MELODIES 1,421 1,730,000 1,218 FH

12 TWIN HEIGHTS 1,421 1,560,000 1,098 FH

13 ONE LEICESTER 904 1,160,000 1,283 FH

14 VIENTO 474 600,000 1,267 FH

14 THE VINES 1,055 1,060,000 1,005 FH

14 THE SUNNY SPRING 1,066 1,050,000 985 FH

15 THE MEYERISE 1,270 2,595,000 2,043 FH

15 THE MEYERISE 1,313 2,337,000 1,780 FH

15 SILVERSEA 1,507 2,148,888 1,426 99

15 VERSILIA ON HAIG 1,023 1,310,000 1,281 FH

15 THE ESTA 1,507 1,900,000 1,261 FH

15 SUNSHINE GRANDEUR 635 730,000 1,149 FH

15 SANCTUARY GREEN 1,141 1,267,000 1,110 99

15 THE MONTAGE 1,098 1,100,000 1,002 FH

Postal


Area

(sqft)

Transacted

Price ($)

Price

($ psf)Tenure

15 CEYLON CREST 1,927 1,790,000 929 FH

15 CANNAVILLE 1,206 1,108,000 919 FH15 VILLA MARINA 1,916 1,560,000 814 99

15 VILLA MARINA 1,679 1,275,000 759 99

16 COSTA DEL SOL 1,238 1,310,000 1,058 99

16 BAYSHORE PARK 3,326 3,200,000 962 99

16 CASA MERAH 1,582 1,520,000 961 99

16 EAST MEADOWS 1,216 1,150,000 945 99

16 BAYSHORE PARK 936 795,800 850 99

16 LAGUNA GREEN 1,152 950,000 825 99

17 HEDGES PARK CONDOMINIUM 484 525,000 1,084 99

17 CARISSA PARK CONDOMINIUM 969 840,000 867 FH

17 EDELWEISS PARK CONDOMINIUM 1,281 1,028,000 803 FH

17 BALLOTA PARK CONDOMINIUM 1,313 830,000 632 FH

18 THE TROPICA 1,227 1,000,000 815 99

18 TROPICAL SPRING 1,389 1,120,000 807 99

19 THE SCALA 474 710,000 1,499 99

19 THE MINTON 1,453 1,480,000 1,018 99

19 THE MINTON 980 990,000 1,011 99

19 THE SPRINGBLOOM 1,302 1,301,888 1,000 99

19 PALM GROVE CONDOMINIUM 1,615 1,550,000 960 999

19 CHUAN PARK 1,851 1,610,000 870 99



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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.

Postal


Area

(sqft)

Transacted

Price ($)

Price

($ psf)Tenure

19 CHUAN PARK 1,851 1,450,000 783 99

19 RIO CASA 1,625 845,000 520 104

20 TRESALVEO 603 858,000 1,423 FH

20 SEASONS VIEW 1,141 1,120,000 982 99

20 GRANDEUR 8 1,421 1,390,000 978 99

21 MAPLEWOODS 1,787 2,420,000 1,354 FH

21 MAPLEWOODS 1,399 1,860,000 1,329 FH

21 MAPLEWOODS 1,399 1,790,000 1,279 FH

21 GARDENVISTA 1,324 1,600,000 1,208 99

21 THE RAINTREE 926 1,025,000 1,107 99

21 PARC PALAIS 1,238 1,200,000 969 FH

21 SHERWOOD CONDOMINIUM 1,259 1 ,185,000 941 FH

21 BROOKVALE PARK 2,400 1,980,000 825 999

23 THE MADEIRA 1,302 1,150,000 883 99

23 CENTURY MANSIONS 915 770,000 842 FH

23 REGENT HEIGHTS 1,023 816,000 798 99

23 PARKVIEW APARTMENTS 936 695,000 742 99

25 PARC ROSEWOOD 431 515,000 1,196 99

25 ROSEWOOD 1,173 880,000 750 99

26 SEASONS PARK 1,292 1,010,000 782 99

27 THE MILTONIA RESIDENCES 517 575,000 1,113 99

28 GRANDE VISTA 2,024 1,530,000 756 999
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Singapore Property Weekly Issue 262

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