Singapore Property Weekly Issue 34

8/3/2019 Singapore Property Weekly Issue 34

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Issue 34Copyright 2011-2012 www.Propwise.sg. All Rights Reserved.
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CONTENTSp2 Singapore Property News This Week

p5 Should You Buy Completed or

Under Development Properties?

p15 Resale Property Transactions(December 24 December 30)

p16 Singapore Property Classifieds #23

Welcome to the 34th edition

of the Singapore Property

Weekly.

Hope you like it!

Mr. Propwise

FROM THE

EDITOR
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3/17

SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 34

Singapore Property This Week

Page | 2Back to Contents

Residential

Freehold Royalville and Ming Arcade upfor sale again, with lower asking prices

174,176 sq ft residential Royalville located on

Bukit Timah Road is asking $320 million to

$370 million, lower than its earlier asking

price of $370 million to $400 million. This isabout $1,312 psf ppr, or $1,197 psf ppr if it

takes into account the additional 10%

balcony space and the $1.16 million

development charge. The gross plot ratio is

1.4, and can be built up to five storeys.

Ming Arcade, a commercial developmentlocated near Orchard Road, is asking for

$120 million or $2,180 psf ppr, lower than the

earlier $130 million or $2,360 psf ppr. The

site with a 55,046 sq ft gross floor area

consists of 88 commercial or retail strata

units ranging from 140 sq ft to 620 sq ft.

Zoned commercial, the site with a 4.2 gross

plot ratio can be redeveloped into a 20-storey

high development for office and retail

purposes or for hotel and mixed commercial

and residential uses, provided approval isgranted.

The tender will close at 2.30pm on Feb 15 for

the former 3pm on Feb 16 for the latter.

Freehold Asia Gardens and Jade Towers

up for collective sale

92,412 sq ft Jade Towers located along Lew

Lian Vale, is asking of $108.8 million to

$110.8 million or $826 to $841 psf ppr.


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With its fairly rectangular configuration, it

could be reconfigured to a GFA of 131,702 sq

ft which can support 101 1,200 sq ft

apartment units.

84-unit Asia Gardens located on Everton

Road is asking for $302.6 million to $307.7

million or $1,500 to $1,525 psf ppr. Zoned

'residential', the 72,059 sq ft site has a 2.8

plot ratio and 201,765 sq ft GFA.

The tenders close at 3pm on Feb 16 and 29respectively.

Most PRs owning HDB flats occupy the

flats they own

95% of permanent residents (PR) who own a

flat also occupy the flat. This was revealed inan answer to Mr Ang Hin Kee, Member of

Parliament (MP) for Ang Mo Kio GRCs

question as to whether PRs have to occupy

the HDB flats that they own.

Owners are expected to occupy their flats

unless they have legitimate reasons for not

being able to do so, in which case they may

seek approval to sublet their flats. After 3

years they have to reapply if they want to

continue to sublet their flat.

Tepid bidding with lower top bid at Bartley

residential plot

The 99-year leasehold private condo site

located near Bartley MRT Station drew fivebids with a top bid of $388.1 million or

$495.01 psf ppr, 20.2% lower than that of a

nearby 99-year leasehold site sold last year,

which drew eight bids. Both bids were won by

a Hong Leong Holdings, City Developments

and TID consortium, which had probably bidto prevent the prices for its upcoming launch

of its project on the previous site from being

undercut.


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Bartley Residences, built on the earlier site,

will consist of 702 units with one to four

bedrooms and an average price of $1,200

psf. By winning the bid at the latest site, not

only can the developer prevent its prices from

being undercut, it will also be able to spread

its breakeven costs between the two sites

and establish its standing in the region. The

breakeven cost for the new site is estimated

to be $880 to $1,000 psf.

The difference between the two sites winning

bids was predicted to be 5-10%, but it turned

out to be higher, possibly because of the poor

economic outlook and the recent measures.

Another reason could be that the new site is

less attractive, being situated near BartleySecondary School, SPCA and the Gurkha

Cantonment rather than being next to the

MRT station and located near a landed

housing estate.

The tepid bidding trend is expected to

continue, but attractive sites may draw more

and higher bids.

3,923 new flats offered in first BTO launchof the year

HDB is offering 3,923 new flats out of the total

of 25,000 build-to-order (BTO) units it

planned to offer in 2012 in its launch of five

new BTO projects in Choa Chu Kang,

Punggol, Sengkang and Tampines. There are

plans to offer 4,110 more new flats for sale in

Bedok, Bukit Batok, Bukit Panjang, Bukit

Timah, Clementi, Geylang and Toa Payoh two

months later.

While the flats may see decent take-upparticularly for flats in Tampines and Choa

Chu Kang, buyers might choose to wait for

the next launch where flats launched will be

located in more attractive mature estates.


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Nonetheless, the prices for the flats are

attractive, with prices of four-room flats

starting from $277,000 (inclusive of CPF

housing grants) at the two Tampines projects -

Tampines Alcoves and Tampines

GreenTerrace, compared to $450,000 for a

resale flat in the same location.

$408m top bid for 99-year leasehold

262,828.6 sq ft condominium site in

Clementi

The site with a 2.8 maximum plot ratio and a

potential space of 735,920.1 sq ft and yield of

685 units located along Jalan Lempeng

attracted eight bids, with the highest of

$554.41 psf ppr from Multi Wealth (Singapore)

Pte Ltd. The interest in the site was expected

since there has not been any condominium

project launches in Clementi for years and

there will likely be demand for private

residential units in the area. Another reason

for the interest would be its proximity to the

Clementi MRT station, bus interchange and

amenities in the town centre. Breakeven cost

and selling price for the site is expected to be

$950 and $1,000 psf and $1,200 to $1,300 psf

respectively.

Far East had sold 309 of 411 released units

of The Hillier

75% or 309 of the 411 released units of The

Hillier located at Hillview Avenue has been

sold, 90% of which were sold to Singaporeans

and permanent residents who mostly are

already living in the Hillview and Upper Bukit

Timah region. The units in the 99-year

leasehold 528 Soho style units were sold at

an average of $1,200 psf, and will have

access to a retail podium called HillV2

integrated in the development.


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Confirmed tenants in the 33-unit (ranging

from 311 sq ft to 8,887 sq ft), two-storey

55,500 sq ft HillV2 include Market Place,

Dean & Deluca and Cold Stone Creamery.

60% of the units will be for food and

beverage.

Commercial

Good sales for strata office and industrial

units

99-year leasehold 13-storey Paya Lebar

Square, an office and retail development

located next to Paya Lebar MRT Station has

sold 60 of its office units to a 50-50 division of

investors and end-users at an average price

of $1,700 psf. The buyers are all Singapore

companies. It has released a total of 200 of

its 550 units so far until its official launch in

February. The units include 79 484-sq ft units,

335 units ranging from 501 sq ft - 1,000 sq ft,

120 units ranging from 1,001-1,500 sq ft and

22 units above 1,500 sq ft. The 13-storey

building will consist of office strata units on

levels 4 - 13, with the carpark on levels 2 3,

and a retail podium from the basement to the

second level. Decisions on the retail podium

have not been made the developer could

sell it to a single buyer, sell it in strata units

and lease it out.

12-storey freehold Eldix, an industrialdevelopment located at 11 Mandai Estate has

sold almost 20 strata industrial units at an

average price of $470 psf to Singapore

entities that are mainly end-users, though

some are investors. The developer, EL

Development, will occupy a flatted factory uniton the 12th floor, leaving 167 1,389 sq ft to

1,862 sq ft units on the first 11 levels to be

sold and the first level for a staff canteen.

SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY I 34


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Should You Buy Completed or Under Development Properties?

By Calvin Yeo (reproduced with permission

from his blog

www.investinpassiveincome.com)

A constantly debated topic in Real Estate has

always been whether one should buy

completed or under development properties.

The answer is: it depends on your need and

situation. I for one have done both and I

would like to share my experience. Frankly, I

dislike buying under construction properties

nowadays as I hate waiting a long time before

I start seeing any Real Returns. However, I

will still go through the Pros and Cons of

each.

SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY I 34
http://www.investinpassiveincome.com/http://www.investinpassiveincome.com/http://www.investinpassiveincome.com/http://www.investinpassiveincome.com/http://www.investinpassiveincome.com/http://www.investinpassiveincome.com/


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Pros of Buying Underdevelopment

Properties

1. Developer Freebies

Developers often give freebies like Free

Stamp Duty, Free Legal Fees, Rebates and

others. There are also developments where

the Developer absorbs the interest during the

construction period, known as Interest

Absorption Scheme/Deferred PaymentScheme. In some lesser known

developments, Developers may also give out

Rental Guarantees for a number of years to

attract investors. However, the Developers

normally have already priced these incentives

into the pricing, so its not usually that great a

deal after all.

2. Ease of Financing

Developers usually work with Panel Banks to

secure financing for their buyers. As such,

valuation is usually not required for these

properties as the banks have already

accepted the valuation of the developers

pricing. Banks may also come up with

innovative schemes like No Payment Down or

minimal down payment required for certain

developments.

3. Low Payment Upfront

As described earlier, a combination of Free

Stamp Duty and Legal Fees basically reduce

transaction costs. Coupled with low down

payment schemes, the down payment can be

pretty low.



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Its one of the cheapest options to purchase a

property.

4. Brand New

Buying an under development project means

getting a brand new property when you

receive the keys. For some people, its a

psychological comfort that the house is brand

new and much cleaner than one which has

been lived in before. There will also be

minimal hassles with repairs and

maintenance since it would be covered by the

developer during the Defects Free period.

Cons of Buying Under Development

Properties

1. Risk of Abandoned Projects and Delays

The most basic risk is that the development

gets delayed or worse still never gets

completed. Its a real risk in countries such as

Malaysia where any Tom, Dick and Harry can

become a developer. For larger, well known

developers the risk of the project getting

abandoned is less likely. In this case, the risk

may be delays in delivering the completed

property.

2. Unable to See the Final Product

Developers are known to furnish showrooms

with the most expensive materials, furniture

and fixtures which may not be in the actual

unit. Showrooms also employ many visual

tricks like walls of mirrors, breaking down

doors and divisions to make the space

appear larger than it actually is. The site plan

may also be somewhat different, so the layout

of certain rooms may not be as ideal as you

expected.



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Also, standing at the ground floor of the

showroom, its difficult to imagine what your

view would look like; the last thing you want is

to see a cemetery right from your living room(it happened to a friend of mine before).

3. Long Waiting Time

The standard length of time to completion is

anywhere from 2 years to 4 years, so its a

long wait. If your development does not offer aDeferred Payment Scheme, you will have to

make interest payments for the Progressive

Payments of the project. In addition to the

opportunity costs of the downpayment locked

in during those years, the holding costs could

be quite sizeable. The money could havebeen invested in low risk stocks/bonds for 3-

4% return per year.

4. Market Uncertainty

For investors, the market can be very

unpredictable. 2 to 4 years is a long time and

anything can happen when you get the keys.Should there be a downturn during that time,

you could be in for a tough time. Those who

are hit particularly hard by this are speculators

who just buy with the aim of flipping for a gain

upon completion. A hot market inevitably

draws in a lot of speculators who do not have

the ability to hold the units and they may be

forced to sell at low prices, lowering market

values for the property.

5. Higher Prices Than Resale Properties

In recent years, new properties are almost

always priced above currently available resale

properties in the same area.



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I am sure you have heard all the factors,

inflation, rise in construction costs, rise in

material costs, higher land cost, new design

blah blah blah. There may be some truth in

them, but its up to you to decide if the

developers are overpricing their projects.

6. Rental Yields Uncertain

Sales people will always quote unreasonably

high rental yields and always boast the

rentability of the project to expats or students.

Investors for some reason have a constant

fascination with either expats or the student

rental market so the sales people will always

try to touch on these factors. It is important to

note that half of the things sales people say

are exaggerations so I would never take them

too seriously. Do your own research on how

certain these units are likely to rent and the

probable rental rate.

Pros of Buying Completed Properties

1. What You See Is What You Get

You will be able to see the actual unit before

you commit to purchasing it the exact

layout, quality of furnishing, view, who the

neighbours are, occupants of the

development, surrounding amenities and

more. All these factors are critical factors to

the rentability of your unit, so its great to be

able to see them, reducing your risk

considerably.

2. Cheaper than New Properties

Resales properties are not always old and

dilapidated. In fact, some are newly

completed! In my opinion, those new

completed properties usually represent a

good buy especially if the price is still below

the launch prices of new projects.



13/17



3. Instant Rental

Once the transaction is completed, you will be

able to rent out the unit for income instantly.

Better yet, if the purchase comes with a rentalagreement, it saves you the agent costs and

searching costs. This is another very

important factor, getting Instant Returns once

you actually own the unit instead of having to

wait.

4. Ability to Calculate Rental Yield

Even if the actual unit is not rented out, it is

quite easy to derive an approximate rental

based on other units rented in the same

project. The ability to calculate rental yield is

an important determinant of whether the priceyou are paying for the property is reasonable.

The higher the rental yield, the better the

price is.

Cons of Buying Completed Properties

1. Higher Transaction Costs and Cash Outlay

In a resale, the buyer often has to pay for all

the transaction costs upfront such as Stamp

Duty, Legal Fees, Financing Fees, Valuation

etc. and more. Furthermore, the

downpayment will have to be paid in full in a

relatively short timeframe of 3 to 6 months.

The cash outlay is normally much higher

when you buy a completed property.

2. Difficulty In Getting Valuations

In some cases of hot properties, it may be

difficult to get banks to match current asking

prices since valuation prices are normally

based on historical. If you believe in the

potential of the property, you have to either

shop around, push banks to increase their

valuations or even



14/17



top up the difference in cash. Again, having

the cash on hand is critical in such situations.

You can always refinance the property to get

the cash out after the valuers have caught up

with the new valuation.

3. Repair and Renovation Costs

Buying a resale property normally means

having to do some repairs and renovations.

Depending on the state of the property and

age of the furnishings, the costs can be eitherminor cosmetic touch ups or astronomical for

those with structural defects. It is therefore

important to get an expert to check on

potential defects especially if you are buying

an old house. Then again, there are many

who have made good money by buying old

houses, renovating them and flipping for a

good profit.

After going through all the Pros and Cons, you

should have a good idea of the differences

between both options. I personally prefer

buying Completed Properties, but for some

people Under Development Properties may

be a better choice.

Calvin Yeo is the founder of the Making

Passive Income blog. He graduated with aBusiness Major in Finance and Accounting

and spent a few years working in an

investment bank. The knowledge from his

studies and working experience serve as a

good base for him to grasp the ideas for

passive income generation.

http://www.investinpassiveincome.com/http://www.investinpassiveincome.com/http://www.valueinvestingsummit.com/propwise.htmlhttp://www.investinpassiveincome.com/http://www.investinpassiveincome.com/http://www.investinpassiveincome.com/http://www.investinpassiveincome.com/http://www.investinpassiveincome.com/


15/17



http://fd9.formdesk.com/ercinstitute/ppty/


16/17



Non-Landed Residential Resale Property Transactions for the Week of Dec 24 Dec 30

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

Postal

DistrictProject Name

Area

(sqft)

Transacted

Price ($)

Price

($ psf)Tenure

4 MARINA COLLECTION 1,873 5,338,050 2,850 99



4 CARIBBEAN AT KEPPEL BAY 1,335 2,150,000 1,611 99

9 THE CLAYMORE 3,348 8,500,000 2,539 FH

9 LANGSTON VILLE 936 1,120,000 1,196 999

10 THE TRESOR 1,927 3,600,000 1,868 999

10 DUCHESS CREST 1,345 1,710,000 1,271 99

11 NEWTON 18 614 1,070,000 1,744 FH

11 T HOMSON EURO-ASIA 1,130 1,850,000 1,637 FH

11 NINETEEN SHELFORD ROAD 635 868,000 1,367 FH

11 DUNEARN LODGE 1,098 880,000 802 99

12 THE MARQUE @ IRRAWADDY 883 1,100,000 1,246 FH

12 PARC HAVEN 1,475 1,700,000 1,153 FH

12 BALESTIER PLAZA 1,367 1,280,000 936 FH

12 MOONSTONE RESIDENCES 1,238 1,128,000 911 FH

14 SIMS GREEN 990 870,000 879 99

14 MORO MANSIONS 936 750,000 801 FH

15 THE SEA VIEW 1,647 2,250,000 1,366 FH

15 THE ESTA 1,345 1,772,000 1,317 FH

15 D'ECOSIA 1,604 1,680,000 1,047 FH

15 FORTUNE SPRING 1,163 1,050,000 903 FH

15 ESPIRA SPRING 2,099 1,800,000 858 FH

Postal

DistrictProject Name

Area

(sqft)

Transacted

Price ($)

Price

($ psf)Tenure

15 SHEBA LODGE 1,141 830,000 727 FH

17 DAHLIA PARK CONDOMINIUM 1,281 1,000,000 781 FH

17 LIGHTHOUSE 1,195 860,000 720 99

17 BALLOTA PARK CONDOMINIUM 1,442 960,000 666 FH

19 JANSEN MANSIONS 1,259 920,000 731 999

20 GOLDENHILL PARK CONDOMINIUM 1,313 1,500,000 1,142 FH

20 THE WINDSOR 1,539 1,460,000 949 FH

21 THE HILLSIDE 1,313 1,286,000 979 FH

21 THE RAINTREE 1,270 1,215,000 957 99

21 THE RAINTREE 1,335 1,241,550 930 99

21 SIGNATURE PARK 1,421 1,260,000 887 FH

22 THE CENTRIS 1,066 1,360,000 1,276 99

23 PARKVIEW APARTMENTS 926 680,000 735 99

23 MAYSPRINGS 1,335 970,000 727 99

27 ORCHID PARK CONDOMINIUM 1,141 797,000 699 99



17/17

Singapore Property Classifieds #23For Sale


Soho@Central, #09- ,soho1/wloft/635sf/vacant/mgt fee $975/quart/ask$2280psf/avail for rent 5.5$K(neg). CallS.Ganesh 91732881 for viewing!

Off@Central,#19-/3246sf(apx),tnted/rent25k/maint $2,268pm/ask $2950psf neg.View of Marina Bay Sands. Call S.Ganesh91732881 for viewing!

Luma/New/1153sf/3br+balcony/8F/rent$5,500(low asking)/partial/nego/also availfor sale $2000psf neg/Call S.Ganesh91732881 for viewing!

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