Download - Singapore Property Weekly Issue 142
-
8/13/2019 Singapore Property Weekly Issue 142
1/14
Issue 142Copyright 2011-2013 www.Propwise.sg. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.propwise.sg/http://www.propwise.sg/ -
8/13/2019 Singapore Property Weekly Issue 142
2/14
ContributeDo you have articles and insights and articles that youd like to share
with thousands of readers interested in the Singapore property
market? Send them to us at [email protected] , and if theyre good
enough, well publish them here, on our blog and even on Yahoo!
News.
AdvertiseWant to get your brand, product, service or property listing out to
thousands of Singapore property investors at a very reasonable
cost? Head over to www.propwise.sg/advertise/ to find out more.
CONTENTS
p2 6 Reasons Why Property Curbs
Should NOT Be Removed
p9 Singapore Property News This Week
p13 Resale Property Transactions
(January 22January 28)
Welcome to the 142thedition 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] -
8/13/2019 Singapore Property Weekly Issue 142
3/14
SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 142
Page | 2Back to Contents
By Gerald Tay (guest contributor)
There have been recent calls to the
government asking to relax some of its
property-cooling measures as demand for
real estate wanes. MrGetty Goh, director at
Ascendant Assets voiced his view on this,
speaking at a Business Outlook Forumrecently.
He said the government should consider
repealing the Seller Stamp Duty (SSD) for
residential properties introduced in January
2011, because sellers who are keen to
dispose their properties may find themselvestied down by it.
Many people I have met who want you to
invest in property dontcare two hoots if you
6 Reasons Why Property Curbs Should NOT Be Removed
-
8/13/2019 Singapore Property Weekly Issue 142
4/14
SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 142
Page | 3Back to Contents
make money or not, as long as they profit
from your investment. And the same group of
people are now calling for property curbs to
be removed because of a so-call lacklustre
property market.
Mr Getty Goh is one of the few respected
voices I listen to among the many industry
players, and therefore I believe he does not
fall into the category of those Please invest
in property so WE can get rich group. His
view on relaxing some property rules may be
a personal view of his own and not for profit
interests.
Here are six reasons why property curbs
should NOT be removed today at least till a
correction happens.
1. Itstoo early
Private home prices registered their first drop
in seven quarters in the October-December
period, falling 0.9 percent quarter-on-quarter.
Meanwhile, public housing prices posted their
second consecutive quarterly drop, down 1.5
percent - the worst reading in eight years.
Unwinding existing tightening policies for
property simply because of a slight drop?
This may be too premature as prices in both
private homes and public housing are still
very much elevated.
For the government to roll back its policiesthat took four years to have an impact, a
major correction has to happen. And I believe
the government will continue its stand on
existing measures till that happens.
2. The market is not ready psychological ly
Market psychology plays a huge part in rising
asset prices and Singapores economy was
resting more and more on asset based
inflation supported by cheap liquidity in
-
8/13/2019 Singapore Property Weekly Issue 142
5/14
SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 142
Page | 4Back to Contents
recent years.
Credit growth and bank financing drive up
asset prices, causing lenders and borrowers
to believe that even more credit growth isboth safe and desirable.
The last four years of rapid property price
escalation has been played out, not by real
estate or economic fundamentals, but simply
because everyone believes in the fallacy of
an illusionary demand/supply dominated bythe market psychology of lemmings following
the crowd.
An even more vicious inflationary cycle will
happen. If the government begins to unwind
its policies, buyers want to buy, sellers want
to sell, banks want to lend, developers see
demand and want to buy more land and
build more, the government sells and
releases more landthe whole cycle will turn
on itself.
This will cause more supply in future and if
theres a correction, the results will be
distastrous to the economy.3. Still plenty of liquidity
Even with the recent Fed tapering, the world
is still awash with cash and developed-market
interest rates are close to zero. Liquidity
factors still have the ability to push real estate
markets to new highs and to crazy
overvaluation.
The dire consequences and outcome of
removing Sellers Stamp Duties (SSD) and
other property measures in a bullish real
estate market is unthinkable.
4. Gamblers dontdeserve sympathy
On the removal of the Sellers Stamp Duty
(SSD), Mr Getty Goh explained this move
-
8/13/2019 Singapore Property Weekly Issue 142
6/14
SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 142
Page | 5Back to Contents
would help property owners offload their
properties.
He said, Theseowners in the event that they
own two or three properties, giving risin
interest rates and their inability to do a
refinancing because of the Total Debt
Servicing Ratio (TDSR), may be compelled to
slash their prices to offload their property.
This could snowball into a longer term
problem when sellers flood the market aftethe Seller Stamp Duty expires in four years
time, precipitating a crash in prices.
Should we protect the interest of these
property buyers whose finances are not built
on solid foundations?
The owners who buy and sell properties
hoping to make a quick buck in a bullish
market, either during a sub-sale or when the
property T.O.Ps is gaming the property
market like a casino. When the Sellers Stamp
Duty and other property measures were
implemented, they got stuck and hope for
some form of salvation.
Removal of SSD by the government will only
send a negative message to more
speculators that flipping in a bullish market is
the right thing to do.
An analogy to the above:
Should we remove all casino regulations to
help more gamblers gamble?
Should we extend credit to gamblers to help
them recover when they incur bad gambling
debts?
Will the casinos in Singapore go under
because a bunch of gamblers lost money?
Professional gamblers understand risk and
protect the downsides to prevent losses
-
8/13/2019 Singapore Property Weekly Issue 142
7/14
SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 142
Page | 6Back to Contents
before they step into a casino. Shrewd
property buyers are the same.
The only downside protection ignorant
gamblers have is buyand pray. So let them
pray for now.
5. Higher Cost of Living for Most
Singaporeans
Removal of property measures at current
bullish levels will cause a further spike in land
prices (See Reason 2), adding inflation to all
asset prices. And this may result in a higher
cost of living for most Singaporeans.
6. Protect Genuine Home Buyers and
Conservative Investors
If Sellers Stamp Duty (SSD) and other
property measures are removed at current
point, property prices may continue to rise
given the above reasons. This certainly does
not bode well for many genuine home buyers
in both private residential and HDB.
Though most of the property measures are
targeted to the private residential market,
rising land prices have collateral effects on
the HDB BTO market as well.
Shouldnt the implementation of property
measures to curb rising prices be meant for
the majority of Singaporeans to afford and
buy a decent home at decent prices?
Or should the removal of the SSD and other
property measures be meant to protect
property speculators, and those with vested
interests?
Conservative investors can also help support
the vibrancy of a stable property market wheninvesting with decent yields. Todays yields
have been molested by current the indecent
high prices.
SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY I 142
-
8/13/2019 Singapore Property Weekly Issue 142
8/14
SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 142
Page | 7Back to Contents
Moving Forward
On the contrary, more cooling measures are
needed as prices have not come down to
acceptable and reasonable levels.
Removing property curbs is supposed to
allow more sellers and buyers to come into
the market, but in todays climate where
prices are still adamantly high, will only add
oil to the fire.
Historically, property curbs are removed
whenever there is a major price correction.
This removal and correction will bode well for
many genuine buyers and investors.
Property prices climb up by the escalator and
come down by the lift. A combination of risinginterest rates and increased supply in the
market could trigger a correction in 2014 to
2015, according to Barclays. The bank
estimates home prices will fall 5 percent this
year and between 5 and 15 percent next year
and maybe more.
For genuine buyers and investors, my advice
to you is be patient and avoid buying with the
lemmings, as the next eventual major
correction may just be around the corner.
Debt and leverage caused the 2008 crisis and
now debt and leverage are greater than at
any point in history. History always repeatsitself and this will end in tears.
As for the speculators, their turn is soon over.
By guest contributor Gerald Tay, CEO of
CREI Academy Group, who exposes widely-
held property investment myths that haveproven highly ineffective in creating wealth,
and prevent a comfortable retirement for the
ordinary investor.
SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY I 142
http://www.crei-academy.com/http://www.crei-academy.com/http://www.crei-academy.com/http://www.crei-academy.com/http://www.crei-academy.com/http://www.crei-academy.com/ -
8/13/2019 Singapore Property Weekly Issue 142
9/14
SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 142
Page | 8Back to Contents
SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 142
https://www.coassets.com/https://www.coassets.com/ -
8/13/2019 Singapore Property Weekly Issue 142
10/14
SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 142
Singapore Property This Week
Page | 9Back to Contents
Residential
Opt imist ic out look for Riverbank @
Fernvale
Sale of units at UOL Group's 99-year
leasehold 555-unit private condominium
Riverbank @ Fernvale will begin next week.
The average price indication is slightly over
$1,000 psf. Prices of a 495 sq ft one-bedroom
unit start from $476,000, or around $962 psf.
A 947 sq ft three-bedroom unit starts from
$878,000 or $927 psf. UOL Groupsproperty
president Liam Wee Sin remains optimistic
about buyer response, despite falling resale
prices recently. Mr Liam says that their pricing
is realistic because the tender bid last year
was $489 psf ppr, and with the total debt
servicing ratio (TDSR), underlying demand to
upgrade is strong.
(Source: Business Times)
Savi l ls : pr ivate proper ty pr ices to r ise by
2%
The global real estate services providerSavills has forecast that overall prices of
private property could increase by 2 percent
in 2014, contrary to market expectations of
decreasing prices which are not supported by
the facts. In fact, Alan Cheong, the senior
director at Savills Research, Singapore, saidthat many mass-market and mid-tier projects
are in the hands of strong developers, who
are unlikely to lower prices below comparable
SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 142
-
8/13/2019 Singapore Property Weekly Issue 142
11/14
SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 142
Page | 10Back to Contents
benchmarks just to clear their stock.
(Source: Business Times)
Property sector hopes for the curb s to be
tweaked or remo ved
Property players are reported to hope that
some of the cooling measures introduced -
the total debt servicing ratio (TDSR) and
additional buyers' stamp duty (ABSD) - might
be tweaked or even rolled back. Donald Han,
managing director at Chesterton Singaporesaid that such measures could be loosened
up because they have had the desired
results. In addition, sub-sales and foreigners'
participation rates are now at a new low
compared to two years ago thanks to the
sellers' stamp duty (SSD) and ABSD, whilethe TDSR framework has significant influence
on escalating property prices and transaction
volumes.
(Source: Business Times)
Redas-NUS index s ends m ixed sign als
The latest Real Estate Sentiment Index
(RESI) survey, developed by the Real Estate
Developers' Association of Singapore (Redas)
and the National University of Singapore,
shows that the Composite Sentiment Index
capturing the overall market sentiment of
property developers increased to 4.0 in Q4
2013, from 3.9 in Q3 2013. Similarly, the
Future Sentiment Index reached 4.0 from 3.9.
However, 62 percent of the developerssurveyed anticipate a moderate decrease in
residential property prices in the next six
months, compared with 51.3 percent in Q3
2013. Ku Swee Yong, chief executive of
property consultancy Century21, said that
such mixed signals in the survey reflectmarket uncertainties.
(Source: Business Times)
SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 142
-
8/13/2019 Singapore Property Weekly Issue 142
12/14
SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 142
Page | 11Back to Contents
Resale f lat COV hits 2009 cr isis low mark
Median cash-over-valuation (COV) premiums
for Housing and Development Board (HDB)
resale units decreased from $5,000 in
December 2013 to $3,000 January 2014
similar to the previous low in the Global
Financial Crisis in June 2009. Eight out of the
28 HDB towns saw zero or negative median
COV. Nicholas Mak, executive director at SLP
International, said that HDB resale prices are
stabilizing, and need to be read in light of the
low transaction volumes in the same period
which could translate to a wide range of COV
figures. The flash report by the Singapore
Real Estate Exchange (SRX) shows that
Sengkang and Punggol had negative overall
COVs in January; while Bishan, Geylang,
Jurong West, Sembawang, Woodlands, and
Yishun recorded zero overall median COV.
Ong Kah Seng, director at R'ST Research,
expects that prices may fall about 5 percent in
the first half of this year, despite a small
increase of 0.3 percent in January 2014.
(Source: Business Times)
Commercial
Anso n House up for sale
Anson Houses current owner, CBRE Global
Investors, is reported to have put the 13-
storey office block up for sale with an
indicative pricing of $175-180 million, or$2,292-2,357 psf on net lettable area (NLA) of
76,362 sq ft. 20 percent of the building, which
is on a site with about 82 years of remaining
lease, is currently vacant, which suits
potential occupier who seeks to partly occupy
the building as well as provision for signage
and naming rights. The average passing rent
is about $8 psf per month with recent rent
standing at $8.50-$9.50 psf per month.
(Source: Business Times)
SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 142
-
8/13/2019 Singapore Property Weekly Issue 142
13/14
SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 142
Page | 12Back to Contents
Westgate Tower back on the leasing
market
Westgate Tower, the 20-storey office block
next to Jurong East MRT Station, is back on
the leasing market. A Sun Venture-Low Keng
Huat (LKH) consortium has appointed Jones
Lang LaSalle (JLL) and CBRE as joint sole
leasing agents. Just last month, Sun Venture-
LKH was granted options to buy the office
tower at $579.4 million, or $1,900 psf, from
the developers of the Westgate mixed-
development project CapitaLand,
CapitaMalls Asia and CapitaMall Trust. Sun
Venture managing director Alvin Teo said that
the new owners' asking rent is around $6.50
psf, compared with the previous ownerssindicating office rents of $8 psf a month.
(Source: Business Times)
Tuas South lo ng- lease indus tr ial site for
sale
A long-lease 34,189 sq ft industrial site in 17
Tuas South Street 5 has been launched for
sale by Expression of Interest for $8.9 million.
The site has a two-storey building with
production and storage space, a mezzanine
office with a GFA of approximately 39,795 sq
ft. The lease tenure is about 45 years.
Nicholas Ng, local director of investments at
Jones Lang LaSalle the sites exclusive
marketing agent, said factories with lease
tenures of more than 40 years are rare, and
that this site would be attractive to
industrialists with huge upfront costs or
leases expiring in the next few years.(Source: Business Times)
SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 142
-
8/13/2019 Singapore Property Weekly Issue 142
14/14
SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 142
Page | 13Back to Contents
Non-Landed Residential Resale Property Transactions for the Week of Jan 22 Jan 28
NOTE: This data only covers non-landed residential resale propertytransactions with caveats lodged with the Singapore LandAuthority. Typically, caveats are lodged at least 2-3 weeks after apurchaser signs an OTP, hence the lagged nature of the data.
Postal
District
Project NameArea
(sqft)
Transacted
Price ($)
Price
($ psf)
Tenure
4 CARIBBEAN AT KEPPEL BAY 2,583 2,715,000 1,051 99
5 REGENT PARK 1,152 1,295,000 1,124 99
8 KERRISDALE 1,485 1,700,000 1,144 99
8 KENTISH GREEN 1,076 1,070,000 994 99
10 8 NAPIER 2,777 8,608,700 3,100 FH
10 8 NAPIER 2,777 8,391,300 3,022 FH
10 GOODWOOD GARDENS 1,044 2,125,000 2,035 FH
10 THE MONTANA 775 1,533,690 1,979 FH
10 GALLOP GABLES 2,842 4,800,000 1,689 FH
10 CASA JERVOIS 1,227 1,925,000 1,569 FH
11 STRATA 1,066 1,750,000 1,642 FH
14 STARVILLE 1,270 1,220,000 961 FH
14 ASTOR 1,119 1,000,000 893 99
15 PEBBLE BAY 1,894 2,620,000 1,383 99
15 CELESTIA 646 855,000 1,324 FH
15 RIVEREDGE 1,593 2,060,000 1,293 99
16 COSTA DEL SOL 1,755 2,550,000 1,453 99
16 CHANGI GREEN 904 988,000 1,093 FH
16 EAST MEADOWS 1,216 1,200,000 987 99
17 COASTAL BREEZE RESIDENCES 1,173 1,080,000 920 99
20 SIN MING PLAZA 1,593 1,755,000 1,102 FH
20 FAR HORIZON GARDENS 1,389 1,100,000 792 99
Postal
District
Project NameArea
(sqft)
Transacted
Price ($)
Price
($ psf)
Tenure
21 1 KING ALBERT PARK 1,012 1,385,000 1,369 FH
21 BEAUTY WORLD CENTRE 1,873 1,615,000 862 99
23 THE MADEIRA 936 970,000 1,036 99
23 PARKVIEW APARTMENTS 1,087 850,000 782 99
23 PARKVIEW APARTMENTS 2,002 1,200,000 599 99
25 CASABLANCA 936 900,000 961 99
25 CASABLANCA 1,184 1,018,000 860 99
25 THE WOODGROVE 893 755,000 845 99
26 FOREST HILLS CONDOMINIUM 1,894 1,395,000 736 99