Condo in Vancouver, perhaps?

A condominium being developed in Vancouver is being launched in Singaporetoday.

The 57-storey Vancouver House will be the third tallest building in the city when it is completed in 2018, said its Canadian developer Westbank.

The top 10 storeys of 55 units are categorised as “estate floors” while the remaining 333 homes are part of the “architect series”.

Units range from studios of 431sqft to four-bedders of 3,928sqft.

Prices start from about C$300,000 (S$347,000) to C$6 million, translating to an average price of C$800 to C$2,000psf.

Westbank marketing director Michael Btaun said that 40% of the project has been reserved for foreign buyers while 30 units have been set aside for the Singapore market.

“The nice thing about the Canadian market is that it doesn’t have large swings like those in Hong Kong or the United States.

“There is more demand than supply in the market, and it appreciates year after year,” added Mr Braun.

Rental yields are expected to fall between 5 and 6%, he noted.

The tower, distinct for its twisting silhouette, was designed by Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, who was also behind the West 57th Streetdevelopment in New York.

The freehold property is being marketed by Christie’s Singapore, a unit of local firm SQFT Group, which specialises in marketing overseas properties.

Info source: ST

 

The wife and I wonder if the market poly of setting aside only 30 of the 155 units reserved for foreign buyers will generate the necessary hype for this project. And typical for developments being marketed out to Asian countries with primarily Chinese buyers, i.e. Singapore and more importantly Hong Kong, which is a primary market for new developments in Vancouver and Toronto, you may already have noticed that the total number of units in Vancouver House is 388!

The indicative prices for this project is rather steep, probably because of the targeted buyers (Singaporeans, Hong Kongers and especially mainland Chinese are rich mah!). But buyers can supposedly borrow up to 65% to finance their purchases. 

The half page advert in ST today said that the mixed-waterfront project (retail, office, restaurants and residential) is located in Vancouver’s downtown CBD. It is a 6-minute walk to Yaletown-Roundhouse station and a 2 minutes train ride to city centre. Amenities include concierge service, wellness centre and heated rooftop swimming pool. There is also a fleet of BMW vehicles available for residents’ use.

The Singapore road-show this weekend is supposedly a review ahead of the official launch in Vancouver on 20 September 2014. Developer is offering 2 years of free rental management (leasing and management fees absorbed).

So for those who are interested and have some free time this weekend, the road-show is being held at Four Seasons Hotel (Temasek Room @Level 3). The wife and I have never ventured into Canada (yet) and this project looks rather interesting. So who knows, you might just see us at the exhibition!

Click on link below to go to the marketing website of Vancouver House:

http://vancouverhouse.ca/

 

ABSD: Give Singaporeans a break, says Wing Tai boss

Wing Tai chairman Cheng Wai Keung has urged the government to keep the additional buyers’ stamp duty (ABSD) for foreign buyers but fine-tune it for Singaporeans who wish to buy more than one property.

 

While many players lament a drying up of foreign buying – especially in the high-end residential sector due to the punitive ABSD rate, and hope that the authorities would reduce the rate, if not do away with the charge altogether – Mr Cheng shared a different perspective.

 

 

ABSD should be retained for foreigners as the danger posed by foreign hot money still lurks. But the total debt servicing ratio (TDSR) framework is already in place for Singaporeans to limit their debt exposure.

 

The original intent of the ABSD is to deal with excessive liquidity flooding in from developed countries’ monetary policies. And the conditions that necessitated the introduction of the ABSD by MAS have not abated. Notwithstanding QE (quantitative easing) tapering moves in the US, interest rates are still expected to stay low, and countries like Japan and Europeare still expanding their liquidity policy. Hence it is prudent for government not to remove the ABSD on foreign buyers for now.

 

However, Singaporeans who wish to purchase additional residential properties for investment should be given relief from the ABSD, Mr Cheng said. “Why should they be dealing with three policies – SSD, ABSD and TDSR? Especially with the TDSR in place to limit debt exposure and SSD to prevent short-term trading. I believe that it is redundant to continue imposing ABSD on Singaporeans who have the financial ability and wish to invest locally in real estate.”

 

Given that the market has already responded to the cooling measures – demand has shrunk and prices have softened – it is timely for the government to consider opening up options for Singaporean investors so that they may invest their excess funds in the local property market, which provides greater protection for buyers and is considered relatively less risky than foreign property markets.

 

“This can be a win-win situation for both the industry and the domestic investor market,” Mr Cheng said.

Info source: BT

The call that Mr Cheng made to get reprieve from ABSD for Singaporeans is actually quite shrewd on at least two counts:    
 

1. It subscribes to the “Singaporeans first” call that many locals have been clamouring the government about. By suggesting that ABSD should be eased for Singaporeans but maintained for foreigners, Mr Cheng will probably garner quite a bit of support from his fellow countrymen. 

2. It reaffirmed to some extent the notion that the “meat” when comes to property purchases in Singapore still resides with the locals. Foreign buyers, which no doubt have been increasing in numbers over recent years, may not necessarily be as “evil” in terms of inflating property prices as many of us made them out to be… at least not across all sectors of the private residential market anyway. This is because the bulk of the demand (70%) still comes from Singaporeans – foreign institutional and individual buyers currently constitutes only about 11% of total purchases. As long as Singaporeans are given a freer hand to participate in the market and willing to pay the prices that developers set , chances are that they are really the ones that are chasing up prices. Granted that the continual imposition of ABSD on foreign purchases will continue to dampen demand from foreign buyers, but the effects will primarily be felt on the upmarket/luxury sectors. And between cutting off a limb or removing the heart, the decision is quite straightforward really.