We are (or rather, the latest issue of The Real Deals) talking about Bishan.
The “3.6% and above” rental yield for developments around the area is not too shabby either, especially considering their “classier” cousins in Marina Bay are fetching only about 3%…
For reasons unknown, the “new” Blogger can no longer support embed documents as easily as before. So click on link below to access the report:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/91920401/The-Real-Deals-26-04-2012
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Mr Mak has asked a rather pertinent question: the wife and I actually do not know of anyone who lives in a “shoebox” apartment. Then again, we are probably the “old school” sort and coming from a totally different demographic.
So here’s a straw poll on our readers: What age group do you belong to and how many “shoebox”dwellers do you know?
Reference: “Shoebox units make up 27% of new sales”- The Business Times, 28th April 2012
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This should provide positive reinforcement to other potential “over $100 million en bloc aspirants”…
Reference: “Roxy-Pac acquires Jade Towers for $106.3m” – The Business Times, 27th April 2012
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The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has announced changes to the Housing Developers Rules (HDR) that will take effect from 18 May 2012.
The changes will enhance transparency in the real estate industry and enable home-buyers to make better informed decisions when buying a home.
Among the changes, developers will have to provide more information on the housing project and property to a home-buyer before the issue of an Option-to-Purchase.
The additional information has to include the estimated land area for landed property, drawn-to-scale location plan, and a breakdown of a unit’s floor area by the various spaces such as bedrooms, balconies and bay windows.
Developers will also be required to provide information on their track record to home-buyers.
In addition, URA said developers will have to obtain home-buyers’ consent before proceeding with changes to a housing unit.
Substantive changes to common property in the development must also be made known to home-buyers, who will have 21 days to express their objections in writing.
Existing controls on advertisements in newspapers and sales brochures will be extended to those on websites to prevent any false or misleading information.
Developers will also be subjected to a new deadline for the disbursement of refund. In the event where a home-buyer does not exercise the Option-to-Purchase, the developer has to refund 75 per cent of the booking fee within four weeks.
Under the changes, developers will also have to hand over the keys to the units within three weeks after receiving payment due, upon the issue of a Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP), or they may be liable to liquidated damages.
URA said the changes take into consideration feedback from various stakeholders in the real estate industry.
In a statement, the Real Estate Developers Association of Singapore (REDAS) said it welcomes the changes, and is committed to promote good practices and professionalism among developers to deliver better and higher quality homes.
In addition to the changes to the HDR, URA is also finalising changes to the Housing Developers (Control & Licensing) Act, which will take effect in the second half of the year.
The changes will include requirements on setting up show flats to depict the actual units accurately and the publication of transacted prices on a weekly basis.
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The number of new private homes sold in the first quarter of this year crossed the 6,600 mark – a record high, according to analysts. But have prices of private home sales peaked?
Riversound Residences and Palm Isles were among last month’s top four selling projects, all located in the suburbs.
March raked in over 2,300 new private homes, lower than February’s 2,400.
Still, the first three months of 2012 have seen monthly sales of private units peaking above 1,500 units – considered high by many analysts.
While analysts do not see a bubble forming in the property market, they said further cooling measures may only have a temporary effect. And the mid tier and high end market will still see correction of an estimated 15% by the end of 2012, dragging overall prices by 5%.
Chia Siew Chuin, director of research, Colliers, said: “When we talk about a property bubble, one has to be aware that we not only look at sales per se, but also at prices. The number of sales in this period is really supply-driven, but it is also likely to be at the expense of very little price movement we have seen in the market.”
Still, some analysts said developers are catering to demand, launching at least 2,000 units every month in 2012 – a figure only attained in April last year.
Chris Koh, director, Chris International, said: “The number of units being pushed out and the numbers being taken, you can see does not differ much. Like what we have shared, 2,500 units against a 2,300 take-up is actually a very healthy number.”
Contrasting market sentiment between the mass and luxury markets are likely to affect prices.
Ong Teck Hui, executive director, Credo Real Estate, said: “Where we are just talking about OCR where the volumes have been pretty strong, then the outlook for this year is fairly positive. We are likely to see a stable market with some slight upside in prices, perhaps 3-5%. For CCR, in particular, the softening of prices is likely to continue.”
With the record high number of new private home units being taken up, analysts said 2012 is set to outperform last year’s sales of 16,000 units.
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With all the buzz surrounding Sky Habitat and its “at least $1700psf” expected price, it makes one wonder if the recent “$900K HDB maisonette” transaction is a blip or a sign of things to come.
Having said that, the wife and I understand that this is NOT the first maisonette in Bishan that was sold for $900K – a similiar transaction was concluded back in 2010.
Right….
What use are proposed rules if they are not followed? Hopefully the actual implementation (when it happens) will come with a big “stick” to ensure that everybody toes the line.
And are you really surprised by the fact that “low-value floor areas” such as aircon ledges, planter boxes and balconies can take up more than 20 to 30% of a shoebox apartment?
Reference: “Random check: Showflats don’t fulfill proposed criteria” – The Straits Times, 9th Apr 2012
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This is what the chatters in our “Comments” column were about today.
Reference: “Wealthy foreigners can’t ‘buy’PR status anymore”- The Business Times, 4th Apr 2012
The Business Times today reported that a record 98.1% of 2011’s subsales were still profitable even after counting the seller’s stamp duty (SSD) where applicable as the overwhelming majority of the 2,337 units subsold last year had been purchased prior to the punitive SSD regime taking effect for units bought on or after Jan 14, 2011.
The average gain per unit for 2011 subsales was at a three-year high, according to a caveat analysis by Savills Singapore. Subsales refer to secondary market transactions in projects that have yet to receive a Certificate of Statutory Completion. Such deals are often seen as a guage of the level of speculative activity in the property market.
And for those wondering how shoebox units fared in the subsale market in 2011, the article below will throw some light on the subject.
Reference: “Shoebox units feature in last year’s subsales”- The Business Times
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Non-landed home prices in the secondary property market in Singapore continued to soften in the first quarter of 2012, with those in the prime districts 9, 10 and 11 faring worst.
According to a report by DTZ Research, resale prices of luxury condominiums and freehold condominiums in the prime districts fell by 0.8% and 0.7% respectively.
Resale prices of leasehold condominiums in the suburban areas registered a slight quarter-on-quarter increase of 0.3%, a moderation from the 1.0% growth in Q4 2011.
Transaction of non-landed homes also slowed to about 470 units per month over January and February. This was also lower than the monthly average of about 1,400 units in 2011.
DTZ Research attributed the lower prices and transactions to property cooling measures such as the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty measures implemented in December last year.
Competition from uncompleted projects is another factor that has impacted resale property sales, the DTZ report added.
The report highlighted that a high monthly average of 2,200 new units, excluding executive condominiums, were launched in January and February, compared to a monthly average of 1,510 units launched in 2011.
Resale prices of landed homes, however, rebounded in Q1 2012 after moderating growth for two consecutive quarters.
Freehold landed homes in suburban areas and prime districts 9, 10 and 11 respectively registered stronger price increases of 1.6% and 1% on-quarter, compared to 0.7% and 0.8% over the last quarter of 2011.
DTZ said that primary sales, excluding executive condominiums, averaged 2,143 units per month in the first two months of 2012, higher than the 2011 monthly average of 1,364 units.
Chua Chor Hoon, Head of Asia Pacific Research at DTZ said: “Projects that were launched previously are being re-launched to ride on the current buying momentum. If purchase demand continues to remain strong at above 1,500 units a month, we do not preclude the possibility of further government cooling measures.”
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SG PropTalk 