Singapore Property News This Week #149

Residential

Record proportion made by sub-800 sq ft units

47.6 percent of non-landed private homes sold in 2013 were reported to be small units of up to 800 sq ft – a record for the unit type, compared with 43.4 percent in 2012 and over 40 percent in 2011. CBRE Research associate director Desmond Sim commented that this shows a ‘function of supply’ where developers reduced unit sizes to make the absolute price quantum affordable to buyers affected by tighter loan limits. This increase was not due to shoebox apartments (below 500 sq ft) but due to 500-800 sq ft units. In fact, the proportion of 500-800 sq ft units went up to 34.4 percent in 2013, compared with 29.7 percent in 2012 and 25.9 percent in 2011; while the proportion of shoebox units went down from 13.8 percent in 2012 to 13.2 percent in 2013.

(Source: Business Times)

New BTO flats still in demand

In HDB’s second Build-To-Order (BTO) launch in 2014, another 3,497 flats in the non-mature towns of Sembawang, Sengkang and Yishun will be released, making the total number of flats for sale reach 6,636 for this year. These newly launched flats are of two-room, five-room, three-generation (3Gen) types for the needs of first-timers, second-timers, multi-generation families and singles. Analysts said that healthy interest in BTO flats is still expected, in spite of decreasing prices and slowing sales in the resale market.

(Source: Business Times)

Government releases three 99-year leasehold sites

The government has released three 99-year leasehold sites which will yield 1,300 housing units. The first two sites are executive condominium (EC) sites as Yishun Street 51 up for tender from the confirmed list of the Government Land Sales (GLS) programme, yielding 1,010 units. The gross floor area (GFA) of Parcel A is 50,302 sq m, and of Parcel B is 51,139 sq m. Their closing date is May 22. The third site is the condominium site at Margaret Drive with a permissible gross floor area of 22,195 sq m, yielding 275 units. It will be put on sale upon the lodging of an acceptable offer.

(Source: Business Times)

Fixed-rate loans rise among home buyers

DBS Bank said that one in two home buyers took up fixed-rate loans, compared with 30 percent in early 2014 due to rising interest rates. The key three-month Sibor (Singapore interbank offered rate) increased to 0.40568 per cent, up 0.9 percent from the previous week, and up 9.3 percent from about a year ago. This could make buyers aware of the quickly changing rates in reaction to market events, and choose an attractive set of rates in a mostly low-interest environment. DBS Bank expected the interest rates to continue going up.

(Source: Business Times)

Units at the Draycott condo up for sale

38 units at the Draycott condominium (30 units in the tower block facing Goodwood Hill) have been put on sale by expression of interest by the investment holding company of the family that developed the condo. The estimated absolute price is $198 million, or $1,900 psf for the 104,429 sq ft of the total strata area, which comprises 31 percent by share value and strata area of the whole development that has a total of 133 units. The site is along Draycott Park, next to Ardmore Park.

(Source: Business Times)

Tampines condo launched on March 29

597-unit condominium The Santorini at Tampines Avenue 10, developed by MCC Land – a unit of Hong Kong and Shanghai-listed Metallurgy Corporation of China, has been launched on March 29. The development is surrounded by Bedok Reservoir and Tampines Quarry, and is Mediterranean-inspired. The expected average price is from $1,100 to $1,200 psf, consistent with consultants’ price forecasts of above $1,100 psf as the break-even price for the project is from $940 to $1,050 psf.

(Source: Business Times)

More properties up for auction, few sold

As sellers have difficulty moving sales in the secondary market, they turn to the auction market, causing the number of properties put up for sale via auction to increase. However, cautious buyers did not quickly make transactions. Colliers International said that 132 properties were put up for sale via auction in Q1 2014, compared with 120 in Q4 2013. Only six properties were sold in Q1, making $17.87 million and which was a 76.5 percent drop from 2013 with the sale of four high-value properties.

(Source: Business Times)

Q1 investment sales stayed quiet in Q1 2014

Figures from CBRE and Savills showed that investment sales of Singapore property were stagnant for Q1 2014. Residential property sales under the Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme accounted for 49 percent of the $3.8 billion of investment sales volume. The final figure of the sale volume is expected to be more than the $3.9 billion of Q4 2013, although both figures were the lowest since the $3.3 billion tally of Q4 2009. Savills said that the situation could be caused by weak investment during the Chinese New Year festivities, the Total Debt Servicing Ratio, and the price gap between buyers and sellers.

(Source: Business Times)

Commercial

Retail rents remain sluggish in Q1

DTZ Research said that retail rents remained sluggish in Q1, 2014. Transactions were reported to take longer, retailers were unaffected by rent increases, and landlords’ asking prices were unshaken. An approximately 2.4 million sq ft of net lettable retail space completed in 2014, however, was thought to be able to change the situation since it accounts for 45 percent of the total 5.4 million sq ft retail space released until 2018. 56 percent of this 2.4 million sq ft is in suburban areas, 24 percent in city fringes, and 20 percent in Orchard/Scotts Road.

(Source: Business Times)

399 Eunos industrial units to be relocated

Under the Industrial Redevelopment Programme (IRP), the 14th batch of 399 units across 26 blocks in the Eunos Industrial Estate will be relocated by HDB for future redevelopment. The tenants will be given replacement units in the Industrial Complex in Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 3, which will be completed in the middle of 2018. The remaining units will also be relocated in other IRP batches. The IRP was launched in 1997 with 13 IRP batches until now and has relocated 3,000 industrial units.

(Source: Business Times)

2 JTC industrial sites for bids

Two ready-to-build industrial sites Plot 49 and Plot 51 at Tuas South Street 9 under the Industrial Government Land Sales (IGLS) programme have been launched by JTC for bidding. Each site is 8,369 sq ft in size and the gross plot ratio is one. The tenure for both sites is 21 years two months.

(Source: Business Times)

Detached shophouse block at Kampong Glam up for sale

The freehold, detached shophouse block at Kampong Glam and three adjoining plots of prime good class bungalow land were up for sale by expression of interest. The shophouse block in particular has three shophouse units of part one-storey and two-storey shophouses at 32, 34 and 34A Sultan Gate. The current tenant is in the food and beverage industry, and their lease ends in September 2015. The indicative price is around $28 million for a land area of about 7,401 sq ft. The site is flanked by a public car park and a side lane.

(Source: Business Times)