Singapore Property News This Week #158

Residential

EC in Sembawang Ave launched for tender

Under the Confirmed List of the Government Land Sales programme in the first half 2014, a 99-year leasehold executive condominium (EC) at Sembawang Avenue is up for tender till July 10. The 22,189.7 square metres land, which has a maximum gross floor area of 62,131.2 square metres, is most likely to consist of 620 residential units. Last week, two other EC sites in Yishun were closed for tender. Following the winning bids of those sites, Eugene Lim from ERA Realty predicts that the site will be moderately popular. He predicts that there would be around 5 bidders, and the winning bid would be between $320 and $380 per square foot per plot ratio. Lim said that bid prices are not expected to be high due to the tight property market.

(Source: Business Times)

40,000 new HDB flats in the pipeline

As part of the Draft Master Plan 2013, the Housing & Development Board (HDB) will be launching 40,000 new units in three new towns, namely in Tampines North, Punggol Matilda and Bidadari. The former two towns will be launched in the second half of 2014; while the latter is expected to be launched in the second half of 2015. Four new housing districts will be launched in Tampines North. The first parcel, Park West District, will include 1,500 units. Designed for multi-generation families, 50 of the units in this district are “3Gen” flats. In Punggol Matilda, two Build-To-Order housing projects, Matilda Edge and The Verandah@Matilda, were launched in September 2013 and are expected to be completed in 2017. Another BTO project comprising of 1,000 units, will be launched in July this year. The 1,000 units will range from two-room to five-room flats. Subsequently, a total of 8,000 units are expected to be built in Punggol Matilda, a waterfront home area. Lastly, Bidadari Estate will consist of a 10-hectare park, public housing and a commercial development.

(Source: Business Times)

Private housing land supply expected to fall

Property consultants expect the government to cut land supply for private homes even further in the second half of 2014 as home sales have plunged and as there are still private housing developments to be released. However, to aid commercial hub development, commercial sites at Paya Lebar and Woodlands are expected to be released under the Confirmed List and/or Reserve List of the upcoming Government Land Sales (GLS) programme. On the other hand, no hotel sites were offered on the list in H1. Property watchers believe that there is sufficient supply, contrary to Chesterton Singapore’s concerns over a shortage of hotel rooms in the future. Furthermore, it is believe that a majority of the sites that will be launched for tender will be put on the Reserve List of the GLS programme in H2 2014. In H1 this year, through the Reserve List, the Ministry of National Development will launch 7,000 residential units, including 605 executive condominium units.

(Source: Business Times)

HDB flat values fell in 2014

The value of HDB flats held by households have fallen 0.7% year-on-year to $412.8 billion in 2013, according to the Department of Statistics (DOS). According to the data from DOS, the value of HDB flats may be tapering off as it rose 14.5% year-on-year in 2010, then 11.5% year-on-year in 2011 and 6.5% year-on-year in 2012 before its recent fall in 2013. The fall in HDB value came at the same time as a 2.4% increase in HDB flats to 961,800 units last year. This is likely to be due to an increase in build-to-order flats, tighter mortgage rules and a three-year waiting period for new PRs to buy resale flats, said Nicholas Mak, the executive director from SLP International.

(Source: Business Times)

April’s private home prices fall 1%

According to Singapore Residential Price Index (SPRI) estimates that were released on May 28, resale prices of private homes have fallen by another 1% in April as compared to March. Also, in March, prices dipped 1.4% from February. The data which was collected by the National University of Singapore’s Institute of Real Estate Studies excludes prices of small units measuring less than 506 square feet. Prices of those units fell 0.4% in April from March. According to the SPRI, home prices in the suburban region suffered a 2% decline in April as compared to March—the sharpest fall among all regions. Nonetheless, prices in the central region remained stable.

(Source: Channel NewsAsia)

First-timer BTO application rates dipped in May

Demand for Build-To-Order (BTO) flats among first-timers has slowed as application rates fell from 1.4 in April to 0.9 in the May. Property consultants believe that this was due to the clearing of backlog units. Also, as buyers opt for units from the Sale of Balance Flats, there was a fall in demand for BTO flats. Overall application rates of BTO flats from singles fell from 19.4 in May to 14.9 in April. However, Eugene Lim from ERA believes that demand from singles is expected to be high for subsequent BTO exercises.

(Source: Channel NewsAsia)

Commercial

New State Courts complex will be completed in 2019

In a ground-breaking ceremony that was graced by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, plans for the new States Courts were revealed. The new complex will comprise of 110,000 square metres of space with twin towers that are 150 metres high and linked by sky bridges. The new building will hold more than 60 courtrooms and over 50 hearings chambers. This is in comparison to the 40 courtrooms and 28 hearings chambers that it currently holds. The complex will be fully completed in 2019.

(Source: Business Times)

One Raffles Place reopens after facelift

Following a major renovation, One Raffles Place, which is located above Raffles Place MRT station, has reopened for business. The six-storey complex, which has a net lettable area of 98,500 square feet, has a committed occupancy of more than 90%. It major tenants include clothing retailers, H&M, Uniqlo and Victoria’s Secret. Besides the retail mall, the complex which is managed by OUB Centre Limited has two Grade-A office towers. Tower One is 62 storeys high while the other tower is 38 storeys high.

(Source: Business Times)

East Coast building sold for $43m to Automobile Association

A freehold five-storey commercial building at East Coast Road was sold for $43 million to Automobile Association of Singapore. This price reflected a 4.5% gross yield based on current rental generated by the building which is named Tides. The building is fully leased with food and beverages outlets on its first level, shops on its second level and offices on the remaining levels. The net lettable area of Tides, which is located at District 15, is 22,927 square feet.

(Source: Business Times)