SGHOUSING.COM 新加坡房地产网

More comprehensive data on the property market will be available from next month, enabling the Government and the public to better gauge the health of the sector, said Mr Mah Bow Tan.

There have been concerns that the recent increase in private home prices — more than 20 per cent in the last three years — is a bubble waiting to burst.

Even as more options such as executive condominiums (ECs) will be offered to keep private housing affordable, the Government has asked developers for more details about their sales, for a more complete picture of the market.

Said Mr Mah: “We look at the economy, we look at the various indicators. And it’s important for us to make sure that the data we get is accurate, is comprehensive, and is reaching us in a timely manner so that we can make those decisions.

“We will also push that data out into the market, to let the public know … then they will be able to make considered, rational, prudent decisions.”

The information will include pricing details and sales numbers for all new projects. Said Mr Mah: “The worst thing is for people to have incomplete information … create a panic, make people very anxious and they rush in.

“If we can provide the data — imminent supply, three-year supply, office space, residential — let this information go into the market so that people will know, ‘There’s this supply coming up, why are we rushing?’ — that’s what I hope for.”

By and large, property developers have been cooperative. He said: “We’ve explained to them that a transparent market is good for everybody. They understand that.”

And with the widening price gap between private and public housing, the Government will strive to provide more affordable options for young couples and HDB upgraders. These include ECs and Design, Build and Sell Scheme flats.

“I think 2005 was the last time we put up an EC site for sale. But now the gap is starting to widen, so it’s time for us to replenish the EC stock,” he said, referring to the recent release of a site in Punggol for that purpose.

Meanwhile, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said it is monitoring developments to ensure that banks not become overexposed to the property sector.

In response to queries from Thomson Financial, an MAS spokesperson said measures are in place, and added: “MAS is monitoring developments and has reminded banks to maintain prudent credit standards in their property-related loans.”

But analysts think it increasingly likely the central bank will step in to curb property developers’ practice of offering deferred payment schemes to property buyers, which shifts the financing burden to developers and construction companies.

Citigroup economist Chua Hak Bin said loans extended to building and construction companies surged 27 per cent year-on-year in April. In contrast, mortgage loans had risen just 5 per cent in April compared to the year before.

The Government last imposed curbs on the property sector in 1996, in the form of a capital gains tax, restrictions on CPF use and limits on property purchases by foreigners.

Source : Today - 29 Jun 2007

Property analysts had predicted that it was not likely to happen, but the local real estate market has just witnessed its first collective sale to bust the billion-dollar mark.

CapitaLand yesterday got the nod to buy Farrer Court collectively for $1.3388 billion, and plans to transform the ageing HUDC estate into a luxurious condominium with the help of partners including Hotel Properties (HPL).

The transaction price is below the $1.5 billion that the 618 homeowners had asked for.

Still, each seller is in line to receive between $2.122 million and $2.238 million, based on their apartment sizes ranging from 1,453- to 1,615 sq ft.

The owners have also been given the first right of refusal to buy the new homes that CapitaLand plans to build. This means they will be invited to a preview launch of the new development slated to be launched in the first half of 2009.

CapitaLand’s grand plans for the 838,488-sq-ft site will include partners: HPL, Wachovia Development Corp and possibly a foreign fund, said Ms Patricia Chia, chief executive of CapitaLand Residential Singapore.

Together, hey will build a luxury 36-storey condominium with 1,500 units — more than doubling the number of apartments on the existing site located at the corner of Leedon Heights and Farrer Road.

The project promises to be “a unique landmark project” created by “world-renowned architects who have an international portfolio”, said CapitaLand Group chief Liew Mun Leong.

Each consortium member will own part of a joint venture named Morganite. HPL said its stake would be between 20 and 30 per cent.

The deal works out to $762 to $783 per square foot per plot ratio, after taking into account the differential premium of $450 million to $500 million to refresh the lease to a 99-year tenure and to maximise the plot ratio to 2.8.

With the approval of the Strata Titles Board, the transaction is expected to be completed by the second quarter of next year.

Source : Today - 29 Jun 2007

The landlords are laughing but their tenants in Orchard most likely are not.

Rents in the shopping belt are inches away from the peaks of 1996, the year before a financial crisis shocked the region.

According to a report issued yesterday by CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), this year’s second quarter saw prime Orchard Road rents average $34.40 per square foot (psf) per month, veering close to the levels of $35.10 psf per month about 11 years ago.

“The tides have turned in recent years with the strong rebound of the Singapore economy. Efforts to rejuvenate Orchard Road with a lot more vibrancy are beginning to pay off,” said CBRE’s executive director for retail services Mavis Seow. Malls have become more attractive, as boutiques have been retrofitted while new brands have joined the fashion scene, she explained.

Unfortunately, shop owners are also starting to see red over higher rents. Ms Seow acknowledged she had heard complaints “every now and then”. But the hikes are “not a sharp rise. It’s a gradual increase”.

Back when Orchard Road prime retail rents hit rock bottom in 1998 at $23.40 psf per month, shops were not smiling, either. They were struggling to make ends meet during the initial years after 1997.

Looking ahead, Ms Seow expects prime Orchard retail rentals to grow by 4 to 7 per cent for the full year. This is faster than it did last year, when the pace was between 3 and 6 per cent, she said.

Meanwhile, some firms are feeling the heat of rising rents — especially downtown.

Banking giant HSBC has been moving parts of its operations out of Atrium@Orchard into Eunos and Alexandra premises, insiders told Today. A source said the bank was moving out because rents in Alexandra, reportedly drawing a growing number of financial institutions, are about a third cheaper than at its current office at Atrium.

But the Atrium space is unlikely to stay vacant for long, as other big-name banks are said to have their eye on it. 

Source : Today - 29 Jun 2007

Letter from Dr Huang Shoou Chyuan

RECENTLY, there have been reports in the media pushing for the restrictions on the sale of landed homes here to foreigners to be relaxed. I hope the authorities quickly nip this in the bud before too much public disquiet arises.

Goldman Sachs (Singapore) is lobbying for the rescindment of the Residential Property Act which has, since 1973, restricted foreigners and Permanent Residents from owning landed residential property without prior official approval.

The investment firm argues that this change would serve as a catalyst for further foreign purchasing of private homes as well as boost the current residential property up-cycle. To further support this argument, it implies that Singaporeans already have a stake in the country by virtue of the public housing catering to 80 per cent of us.

I doubt anyone in Singapore really feels that the property market requires any more encouragement. If anything, the reverse is true — in fact, the authorities are probably contemplating measures to cool the red-hot market and bring it down to a more sustainable level.

Goldman Sachs’ reference to public housing also comes across as being slightly condescending to me.

I agree with the industry’s opinion leaders, who were quoted to be mostly against this proposal. Government Parliamentary Committee for National Development and Environment chairman Charles Chong was quoted as saying: “Landed properties should not be priced out of Singaporeans’ reach (or) it could lead to disgruntled Singaporeans.”

Others, meanwhile, said that the existing Act has the positive effect of “encouraging foreigners to commit to Singapore, to sink their roots here” and that landed property ownership is one of the “privileges of being Singaporean”.

In American author Pearl S Buck’s The Good Earth, the protagonist Wang Lung chides his sons when he overhears them talking about selling the land which he loves so much. In his words: “If you sell the land, it is the end.”

Source : Today - 29 Jun 2007

Scarcity calls for special approval for purchases by foreigners

There are no plans to liberalise the existing restrictions on foreigners buying landed properties in Singapore, the Law Ministry said yesterday.

‘In land scarce Singapore, landed properties have to be treated as a special category where purchases by foreigners are subject to special approval,’ a MinLaw spokesman said.

Earlier this week, BT reported on a paper by Goldman Sachs (Singapore), which argued a case for lifting restrictions on foreigners buying landed homes in Singapore. The Goldman Sachs paper said such a change would serve as a catalyst for further foreign buying of private homes and boost the current residential property upcycle.

Removing the restrictions would result in some positive spinoffs, and residential developers could gain from even greater foreign buying interest given the positive message such a move would send.

‘We think relaxing restrictions on foreigners buying landed property would accelerate Singapore’s efforts to attract foreign talent,’ the Goldman Sachs paper had said.

However, some BT readers take a different view. One, Singaporean Patrick Chia, managing director of Hospitality Associates, who is a landed property owner, said: ‘If foreigners are allowed to freely buy landed property, all the non-government owned landed property could theoretically and practically be bought up, because in this 21st Century, the world is flush with liquidity.

‘The current abundance of petro-dollars from the oil-rich Middle-East countries and Russia can easily buy up Singapore. So can the current American and European funds with their billions. Bankers and real estate agents can confirm that foreign funds are looking for Singapore property assets to buy.’

Mr Chia, who has nearly 30 years’ experience in the Singapore property business, also recapped the historical circumstances in the early 1970s that led to the government introducing the Residential Property Act in 1973. That law bars foreigners, including permanent residents, from buying landed property here without prior government approval.

‘Way back in 1973, with the first oil shock when oil prices sky-rocketed, then-rich neighbours, Indonesians and Malaysians, were able to freely buy Singapore landed property and much of the prime landed real estate were bought by them.

‘The government, realising the future implications of such a scenario if left unchecked, wisely instituted the current curbs to foreigner purchase of landed property,’ Mr Chia added.

And over the past 30 years, the government has continuously relaxed the curbs as needed, and pointed out that the Singapore government has been very accommodating in this regard compared with many other countries. In Singapore, foreigners have to be PRs before they can receive permission to buy landed homes on mainland Singapore, and Sentosa Cove is the only location where foreigners who are not PRs are allowed to purchase landed property. Even then, foreign would-be buyers must seek permission from the Land Dealings (Approval) Unit under the Singapore Land Authority.

Foreigners, including PRs, can at any one time own only one landed home in Singapore and must occupy it themselves rather than renting it out.

Among the criteria that the Minister for Law will consider when asked to approve foreigners/PRs buying a landed home in Singapore are the applicant’s qualifications and whether the applicant has made, or will be able to make, adequate economic contribution to Singapore.

Typically, it takes about four weeks for approval to be granted, but on Sentosa Cove, the time has been cut to less than 48 hours under a special fast-track approval scheme.

The landed properties that foreigners and PRs may be permitted to buy must have a land area of no more than 15,000 sq ft, although exceptions have been made, with some PRs buying Good Class Bungalows, which have a plot size of at least 1,400 square metres (about 15,070 sq ft).

Foreign buyers may acquire an unlimited number of non-landed private homes, that is, condominiums and apartments. The only foreigners who may buy HDB flats on the resale market are PRs.

Source : Business Times - 28 Jun 2007