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There  has been disturbing talk in the media recently that the restrictions on foreigners buying landed homes in Singapore could be relaxed.

I hope the authorities would quickly nip this rumour in the bud before there is too much public disquiet.

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.

Goldman Sachs argues that this change would serve as a catalyst for further foreign buying of private homes and 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 public housing catering to 80 per cent of us.

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

Goldman Sach’s reference to public housing also comes across as being a tad condescending to me.

Hence I agree fully with the industry’s opinion leaders, who were quoted to be mostly against this proposal.

Mr Charles Chong, chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee (National Development and Environment), was quoted as saying: ‘Landed properties should not be priced out of Singaporeans’ reach (or) it could lead to disgruntled Singaporeans.’

Others 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 Pearl S. Buck’s The Good Earth, the protagonist Wang Lung chided his sons when he overheard them talking about selling the land which he had loved so much. He said: ‘…if you sell the land, it is the end.’

Dr Huang Shoou Chyuan
 
Source : Straits Times - 28 Jun 2007

The recent report and recommendation by an American bank that the restrictions on foreigners to purchase landed property be lifted is something which I feel the majority of Singaporeans would be up against.

Additionally the economic arguments are flawed. The report seems to imply that lifting the restrictions will reduce the supply crunch and help control prices.

I think lifting the restrictions will have detrimental effects - landed property prices will experience sharp jumps leading to an even greater frenzy in the property sector. Cost of living and cost of business will jump again, leading to higher inflation and further reduce our cost-competitiveness.

However, the most important factors against it are the sociopolitical effects.

Singapore is a country owned by Singaporeans. If the restrictions are lifted very soon, Singaporeans will be renting from foreigners to live in Singapore, leading to alienation and resentment among the population.

Lifting the restrictions belittles the privileges of citizenship too.

In the same way that National Service is expected only from citizens, certain rights and privileges should continue to be reserved for citizens.

David Ng Boon Kiong
 
Source : Straits Times - 28 Jun 2007

It is timely that our Government should rescind the strict ruling on foreigners buying landed properties in Singapore. It was imposed decades ago due to abuses and loose regulations then that affected citizens.

Over the years that I have witnessed the development of our property market, there has been no runaway prices seen in the 1960s.

I have been a supporter of conserving old landed properties and, having invested heavily in one, I found that for more than 10 years, I have yet to see any increase in my landed property which is a conservation terrace house, fully modernised at great cost, without expecting any subsidy from the Government.

Now that I have a need to dispose of my conservation property to reduce my costly bank borrowing, I face great hardship in trying to dispose of my conservation property for two main reasons.

I have foreigners keen to buy but they are put off by the need to apply for special permission which takes time. As a result, while condominium prices have gone up since last year, my conservation property of 3,000 sq ft remains stagnant in terms of price increases. Even if I could sell, the price is very low.

I appeal to the Government to rescind this ruling so that those of us who have maintained conservation properties for the good of the nation would not be penalised in this way.

Anna Su-Yin Wang (Ms)

Source : Straits Times - 28 Jun 2007

Bids of more than $1 billion are expected for a large site on top of Outram Park MRT Station, which was released by the Government yesterday.

The 2.56ha plot, at the junction of Outram Road and Eu Tong Sen Street, is set to attract keen interest from property developers due to its good location and large size, property consultants said.

The site is also notable for being the first one to be offered for development in Pearl’s Hill, thus kick-starting the area’s redevelopment, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said yesterday.

The area is planned for a mix of homes and commercial buildings set within a garden. It will centre on Pearl’s Hill City Park, which will be transformed into two parks.

The new site will offer direct frontage to one of these parks, the URA said.

Half of the site’s total gross floor area of 1.54 million sq ft must be used for offices. Another 20 per cent of the area, or about 308,000 sq ft, must cater to hotel rooms.

But the rest of the area is ‘white’ - which means it can be used for homes, shops, or more hotel or office space.

It is the only ‘white’ site to be released on the Government’s reserve list for the first half of this year.

Under the reserve list system, an interested buyer must submit a bid for the plot at an acceptable price to the Government, which will then put the site up for public tender.

Consultants such as Mr Li Hiaw Ho, executive director of CB Richard Ellis Research, said the plot is a ‘prime site with lots of commercial potential’.

‘We expect the site to fetch about $650 to $700 per sq ft per plot ratio,’ he said. This puts the total price at between $1 billion and $1.08 billion.

‘In view of the large size of the development, interested developers are likely to form a consortium to jointly bid for the site,’ he said.

Mr Li added that the ‘white’ area of the site is likely to be turned into a retail mall to cater to the high pedestrian volume streaming out from Outram Park MRT Station as well as the ‘dense residential population’ in the area.

It ‘offers developers an opportunity to develop a good-quality mall to rejuvenate the retail scene around Chinatown’, he said.

The Pearl’s Hill area - known for its old landmark buildings, myriad hotels and its proximity to Chinatown - has been in the spotlight recently.

Pearl Bank Apartments, a 30-year-old development just outside the Pearl’s Hill City Park, is said to be gunning for a collective sale that could fetch more than $500 million.

Source : Straits Times - 28 Jun 2007

Six new industrial sites were put on the Government’s land sales list yesterday.

The sites, with a total area of 11.7ha, will be released in the second half of this year.

Two of the plots are on the confirmed list, which means that they will be put up for sale on a pre-determined date.

The first, a 5.1ha site in Sin Ming Lane, will be released in August. Another 2.1ha site in Jalan Tepong will follow in September.

The remaining four sites will be made available on the reserve list. To trigger a public tender for them, a developer will have to submit an acceptable minimum bid to the Government.

The sites comprise a 0.8ha site in Toa Payoh at the former Playfair Primary School, a 1.5ha plot at Yishun Avenue 6, a 1.2ha parcel at Ubi Avenue 4, and a 1ha site at the junction of Pioneer Road and Tuas Avenue 11.

In general, these four plots ‘appear more attractive than the two confirmed sites’, said Ms Tay Huey Ying, director of research and consultancy at Colliers International.

This is because they are mostly smaller, more centrally located and more suitable for general business uses. All four sites on the reserve list can be partly used as substitutes for office space.

She added that the Toa Payoh and Ubi parcels are particularly appealing.

But she also said it is unlikely that these plots will help alleviate the current office shortage.

‘By the time they are sold and completed, they are likely to coincide with the completion of the Business and Financial Centre as well as all the other office redevelopments,’ she said.

‘By then, the office supply crunch would have ceased somewhat.’

Source : Straits Times - 28 Jun 2007