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YOU can keep your $1 million; retired technician Jim Klass won’t sell his Marine Parade flat for any amount.

‘So what if my flat can fetch a good price? Where are we going to live after that? Here, we have the sun, sand and sea,’ said Mr Klass, 75, who has lived in the five-room HDB flat with his wife, Carmen, for the past 30 years.

Last week, Mr Klass’ neighbour on the 23rd floor sold her 1,300 sq ft flat for a record $750,888 - about $200,000 above valuation - thanks mainly to the superb sea view from the living room.

And last month, another five-room flat in Marine Parade went for the then-record price of $730,000.

But news of prices has not sparked a flurry of sale orders. Many owners are retirees who have grown attached to the area and want to stay put.

Retired principal Chee Teck Kion, who lives on the 24th floor, gets such a cool sea breeze that he has never needed an air-conditioner in his more than 30 years there.

‘Sometimes, when it gets too windy, I have to wear a sweater in the house,’ said the 80-year-old who lives there with his wife.

Software consultant Janice Mun, 33, bought a third-floor flat in the block last year for its ‘excellent location’.

‘This place is near good schools, the beach and the city,’ said the mother of three, who paid just $375,000.

But some residents are now wondering if their five-room flats could fetch as much as $1 million.

A 40-year-old businesswoman, who declined to be named, said: ‘I’m very attached to this place but I might consider selling it if I’m offered $1 million.’

Her father paid about $40,000 for the flat in 1974.

Property agents said sellers have to be realistic.

Agent Benny Lim, who specialises in the Marine Parade area, said: ‘Such buyers are one in 100. Only people who have made money from en-bloc sales or retirees with pension payouts have that much cash.’

PropNex chief executive Mohamed Ismail thinks it doesn’t make economic sense to pay so much for a HDB flat because the valuation price will remain low.

Mr Ismail said: ‘At the end of the day, a HDB flat is a HDB flat. You can pay $1 million for it and come home to a neighbour who lives like a karang guni man. There might be urine in the lift. It is not comparable to private housing.’

Source : Straits Times - 2 Dec 2007

Billionaire tycoon Francis Yeoh, the man behind YTL Corporation, opens up about his life and loves.

WHILE his pals were off sightseeing during the school holidays, Malaysian tycoon Francis Yeoh was doing his own brand of ’site’-seeing: checking out the building sites run by his father’s construction firm.

It was no holiday. Mr Yeoh stayed and worked on rough terrain with the people who helped to build YTL Corporation.

Given that he now has a personal fortune well in excess of $1US billion ($1S.4 billion), a private island and two helicopters for his personal use, you would have to say it was time well spent.

Mr Yeoh has overseen the remarkable transformation of YTL from a tiddler worth $200,000 to a $13 billion conglomerate, with interests in construction, property, hotels and utilities.

Its latest move made headlines here last week when YTL paid an eye-popping $435 million for Westwood Apartments (above), a 30-year-old condominium in Orchard Boulevard.

It raised the usual questions that often follow one of the firm’s coups: ‘What is YTL and who is Francis Yeoh?’

While relatively unknown here, YTL is a household name across the Causeway.

Founded in 1955 by Mr Yeoh’s father, Tan Sri Yeoh Tiong Lay, whose initials inspired the firm’s name, YTL began life in a two-storey shophouse in Kuala Lumpur’s Jalan Bukit Bintang.

Its first two decades were successful, but then came the 1970s oil crisis.

‘It was a turbulent time,’ Mr Yeoh, 53, told The Sunday Times this week. ‘Two generations of savings were wiped out.’

Despite this, his father managed to scrape together enough money to send Mr Yeoh, the eldest son in a family of seven children, abroad to get a degree. ‘He wanted me to come back and change the way we do things.’

He earned a civil engineering degree, found a fresh perspective on business management and came home to revolutionise YTL, turning its fortunes around in 1978, when he took over the reins at 24.

Its aggressive expansion has seen profits grow every year for the last decade.

YTL moved into the utilities industry, becoming Malaysia’s first independent power producer and listed on the Malaysian bourse in 1985.

It ventured overseas, buying a stake in one of the biggest power distribution companies in Australia and a part of Indonesia’s second largest power generator.

It also bought English utility firm Wessex Water, a bold &pound1.2 billion ($3S.6 billion) swoop that prompted Britain’s Daily Telegraph to ask in a headline: ‘Who the hell are YTL?’

Many might regard the firm, with its surprising moves on the international stage, as a bit of a dark horse, but the same cannot be said of Mr Yeoh, for whom the phrase ‘flamboyant entrepreneur’ seems to have been invented.

He has an abiding love for the arts, especially opera, and counted the late Luciano Pavarotti as a good friend. On one occasion, Mr Yeoh flew 200 businessmen, politicians and celebrities to his private island - Pangkor Luat, off Malaysia’s east coast - for a Pavarotti concert.

He is also a keen buyer of art and fine wine and loves golf, skiing and the rarefied sport of flying helicopters. That’s why he has two.

Mr Yeoh is also an arts patron and funded KL’s new Performing Arts Centre.

His philosophy, for business and life, is ‘go for the best of the best’.

That approach can be seen at YTL’s Starhill Gallery in KL, a vast retail space with blue chip brands such as Louis Vuitton and Fendi.

This is also YTL’s approach to its next gambit: real estate in Asia, starting here in Singapore.

YTL owns majority stakes in two Sentosa Cove projects - Sandy Island and the Lakefront - and is planning luxury villas designed by Claudio Silverstrin, the architect behind Armani stores worldwide.

As gilded as his life has been, Mr Yeoh was touched by tragedy when his wife Rosaline died after a seven-year battle with breast cancer.

It had been love at first sight, with Mr Yeoh proposing to Rosaline, then a Hong Kong actress and TV star, within two weeks of meeting. ‘Both our mothers cried with joy’ at the news, he said.

‘She was very courageous and uncompromising in quality. If I did something wrong, she’d prod me. She always told me to go for the best.’

Mr Yeoh said that after her death, he felt like ‘a bit of my flesh was torn away from me’, but added that he was happy that she was in heaven.

Mr Yeoh, a born-again Christian, credits his success to God, and said: ‘I don’t fear death. Because I know I’ll go to a better place. And I… will see my wife again.’

His children, aged 15 to 26, are all Christians and named after Biblical characters: Ruth, Jacob, Joseph, Joshua and Rebekah.

It is perhaps his robust belief that gives him his unshakeable business confidence. ‘People ask if YTL will be as big as General Electric some day. I think, why not? I don’t think there’s a limit to how much YTL can grow.’

Source : Straits Times - 2 Dec 2007

DOWNSIZING is one way of fighting soaring rents, but expatriate Diana Cloe and her husband moved downstairs instead, going from their 24th-floor condominium apartment to a similar-size unit on the fourth.

The step down came after their landlord raised the rent for their 2,900 sq ft Anderson Road flat by 40 per cent in April.

They moved down 20 floors to a flat that costs $8,200 in monthly rent - 20 per cent higher than what they were forking out.

Expats who have been complaining about rising rent are feeling vindicated by a recent global survey.

The ECA International survey showed Singapore rising 10 places to rank as the ninth-most-costly Asian city for expats.

Private home rentals have jumped by 32.2 per cent since January, compared with 14.1 per cent for the whole of last year.

Ms Cloe’s American husband, a global development manager who did not want to be named, said: ‘The rents are crazy. My housing allowance was $7,000 but my company was gracious enough to up it.’

Mr Ervin Scully, head of corporate leasing at Knight Frank, said soaring rents have prompted many multinationals to increase expat pay by up to 30 per cent.

Indian expat Sonya Madeira said her boss increased the pay of all 13 employees by 10 per cent after a discussion on the rising cost of living.

Ms Madeira, associate director of Eastwest Public Relations, said the rent for her 1,600 sq ft Pasir Panjang flat doubled to over $3,000. ‘Prices are up but our salaries are not going up at the same pace, so it’s still a bit difficult to manage,’ she said.

Ms Madeira said her family might leave Singapore if rent hits $5,000.

The British and American chambers of commerce are concerned about the rise in rentals.

But Mr Terry O’Connor, president of the British chamber, said the Government’s recent ‘cooling measures’ such as axing the deferred payment scheme has helped redress the situation. But this may not be enough to retain some expats.

Brand consultant Simon Faure-Field, 37, was hit by the doubling of both his office and home rents.

His High Street office now costs $10,000 a month but he renewed the lease as alternative locations were equally expensive.

However, when the rent for his 1,400 sq ft Bukit Timah apartment doubled to $5,000, he moved to a similar-size apartment in Pasir Ris for $3,000.

He said: ‘I can live in Dubai for the same amount. But there, my company can charge up to thrice the price for our services.’

Top 10 The most expensive cities in Asia

1 Seoul

2 Tokyo

3 Yokohama

4 Kobe

5 Hong Kong

6 Taipei

7 Beijing

8 Shanghai

9 Singapore

10 Guangzhou

Source : Straits Times - 2 Dec 2007

Many resale units will reach the 10-year mark within the next three years, which means sale restrictions will be lifted and they can be marketed like any other private home.

EXECUTIVE condominiums (ECs) are back in the spotlight these days as private property prices climb beyond the reach of many upgraders.

These ‘hybrid’ properties, which come with the type of facilities found in private condos but with sale restrictions, were introduced in 1995 to help higher-income couples who had been priced out of the then booming private property market.

These projects became rarer during the property slump that followed their introduction.

However, their popularity has been revived of late given the growing gap between the prices of private and public housing.

One EC site in Punggol is on the reserve list, while another three EC sites, in Yishun, Jurong and Sengkang, will be added in the first half of next year.

This means they will be put up for tender when a developer commits to bidding a minimum price that is acceptable to the Government.

The outlook for resale ECs seems just as bright as that for new ECs. The first crop of ECs is nearing the 10-year mark, and they are looking more appealing in terms of investment value.

This is because, while resale ECs are generally 10 to 15 per cent cheaper than their fully private counterparts, their values are expected to rise when they turn 10 years old.

This is the point at which restrictions will be completely lifted, so they can be bought by anyone, including foreigners, and can hence be sold like any other type of private home.

New ECs cannot be sold within the first five years. They can be sold after that but, until they turn 10, only to Singaporeans and permanent residents. This effectively places a cap on their sale prices; there is no such cap on private condo prices.

Six of the existing 23 EC projects - Eastvale in Pasir Ris, Westmere in Jurong East, Simei Green, Windermere in Choa Chu Kang, Chestervale in Bukit Panjang and Pinevale in Tampines - will turn 10 in 2009.

Another seven projects will ‘mature’ one year after that.

The director of research and consultancy at Colliers International, Ms Tay Huey Ying, said: ‘The investor is likely to enjoy some capital appreciation in the short to medium term, provided the upcycle for the residential property market is sustained till then.’

The locations of the older ECs are a major attraction. The managing director of C&H Realty, Mr Albert Lu, said: ‘All ECs within a 10-minute walk of MRT stations will be good buys. As more spaces near MRT stations are taken up, the value of nearby ECs will continue to rise.’

Many of the first few ECs, such as Westmere, Simei Green and Eastvale, are located within walking distance of MRT stations.

The rental yields are attractive too. The rents they fetch are comparable to those for private condos: They come with similar facilities, but their yields are higher because they cost less to buy in the first place. The chief executive of property agency PropNex, Mr Mohamed Ismail, estimated that ECs have rental yields of 5.5 to 6.5 per cent, compared with just 4 to 5 per cent for private condos.

Still, there is some downside to buying resale ECs. House hunters should not expect luxurious trimmings because new ECs can be bought only by households earning not more than $10,000 a month. Mr Colin Tan, the head of research and consultancy at Chesterton International, said: ‘To ensure a reasonable profit margin, developers might lower the quality.’

For home hunter Tan Song Teng, 43, the biggest pull factors for resale ECs are their location and price. The banker, who is looking to buy a three-bedroom unit in Simei Green, said he was attracted by the lower price and the proximity to Simei MRT station.

‘You won’t be overpaying,’ he noted, predicting that even if the value of the property does not rise, it will not drop below current levels.

Source : Straits Times - 2 Dec 2007

Bank lending to sector reaches $105.7b, up 18%

Bank lending to the property sector continued to accelerate in October, growing at the fastest annual pace in eight years, according to new data from the Singapore central bank yesterday.

Overall loans growth in the banking sector also picked up in October, the latest estimates from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) show.

Loans to the broad property sector, comprising consumer home loans and business loans to the building and construction industry, reached $105.7 billion at end-October - up 18.1 per cent from a year ago.

The year-on-year expansion was the fastest since October 1999, when property-related lending grew by 19.5 per cent.

Over the month, property-related loans grew 3.2 per cent from $102.4 billion at end-September, the fastest monthly pace since Nov 1998.

Consumer home loans, which include mortgages as well as short-term ‘bridging loans’ offered by banks to buyers of new homes who are waiting to receive the cash from selling another property, grew 14.3 per cent from a year ago to $71.8 billion, the fastest since October 2004. Over the month, the growth was 1.9 per cent, slightly slower than the 2 per cent growth in September.

Much of the period covered by latest data precedes the government’s withdrawal on Oct 26 of the deferred payment scheme for private property purchases, which was aimed at discouraging speculative buying.

David Conner, chief executive of OCBC Bank, said at the release of the group’s third-quarter results on Nov 6 that he expects to see an increase in demand for mortgages over the next two years, partly due to the withdrawal of the scheme, as buyers of new private homes will now have to pay a larger portion of the cost of a property while it is being built instead of deferring payments until the building is completed.

Meanwhile, loans to businesses in the building and construction sector rose 27.1 per cent over the year - the fastest since December 1996 - and 6 per cent over the month to $33.9 billion at end-October.

Total customer deposits grew 20.8 per cent over the year to $311.9 billion at end-October, while total loans grew just 15.5 per cent to $224.1 billion.

On a monthly basis, however, loans growth has outpaced growth in deposits since June. Over the month of October, loans grew 2.4 per cent compared to 1 per cent for deposits.

With the rapid expansion in loans, the ratio of loans to deposits in the banking system has recovered slightly to 71.8 per cent at the end of October, after falling as low as 67.1 per cent at end-May - the lowest in the published MAS data series, which started in Jan 1991.

Overall, loans to businesses grew at a faster pace than consumer loans, both on a monthly basis and when compared to a year ago.

Loans to businesses grew 18.5 per cent over the year and 2.6 per cent over the month to $120.1 billion. Other than the building and construction industry, the rapid growth in business loans was mainly due to expansion in loans to financial institutions and to the transport, storage and communications sector.

Meanwhile, consumer loans expanded 12.2 per cent over the year and 2.2 per cent over the month to $103.9 billion, driven mainly by the surge in home loans. Share financing and credit card lending also continued to grow, although these account for less than 8 per cent of total consumer loans.

The number of credit cards in circulation grew 15.3 per cent over the year and 2.4 per cent over the month to 4.45 million at end-October, excluding supplementary cards. But the total credit card rollover balance - that portion of the credit card debt that is subject to interest charges - dipped slightly over the month to $2.85 billion.

Source : Business Times - 1 Dec 2007