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I AGREE completely with Mr Ridzwan Abdullah, ‘Wrong time to raise property tax on HDB flats’ (ST, Dec 28).

It completes a trend of unreasonable price increases in Singapore. When you add up all the increases in 2007 - bus fares, taxi fares, GST, income tax, tax on utility bills, school bus fare hikes, bread prices and all the trigger effect - this property tax increase is insensitive.

HDB flats comprise basic housing for the people. That the property tax for private properties was raised is a lame excuse for the Government to do so for HDB flats.

In fact, judging from the problems we have in HDB estates that the authorities had not tackled satisfactorily - increased noise level, increased fire hazards, dengue problem, dumping of rubbish in corridors - there should be a decrease in property tax.

For the 35 per cent of us who pay income tax, there should be more rebates to cope with the increase cost of living.

Yum Shoen Liang

Source : Straits Times - 2 Jan 2008

Letter from LUCY HUANG

I thank Michael Chua Kheng Hwee and Tan Meng Lee for the advice in their respective letters, “Either buy a new condo or a new HDB flat” and “Make it mandatory - a one-for-one exchange”(Dec 28).

I was told by the Housing and Development Board (HDB) that I would have to wait two-and-a half years before I could apply for an HDB flat.

After applying, I would then have to wait an additional two to two-and-a-half years before being allocated a unit.

The developer who bought our estate has agreed to let us buy a unit when the project is completed. But this would only happen in one-and-a-half to three years.

So, buying a new condominium or HDB flat would leave us with no place to stay in the interim period.

Buying a new condominium that has just obtained its Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP) is also not feasible.

By the time the TOP has been obtained, all the units would have already been sold and those who bought them would ask for much higher prices.

These new developments would also not be ready by the time we have to move.

Furthermore, their rooms are extremely small and our beds would not even fit into the master bedroom.

It is a real problem. However, I do at least feel very happy that there are those in Singapore who are concerned enough about the plight of the displaced elderly, to try and offer helpful suggestions.

Source : Today - 2 Jan 2008

IT WAS a year in which property prices soared and the earnings of property companies surged with them.

But the government’s move on Oct 26 to discourage speculative buying by withdrawing the deferred payment scheme for private property purchases led to a steep fall in the share prices of Singapore developers in November and December, wiping out most of their gains earlier in 2007.

Most have not recovered, which means any gains in their market value over the year were lacklustre compared with advances of more than 80 per cent for the largest Singapore developers in 2006.

Among the bigger developers, GuocoLand saw its market value grow the fastest in 2007 - both in dollar and percentage terms.

Its market capitalisation rose from $1.72 billion at the end of 2006 to $5.01 billion at the end of trading yesterday - an increase of almost three times.

By contrast, CapitaLand, the largest developer here, ended the year with a market cap of $17.6 billion, just 2.1 per cent higher than at the end of 2006.

City Developments, the second-largest developer here, saw its market cap rise 11.8 per cent during the year to $12.9 billion.

Keppel Land’s market cap rose just 5.6 per cent to $5.24 billion, while UOL Group’s market cap rose 4.3 per cent to $3.6 billion. Singapore Land saw its market cap shrink 7 per cent to $3.3 billion.

Some of the smaller developers did turn in big gains. SC Global Developments, for example, saw its market cap rise from $372 million to $956 million during the year.

Overseas developers listed here also saw larger gains. Hongkong Land, a commercial developer in Hong Kong, saw its market cap grow 17.2 per cent to $16.4 billion.

And Yanlord Land, a mainland Chinese developer listed here, saw its market cap rise 47.1 per cent to $6.01 billion.

Source : Business Times - 1 Jan 2008

MTI puts only one site on confirmed list, although it keeps 7 sites on reserve list.

THE Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI)’s industrial land sales programme for H1 2008 seems to reflect a slowdown from the preceding programme for H2 2007.

MTI is releasing just one site through the confirmed list in the latest slate, a 1.68 hectare site at Woodlands Industrial Park that can be developed into a project with a maximum gross floor area (GFA) of 42,000 sq metres.

In contrast, the H2 2007 programme had two confirmed list sites with a total maximum potential GFA of 156,900 sq metres.

Both sites have been sold. The government launches tenders for confirmed list sites according to a prestated schedule, regardless of demand.

And although MTI is sticking to seven reserve list sites - these are launched only upon successful applications by developers - for H1 2008, the 174,570 sq metres maximum GFA they can potentially yield is slightly lower than the 190,800 sq metres that can be generated from the seven reserve sites in the H2 2007 programme.

‘Perhaps the MTI’s slowdown in industrial land sales reflects its own outlook of slower economic growth for 2008,’ a senior property consultant suggested.

Agreeing, another veteran consultant, Colliers International managing director Dennis Yeo, said: ‘They probably want to moderate industrial land supply because economic growth is likely to be slower in 2008. Nevertheless, the reserve list for H1 2008 having seven sites will ensure there’s sufficient supply - if developers and industrialists identify demand for them.

‘The reserve list method of supplying land is market-led rather than force feeding the market, which is what the confirmed list can sometimes be,’ Mr Yeo said.

The latest slate of reserve list sites comprises three new plots at Ubi Ave 4, Kallang Pudding Rd and Serangoon North Ave 4, and four sites which are being rolled over from the H2 2007 reserve list - comprising two plots at Yishun Avenue 6, and a site each at Toh Tuck Avenue and Ubi Ave 4/Ubi Road 2.

Among the newer sites, property consultants ranked the ones at Ubi and Kallang Pudding as the choicest. Savills Singapore head of industrial Dominic Peters observes that all three new reserve sites are relatively small plots (ranging from 0.54 hectare to 1.14 hectares in land area) and expects them to attract strong response.

‘The best would be the Kallang Pudding and Ubi sites; they’re likely to fetch around $55-60 per square foot per plot ratio’, citing their location in the central part of Singapore and assuming they are close to the Circle Line MRT Stations.

Colliers’ Mr Yeo predicts the Kallang Pudding and Ubi plots may fetch much higher prices - $70-100 psf ppr. ‘If the sites are within close proximity to the new Circle Line MRT Stations, the timing of their development would be just right,’ he added.

Seven of the eight sites in the latest slate are being offered on 60-year leasehold tenure, while the reserve list plot at Toh Tuck Avenue has a 30-year leasehold tenure.

With the exception of the Woodlands Industrial Park plot which is zoned Business 2 (B2), the other seven plots are zoned for Business 1 (B1) meaning they can be developed for a range of clean and light industrial, and warehouse use.

B2 sites can be used for B1 purposes as well as for general industrial use.

Source : Business Times - 1 Jan 2008

Land release to keep up supply, ease pressure on business costs.

ONE new industrial site - in Woodlands - will be put up for tender early this year, while three in north and central Singapore will be open for applications.

The land release, announced by the Ministry of Trade and Industry yesterday, is designed to keep up the supply of land and take some of the pressure off business costs.

All four plots listed yesterday come with 60-year leases.

A 1.68ha plot in Woodlands Industrial Park is on the confirmed list and will be put up for tender in May.

Another three - a 1.14ha site in Ubi Avenue 4, a 0.54ha site in Kallang Pudding Road and a 0.8ha plot in Serangoon North Avenue 4 - will go on the reserve list in the first half of the year. These will be put up for sale only if a potential buyer commits to bidding a minimum price acceptable to the Government.

Apart from these plots, there are four others - in Yishun Avenue 6, Toh Tuck Avenue and Ubi Avenue 4 - already available for developers to bid on.

Property consultants said the latest list was a good mix of locations to meet demand for industrial space, but some pointed out that the amount of land had shrunk from previous programmes.

In the first half of last year, the Government put out a total of two sites on the confirmed list. This meant the sites were put up for tender at specific dates. It also offered another two sites under the same conditions in the second half.

The head of Knight Frank’s research and consultancy, Mr Nicholas Mak, said the Government is probably toning down as there is enough potential supply out there.

Mr Donald Han, the managing director of Cushman & Wakefield, expects demand to come from two areas: companies that have been forced out of their office premises on the fringes of the Central Business District because of rising rents; and firms bearing the brunt of rising rents within existing high-end industrial parks.

The latter, he said, would be looking to buy their own premises to lock in property costs.

Rents in districts like Alexandra Technopark have risen from about $3 per sq ft (psf) to more than $4 psf now and may continue heading northwards this year, Mr Han said.

‘We will see spillover demand coming out of high-tech parks and going into industrial space,’ he said.

He predicted that the new sites in well-located areas like Kallang Pudding and Toh Tuck would see the most action, especially from developers wanting to build multi-user facilities and sell them on a strata-title basis.

But he has also urged the Government to put out more sites around more centrally-located areas like Paya Lebar, Kallang and the Lower Delta area, which are popular for their accessibility.

‘The sooner we get this out, the sooner supply will meet demand,’ added Mr Han.

Savills’ industrial director, Mr Dominic Peters, felt there was some demand for industrial sites up north, but there could be a mismatch in supply due to the nature of the sites being offered.

The new 1.68ha Woodlands plot put up for tender, for example, may be too small for companies looking for premises on the ground floor.

Mr Peters said developers would need at least 2ha to 3ha to build efficient ‘ramp-up’ buildings, which give each industrial unit in a multi-storey building ground-floor access via giant ramps.

Still, he expected demand for industrial sites to be ‘good’ for the next one to two years.

Source : Straits Times - 1 Jan 2008