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OCBC Bank has appointed DTZ Debenham Tie Leung to auction off three freehold bungalows at Jalan Ampang in District 10 later this month. The expected price is understood to total around $14 million.

The bungalows, off Coronation Road West and near Astrid Hill, will be offered for sale individually at DTZ’s auction on June 29 at Amara Hotel.

The three bungalows - at 46, 48 and 48A Jalan Ampang - were in the news in April this year after the Moey family which had developed the properties was ordered to vacate them and hand them over to mortgagee OCBC Bank, to whom the Moeys owed about $23 million in all.

All the bungalows are three-storey properties. No 46 has a land area of 4,386 sq ft, No 48 has a land area of 5,783 sq ft, and 48A has 4,412 sq ft.

The bank is said to be expecting $4.3 million-$4.6 million for the two smaller properties and around $5 million for the third. These prices reflect prices ranging from $865-1,049 psf of land area.

It remains to be seen if OCBC will achieve its price expectations, given that these are considerably higher than the $597 psf and $771 psf fetched for two transactions in Jalan Ampang last year.

The three properties are part of a four-bungalow development embarked upon during the height of the property market in 1996 by Moey Keng Weng, former chief financial officer of Malaysia-Singapore Airlines (the fore-runner of Singapore Airlines), and his wife and daughter, as part of their retirement plan, according to an earlier report in The Straits Times.

Instead, the family was caught in the market downturn and Asian financial crisis. The family managed to sell one of the bungalows - No 46A - but were saddled with the remaining three. They occupied No 48 until April, when the court ordered them to vacate and hand over the three properties to OCBC.

The original loan on the properties was granted by Tat Lee Bank, which later merged with Keppel Bank, and the new entity Keppel TatLee Bank in turn eventually merged with OCBC Bank.

The family had tried a novel defence to avoid repaying the loan to OCBC, claiming it had been written off by Tat Lee before its merger with Keppel Bank and OCBC had no right to recover the loan because it was not a party to the original transaction.

OCBC argued that even if the debt had been written off, the bank could still sue to recover the money, as a write-off is merely an ‘internal accounting entry’ - not the same as ‘forgiving’ a debt. OCBC won its case and the court ordered that the family had to pay up.

Source : Business Times - 20 Jun 2006

Madam Wong’s may have been a hot joint for clubbers but the property on Mohamed Sultan Road did not live up to the expectations of its owners in a widely-watched auction yesterday.

The two Peranakan shophouses with a combined floor area of 21,382 sq ft were offered at an auction yesterday with an opening price of $11.3 million - a figure close to the value of the property. The reserve price worked out to be about $528 per square foot.

The shophouses are owned by Cliffview Holdings, which counts veteran nightclub operator Peter Wong as one of its directors.

A counter offer of $8.5 million was the only bid for the property at yesterday’s auction. However, as this was far below the reserve price, the property was withdrawn from the auction.

When contacted, auctioneer Shaun Poh from DTZ Debenham Tie Leung said that aside from the counter offer received, another investor had approached DTZ following the auction, with a better offer and negotiations will be taking place. But he was unable to reveal the identity of either potential investor.

Barely a year ago, Sultan Of Swing and Shanghai Sally closed their doors for good. Between then and now, five other clubs which Mr Wong used to own have also folded. Madam Wong’s Bar is the last that remains.

An employee at Madam Wong’s said that business has been slow since places like Ministry of Sound (MOS) bumped it off the hot-spot charts. Weekdays have become karaoke nights - with neither flashing disco lights nor loud, lively music that used to characterise the place.

Weekend crowds have also thinned, as much of the younger set has been drawn to Club Momo, Zouk and Phuture, just to name a few.

However, Madam Wong’s does have its share of loyal patrons such as Hazlina, 26, who loves the environment and friendly service there. Hazlina, to whom Madam Wong’s is like a second home, is ‘dampened by the idea’ of the bar closing.

As things progress, it is highly likely that the bash being held tonight at Madam Wong’s could be valedictory as negotiations for the sale of the property continue.

The final decision on whether to keep Madam Wong’s will eventually rest with the new owner.

Source : Business Times - 16 Jun 2006

TWO redevelopment sites at Killiney Road are up for sale by public tender.

Killiney Apartments is the larger of the two. Its site covers 40,348 square feet, with a plot ratio of 2.8 and a height restriction of 10 storeys.

The site is marketed by Colliers International (Singapore), whose director for investment sales, Ho Eng Joo, says the owners expect a price of about $94 million-$96 million. This works out to be between $835-$852 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr).

Earlier this month, Phoenix Court at the corner of St Thomas Walk and Killiney Road went on the market for $100 million or around $850 psf ppr.

A smaller redevelopment site, Chez Bright Apartments (34,402 sq ft) sold for $54 million, or $625 psf ppr inclusive of an estimated $6.25 million development charge.

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View the press release from Colliers International

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Colliers is also marketing a smaller redevelopment site located at 118-128 Killiney Road which occupies a land area of 10,050 sq ft. Zoned for residential development with the first storey for commercial use, the site has a plot ratio of 2.8 and a height restriction of six storeys. The asking price is $21 million-$23 million, or $750-$820 psf ppr.

Speaking about the demand for redevelopment sites, Mr Ho said: ‘The prime sites in Districts 9 and 10 will still attract developers but the bidding prices may not be as aggressive. Owners may have to moderate their expectation of price if they want a successful sale. At the moment, there are still quite a number of en bloc sale sites in the stage of preparation to launch for sale in the market.’

Source : Business Times - 14 Jun 2006

AN UNNAMED developer has committed to pay not less than $173.8 million for a 99-year leasehold residential site at Sinaran Drive near Novena MRT station.

The 1.25 hectare site, opposite Tan Tock Seng Hospital, is on the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) reserve list, which means it will now be put up for sale by public tender in two weeks.

At $173.8 million, the cost would work out to $370 psf per plot ratio (psf ppr). Earlier this year, two freehold en bloc redevelopment sites in the area went on the market.

The asking price for Suffolk Apartments is about $510 psf ppr, while the owners of Ultra Mansion are said to be asking $465 psf ppr.

In April, a URA reserve list residential site near Tanah Merah station was sold for $318.50 psf ppr.

Jones Lang LaSalle regional director and head of investments Lui Seng Fatt said the trigger price of the Sinaran Drive site ‘reflects the current market sentiment . . . It shows that developers are still keen on sites in District 9, 10 and 11′.

Mr Lui estimates the breakeven cost of a new development, which can have a gross floor area of 469,726 sq ft, to be about $700 psf. This is assuming the eventual developer builds a development that is completely residential.

Mr Lui said that because the site is close to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, there might be an advantage in adding service apartments, depending on the developer’s strategy.

In answer to a query by a developer - and posted on the URA website - URA said service apartment block/blocks are allowed within the development.

Source : Business Times - 7 Jun 2006

Sellers are warming to the idea of nailing potentially higher prices amid bidding war

MENTION an auction to home owners a few years ago and most would conjure up a down-at-heel image of desperate mortgagees offloading their homes at fire-sale prices.

But like an HDB upgrade, the image has undergone an extreme makeover, with owners now seeing auctions as a fast and potentially more profitable way to sell their properties.

The number of residential properties going under the auctioneer’s hammer has surged over the years as Singaporeans warm to the idea of nailing potentially higher prices amid a bidding war.

Colliers International noted recently that 172 homes were auctioned off by owners last year compared with 156 in 2004. But the figures can be misleading as the actual sales do not reflect the trend towards auctions because many transactions are done after the hammer falls.

Auctioneers said interested buyers at the bidding may approach the owners privately to negotiate prices and conditions of the sale, despite the fact that a winning bid was not made during the auction. So while only eight homes were sold by auction last year for $7.81 million compared with 13 homes for $10.81 million, the year before, the actual sales were higher.

‘We are definitely seeing increased sales of properties sold by owners, but most are transacted after the auction,’ said Ms Grace Ng, Colliers auctioneer and executive director.

She said more owners see auctions as a quick and transparent way to catch the eye of a larger pool of potential buyers.

One such owner, who wanted to be known only as Mr Yong, said: ‘Your property gets more exposure when auctioned off by a large corporation that has a bigger contact base compared to individual agents.’

‘It is also more transparent, as you can see the bids,’ added Mr Yong, a businessman who auctioned a 18,000 sq ft bungalow near Coronation Road for more than $7 million last year.

More owners now recognise that the publicity generated by auction houses can help them score higher prices that make up for the additional costs.

It costs between $600 and $800 to auction a property. This covers advertisements, photographs, printing of the property’s particulars and rental of the auction room. This is in addition to auction charges of 1 per cent of the sale price, similar to what property agents charge. However, the auction fee may be waived for larger properties, said Ms Ng of Colliers. A goods and services tax charge of 5 per cent is also levied.

The headline-grabbing prices fetched by some homes, such as the $12.55 million bid for 49A Binjai Park, owned by former Citiraya boss Ng Teck Lee, have also shown how auctions can draw crowds of suitable buyers.

The attendance at auctions has been quite consistent, but recently, more people have been quicker to put up bids, said Mr Lee Tang Keat, Jones Lang LaSalle associate director and head of auctions and sales.

If a property fails to sell at the auction, usually because bids are below the reserve price, they are then put up for private treaty sale before being entered for a repeat auction.

Source : Sunday Times - 2 Apr 2006