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Government taking calculated risk by deferring construction projects

Posted by luxuryasiahome on July 26, 2008

Building government projects at a later time may cost more if prices of materials continue to rise. However, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said that is a calculated risk the government has to take.

To cool the market, the government is deferring a total of about S$4.7 billion worth of public sector construction projects to 2010 and beyond.

Construction is one of the hottest industries in Singapore right now. Strong demand has driven up costs by at least 20 per cent, said Mr Mah.

To moderate the market, Singapore recently decided to delay the building of non-essential government projects by about two years.

Mr Mah said: “We cannot tell the private sector ‘delay your projects or bring it forward’. What the government can do is to delay those projects that are not essential, that can be delayed, can be pushed back one or two years, to try and ease the pressure a little.”

But the government could incur higher costs when construction takes place in the future.

Mr Mah said: “Frankly, yes, that’s a risk we have to take. It may be that at the time, the costs may be even higher. But that’s a calculated risk we take. The cost of materials can be higher.

“Looking at the world situation, the building boom in China for the Olympics has eased, all the major projects have been done. But on the other hand, they may come out with new building projects.

“On the other hand, you never know, with a recession in the US, that may affect building construction demand. So all these factors are really very hard to predict. But we are taking a calculated risk.”

However, these delays will not affect improvements in public housing estates such as Yishun. The authorities recently announced a whole slew of upgrading projects for the town.

These include an apartment block integrated with a bus depot and a shopping complex; more spots in nearby parks for activities; a heritage park and a 7.5-kilometre cycling path.

Mr Mah said these projects by both the public and private sectors are likely to cost a few million dollars. They are all part of Singapore’s long-term islandwide upgrading for all public housing estates.

Most of the improvements for Yishun are expected to be completed in the next five years. After Yishun, it will be Clementi next.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 26 Jul 2008

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Yishun to get exciting new facilities in facelift

Posted by luxuryasiahome on July 26, 2008

Among them are a library and possibly a shopping complex linked to interchange

YISHUN might be showing its age but it is in line for a radical renewal that will smarten up existing facilities and add exciting new ones.

Details of the rejuvenation plan were announced yesterday, and include additions to the town centre, including the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, a new library, covered walkways and possibly a new shopping complex integrated with the bus interchange.

IN THE WORKS: More outdoor and sporting facilities will be built in Yishun under the plan to remake the estate. Also on the cards is a new boardwalk to connect the town centre to the outdoor areas. — PHOTO: HDB

A new boardwalk will also connect the town centre to outdoor areas like Yishun Pond.

The plan, Remaking Our Heartland: Enriching My Yishun, is part of a nationwide Neighbourhood Renewal Programme announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his National Day Rally speech last year.

Its aim is to enhance the value of homes and neighbourhoods through upgrading and estate renewal projects.

‘Through this initiative, the Government will build the HDB heartland of tomorrow to match the rising expectations of our people and make Singapore our best home,’ said National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan, who outlined the Yishun details yesterday.

‘Give us another five years and you’ll be able to see the change in Yishun.’

Residents are keen on the plan. Mr Jef Ng, 27, who has lived in the area for 13 years, told The Straits Times: ‘It is high time Yishun got a facelift. We have always felt somewhat neglected, but these new plans sound really exciting.’

ADDING VALUE: The upgrading and renewal projects aim to enhance the value of homes and neighbourhoods in Yishun. — PHOTO: HDB

Mr Mah also officiated at the launch of the first Home Improvement Programme (HIP) in Singapore.

The HIP allows flat owners to have certain essential improvements carried out at the expense of the Government, which will also subsidise some optional ones.

Owners can vote on the work they want done at their estates and in their flats. Essential improvements include mending weathered concrete and replacing waste pipes, while optional ones refer to upgrades of toilets, entrance doors, metal grille gates and refuse hoppers.

Owners co-pay between $550 and $1,375 if they choose any of the optional improvements, depending on flat size.

Exhibitions have been set up in Yishun Street 21 to give owners a better idea of their options under the HIP before they vote on their choice of improvements.

Polling closes on Monday. HDB needs a minimum support of 75 per cent from eligible residents before works can be carried out.

‘I encourage residents to take some time to tour this HIP exhibition and the Enriching My Yishun exhibition at the town centre,’ said Mr Mah.

‘With feedback and participation, we can make Yishun an even more vibrant and exciting place to live and play.’

Target 2009 and beyond

THESE are the enhancements Yishun residents can expect from 2009, based on the estimated date of completion:

By 2009

# Heritage Trail and Heritage Corner

This will raise awareness of Yishun’s history.

By 2010

# Khoo Teck Puat Hospital

Built next to Yishun Pond, this will give patients access to a therapeutic garden.

# Family & Rowers’ Bay

This capitalises on the water resources for leisure activities.

# Upgrading of park

The upgrade at Yishun Neighbourhood 6 will also include the first phase of a 7.5km-long cycle track around Yishun Ring Road.

By 2011

# Build-to-order (BTO) housing projects

The two separate BTO projects are Jade Spring@Yishun and Jade Spring@Yishun Phase 2.

By 2013

# A shopping complex integrated with the bus interchange

Tender for the project will be called in 2010.

# New road connecting Yishun to the Central Expressway

Source : Straits Times – 26 Jul 2008

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Newton Suites up for award

Posted by luxuryasiahome on July 26, 2008

THAT slim and stylish Newton Suites building that you have been passing on the way to Newton Food Centre is among the world’s top five highrise buildings.

Designed by Singapore architecture firm Woha, it has been shortlisted for the International Highrise Award.

The other four contenders are New York’s Hearst Tower (New York) by Foster and Partners, New York Times Building by Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Seoul’s Missing Matrix Building by Mass Studies and Beijing’s Television Cultural Centre by Office for Metropolitan Architecture.

The prestigious award is the equivalent of the Oscars in the architecture world for highrise buildings, and one of only two global highrise awards. The other one is The Emporis Skyscraper Awards.

For the International Highrise Award, an international jury of architects, engineers, real-estate specialists and architecture critics selected the five finalists from 26 nominated projects from 11 countries.

The winner will get a prize money of 50,000 euros (S$106,700) at the award ceremony to be held on Nov 14 at Frankfurt Paulskirche, a church in Frankfurt.

The award is offered every two years by the City of Frankfurt, and is jointly curated by the Deutsches Architekturmuseum DAM, an architecture museum in Frankfurt, and Dekabank, the German’s Savings Bank Finance Group’s central asset manager.

In selecting the winner, the jury is looking for a building that stands out in its appearance, design, urban integration, sustainability, technology and cost-effectiveness.

Being shortlisted is a huge achievement for Woha, said its director Wong Mun Summ. ‘Three of the selected projects are by Pritzker Prize-winning architects and the other is Korea’s most prominent architect. While we hope we will win, being selected alongside these people is a huge achievement for Singapore.’

The Pritzker Prize is the equivalent of the Nobel prize in architecture. Past winners include British Norman Foster from Foster and Partners, Italian Renzo Piano from Renzo Piano Building Workshop and Dutch Rem Koolhaas from Office for Metropolitan Architecture.

This piece of good news comes after its noteworthy silver award win in the other global highrise award, The Emporis Skyscraper Awards, presented by Emporis, the world’s largest free-to-use website about buildings.

In the eighth annual Emporis awards earlier this year, Newton Suites took second place out of a worldwide pool of 634 eligible skyscrapers.

It was not Woha which nominated the building for the award.

‘The competition’s organisers told us that the project had been nominated and asked us to submit information. We never found out who nominated it,’ said Mr Richard Hassel, another Woha director. ‘We suspect it was due to the attention Newton Suites got from the silver award given by Emporis.’

For the jury, Newton Suites stood out as a model for eco-friendly living in the tropics. Clad in metal mesh sunshading, the 36-storey tower features sky gardens and a 30-storey wall of creepers.

The jury citation noted that it is a ‘pioneering model for other tropical cities’.

Pit against these giants, what does Woha think of its chances of winning?

Mr Hassel said: ‘All the five buildings are very good and are different in terms of use, climate and urban
conditions, so it is quite hard to compare them. Just being in the top five is already as good as winning for us.

‘If we win, it would be an added bonus.’

Source : Straits Times – 26 Jul 2008

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Tampines Court enbloc: They were certain they would win

Posted by luxuryasiahome on July 26, 2008

Resident who voted yes says he has only 2 words: Disappointment & disbelief

Despite the objections filed by the minority, the majority owners of Tampines Court – more than 82 per cent – thought they could push through a collective sale.

Many of them had even scouted around and bought properties elsewhere.

But the en bloc sale of the former HUDC estate failed after the Strata Title Board (STB) dismissed its application yesterday.

Now those who have committed themselves to other properties are in a fix.

One owner told The New Paper: ‘I can’t think properly right now. I have to work out my sums and see how best to salvage the situation.’

The Board’s decision means the sale of the estate is off.

This is because the sales committee’s agreement with the buyers – Far East Organization and Frasers Centrepoint Properties – also expired yesterday.

The buyers, who had offered $405 million for the privatised HUDC estate, had also said they would not extend the agreement past the deadline.

Said one owner, who did not want to be named: ‘How can this be? Doesn’t the majority win?’

Another upset owner, who wanted to be known only as Mr Tan, said: ‘I have two words only. Just two. Disappointment and disbelief.’

And disbelief was also how the minority owners felt when STB deputy chairman Alphonso Ang delivered the decision.

Madam Asmah Atan, 59, a housewife, was ’still in a daze’ six hours later.

She told The New Paper last night: ‘We were stunned. We looked at one another, like asking, did we hear it right?’

Madam Asmah said the group had been prepared from the start that ‘it was going to be a hard fight’.

But when the news finally sank in, the group of about 20 – who had carpooled to the STB office on Maxwell Road – celebrated their victory by hugging one another.

Madam Asmah said: ‘Some of us even broke down but it was definitely tears of joy.’

Housewife Fatimah Bee Bee Ali, 49, said: ‘For us, it means we still have a place to live in, one that is big enough to accommodate our whole family.’

She and her husband, Peter Chew, 52, an aircraft engineer, live with their four teenage children, her wheelchair-bound mother and a maid.

Madam Fatimah added: ‘With the rising prices, it would really be tough to find a unit with the same area like ours.’

The minority owners felt they owed the successful result to their legal team, comprising Mr Siva Krishnasamy of Tan Lee & Partners and Mr NSreenivasan of Straits Law.

GRATEFUL

Madam Asmah said: ‘Please help us to record our gratitude. It is because of their help that we do not have to move out of the estate which we’ve grown comfortable in.’

While the sale had caused much tension and division in the estate for nearly 14 months, some residents also appeared nonchalant about the result.

Said one, who wanted to be known only as Mr Kris: ‘If we can sell, we’ll sell. If we cannot, then we’ll just stay on here.’

Others were more concerned whether the estate, which is showing signs of age, would get a facelift.

Mr Kris added: ‘They’ve probably put off all works, thinking that we can sell the place.’

Another resident, Mr J Lim, said: ‘I guess it’s time for us to start everything on a new, clean slate.

‘And maybe this decision is the best catalyst.’
Tampines Court en bloc sale thrown out despite majority vote

25 Mar 2007: Frasers Centrepoint and Far East Organization team up to buy Tampines Court – a privatised HUDC estate – through a $405 million collective sale.

25 Jul 2007: Conditions of the sales agreement are fulfilled.

7 Jan 2008: Sales committee applies to Strata Titles Board (STB) for sale approval.

Minority owners file objections. They consider the sale price of $700,000 for each unit too low.

16 to 18 Jun: STB hears objection and sets further hearing for 7 Aug. Until the hearing, the sale cannot be signed and sealed.

30 Jun: Sales committee applies to bring 7 Aug hearing earlier – before the agreement lapses on 25 Jul.

11 Jul: STB dismissed the sales committee’s request.

14 Jul: Two committee members file affidavit in High Court, saying STB failed to take into account that any hearing after 25Jul ‘will be academic’.

Other owners appeal to National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan at Meet-The-People session.

Mr Mah, MP for the Tampines ward, agreesto appeal to STB on owners’ behalf.

18 Jul: High Court orders STB to move hearing ahead of 25 Jul deadline. New date set on 21 Jul.

21 Jul: Sales committee chairman Mathew Lee takes witness stand.

He is grilled on whether he acted in the owners’ best interests on the issue of the estate’s valuation and the method of distribution of sale proceeds.

25 Jul: STB dismisses Tampines Court’s en bloc sale application.

STB deputy chairman Alphonso Ang says the board examined the evidence and found the sale was not concluded in good faith.

It will release its grounds of decision later.

Source : New Paper – 26 Jul 2008

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Private homes to take a slower road to completion

Posted by luxuryasiahome on July 26, 2008

Many units pushed back as costs rise and sentiment falters

The latest news is good or bad – depending on your point of view. Official data now shows that the number of private homes that could be completed by end-2011 may be less than previously thought – which means residential rental and capital values could hold better than expected.

Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) latest Q2 figures, based on quarterly surveys of developers, showed that 46,480 private homes are expected to be completed between Q3 2008 and end-2011. This figure is 18 per cent – or 10,021 units – lower than the figure of 56,501 units slated for completion between Q2 2008 and 2011 listed in URA’s Q1 data.

Of these, 2,587 units were completed in the second quarter and have hence been removed from the supply pipeline, URA explained. Other completions have been put on hold as some developments have been postponed – as seen in the case of some en bloc sale sites. Rising construction costs and cautious market sentiment have delayed the construction of other projects.

Notwithstanding this, URA highlighted that the total supply of new private homes in the pipeline stood at 67,569 units as at end-Q2 2008 – about the same as 67,736 units at end-Q1. However, more of these units may now see completion after 2011.

Some industry players welcomed the latest figures, which will hopefully clear up some of the question marks about home completions.

Knight Frank managing director Tan Tiong Cheng said: ‘Rents should hold better and capital values should also hold slightly better. Basically the window widens for those who’ve bought homes earlier on deferred payment schemes to clear their purchases if their units are in projects whose completions are being delayed. In short, there should be less panic selling.’

Typically, deferred payment schemes – scrapped since last October – expire when a project is completed, which is when buyers have to pay the bulk of their purchase price to developers. As a result, ’specuvestors’ tend to offload their units in projects before they are completed.

However, Mr Tan also pointed to a potential downside for developers whose projects are in the immediate vicinities of condos sold earlier. ‘As a developer, I face competition for sellers from those specuvestors who’ve bought in nearby projects for a longer period now if the project completions are delayed.’

URA’s price index for non-landed private homes in Core Central Region (CCR) dipped 0.1 per cent in Q2 over the preceding quarter – for the first time since Q1 2004, the earliest period for which such data is available.

The Q2 decline in CCR – which includes the prime districts 9, 10 and 11, the financial district and Sentosa Cove – came on the back of a 0.5 per cent drop in the price index for uncompleted homes in the region; the index for completed homes rose 0.3 per cent.

Non-landed home price index (overall, covering both completed and uncompleted units) rose 0.7 per cent in Q2 for Rest of Central Region and by 0.9 per cent in Outside Central Region.

URA’s headline islandwide price index for private homes (landed and non-landed) inched up 0.2 per cent quarter on quarter in Q2 – weaker than the 0.4 per cent flash estimate rise announced earlier this month. The index has risen 3.9 per cent in the first half from the end-2007 level – after escalating 31.2 per cent for the whole of 2007.

Looking ahead, CB Richard Ellis executive director Li Hiaw Ho said: ‘Correction of residential prices, to the tune of 5 to 10 per cent in H2 2008, will be inevitable but is likely to vary according to location, product type and target market’, citing the continued toll of the sub-prime mortgage meltdown on the global economy and high inflation.

Developers sold a total 1,525 private homes in Q2, double the Q1 volume. But overall in H1 2008, they have sold only 2,287 units, which is around just one quarter of the 9,912 units developers sold in the same period last year.

The total number of subsale transactions – often seen as a proxy for speculative activity – rose 10.6 per cent quarter on quarter to 440. Leading the pack was the Outside Central Region (OCR), where subsale volume jumped 39 per cent to 154 units. Subsales in Q2 made up 8.1 per cent of private home deals in the region, which includes mass-market locations, up from 6.7 per cent in Q1.

URA said that examples of projects that saw significant subsales in OCR in Q2 include The Centris in Jurong (15 units) and The Raintree near Bukit Timah Nature Reserve (16 units). Analysts say that The Calrose in Yio Chu Kang and Varsity Park Condo also saw at least 10 subsales each in Q2.

Some of these projects have either received Temporary Occupation Permit or will be getting it soon; investors tend to sell off units shortly before or after a project gets TOP as buyers are willing to pay a slightly higher price then, because units can be immediately rented, analysts noted.

Source : Business Times – 26 Jul 2008

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URA gives go-ahead for three hotels

Posted by luxuryasiahome on July 26, 2008

A number of residential projects also get the nod

A STRING of residential, commercial and industrial projects received provisional permission from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) in the second quarter of this year.

Far East Organization unit China Classic received provisional permission to build a 384-room hotel at Cross Street, while Hotel Plaza got the nod for a 345-room hotel at Upper Pickering Street.

Resorts World at Sentosa got the go-ahead to build a hotel with 1,352 rooms as well as 45,090 sq m of retail space in the central zone of its integrated resort.

Residential projects that received URA’s provisional permission in April-June this year include Frasers Centrepoint’s 717-unit condo at Lakeside Drive in the Boon Lay area, Chip Eng Seng’s 372-unit condo at Elias Road in Pasir Ris; and UOL/Peak Century’s 643-unit condo at Simei Street 4. All these projects have 99-year leasehold tenure.

EC Prime Pte Ltd – controlled by Melvin Poh, Tan Koo Chuan and Saw Pik Kee – received approval to develop 228 apartments at Alexandra Road.

URA also gave the nod in Q2 for the development of 110,790 sq m of business park space in three new projects – to Soilbuild Group Holdings to develop a facility named Solaris at Ayer Rajah Avenue/Fusion Walk (42,780 sq m); to Lawrence Leow’s Crescendas Bionix Pte Ltd to develop 41,200 sq m at Biopolis Phase 3; and to Ascendas for a project at Changi Business Park Crescent (26,810 sq m). Business park space can meet the office needs of some firms, for example, backroom operations, URA noted.

Provisional permission for multiple-user factories were also granted for projects at Commonwealth Drive and Jalan Tepong. Trio Link Development clinched approval for a 21,570 sq m industrial development at Playfair Road.

UOB Kay Hian Trading obtained URA’s go-ahead for its transitional office development at Anthony/ Scotts roads (13,020 sq m).

URA also gave provisional permission to Ritzland Investment for 12,050 sq m of offices at Mountbatten Road.

Source : Business Times – 26 Jul 2008

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HDB resale market buoyant but upgrader effect still muted

Posted by luxuryasiahome on July 26, 2008

Resale price index very close to record high of Q41996; Q2 transactions up 22%

THE Housing and Development Board (HDB) has announced that its Resale Price Index rose by 4.5 per cent in Q2 2008 over the previous quarter and 8.4 per cent since Q4 2007.

The number of resale transactions also increased by 22 per cent quarter on quarter to hit 7,760 transactions.

On a half-yearly basis, a total of 14,120 transactions have been recorded so far, almost half of the 29,450 transactions for the whole of 2007.

The HDB Resale Price Index is now hovering very close to the all-time peak in Q4 1996, boosted by high resale prices in estates like Queenstown and Bukit Merah where the median price for five-room flats is now around $600,000.

But while a buoyant resale market can translate into a stronger HDB upgrader base, it may still be too early for developers to count on upgraders to prop up the private residential market.

DTZ executive director and regional head for consulting and research, Ong Choon Fah, said that HDB upgraders are ’still price-sensitive’.

According to DTZ’s analysis, HDB upgraders accounted for 28 per cent of all private homes bought in Q1 2008, up from 22 per cent in the preceding quarter.

However, in 1998, when private property prices bottomed out, HDB upgrader transactions peaked at 62 per cent of all private property transactions.

And when the property market tanked again in 2002, HDB upgraders went in to buy up to 59 per cent of all private property transacted.

While the numbers suggest that HDB upgraders still find private property too expensive, Mrs Ong also pointed that HDB does now offer a ’spectrum’ of property types to cater to more specific needs and price brackets.

Mrs Ong was referring to HDB’s new Design, Build and Sell Scheme flats which have been selling well.

Sources also say that the 578-unit Park Central at AMK has received around 1,000 applications since its launch on June 23.

HDB has also launched a total of 4,524 new flats under the Build-To-Order (BTO) system for H1 2008.

ERA Asia Pacific assistant vice-president Eugene Lim points out that HDB upgraders tend to be those who sell their five-room or executive flats, and according to his analysis, this number has not increased significantly.

Five-room flats made up 26 per cent of all HDB resale transactions in Q2 2008, up from 25 per cent in the previous quarter while executive flats made up 9 per cent, up from 7 per cent quarter on quarter.

Four-room flats made up 37 per cent of all resale transactions, and Mr Lim also notes that the median price for this segment saw the highest increase by $15,000 to $300,000.

Mr Lim believes that the upgrader effect on the private property market could be curtailed by affordability too.

‘Most upgraders will be looking for properties in the $650-$750 psf bracket,’ he said.

Interestingly, the influx of new permanent residents (PRs) here has added to the demand for resale flats.

Mr Lim estimates that 20 per cent of buyers in the resale segment are PRs, up from 10-12 per cent a year ago.

However, whether PRs are partially responsible for the buoyant resale market is not known. HDB has not revealed the number of flats bought by PRs.

Perhaps a more interesting development is that the HDB Resale Price Index has begun to diverge from the private property price index, which grew by just 0.2 per cent in Q2 2008.

Still, most property consultants believe the chances of the two indices decoupling, to represent a disconnected private and public property markets, are remote.

Knight Frank director (research and consultancy) Nicholas Mak also highlights that between Q2 2002 and Q1 2004, prices of private homes fell, while HDB resale prices increased.

During this period, both indices did, however, remain relatively flat.

Mr Mak does believes that any divergence in price trends, if any, will only last for a few quarters before a correlation is re-established.

He added: ‘Both private and public sectors do relate to the same macro-economic factors.’

DTZ’s Mrs Ong also said that both sectors are linked by the ’substitutional effect’.

‘If prices are too high in the private housing market, buyers will shift to the public housing market,’ she added.

She also noted that significant shifts in price movements only tend to follow changes in housing policy and related spheres like Central Provident Fund.

Savills Singapore director (marketing and business development) Ku Swee Yong believes that HDB upgraders will eventually return to ‘lend strong support’ to the private property market, citing the interest, if not the take-up, in new mass-market launches like Livia and Clover by the Park as examples.

Source : Business Times – 26 Jul 2008

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Sharp drop in growth of private home prices

Posted by luxuryasiahome on July 26, 2008

HDB resale flats, however, do well, strengthening in value

IT’S official: the private housing market has gone soft.

Prices peaked and rental growth braked sharply between April and June, with property consultants forecasting the beginning of a decline.

But Housing Board resale flats defied the trend and continued to strengthen in value as sales grew amid strong demand for cheaper homes.

Private home prices inched up just 0.17 per cent in the quarter – the least in four years and well below the 3.8 per cent in the first quarter.

The minuscule rise, announced by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) yesterday, was even below the 0.4 per cent increase the agency had predicted at the beginning of this month.

This is the first time that the official figure has come in lower than forecast, ‘a strong indication that home prices are finally softening’, said Ms Tay Huey Ying, director of research and consultancy at Colliers International.

Prices are being dragged down by stubbornly gloomy market sentiment, stemming from the slowing global economy, high inflation and erratic stock market, say experts.

Developers have started to price projects more ‘realistically’ and individual home sellers are accepting lower offers, leading to an overall moderation of prices, according to Mr Li Hiaw Ho, executive director of CBRE Research.

In prime districts, prices of luxury homes dipped for the first time in four years after a spectacular climb of almost 70 per cent since 2005.

‘This is the first fall since the start of the property boom in 2004 and could be the turning point in the price trend,’ said Mr Nicholas Mak, Knight Frank’s director of research and consultancy.

City-fringe and suburban homes barely fared better, with prices rising below 1 per cent in the second quarter.

Growth in home rents also halved in the second quarter to just 2.5 per cent, the lowest in two years. This could be due to fewer expatriates coming in as well as landlords starting to lower their asking rentals, said Mr Mak.

CBRE’s Mr Li predicts an ‘inevitable’ correction in prices ‘to the tune of 5 per cent to 10 per cent’ in the second half of the year.

But Ms Tay from Colliers believes Singapore’s mid-term prospects remain positive on the back of the two integrated resorts. This will ‘hold prices steady and ensure they do not fall by more than 3 per cent in the third quarter’, she said.

Still, caution prevails amid a large chunk of unsold homes waiting in the pipeline. Developers are sitting on some 12,500 new homes that are ready for launch, said URA.

Hopeful homebuyer Timothy Gan, 27, was cheered by the news that prices may fall. ‘I’m waiting for their prices to fall so I can get married,’ said the civil servant.

Prices and rentals of offices also grew more slowly in the quarter, as firms eased pressure on office supply by moving out of the central areas.

The bright spot is the HDB resale market, where prices keep rising due to higher valuations and strong demand from upgraders, downgraders and permanent residents, said Mr Eugene Lim, assistant vice-president of property agency ERA Asia-Pacific.

Resale deals jumped 22 per cent to 7,760 transactions in the second quarter, boosted by more sales of bigger flats. A quarter of all flats sold between April and June were five-room and executive flats, said Mr Lim.

Source : Straits Times – 26 Jul 2008

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Strata board rules: It’s no go for Tampines Court sale

Posted by luxuryasiahome on July 26, 2008

Ruling comes after 3 days of intense hearings to meet en-bloc deadline

ANY hopes of collecting a windfall for their flats by the more than 400 owners of Tampines Court were dashed yesterday when their collective sale was thrown out by the Strata Titles Board (STB).

While the majority owners were devastated, minority owners sobbed in relief when the STB read out its decision to a packed room at its Maxwell Road office.

STB deputy president Alfonso Ang said: ‘From the evidence…the transaction is not in good faith, taking into account the sale price and the method of distributing the proceeds of the sale.’

Lawyer N. Sreenivasan, who represented the minority owners, had argued on Tuesday that the sales committee had not obtained an updated valuation of the 560-unit estate when the deal was signed last year. The valuation used was dated from 2005.

The controversial $405 million deal also involved an amount of $10 million called the beta sum that is meant to compensate owners for financial loss.

Mr Sreenivasan said this was unfairly distributed among owners at the discretion of the sales committee.

The arguments seem to have struck a chord with STB, whose decision was considered unusual by industry analysts as the board is perceived to generally approve sales.

Yesterday’s ruling came after three intense days of hearings as the board fast-tracked a conclusion.

The High Court had ordered the STB to bring forward an Aug 7 hearing to Monday so objectors could be heard before the sale agreement expired yesterday.

A decision by yesterday was crucial as the buyers – Frasers Centrepoint and Far East Organization – would not grant an extension. The STB’s ruling now means the sale is dead.

Lawyers from Phang & Co, who represented the majority owners, said they were ‘discussing options’. But with no sale extension, an appeal to overturn the STB ruling will be futile.

Meanwhile, unhappy majority owners are wondering what went wrong. They stood to collect a payout of about $700,000 each – as much as $300,000 above the purchase price, depending on when they bought their home in the 99-year leasehold estate. One majority owner who declined to be named said she was frustrated that the sale took so long.

‘We don’t understand why the sales committee was dragging its feet,’ she said.

The committee seems to have shot itself in the foot. The sale conditions had all been met by July 25 last year, yet the committee delayed seeking standard STB approval until Jan 7 this year.

It said it wanted to wait for an STB ruling on the Gillman Heights sale as its fate could have had a bearing on the Tampines Court deal as both were former Housing and Urban Development Company estates.

But another majority owner, Ms Irene Cheang, was more forgiving towards the committee: ‘It’s a thankless job, and we cannot blame them for taking this up.’

Minority owner Niamh Choo, who had tracked the sale process on her blog, tampinescourt.blogspot.com, was ‘ecstactic’ at the result.

‘It was an inevitable decision. We had a very strong case,’ she said.

‘Now that we get to keep our homes, I hope residents will band together and can be neighbours once again.’

The STB has yet to disclose the grounds for rejection. It may do so at a later date.

FINAL VERDICT

‘From the evidence…the transaction is not in good faith, taking into account the sale price and the method of distributing the proceeds of the sale.’ – STB DEPUTY PRESIDENT ALFONSO ANG

NOT SURPRISED

‘It was an inevitable decision, we had a very strong case. Now that we get to keep our homes, I hope residents will band together and can be neighbours once again.’ – MINORITY OWNER NIAMH CHOO

NOT AT FAULT

‘It’s a thankless job, and we cannot blame them for taking this up.’ – MAJORITY OWNER IRENE CHEANG, who was more forgiving towards the sales committee

Source : Straits Times – 26 Jul 2008

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CapitaLand appeal on Gillman deadline

Posted by luxuryasiahome on July 26, 2008

CAPITALAND, the lead buyer of Gillman Heights, has asked the Court of Appeal to review one point of a High Court ruling that allowed the estate’s collective sale to proceed.

Its move comes after a group of 10 minority owners from the estate filed an appeal over the sale earlier this week.

CapitaLand bought the $548 million Gillman Heights site together with Hotel Properties and two private funds. The sale was opposed by some owners but was eventually given the go-ahead by the High Court.

But in dismissing the objecting owners’ appeal, the Court also ruled that the sale committee could not agree to extend the deadline for obtaining the Strata Titles Board’s approval to Feb 5.

This was despite a supplemental collective sale agreement that had made a valid extension of the deadline to this date.

It is this point that CapitaLand is focusing on. Its legal move is to protect itself if the point is raised by the minority owners at the court hearing.

A spokesman said: ‘The filing of the cross-appeal is primarily technical and the aim is to preserve and strengthen our position in the Court of Appeal hearing.’

Source : Straits Times – 26 Jul 2008

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