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Archive for December 28th, 2008

Prices of private homes falling

Posted by luxuryasiahome on December 28, 2008

Developers offer soft discounts, for example, by absorbing legal fees

Private home prices are falling – and they will fall even more next year.

Property developers may disagree, but there is no question about it, if you ask industry observers.

The economy has slowed considerably and there have been retrenchments and wage cuts.

Sales volume of new homes looks set to reach an 18-year low this year, while supply is far from lacking.

‘In every bear market, no matter what the developers say, it will happen,’ Mr Leong Sze Hian, the president of the Society of Financial Service Professionals, said of the price falls.

The only unknown, he added, is the extent of the fall.

Manpower Ministry data already shows that average monthly real earnings – pay minus the effect of inflation – fell by 17 per cent from $3,982 in the first quarter to $3,307 in the third quarter.

Also, on an annualised quarter-on-quarter basis, gross domestic product growth in the third quarter declined by 6.8 per cent, continuing the 5.3 per cent contraction experienced in the second quarter.

‘All these will filter through to the property market,’ said Mr Leong.

Right now, most buyers are remaining on the sidelines. New launches are few, and there are not many desperate sellers out there yet.

‘Most are not feeling any pain from the recession yet. In the secondary market, many sellers are still hoping to do sub-sale at a profit,’ said Knight Frank’s director of research and consultancy, Mr Nicholas Mak.

The result? There are no major price reductions yet, he said.

Going forward, though, there could be more speculators desperate to get rid of their properties because they do not want to be saddled with huge loans, experts say.

These are people who bought properties when the market was booming under the deferred payment scheme, which means they will have to pay the full sum for the property upon completion.

The Government has said some 10,450 units of private homes sold under the deferred payment scheme have yet to be completed. Some 2,540 units – largely bought during last year’s boom – will be completed in 2010.

In the new homes market, there will be more new property launches or re-launches after Chinese New Year late next month, consultants say.

Frasers Centrepoint, for one, has plans to release Caspian, its 700-unit condo near the Lakeside MRT station.

‘The smaller projects or those in less attractive locations will likely need to offer more discount,’ said Mr Mak.

‘Others may offer soft discount, so that the prices reflected in the caveats will not be reduced.’

Soft discounts can take the form of furniture vouchers or the absorption of legal fees or stamp duty.

There could be price cuts in some mid-tier or prime developments where prices are ‘fairly toppish’, Mr Mak said. ‘They would, thus, have to adjust their prices to a more reasonable level.’

Novelty Group, for one, last month cut its price for the 75-unit Luma at River Valley Grove from $2,800 per sq ft (psf) to $1,450 psf.

Recently, City Developments adjusted its price for the 77-unit Shelford Suites in Shelford Road to $1,400 psf from a preview price of $1,600 psf on average in June. The price then was already lower than expected, as two units were sold in March at $1,869 psf and $1,905 psf.

Those seeking information on new launches can check out the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA’s) website, which offers monthly sales and price data on the 15th of every month.

It shows the number of units sold in the past month, as well as the median, lowest and highest prices done.

The URA website also has information on individual caveats lodged for properties sold, so you can find out the prices done at a particular condo.

The problem here is that the information is not very up-to- date because deals take time to complete and caveats take time to lodge.

The price data can easily be two to three months old, which can be a long time in today’s fast-moving market.

Potential buyers should check with their agents to ascertain the previous price levels done or check classified advertisements for the latest asking prices, experts say.

They should also try to get a bank valuation on the property they are eyeing, said HSR Property Group executive director Eric Cheng.

Those who want to buy a resale property now can bid below individual sellers’ asking prices. They could aim for 5 per cent to 8 per cent below asking levels, said Mr Cheng.

Also, buyers should look for tenanted resale properties that can offer a 4 per cent to 5 per cent rental yield for at least the next year, said Mr Ku Swee Yong, the director of marketing and business development at Savills Singapore.

‘In today’s market, it is wise to buy something that you can see and profit from immediately,’ he said.

The risk with new projects is that they could be delayed or their prices could fall from today’s levels, he said.

But, be prudent and patient, warned Mr Cheng. ‘Don’t buy on impulse.’

Buying opportunity

Those who want to buy a resale property now can bid below individual sellers’ asking prices. They could aim for 5 to 8 per cent below asking levels, said HSR Property Group executive director Eric Cheng.

Source : Sunday Times – 28 Dec 2008

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New small flats to have features for aged, disabled

Posted by luxuryasiahome on December 28, 2008

Two-room HDB units to be built mainly in non-mature estates

The two-room flats that the Housing Board is building again will mainly be in non-mature estates and will come with elderly- and disabled-friendly features.

These 45 sq m units will have ramps at the main entrance and the toilets, and have wider toilet doors for easier wheelchair access.

The eye-viewer at the front door will be larger than current ones while switches and electricity outlet points will be placed higher so the elderly do not have to stoop to reach them.

Lifts will stop at every floor and larger fonts will be used in signs around the blocks.

Moving across blocks will also be easier as ramps and wider walkways will be installed for the wheelchair-bound.

These features are not found in existing smaller HDB flats.

The HDB gave these details to The Sunday Times in response to queries about recent news that the board will be ramping up the supply of three-room and smaller flats to around 4,000 over the next two years.

The HDB had stopped building two- and three-room flats in the 1980s as Singaporeans had wanted bigger flats. But these cosy units made a comeback in 2004 because of renewed demand.

National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan told Parliament last month that more of such small flats will be built next year. They will help more low-income families own homes and also enable those who need to downgrade because of financial difficulties to do so, he said.

Noting that the smaller flats cater mainly to lower-income families, the HDB spokesman said: ‘To ensure that they remain affordable to the lower income, they would mainly be offered in non-mature estates where the selling prices are lower.

‘The smaller flats would be offered in a variety of estates so as to offer buyers a wider choice.’

A gauge of the demand for smaller flats can be seen in recent sales launches.

Under the HDB’s quarterly sale exercises in July and October this year, the take-up rates for three-room and smaller flats were 100 per cent and 97 per cent respectively. There are currently about 6,000 two-room and 210,000 three-room units in the open market. They cost between $77,000 and $275,000 each.

Besides catering to the lower income, small flats will meet the needs of an ageing population too. With the first batch of baby boomers due to hit 65 by 2012, the HDB expects the number of elderly folk to increase rapidly.

‘The smaller flats will provide an avenue for the increasing elderly population to monetise their existing larger flat by downgrading to smaller flats,’ the spokesman said.

It is thus timely for HDB to start stocking up on smaller flats now, considering it will take a few years for the flats to be built, she added.

This is good news for housewife Doris Leong, 57, who lives with her husband in a five-room flat in Hougang. Their three daughters have moved out after getting married.

Mrs Leong, who suffers from arthritis and has problems climbing stairs, said moving to a small unit is an option and welcomed elderly-friendly features like lifts that stop at every floor.

‘We don’t need a big flat for two people,’ she said. ‘With the extra money from the sale of our flat, we can live comfortably and maybe even make trips overseas.’

SPECIAL FEATURES FOR 2-ROOMERS

~ Ramps at the main entrance and toilets
~ Wider toilet doors for easier wheelchair access
~ Switches and electricity outlet points will be placed higher so the elderly do not have to stoop to reach them
~ Lifts will stop at every floor
~ Signs around the blocks will be in larger point sizes
~ Ramps and wider walkways to make moving across blocks easier for the wheelchair-bound

Source : Sunday Times – 28 Dec 2008

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Busy Bugis blues

Posted by luxuryasiahome on December 28, 2008

Property agent Lauren Sim was once stranded in the middle of a road for 20 minutes. She was trying to cross Victoria Street from Bugis Junction to get to Bugis Village at the packed pedestrian crossing and was stuck elbow-to-elbow with many others on the island in the centre of the road.

‘Traffic in both directions was so heavy you just had to wait. If you did not want to, you would have had to jaywalk,’ says the 26-year-old.

Another road user, Ms Fiona Ng, 25, a project coordinator, says: ‘It is always packed with too many people and it can get quite difficult to breathe, especially in the afternoon heat.’

The crossing just outside the taxi-stand at Bugis Junction is a perennial hazard, exacerbated on weekends and during festive seasons when pedestrian traffic increases.

The traffic light crossing is designed with a barricaded island in the middle of the eight-lane, two-way Victoria Street.

The lights on both sides of the island change at different times, so pedestrians are forced to wait on the island between light changes.

When the human traffic is heavy, people are packed there like cattle in a pen.

Mr Ken Per, a money changer whose kiosk at Bugis Junction faces the pedestrian crossing, says the crowding becomes so bad during weekends that pedestrians spill over onto the road.

Why not remove the island and just allow pedestrians to cross directly from one side of Victoria Street to the other?

‘As there is a taxi bay on the side of Bugis Junction and a bus stop on the opposite side at Bugis Village, we are not able to provide a point-to-point crossing due to site constraints,’ says a Land Transport Authority (LTA) spokesman.

‘In our assessment, a point-to-point crossing will likely tempt many to dash across the road, even when the lights are not green, to catch the bus. A staggered crossing discourages this unsafe behaviour.’

Railings on the island were constructed as a safety measure to prevent pedestrians from spilling over onto the road, adds the LTA spokesman. Not that they deter pedestrians.

Miss Vivien Soo, 16, a shop assistant at Bugis Village, admits she climbs over the railings.

‘If the wait is too long, I will just climb over the railings to get across,’ she says.

To alleviate the congestion due to the surge of human traffic during this festive period, the spokesman says LTA has ‘extended the timing at this particular pedestrian crossing’.

LifeStyle understands an overhead bridge at the upcoming shopping mall, Iluma, located in Victoria Street, just beside Bugis Village, will be constructed next year. Once completed, it could ease the problem.

For now, there is one more way to beat the crowd at this junction: Walk to the traffic light crossing at the Victoria Street and Rochor Road junction, which is about 50m away. Here, you can cross the street directly from one side to the other.

Says Ms Ng, who now uses this alternative route: ‘Pedestrians would probably cross the road in less time if they were willing to walk a little further to use this junction.’

Other hard-to-cross areas

Apart from the Victoria Street pedestrian crossing, these traffic junctions on Orchard Road are also hazardously packed, especially during the festive season.

Junction of Orchard and Paterson Road

(Between Wheelock Place and Ion Orchard mall, currently under construction)

The throngs from the Orchard MRT station and shoppers from Wheelock Place frequently elbow one another when they cross this eight-lane road.

The short time for crossing does not help either.

Junction of Orchard and Bideford Road

(Between Paragon Shopping Centre and Park Hotel Orchard)

The small three-lane slip road towards the Central Expressway does not seem like such a big headache to cross, until you consider the short time for crossing and the long line of cars and taxis turning in from Orchard Road.

Junction of Orchard and Grange Road

(Between Meritus Mandarin/Cathay Cineleisure Orchard and Orchard Shopping Centre)

The long line of taxis queueing to pick up passengers from Cineleisure often backs up to the yellow box junction and pedestrian crossing.

What’s worse: It is a narrow two-way road.

‘If the wait is too long, I will just climb over the railings to get across.’  - MISS VIVIEN SOO, on the dangerous measure she takes to beat the crowds and cross Victoria Street quickly

Source : Sunday Times – 28 Dec 2008

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