New Zealand house prices continue climb
Friday, May 18, 2007
The annual pace of New Zealand house value growth accelerated for the third straight month in April, but higher interest rates were expected to slow the market over coming weeks, government agency Quotable Value said.
The agency's residential house price index rose 10.6 percent in the month from a year earlier, up from a 9.8 percent rise in March and a 9.3 percent gain in February.
The pace of growth had been slowing through 2006 after peaking at 16.8 percent growth in January last year.
"The market has continued unabated over the last month on the back of stronger-than-anticipated migration and high levels of employment creating steady demand, especially in the lower end of the market," QV spokesman Blue Hancock said.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand raised the cash rate April 26 for the second month in a row, setting it at 7.75 percent on concerns about growing inflation pressures stemming from the robust housing market and strong domestic spending.
But Hancock said: "With the higher interest rates and the onset of the winter season, we can expect the market to slow over the coming weeks."
The QV data showed the average sale price for New Zealand houses was NZ$366,032 (HK$2.11 million), up 0.8 percent on March.
Prices in the main regions showed strength, with the capital Wellington rising 13.4 percent and Christchurch up 11.8 percent on a year ago.
Auckland, the biggest population and commercial center, rose 6.6 percent, off the 7.5 percent growth marked in March from a year earlier.
The monthly residential price report is based on sale prices of properties over the past three months compared with sales over the corresponding three- month period a year earlier.
REUTERS
Friday, May 18, 2007
Thursday, May 17, 2007
This may signal expats, PRs opting to buy instead of rent: Savills
The number of new residential leases have fallen by 50 per cent in the first quarter of 2007 to 4,493, compared to Q1 2006, posing a bit of a conundrum in an otherwise buoyant property market.
Data from Savills Singapore also reveal that vacancies have fallen from an average of 6.1 per cent in Q4 2006 to about 5.9 per cent in February, suggesting that underlying demand in the leasing market is still healthy.
Nevertheless, Savills director Simon Hill thinks that the drop in the number of leases could signal the rise of several new trends in the market, the most compelling of which is that permanent residents and expats here have decided that rents have risen too high and are now opting to buy instead.
Mr Hill, who heads the residential leasing division at Savills, believes that the number who have opted to buy instead of rent has increased by as much as 20 per cent quarter-on-quarter. ‘The Australians and the English are especially keen,’ he added.
Other factors - like the contraction of available units due to collective sales and more simply, the extension of leases - could also contribute to the drop in new leases. However, figures showing that the number of foreigners and PRs buying property has increased seems to support the push factor of spiralling rents.
For Q1 2007, the official rental index (non-landed) increased by 8 per cent quarter-on-quarter and 23 per cent year-on-year, while Savills notes that for the first three months of the year, foreigners and expats bought 1,550 units or 27.7 per cent of the 5,592 units transacted compared to 23 per cent or 4,534 units for the whole of 2006.
The increased interest from foreigners and PRs would bode well for the market if not for the repercussions already being felt.
Another trend that Mr Hill has noted is that MNCs are begining to cut back on the number of foreign postings here. ‘So far, I have encountered three multinational corporations that have decided to put on hold the decision to move more people to Singapore. One of the reasons is that housing allowances have had to be increased,’ he said.
He says there have been instances where housing allowances have had to be doubled.
Expats have traditionally favoured Districts 9,10 and 11, but Mr Hill says these districts are ’slowly pricing themselves out of the expat market’. The firm is now advising people to consider other districts.
How this trend plays out will certainly have an impact on the market here.
That property prices are still comparatively cheap is in Singapore’s favour. Data compiled by Savills reveals that average prices for high-end homes are still the highest in London at $8,900 psf, followed by Monaco ($5,000 psf), New York ($4,500 psf), Tokyo ($3,400 psf) and Hong Kong ($3,100 psf). And although prices for super-luxury homes have topped $4,000 psf here, the average price for high-end property is still $1,762 says Savills. By comparison, super-luxury prices in London are said to have crossed $14,000 psf.
Source: The Business Times, 17 May 2007
The number of new residential leases have fallen by 50 per cent in the first quarter of 2007 to 4,493, compared to Q1 2006, posing a bit of a conundrum in an otherwise buoyant property market.
Data from Savills Singapore also reveal that vacancies have fallen from an average of 6.1 per cent in Q4 2006 to about 5.9 per cent in February, suggesting that underlying demand in the leasing market is still healthy.
Nevertheless, Savills director Simon Hill thinks that the drop in the number of leases could signal the rise of several new trends in the market, the most compelling of which is that permanent residents and expats here have decided that rents have risen too high and are now opting to buy instead.
Mr Hill, who heads the residential leasing division at Savills, believes that the number who have opted to buy instead of rent has increased by as much as 20 per cent quarter-on-quarter. ‘The Australians and the English are especially keen,’ he added.
Other factors - like the contraction of available units due to collective sales and more simply, the extension of leases - could also contribute to the drop in new leases. However, figures showing that the number of foreigners and PRs buying property has increased seems to support the push factor of spiralling rents.
For Q1 2007, the official rental index (non-landed) increased by 8 per cent quarter-on-quarter and 23 per cent year-on-year, while Savills notes that for the first three months of the year, foreigners and expats bought 1,550 units or 27.7 per cent of the 5,592 units transacted compared to 23 per cent or 4,534 units for the whole of 2006.
The increased interest from foreigners and PRs would bode well for the market if not for the repercussions already being felt.
Another trend that Mr Hill has noted is that MNCs are begining to cut back on the number of foreign postings here. ‘So far, I have encountered three multinational corporations that have decided to put on hold the decision to move more people to Singapore. One of the reasons is that housing allowances have had to be increased,’ he said.
He says there have been instances where housing allowances have had to be doubled.
Expats have traditionally favoured Districts 9,10 and 11, but Mr Hill says these districts are ’slowly pricing themselves out of the expat market’. The firm is now advising people to consider other districts.
How this trend plays out will certainly have an impact on the market here.
That property prices are still comparatively cheap is in Singapore’s favour. Data compiled by Savills reveals that average prices for high-end homes are still the highest in London at $8,900 psf, followed by Monaco ($5,000 psf), New York ($4,500 psf), Tokyo ($3,400 psf) and Hong Kong ($3,100 psf). And although prices for super-luxury homes have topped $4,000 psf here, the average price for high-end property is still $1,762 says Savills. By comparison, super-luxury prices in London are said to have crossed $14,000 psf.
Source: The Business Times, 17 May 2007
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Property agent Goh Chong Liang, first accused of cheating in December last year, was yesterday slapped with 35 additional charges in a district court.
The 37-year-old father of two is accused of having perpetrated a $900,000 cashback scam between December 2003 and March last year.
A cashback deal refers to a property seller declaring a price higher than the actual transacted sum - helping the buyer get a bigger bank loan and thus providing him with instant cash.
The cash difference is kept by the buyer, or split between the two parties.
Yesterday, Goh’s case was moved to the Bail Court in the afternoon for the bail amount to be reviewed.
The prosecution said the sum - set at $300,000 in December last year - should be raised to $900,000.
District Judge Danielle Yeow asked the two sides to make submissions on issues such as Goh’s family background and cooperation with investigators - which would help determine if the accused is a flight risk.
She also allowed Goh’s lawyer, Mr Peter Fernando, and police prosecutor Shabbir Yusuf to agree on a bail amount - which they did, at a total of $600,000.
The first charge against Goh in December last year concerned the selling price of a Bukit Batok flat. He allegedly duped a bank into believing it was $312,000, when the actual price was only $285,000.
This led the bank to approve a $292,000 loan to the buyers of the flat.
Investigations into Goh have brought up a name the courts are becoming increasingly familiar with - David Rasif.
The runaway lawyer and his former partner David Tan - though not charged with any crime - are alleged to have conspired to help Goh pull off the cashback scam.
It was not mentioned exactly what their role was.
Rasif, 42, disappeared on June 5 last year - allegedly with $12 million of clients’ money.
Goh, who could be jailed for up to seven years if convicted, will return to court on May 15.
Source: The Straits Times, 12 May 2007
The 37-year-old father of two is accused of having perpetrated a $900,000 cashback scam between December 2003 and March last year.
A cashback deal refers to a property seller declaring a price higher than the actual transacted sum - helping the buyer get a bigger bank loan and thus providing him with instant cash.
The cash difference is kept by the buyer, or split between the two parties.
Yesterday, Goh’s case was moved to the Bail Court in the afternoon for the bail amount to be reviewed.
The prosecution said the sum - set at $300,000 in December last year - should be raised to $900,000.
District Judge Danielle Yeow asked the two sides to make submissions on issues such as Goh’s family background and cooperation with investigators - which would help determine if the accused is a flight risk.
She also allowed Goh’s lawyer, Mr Peter Fernando, and police prosecutor Shabbir Yusuf to agree on a bail amount - which they did, at a total of $600,000.
The first charge against Goh in December last year concerned the selling price of a Bukit Batok flat. He allegedly duped a bank into believing it was $312,000, when the actual price was only $285,000.
This led the bank to approve a $292,000 loan to the buyers of the flat.
Investigations into Goh have brought up a name the courts are becoming increasingly familiar with - David Rasif.
The runaway lawyer and his former partner David Tan - though not charged with any crime - are alleged to have conspired to help Goh pull off the cashback scam.
It was not mentioned exactly what their role was.
Rasif, 42, disappeared on June 5 last year - allegedly with $12 million of clients’ money.
Goh, who could be jailed for up to seven years if convicted, will return to court on May 15.
Source: The Straits Times, 12 May 2007
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