NEW executive condominiums (ECs) will be even more attractive now that the resale levy is no longer payable.
The Housing and Development Board imposes the levy on those who sell their first flat to buy another from the board. It is a fixed sum that ranges from $15,000 to $50,000 according to flat type, and $55,000 for ECs.
In a statement yesterday, HDB said: ‘To align the purchase of new ECs with the Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS), second-timers buying a new EC unit from the developer will no longer have to pay the resale levy.’
HDB also said that previously, first-timers who bought new ECs were barred from buying another new EC, HDB or DBSS flat. This bar has now been lifted.
PropNex CEO Mohamed Ismail believes the change will give ‘greater incentive’ to HDB dwellers who aspire to a condominium lifestyle by way of an EC.
Mr Ismail reckons the dropping of the resale levy, coupled with rising HDB resale flat prices, could leave some second-time buyers with up to $100,000 to add to their housing budget, depending on the size of the flat they sell.
He also believes developers could be encouraged to bid for EC sites, as demand will grow.
The government has said it intends to release more EC sites.
The first to be released, after a gap of more than three years since the last EC site was sold in 2004, will be at Punggol Road/Punggol Field.
The 2.27ha site with a plot ratio of 3.0 was put on the reserve list of the Government Land Sales Programme yesterday. And with the dropping of the resale levy, consultants expect interest in the site to increase.
Cushman & Wakefield managing director Donald Han says the last EC site at Woodlands, where La Casa now stands, was sold for $150 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr). Since then, two DBSS sites - launched at Tampines in October 2005 and Boon Keng Road in March 2007 - sold for $114 psf ppr and $234 psf ppr respectively.
Mr Han says EC sites typically fetch more than DBSS sites. And based on the last DBSS site price at Boon Keng Road, but factoring in Punggol’s location and EC site status, he expects the Punggol EC site to fetch $190-$220 psf ppr.
‘We expect strong interest from developers and contractors for this site due to revival of HDB market activity and recent price increases - supported mainly by HDB upgraders and new home buyers,’ he said.
‘In addition, the government has committed its resources to turning Punggol into a major waterfront township and Punggol itself has been a news focal point lately.’
Source : Business Times - 21 Nov 2007
Monday, November 26, 2007
99-year leasehold residential site in Woodlands was found to have drawn a surprising eight bidders
A 99-year leasehold residential site in Woodlands was found to have drawn a surprising eight bidders when the government tender closed yesterday, with the top bid coming to some $56 million - or $232 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr).
Recent government land tenders have drawn only a few bidders each, which market watchers said was a sign of the property market cooling off.
For the 172,200 sq ft site at Woodlands Avenue 2/Rosewood Drive, the top bid was put in by Evan Lim & Co Pte Ltd.
The company just pipped second highest bidder Frasers Centrepoint, which offered $55.5 million - or $230 psf ppr.
Other bidders include Wing Tai and Sim Lian Land. The site has a 1.4 plot ratio - giving it a maximum gross floor area of 241,100 sq ft.
Nicholas Mak, director of research and consultancy at Knight Frank, said that the price was ‘realistic’, although it came in below prior market expectations of $250-$280 psf ppr.
The number of bids was impressive, considering the recent market turbulence, experts said. ‘The bids show that developers are confident of healthy suburban buyer demand,’ said Mr Mak.
Ku Swee Yong, Savills Singapore’s director of marketing and business development, said: ‘Developers still see that there is good demand from the mass market, arising from job growth and rising wages.’
With construction costs for mass market condos estimated at about $300 psf, the break-even price for the site could be around $530 psf, experts said.
This means that apartments in the project could eventually be launched at about $700 psf - higher than what private homes in Woodlands are fetching at the moment.
Separately, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Monday awarded a transitional office site at Tampines to City Developments’ unit Glades Properties.
The developer had put in the only bid for the site, offering $10 million, or $81 psf ppr - lower than the $100 psf ppr that most property consultants had expected the 15-year leasehold site to fetch. This led to market talk that the site might not be awarded.
Yesterday, URA also said that an unnamed developer has entered a bid of $187 million for a 3.2ha, 99-year leasehold residential site at Simei Street 4, triggering a public tender which will be launched in two weeks’ time.
The price offered by the developer works out to $235 psf ppr. The site has a 2.3 plot ratio - giving it a maximum gross floor area of 797,400 sq ft.
Market watchers, however, reckon that the plot could fetch more.
‘I think the winning bid could come to $350 psf ppr,’ said Ho Eng Joo, Colliers International’s executive director for investment sales. Apartments coming up on the site could be launched at about $800 psf, he said.
URA yesterday also awarded the tender for the 99-year leasehold condo site at Enggor Street (Land Parcel B) to Allgreen Properties, which had submitted the highest bid of $717 psf ppr in a public tender.
Source : Business Times - 21 Nov 2007
Recent government land tenders have drawn only a few bidders each, which market watchers said was a sign of the property market cooling off.
For the 172,200 sq ft site at Woodlands Avenue 2/Rosewood Drive, the top bid was put in by Evan Lim & Co Pte Ltd.
The company just pipped second highest bidder Frasers Centrepoint, which offered $55.5 million - or $230 psf ppr.
Other bidders include Wing Tai and Sim Lian Land. The site has a 1.4 plot ratio - giving it a maximum gross floor area of 241,100 sq ft.
Nicholas Mak, director of research and consultancy at Knight Frank, said that the price was ‘realistic’, although it came in below prior market expectations of $250-$280 psf ppr.
The number of bids was impressive, considering the recent market turbulence, experts said. ‘The bids show that developers are confident of healthy suburban buyer demand,’ said Mr Mak.
Ku Swee Yong, Savills Singapore’s director of marketing and business development, said: ‘Developers still see that there is good demand from the mass market, arising from job growth and rising wages.’
With construction costs for mass market condos estimated at about $300 psf, the break-even price for the site could be around $530 psf, experts said.
This means that apartments in the project could eventually be launched at about $700 psf - higher than what private homes in Woodlands are fetching at the moment.
Separately, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Monday awarded a transitional office site at Tampines to City Developments’ unit Glades Properties.
The developer had put in the only bid for the site, offering $10 million, or $81 psf ppr - lower than the $100 psf ppr that most property consultants had expected the 15-year leasehold site to fetch. This led to market talk that the site might not be awarded.
Yesterday, URA also said that an unnamed developer has entered a bid of $187 million for a 3.2ha, 99-year leasehold residential site at Simei Street 4, triggering a public tender which will be launched in two weeks’ time.
The price offered by the developer works out to $235 psf ppr. The site has a 2.3 plot ratio - giving it a maximum gross floor area of 797,400 sq ft.
Market watchers, however, reckon that the plot could fetch more.
‘I think the winning bid could come to $350 psf ppr,’ said Ho Eng Joo, Colliers International’s executive director for investment sales. Apartments coming up on the site could be launched at about $800 psf, he said.
URA yesterday also awarded the tender for the 99-year leasehold condo site at Enggor Street (Land Parcel B) to Allgreen Properties, which had submitted the highest bid of $717 psf ppr in a public tender.
Source : Business Times - 21 Nov 2007
ORCHARD Road prime rents have hit $325US psf
ORCHARD Road prime rents have hit $325US psf per year, making it the world’s 14th most expensive area for shopkeepers. By contrast, annual prime rents for sites on New York’s Fifth Avenue are $1US,500 psf, or $922US for sites on the Avenue des Champs Elysees, in Paris.
Orchard Road is also the fourth most expensive shopping location in this region - after those in Hong Kong (Causeway Bay - $1US,213 psf/year), Tokyo (Ginza - $683US psf/year) and Seoul (Gangnam Station - $431US psf/year).
A report by Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) shows that Singapore’s busiest shopping street did slip one place from its previous 13th position last year but attributed this to the strength of the euro over the Singapore dollar.
C&W’s report tracks retail rents in the world’s top 231 shopping locations across 44 countries. Its data show that annual prime rents increased by 11.3 per cent for Orchard Road while in the top three most expensive locations in New York’s Fifth Avenue, Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay and Paris’s Avenue des Champs Elysees, rents increased by 11.1, 6.97 and 14.5 per cent respectively.
At the fourth and fifth most expensive locations - London’s New Bond Street ($814US psf/year) and Tokyo’s Ginza - annual rents increased by 20.95 and 4.8 per cent respectively.
Although C&W expects retail rents in Singapore to continue their upward trend, it noted that rents in other cities have increased faster, notably in India. It believes that this will help make Singapore more competitive and maintain its attractiveness as a retail destination in the region.
Rental growth across Asia as a whole increased by 23.8 per cent. C&W head of retail services (Asia Pacific) Sebastian Skiff said: ‘Of particular note is the robust performance in Tokyo driven largely by lack of supply. India saw particularly strong growth, with rents nationally up 53.5 per cent.’
He also noted that Australia, Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong saw solid growth from already relatively high bases.
On the demand for prime retail space, C&W’s global head of retail, John Strachan, said: ‘We are seeing the emergence of a line-up of global shopping destinations, whether Fifth Avenue in New York, Causeway Bay in Hong Kong or Avenue des Champs Elysees in Paris, where retailers are using flagship stores in prestige locations to leverage the value of their brands.’
Globally, Chicago’s Oak Street was the location with the biggest rental increases in local currency. Rents for prime properties doubled in one year.
This was followed by rents in New Delhi’s Ansal Plaza and Connaught Place which saw annual increases of 87.5 per cent while rents in St Petersburg’s Nevsky Prospekt increase by 81.8 per cent.
Source : Business Times - 20 Nov 2007
Orchard Road is also the fourth most expensive shopping location in this region - after those in Hong Kong (Causeway Bay - $1US,213 psf/year), Tokyo (Ginza - $683US psf/year) and Seoul (Gangnam Station - $431US psf/year).
A report by Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) shows that Singapore’s busiest shopping street did slip one place from its previous 13th position last year but attributed this to the strength of the euro over the Singapore dollar.
C&W’s report tracks retail rents in the world’s top 231 shopping locations across 44 countries. Its data show that annual prime rents increased by 11.3 per cent for Orchard Road while in the top three most expensive locations in New York’s Fifth Avenue, Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay and Paris’s Avenue des Champs Elysees, rents increased by 11.1, 6.97 and 14.5 per cent respectively.
At the fourth and fifth most expensive locations - London’s New Bond Street ($814US psf/year) and Tokyo’s Ginza - annual rents increased by 20.95 and 4.8 per cent respectively.
Although C&W expects retail rents in Singapore to continue their upward trend, it noted that rents in other cities have increased faster, notably in India. It believes that this will help make Singapore more competitive and maintain its attractiveness as a retail destination in the region.
Rental growth across Asia as a whole increased by 23.8 per cent. C&W head of retail services (Asia Pacific) Sebastian Skiff said: ‘Of particular note is the robust performance in Tokyo driven largely by lack of supply. India saw particularly strong growth, with rents nationally up 53.5 per cent.’
He also noted that Australia, Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong saw solid growth from already relatively high bases.
On the demand for prime retail space, C&W’s global head of retail, John Strachan, said: ‘We are seeing the emergence of a line-up of global shopping destinations, whether Fifth Avenue in New York, Causeway Bay in Hong Kong or Avenue des Champs Elysees in Paris, where retailers are using flagship stores in prestige locations to leverage the value of their brands.’
Globally, Chicago’s Oak Street was the location with the biggest rental increases in local currency. Rents for prime properties doubled in one year.
This was followed by rents in New Delhi’s Ansal Plaza and Connaught Place which saw annual increases of 87.5 per cent while rents in St Petersburg’s Nevsky Prospekt increase by 81.8 per cent.
Source : Business Times - 20 Nov 2007
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