The new provisions to the Land Strata Titles Act took effect last week, but property owners with collective sale ambitions appear unfazed as they continue their planned en bloc sales.
Among the developments that have elected sales committees and are pursuing their en bloc runs include Shenton House, Thomson View, Mayfair Gardens and Allsworth Park.
The rest of the year will also see 20 to 40 collective launches, with an average deal value of $50 million to $100 million, said analysts.
Many smaller projects with less than 50 units are also expected to be ready for en bloc by end-2010, said market watchers.
Residents and marketing agents have favoured the latest changes in the Land Strata Titles Act, believing the provisions will help avoid a convoluted and lengthy en bloc process.
They particularly praise the recommendation to increase the requisition rate to reconvene another extraordinary general meeting to 50 percent of the total number of residents or share value, which is higher than the earlier 25 percent of the total number of owners and 20 percent of the share value required. The recommendation is applicable to homeowners who did not succeed in their first try at a collective sale.
According to the Ministry of Law, the new provision aims to discourage many en bloc attempts once an inadequate interest from homeowners becomes evident.
Some amendments in the Land Strata Titles Act, which include the two-year restriction if the initial attempt fails, are seen to help en bloc sellers to raise their chances to get larger profits and time their sale in an upswing in the property market.
“Collective sales should be moving along swiftly as it is now or never for them,” said Ms. Christina Sim, director of investment at Cushman and Wakefield. “For the property agents, they know they are embarking on something serious and the chances of it coming to fruition are better.”
Property analysts, however, believe that the additional launches expected in H2 this year may lead to a developer’s market, where sellers will need to maintain “realistic” and competitive prices, while developers will have more to choose from.
"With the buffet spread of collective sales coming up, and with the limited spending power from developers, the sites have to be priced realistically to meet the balance between market demand and residents’ needs," said Ms. Sim.