Our top Singapore and regional property stories.
Private property prices down 3.2% from one year ago
Prices of non-landed private homes in Singapore fell 3.2 percent in the second quarter of 2015 from the same period last year, according to the latest Knight Frank Global House Price Index, which tracked 56 countries and ranked them according to the annual percentage change in home prices.
Singapore placed 49th on the list.
Since 2009, the government has introduced several rounds of property cooling measures to slow down the pace of sales and push prices down. Like Singapore, Hong Kong also introduced measures to cool its real estate market, but mainstream prices have shot up 20.7 percent year-on-year — the highest globally.
“Increasing liquidity and the continual flow of wealthy mainland Chinese investors into Hong Kong’s residential sector meant the number of new homes sold in the first half of 2015 exceeded 8,700,” said Knight Frank.
Globally, the Index rose marginally by 0.1 percent in the year to June 2015, its weakest rate of growth since Q4 2011. “Of the 56 housing markets tracked, 27 percent recorded an annual decline in prices, but back in 2011, 44 percent of housing markets fell into this bracket,” added the report.
SG50 inspired EC to launch soon
A new 525-unit executive condominium (EC) project, Signature @ Yishun, will open for e-Applications from 11 to 20 September.
Developed by JBE Holdings, the 99-year leasehold project located at Yishun Street 51 / Yishun Avenue 1 comprises two- to four-bedroom units ranging from 764 to 1,302 sq ft.
Conceived as an SG50 EC, the project will feature unique facilities inspired by Singapore’s rich heritage, such as a Dragon Playground, Chapteh Terrace and Sepak Takraw Pavilion. The façade of the project’s clubhouse will also feature a pineapple motif, which is synonymous with Yishun’s past; in its early days, Yishun was dotted with pepper and pineapple plantations.
Although pricing details have not been released yet, the developer said it is committed to launching the project at a more affordable price. Launch prices of ECs in 2015 have hovered above $800 psf, according to data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).
Most recently, the government also raised the income ceiling for EC purchases from $12,000 to $14,000. This means that households with higher incomes now have the additional option of buying an EC. This is expected to benefit new projects such as Signature @ Yishun, said analysts.
Katong bungalow to go under the hammer
A freehold redevelopment site at 25 Branksome Road in District 15 will be put up for sale by auction, according to marketing agent Colliers International.
The 13,844 sq ft site, zoned residential and located within a “two-storey semi-detached landed housing vicinity” is situated in a landed housing enclave between Tanjong Katong Road and Crescent Road, and is currently occupied by an old single-storey bungalow. The indicative price for the plot is in the range of $15 million to $17 million ($1,083 to $1,227 psf).
“A landed housing site of this size — and one with redevelopment potential — in District 15 is rarely made available for sale. Transactions of similar large sites were last recorded two years ago: a 13,632 sq ft site at Seraya Lane that was sold for $17 million ($1,247 psf), and a 12,525 sq ft site at Goodman Road that changed hands at $16.38 million ($1,308 psf),” said Grace Ng, Deputy Managing Director at Colliers.
“The site has potential for sub-division to accommodate either two detached houses, or one detached house and a pair of semi-detached houses,” added Ng. The auction will take place on 30 September at the Amara Hotel.
Cushman & Wakefield completes merger with DTZ
Cushman & Wakefield announced on Wednesday, 2 September, the completion of its merger with DTZ, a move that has given birth to one of the largest commercial real estate services firms in the world.
The new Cushman & Wakefield, which also now carries a refreshed logo, will have a combined revenue of US$5 billion, 43,000 employees, more than 4.3 billion sq ft under management, and US$191 billion in transaction value. It is owned by an investor group comprising TPG, PAG and OTPP.
In Asia Pacific, the firm has over 7,000 staff operating in 21 offices across 11 countries, including Singapore, Australia, India, Japan and New Zealand. “This is a game-changing event in commercial real estate,” said Chairman and CEO Brett White.
“Both legacy firms had been aggressively growing their respective platforms and deepening their reach into the market with new acquisitions and talent.
Now we have the opportunity to see these ambitions come together — capturing the momentum in the market and clearly claiming our position at the top of the industry,” he added.
Sales subdued at auction
A recent property auction organised by JLL saw one apartment sold out of seven residential and commercial properties submitted for sale.
The 2,174 sq ft loft at Orchard Scotts in District 9 comprises three bedrooms, and was sold via mortgagee sale with vacant possession for $2.8 million, despite being listed for $3.3 million.
The apartment comes with a 99-year lease, effective starting January 2001. Held at the Amara hotel last Thursday, the auction saw four properties put up for mortgagee sale and the rest through owner’s sale. Two other listings were withdrawn before the event.
The auction’s most expensive listing, which didn’t sell, was a two-storey maisonette at The Balmoral, with a price tag of $4.5 million.
KL-Singapore HSR project to start in 2017
Malaysia’s Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) expects construction contracts for the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high speed rail (HSR) project to be awarded by 2017.
In a report by The Sun Daily, SPAD Chief Development Officer Dr Prodyut Dutt, said that works for the project, which is due for completion by 2022, will take about five years. “If worked backwards, the indicative date is 2017,” he said at a recent event.
He added that preliminary work for the tender is in progress, and will be conducted in consultation with the Singapore government.
Announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in 2010, the proposed HSR project was initially expected to be completed by 2020.
Singapore bank lending up in July
Total bank lending in the city-state rose month-on-month in July 2015, on the back of stronger demand for housing loans and from the general commerce sector, revealed data from the central bank on Monday.
Loans and advances by domestic banks amounted to $610.4 billion last month, up 0.6 percent from $606.8 billion in June. According to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the rate of monthly growth in July was lower than the 1.6 percent increase in June, which was boosted by construction loans.
Meanwhile, bank lending in July grew 2.2 percent from $597.4 billion in the same period last year. Housing and bridging loans rose from $180.3 billion in June to $181.6 billion last month. These loans grew by about 5.2 percent from $172.6 billion last year.
Agent punished for misleading potential buyer
A property agent with PropNex Realty was recently suspended for misleading a potential buyer into believing her offer on a property had been rejected, revealed the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) in its bimonthly newsletter.
Ho Wee Chun, Eugene represented the potential buyer in the property purchase process and conveyed her offer price to the seller’s agent.
However, Ho told the potential buyer that her offer had been rejected, even before getting a response from the seller.
Subsequently, Ho did not update the potential buyer when the seller’s agent informed him that the seller had accepted the offer. Instead, he tried to persuade his client to raise her offer.
As a result, she asked Ho to notify the seller that she would take up a bridging loan to increase her offer. She also requested that the period to exercise the Option to Purchase (OTP) be extended to four weeks.
Ho then proceeded to erroneously inform the potential buyer that her request had been conveyed to the seller’s agent, when in fact he had not done so at all.
Thereafter, Ho avoided the potential buyer’s attempts to contact him and liaised with another agent from his agency to purchase the property at the same price offered by the potential buyer. Representing his colleague, Ho delivered the cheque and offer letter to the seller’s agent.
He then informed the potential buyer that the property had already been sold, making her believe that his colleague closed the transaction for the eventual buyer, when in reality, it was he who had facilitated the sale.
For breaching CEA’s Code of Ethics and Professional Client Care, Ho was fined $11,000 and suspended for seven months, with two other suspensions of six months and one month running concurrently. He was also ordered to pay fixed costs of $1,000.
BCA raises bar for Green Mark scheme for commercial properties
The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) unveiled an improved version of the Green Mark scheme on Wednesday, 2 September. Known as the Green Mark 2015 scheme, it is an enhanced rating system for non-residential buildings, said Ministry of Environment and Water Resources Permanent Secretary Choi Shing Kwok during the recent opening of the International Green Building Conference (IGBC).
Aside from placing greater emphasis on the health and wellbeing of users, it will also focus on a building’s smart technologies, energy efficiency, and climatically responsive design. The rating system will also look into how carbon emission was and will be reduced during the production, transport and construction of building materials, until the end of its life cycle. “This is by far the most consultative Green Mark scheme, as it involved the participation of more than 100 industry specialists and experienced practitioners,” Choi explained.
Notably, the Green Mark scheme grades buildings on their environmental impact, with ratings being Certified, Gold, GoldPlus and Platinum. Since its introduction in 2005, the bar for qualifying buildings has been raised regularly, with Green Mark 2015 being the fifth revision. As Green Mark-certified buildings are more sought-after, owners of properties in other Asian countries and the Middle East have applied for the rating.
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