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Wandervale’s prices start from $655,000 for a 3-bedder
Sim Lian Group has released prices for the 534-unit Wandervale executive condominium (EC) in Choa Chu Kang, the first major property launch this year.
In a statement, the group said prices start from $655,000 for a three-bedroom unit, $753,000 for a three-bedroom premium unit, and $896,000 for a four-bedroom unit. The project has an average price of $755 psf.
“Wandervale is competitively priced against other ECs in the market,” said Sim Lian. The EC units range in size from 958 sq ft to 1,249 sq ft, across nine residential blocks.
Located near Choa Chu Kang MRT station, Wandervale was more than 40 percent oversubscribed, receiving a total of 783 e-applications over 11 days.
The showflat at Choa Chu Kang Avenue 3 saw more than 5,000 visitors during the e-application period, which ended on 28 February. The balloting and sales booking exercise for the EC started on 5 March at the showflat.
The 99-year leasehold project is expected to receive its TOP by 2019.
$1 million buys you 452 sq ft in Singapore
For US$1 million (S$1.4 million), you can purchase 452 sq ft of prime real estate in Singapore (or a small studio apartment), making it the world’s seventh most expensive place to buy luxury property, noted findings from Knight Frank’s Wealth Report 2016.
The city-state fell two places from its previous ranking on last year’s report, due to property price declines. According to the firm’s Prime International Residential Index, luxury prices here dropped by 2.1 percent in 2015. This year, Knight Frank expects prices to slide further by 3.3 percent.
“Singapore luxury property prices have been dropping for several years now. The reasons for the fall are still in place — overall slowing economy, volatile financial markets, rising rates, and government cooling measures,” said Tay Kah Poh, Executive Director and Head of Residential for Knight Frank Singapore.
In the report, Singapore was named number two in Asia, behind Hong Kong, in terms of the number of super-rich individuals in the country. In 2015, there were 2,360 ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWIs) living here, with this figure expected to grow by 48 percent over the next 10 years.
Alice Tan, Research Head at Knight Frank Singapore, said “a conducive business environment, clear regulatory framework and a progressive ecosystem of financial and business services have augmented its status amongst the wealthy as a preferred location to live and do business in Asia”.
Despite the various measures put in place to curb excessive investment by foreign buyers, property investment remains a favoured asset allocation among the super-rich. In fact, 79 percent of those surveyed would invest in Singapore and UK homes.
The report also found that the three main concerns among UHNWIs in Singapore are succession / inheritance issues, the global economic situation, and stock market volatility.
The report polled 400 private bankers, including 30 from Singapore.
Still too early to remove cooling measures: Wong
Lifting the property cooling measures would be premature, as it could undo the government’s efforts to make home prices affordable, revealed National Development Minister Lawrence Wong during a parliamentary session on Monday (29 Feb).
He was responding to a query from Holland Bukit-Timah GRC MP Christopher de Souza, who asked if the authorities would consider scrapping the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) for Singaporeans but keep it for foreigners, an idea he first proposed in Parliament in January.
“SD was introduced to moderate the demand for residential property from investors, non-citizens and corporate entities,” said Mr Wong in a written reply.
“Singapore citizens who do not own any residential property do not need to pay (any) ABSD,” he added.
Currently, Singaporean citizens need to pay a stamp duty of seven percent when they buy a second home. This rises to 10 percent for their third and subsequent purchases.
On the other hand, foreigners have to fork out a heftier ABSD of 15 percent, regardless of whether they are first-time buyers, or landlords with multiple properties in Singapore.
Singapore’s richest property developers saw decline in fortune: Forbes
Forbes has just released its 2016 ranking of the world’s richest people, with 17 billionaires from Singapore making it on the prestigious list.
Close to half of them are involved in the real estate business, but for many, their fortunes have dwindled amid Singapore’s weak real estate market.
Property siblings Philip and Robert Ng topped the list yet again (#151 globally), but with a lower net worth of US$7.6 billion, down by US$2 billion. Older brother Robert chairs Hong Kong-listed Tsim Sha Tsui Properties, while Philip heads Far East Organization, Singapore’s largest private property developer.
According to Forbes, the brothers have been expanding their footprint in Australia, acquiring trophy assets such as a hotel and retail podium in Sydney for US$342 million last year. Their latest deal, in January, was a beachfront mall in Perth for US$45 million.
The Kwee family followed in the second spot (#270 globally). The four brothers, Kwee Liong Keng, Kwee Liong Tek, Kwee Liong Seen and Kwee Liong Phing, have a collective net worth of US$5 billion, lower than the US$5.2 billion reported previously. They own the privately-held Pontiac Land, which started selling apartments at 53W53, a 82-storey luxury residential project in Manhattan that is expected to be ready in 2018.
Meanwhile, with a net worth of US$2.7 billion, which plunged from the previous US$7.2 billion, Kwek Leng Beng is the fourth richest man in Singapore (#638 globally). Kwek’s City Developments Limited (CDL) is pressing ahead with an overseas expansion amid constraints in Singapore, said Forbes.
Other property magnates listed include father and son duo Raj Kumar & Kishin RK from Royal Holdings and RB Capital, who are the fifth wealthiest individuals in Singapore (#722 globally), and Singapore’s budget hotel magnate Choo Chong Ngen, owner of the Hotel 81 chain, who is ranked in 11th spot here (#1,367 globally).
The Forbes list of billionaires is an annual ranking compiled and published by Forbes magazine.
Residential land prices down 5.8% in 2015
The price of land sites in Singapore for prime residential and office projects did not change in the second half of 2015, according to Knight Frank’s latest Prime Asia Development Land Index.
But for the entire year, residential land prices in the city-state fell by 5.8 percent, while office prices grew by six percent.
“The soft demand in the housing and office rental markets as a result of both domestic and external economic challenges, coincided with strong supply pipelines to weaken the demand for land,” said Knight Frank.
“Firms in Singapore continued to face challenges from economic restructuring in the face of weak demand, while home buyers’ confidence was hurt by the prospect of rising interest rates and volatility in financial markets.” The residential cooling measures were also a factor in curbing demand, added the consultancy.
The most recent prime development land transaction in Singapore was the sale of a site at Alexandra View to Tang Skyline for $376.9 million in November; the site is expected to yield about 400 homes.
Meanwhile, prices of residential sites in Asia rose by three percent in H2 2015, up from 1.2 percent in the previous six months. Tokyo and Phnom Penh led the region, with prices shooting up respectively by 14.8 percent and 26.2 percent for the year.
Knight Frank’s index tracks land prices in 13 major cities across Asia.
20% of HDB loan applicants requested larger loans
There were about 200,000 qualified applications for an HDB Loan Eligibility (HLE) letter from 2012 to 2015, revealed National Development Minister Lawrence Wong during a parliamentary session on Tuesday (1 March).
Flat buyers need to request for an HLE letter before they can obtain an HDB concessionary housing loan for their flat purchase.
Of this figure, 20 percent, or 40,000 of those who applied for the letter, appealed for a higher mortgage. Most did so to increase their housing options without stating an exact loan amount. Mr Wong was responding to a query from Non-Constituency MP Leon Perera, as reported by Channel NewsAsia.
“Over one in three of such appeals were successful,” he said in a written reply. The rest were not granted as the applicants could not prove they had the resources to repay the larger loan.
“As a flat purchase is a long-term financial commitment, it would not be prudent for potential home buyers to take on additional financial burdens that they are unable to sustain,” he added.
Office vacancy rate could hit 10-year high
The vacancy rate in Singapore’s office real estate market is expected to rise further, and could reach its highest level in more than 10 years, revealed a Reuters report that cited market experts.
The number of empty premises are likely to increase as major office tenants downsize or stick with their existing spaces, in light of the lacklustre local economy and lower exports to China and other key global markets. In 2015, the city-state’s GDP increased by two percent, its weakest annual growth since 2009.
According to SLP International’s Executive Director Nicholas Mak, many of the recently completed office buildings in Singapore were planned about five years ago, after the 2008 global downturn.
“Many people thought, ‘This is the new boom, let’s try to capitalise on it.’ Nobody expected the party to end by the end of 2015,” he said, adding that office vacancy rates could reach 13.5 percent, the lowest level since 2005.
Amid the challenging market conditions, tenants who typically lease a significant amount of office premises could slash their space requirements. These include financial institutions, oil and gas firms, and commodities trading companies.
Moreover, a January report by JLL revealed that 50 percent of major foreign international banks in Singapore’s CBD reduced their office space in the past year and a half, or struggled with the added cost of their extra space.
The consultancy also predicted that prime office rents in the city-state could fall between 10 and 20 percent, following a 15 percent drop in 2015.
In spite of the gloomy office market, Mak thinks the vacancy rate could fall by end-2016 if Singapore’s economy gains momentum. With rosier market conditions, businesses may take up more space and ease the glut.
Johor’s Forest City given duty-free status
Forest City in Johor is set to become a duty-free zone, announced Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak at the project’s opening ceremony today (6 March), which was also attended by Johor’s Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar.
Other packages unveiled include corporate tax incentives for qualified companies, or companies with Iskandar Development Region (IDR) status that are involved in the tourism, education and healthcare sectors.
Being a green development, there will also be corporate tax incentives for green developers and green development managers, and a waiver on company equity restrictions for foreign investors to claim these incentives.
Comprising four man-made islands in the Johor Strait near the Tuas Second Link, the S$58.3 billion Forest City township is being developed by Country Garden Pacificview (CGPV), jointly owned by Chinese property giant Country Garden Holdings and Johor’s Esplanade Danga 88.
Agreements have already been signed with global partners, including Shattuck St. Mary’s School and UIW / Christus, the fourth largest medical group in the US, to collaborate on international schooling and to provide residents with world-class medical services.
In addition, a duty-free shopping mall will be ready by the end of this year at Fisherman’s Wharf on Island 1, the first phase of Forest City. There will also be a five-star boutique hotel.
Meanwhile, the condominium units and high-rise coastal residences on Island 1 have already been launched for sale in Singapore, China and Malaysia. Unit sizes range from 753 sq ft to 1,862 sq ft, with prices averaging around RM1,200 psf (S$400 psf).
Forest City is Country Garden’s largest real estate project outside China. The group currently has more than 300 projects globally.
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