Balestier - Red-light area to red-hot property

Balestier is shrugging off its unsavoury red-light reputation and luring buyers with some new projects.

A key move in the area's makeover was the refurbishing of the Sun Yat Sun Memorial Hall and the integrated hotel-park complex comprising Zhongshan Mall, Zhongshan Park, and the Days and Ramada hotels.

Buyers, including expatriates on tight budgets forced out of the city centre, see Balestier as a handy substitute given its proximity to the centre of town but with prices below those for neighbouring Novena and Toa Payoh.

Brisk sales at Bartley Ridge on launch day

The Bartley Ridge condominium being built near the upcoming new Bidadari township development proved popular with buyers on launch day yesterday.

The Straits Times understands that more than 200 units were sold by 4pm.

About 900 people turned up with their agents at 11am to enter a ballot for flats at the 99-year leasehold project between Serangoon and Paya Lebar.

Ho Bee leases out luxury units to ride out property troughs

The lacklustre market for high-end homes has prompted developer Ho Bee Group to lease out units at its completed projects.

Ho Bee has developed several pricey projects in Sentosa Cove, including Seascape and Turquoise, but sales have been hit by several rounds of cooling measures and a slowing economy.

The firm has responded by leasing out apartments, with 70 per cent of its unsold units in Sentosa already tenanted. Ho Bee chairman Chua Thian Poh told The Straits Times: "We hope by the time the market (is all right again), we can put the apartments on the market for sale again.

Review of rules for housing estate agents being finalized

The Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) is finalising its review of regulations for agents with input from stakeholders, according to Senior Minister of State for National Development Tan Chuan-Jin.

Having experienced the new regulatory system since CEA was set up two-and-a-half years ago, he said, some industry members had raised issues and given feedback.

The agency itself has also gained experience through its handling of cases. Since its formation, CEA has received about 2,300 complaints, or an average of four a day.

HDB backs down on acquiring flat; legal challenge averted

A flat owner's bid to challenge the HDB's move to take back his five-room unit ended yesterday when the Housing Board told the High Court it will withdraw its notice of intent to acquire the flat.

Mr Chew Teck Fatt in return agreed not to proceed with his judicial review application. Justice Woo Bih Li, who made no order on the application, ruled that HDB pay Mr Chew's legal costs at the closed-door hearing.

Yesterday's turn of events staved off a potential landmark case on whether the decisions of the HDB and the office of the Minister of National Development can be the subject of judicial review.

Property investment in Singapore to rise

Singapore can expect a significant uptick in property investment activity this year, on the back of an expected 15-20 per cent increase in global investment activity, which is likely to surpass US$1 trillion for the first time since 2007.

Cooling measures in Hong Kong (double stamp duty) and China (more aggressive implementation of capital gains tax) will generate strong investor sentiment for Singapore and Tokyo. This is a turnaround from last year, a slow year of investment trading, which is defined in the report as deals of US$5 million and above; last year, Singapore saw virtually no price growth.

BTO flat buyers face longer wait amid labour and supply strains

Home buyers might have a longer wait for the keys to their Build-To-Order (BTO) flats. A combination of the construction industry labour crunch and a ramp-up in the Housing Board's building programme is stretching the completion period for new BTO projects by several months.

The private sector has already taken a hit as contractors push back deadlines and take longer to complete projects, as the industry struggles with fewer workers.

Potong Pasir set to get infusion of new life

Potong Pasir has long been something of a backwater but it is likely to spring to life in the next few years, with as many as 1,000 new homes set to be built there.

The new condominiums which will boost the supply of private homes in the neighbourhood are Nin Residence, 18 Woodsville, Sant Ritz, and the newest kid on the block - Sennett Residence.

Sennett Residence, which is closest to the Potong Pasir MRT station, has sold more than 70 per cent of its 332 apartments since its launch last week. The average price of units at the project was $1,450 per sq ft (psf).

Any fresh HDB curbs will affect new buyers only: Khaw Boon Wan

National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan yesterday gave the assurance that any fresh curbs that would be introduced to make public housing more affordable - including disallowing the reselling of HDB flats on the open market - would apply only to new buyers, not existing flat owners.

The clarification came after earlier mention of such possible curbs last week unnerved the market and drove property stocks down, as many buyers of private homes are HDB upgraders. Keppel Land, Wing Tai Holdings and City Developments have fallen 2-3.8 per cent while CapitaLand has lost 4.8 per cent.

Two-room HDB flats may not appeal to many singles

Going by the numbers alone, the next launch of two-room Housing Board flats in July could be massively over-subscribed as a result of the recent move to allow singles to buy the units.

Eight in 10 working singles - some 150,000 Singaporeans - are now eligible to buy the smaller flats, which make up only a small fraction of the units launched each year.

But property watchers and singles themselves also say many of those eligible may give the flats a wide berth because of their small sizes and far-flung locations.

Property Agencies spooked by talk of changes to public housing system

HDB Owners Beware! Sell your houses in the resale market now when you still can! Ask me how! **

Alarm and uncertainty are permeating property agencies after National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan floated three suggestions on how he might reboot the public housing system.

While some fear that the changes could cause redundancies in the industry, others worry that they might produce the opposite of the desired result.

On Sunday, Mr Khaw said reverting to the pre-1971 system of allowing flats to be sold back only to the Housing Board, with minimal capital gains, could be one way of bringing down the prices of new flats. He has pledged to reduce these by some 30 per cent.

Singles BTO scheme to benefit 8 in 10

More than 80 per cent of singles above the age of 35 are eligible to buy new Build-to-Order (BTO) flats, said National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan, even as he revealed that the government might look at raising the income cap.

This follows Mr Khaw's announcement on Friday that first-timer singles earning $5,000 or less will be able to buy new two-room flats in non-mature estates directly from the Housing & Development Board (HDB) with effect from the July BTO exercise. The first BTO exercise for singles will be in Sengkang.

Big drop in HDB resale deals as new cooling measures bite

The number of Housing Board resale flats changing hands dropped drastically last month - a sign that the new cooling measures announced at the start of the year are beginning to kick in.

There were around 750 resale deals last month, the lowest activity in any month since the Singapore Real Estate Exchange (SRX) started tracking prices in 2007. This is less than half the 1,740 transactions in February last year.

Urban Vista in Tanah Merah, Bartley Ridge at Mount Vernon set for launch

With more launches expected later this month - including Urban Vista next to Tanah Merah MRT Station, Bartley Ridge and Kingsford.Hillview Peak - developers can be expected to post strong housing sales for March, analysts say.

Urban Vista in Tanah Merah could go on the market as early as next week, if developers World Class Land and Fragrance Group secure all regulatory approvals. Market watchers expect the 582-unit condo to be priced around $1,300-1,400 psf on average.

Expectations are also running high that Hong Leong Group could roll out Bartley Ridge - an 868-unit condo near Bartley MRT Station - by month-end. Analysts reckon that the average price could be around $1,300 psf.

Also targeted for release around month-end is a condo of about 500 units named Kingsford.Hillview Peak, next to The Hillier.

Developers sold 2,013 private homes (excluding executive condos) in January.

Source: Business Times –6 March 2013

Suburban apartment rents on the rise

Suburban apartments in the east and north-east part of the island were the star performers on the rental front in the fourth quarter last year.

Median monthly rents rose 2.9 per cent to $3.13 per sq ft (psf) in the three months to Dec 31.

Apartments in western areas such as Jurong managed rental increases of 2 per cent to $2.96 psf while suburbs in the north such as Woodlands saw a 1 per cent dip to $2.72 psf.

Home prices 'not at acceptable level yet'

Property prices in Singapore still have "some ways to go" before they reach an acceptable level relative to incomes, according to Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

"We're still in a wrong part of the cycle," he told Bloomberg TV in an interview on Thursday.

Mr Tharman, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, said the adjustment process would "happen through a combination of income improvement, as well as prices certainly not going up further".

Non-landed resale prices on the rise in Jan

Resale prices of completed private apartments and condos fared slightly better in January compared to December, according to the latest figures from the National University of Singapore.

The university's January flash estimate for the Singapore Residential Price Index (SRPI) suggested that prices of small units (up to 506 sq ft) islandwide was the star performer for the month, rising 2.6 per cent, reversing a dip of 0.7 per cent in December.

First Government Land Sales sites on tender since cooling measures

The first Government Land Sales (GLS) sites since the last round of property cooling measures have been put up for sale. And analysts are casting a keen eye on the tender.

The two 99-year leasehold residential sites at Kim Tian Road and Sengkang West Way were released yesterday by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and the Housing and Development Board (HDB) under the Confirmed List of the GLS programme for the first half of the year. They could yield about 1,100 homes.