Freehold or Leasehold? - Choose Wisely

RESIDENTIAL MARKET

Property buyers, mind that lease

When investing in private property, people hold the notion that freehold is best and 99-year leasehold is to be avoided, but this view has been tested in recent years.

Values for many leasehold properties are holding up well and some are even outstripping that of similar freehold developments, so the old certainties do not always apply.

Freehold is not a universal concept either. Residential land in China is typically sold with tenure of 70 years and only 50 years in some cases in Hong Kong.

Does it pay to invest in Shoebox units?

RESIDENTIAL MARKET

It may not pay to invest in shoebox units

A RECENT report has identified hot spots across Singapore for "shoebox" condominium homes but has questioned the viability of these tiny condominium units as investments.

Even before the Government's move this week to restrict the ballooning number of shoebox condominium units outside the central area, market experts were raising a red flag.

These homes of less than 50 sq m used to be mainly in the central areas, but many small studio apartments are now springing up on the outskirts.

HDB and Private Resale Prices and Rents Rise

RESIDENTIAL MARKET

Resale prices, rents rise for private and public housing

RESALE home prices and rents have climbed across the board after a lull in July, according to data out yesterday.

HDB housing and private housing both posted strong showings, and indicate that the third quarter might be a more buoyant one for the property market.

Private resale prices were up 4.5 per cent last month over July.

This puts the average resale prices in July and last month at $1,134 per sq ft (psf), 1.2 per cent more than $1,121 psf in the second quarter.

Singapore Condominium rents increased by 2.4 per cent in the same period.

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HDB Resale Flats smash S$980,000 Price Tag!

RESIDENTIAL MARKET

Seven units smash $980,000 price tag

SEVEN HDB resale flats have been sold for at least $980,000 - five in this year alone, property agency data show.

And according to the Singapore Real Estate Exchange, which collates information from the Housing Board and major property firms, a $1 million deal for an executive maisonette in Queenstown is in the works.

All seven transactions were in mature towns where there are well-developed transport links and amenities.

Three were in Bishan, two in Queenstown, and one each in Kallang and Toa Payoh. They range from 1,180 sq ft to 1,850 sq ft.

ERA Realty key executive officer Eugene Lim said these flats are likely to be on higher floors, well maintained and nicely done up, saving the new owner a tidy sum in renovations.

Upward prices of mass market condominiums are also driving up the prices of premium public flats.

A typical unit at the 99-year leasehold Watertown condominium in Punggol, for instance, can fetch about $1,300 psf. In contrast, the latest record-breaking deal for the 1,800 sq ft executive maisonette in Bishan cost about $550 psf.

Buyers of premium flats are typically private-property downgraders who have cashed out and want to live in a flat of comparable size. They can also afford high cash over valuation (COV).

There were two recently reported transactions where such downgraders paid high COVs - $168,000 for an executive maisonette in Tampines and $135,000 for a five-room flat in Holland Drive.

Source: The Straits Times – 7 September 2012

Bishan HDB Maisonette sold at Record Price.. again!

RESIDENTIAL MARKET

Bishan HDB executive maisonette changes hands for record $980,000

DESPITE its steep $980,000 asking price, a Bishan executive maisonette was snapped up on the first day of an open house held to sell it.

The buyers are a Singapore citizen and her Chinese-national father, and the seller is a Singaporean woman who is relocating to Shanghai for work.

The price tag makes this the most expensive Housing Board (HDB) resale flat sold. The last record was held by an executive flat in Toa Payoh, which was sold for $910,000 in May this year.

The $980,000 includes a $200,000 cash over valuation (COV), which is a premium paid to the seller in cash. It is also believed to be the highest ever COV reported.

ERA Realty's Cheryl Clare Ng, the agent of the Bishan seller, said 40 people viewed the 25-year-old property in Bishan Street 13 within the first two hours of the open house in June.

Its simple furnishings did not deter the buyers.

Instead, they were won over by how it is a spacious 1,800 sq ft and comes with a rare 150 sq ft open roof terrace.

Other attractions, Ms Ng noted, are its proximity to amenities such as schools.

The Bishan bus and MRT interchange is less than a 10-minute walk away.

"It's also on the 19th floor, has a great view and it is very airy most of the time," she said.

Such spacious maisonette units with open terrace roofs are hard to come by. There are only 48 such homes islandwide.

In 2005, a unit like this would have cost about $550,000.

Ms Ng said the buyers got a good deal: "If you compare it to a similar condo unit, you are effectively paying half the price for twice the space."

The $980,000 price equates to about $550 per sq ft.

A similar-sized condominium unit nearby would fetch at least $1,300 psf.

Property analysts, however, were quick to point out that the record-breaking deal is a one-off that is unlikely to drive up resale flat prices or COV quantums.

ERA Realty key executive officer Eugene Lim said he is not surprised that the Bishan unit fetched a high price since such homes are rare and flats in the area usually command a premium.

Source: The Straits Times – 7 September 2012

Hong Kong Restricts Foreign Homebuyers

Hong Kong on Thursday announced the first step in a policy aimed to restrict foreigners from buying property, in a move seen to be targeting mainland buyers who have been blamed for pushing up property prices.

Chief executive Leung Chun-ying said only Hong Kong permanent residents will be able to buy flats to be built on two sites that will provide around 1,100 homes next year under a so-called "Hong Kong land for Hong Kong people" policy.

Bids Decline for Suburban En Bloc Sites

RESIDENTIAL MARKET

Bids likely to dip for small suburban en bloc sites

DEVELOPERS eyeing collective sale sites might have to redo their sums as the Government caps the number of homes that can be built in non-landed developments outside the central area.

Experts say the newly announced guidelines that discourage the fast-rising number of tiny "shoebox" homes will likely temper developers' bids, particularly for certain small suburban collective sale sites.

This is because shoebox homes - typically less than 50 sq m - can often be sold at higher per sq ft (psf) prices.

Bids for upcoming sites would have to factor in the larger average size of units mandated under the new rules, which are usually expected to feature lower psf selling prices.

The experts add that smaller collective sale land plots are likely to be the most affected by this change as small and mid-sized developers often churn out more units on such sites to claw back the land cost.

Sites that do not have a gross plot ratio (GPR) of 1.4 and with a gross floor area of 30,000 sq ft to 80,000 sq ft will likely be the most affected.

These other sites might see bid prices fall by about 3 per cent to 5 per cent as developers turn cautious and scale back their aggressive bids.

Larger sites that cost more than $200 million are usually the target of bigger players who do not build just shoebox units, and so they might be less affected.

UOB Kay Hian analyst Vikrant Pandey noted that developers keen on riding the shoebox wave will become less aggressive both in acquiring collective sale sites and in their land tender bids for suburban land parcels.

This is likely to result in a change in strategy for developers of small mass market projects such as Oxley Holdings and Roxy-Pacific Holdings, he said.

But experts point out that the impact of the rules has also been muted by an earlier change in guidelines last November that sounded a warning that the Government was closely watching the shoebox segment.

New rules then had set minimum plot sizes for apartment blocks and restricted the number of units that can be built on certain sites, ensuring that some ground will be free for landscaping or facilities.

URA has also been stricter in granting provisional permission. It has been known to throw back building plans with too many shoebox units, sending a signal to the industry that changes were at hand, an expert added.

Source: The Straits Times – 6 September 2012

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