GuocoLand Sells 40 Leedon Units in Private Preview

RESIDENTIAL MARKET

GuocoLand sells 40 Leedon Residence units

Malaysian tycoon Quek Leng Chan's Singapore-listed property arm GuocoLand has sold about 40 units or 10 per cent of the total 381 units in its freehold Leedon Residence condo in the Holland Road area, BT understands.

It began a private preview of the project in mid-August at an average price of $2,000 per square foot. The developer is not offering any discount or stamp duty absorption.

For the preview, GuocoLand has released 70 units - mostly three and four bedders.

More HDB Supply but can Road Network Cope?

RESIDENTIAL MARKET

More HDB flats on the way, but can road network cope?

THE Housing Board is expected to complete building five Build-to-Order (BTO) housing projects in Yishun by 2014, but the road network to support the additional residents will be ready only a year later.

This time gap worries Ms Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon GRC), who foresees it causing massive jams along Lentor Avenue.

She was not the only MP expressing concern yesterday over the potential problems arising from the ramp-up in the building of BTO flats.

Government Delays Addressing DBSS Issue

RESIDENTIAL MARKET

Govt in no hurry to finish DBSS review

There is no rush to complete the review of the Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS), given the government's current priority to ramp up Built-To-Order flats and executive condominium (EC) units.

This is despite the fact that DBSS land sales have been suspended since July last year, following a public outcry over a Centrale 8 DBSS unit in Tampines bearing an original price tag of $880,000. The DBSS scheme, which allows private developers to design and build some public flats, was introduced in 2005 to give flat buyers more choice.

Singapore Still Not the Highest in Home Capital Jump

RESIDENTIAL MARKET

Domestic buys behind world home price hike

CITIES experiencing strong domestic demand for homes, such as Hong Kong, Moscow, London and Singapore, recorded the strongest growth in home prices in the first six months of the year. Hong Kong registered the sharpest jump in prices to top the chart as the most expensive city to buy a home in.

Best Performing REITs - Singapore's the One.

Singapore's REIT, or real estate investment trusts, yield the best returns in the world. This performance is luring investors soon after a property shopping spree across Asia, thus giving them a broader stream of income.

According to Bloomberg, 'Singapore REITs have outperformed the city-state’s benchmark Straits Times Index, which has climbed 14 percent this year. The 10-year government bond yield in Singapore was 1.38 percent as of Aug. 29. Adjusted for inflation, Singaporean savers currently receive a negative real return on their savings of 4.79 percent.'

While Ada Choi and Leo Chung, CBRE analysts, wrote in a report on Asia's REIT that, 'Although Asian REITs are expected to remain in buying mode, they will likely turn more selective towards future acquisitions, with yield enhancement and insulation from the global economic slowdown emerging as important criteria.'

(Source: Bloomberg)

Who Says There is a Property Bubble?

RESIDENTIAL MARKET

Property bubble? Read the numbers

Property prices tend to rise faster when the gap between real GDP growth and interest rates is bigger. There were eight years when the URA private property index chalked up double-digit growth in real terms (that is, net of inflation). Those years were 1989, 1991 to 1994, 1999 and 2007 and 2010. In those eight years, real GDP growth was higher than real interest rates by an average of 8.4 percentage points. The median was 7.4 points.

So, looking back, the big property bubble of 1993 and 1994 was caused by too low a real interest rate. In 1993, real GDP growth was a blistering 11.5 per cent while the real interest rate was a mere 0.6 per cent. In 1994, real GDP surged 10.6 per cent, while the real interest rate was zero.

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.

Blossom Residences EC - 100% SOLD

 

Executive Condominium at Segar Road

by City Developments Ltd

 

ERA Project Marketing Is Pleased To Announce That

Blossom Residences Is 100% Sold!

Thank You For Your Support!