ValueBuddies.com : Value Investing Forum - Singapore, Hong Kong, U.S.

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-est...ke-life-ec

Record high e-applications for Lake Life EC
By
Nisha Ramchandaninishar@sph.com.sg@Nisha_BT
econdolakelife1310.jpg Developed by a consortium led by Evia Real Estate, the project - which is in the Jurong Lake district - received over 1,848 applications. - PHOTO: EVIA REAL ESTATE
13 Oct5:50 AM
Singapore

THE 546-unit executive condominium (EC) Lake Life has been more than three times subscribed, receiving a record number of e-applications for an EC project in Singapore.

Developed by a consortium led by Evia Real Estate, the project - which is in the Jurong Lake district

e-application = not confirmed deal till signature on S & P agreement.
Many e-applications were created by appointed housing agents themselves .

cfa Wrote:e-application = not confirmed deal till signature on S & P agreement. Many e-applications were created by appointed housing agents themselves .

Rest assured that about two thirds of e-apps would not translate into actual purchase eventually

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-est...bal-crisis

Developer sales in Q3 lowest since worst phase of global crisis
Combination of sluggish sales and price declines spells painful journey ahead for property market, say observers

By
Kalpana Rashiwalakalpana@sph.com.sg@KalpanaBT
privatehomes161014.jpg THE 648 private homes developers sold last month were up 48 per cent from 437 units in the Hungry Ghosts-struck month of August. However, the September figure is half that of the 1,237 units in the same month last year - PHOTO: ST
16 Oct5:50 AM
Singapore

THE 648 private homes developers sold last month were up 48 per cent from 437 units in the Hungry Ghosts-struck month of August. However, the September figure is half that of the 1,237 units in the same month last year.

This takes the preliminary third-quarter tally to 1,596 units. This is a 40 per cent drop from Q2 and the lowest figure since the 419 units developers sold in Q4 2008 during the nadir of the global crisis, according to Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) figures released on Wednesday.

"In the year before TDSR (total debt servicing ratio) was imposed (in late-June 2013), quarterly sales volume was about 5,000 units on average - or roughly three times more than the volume in Q3 2014," observed JLL national director Ong Teck Hui. "This shows the extent to which demand has weakened in the primary market," he added.

CBRE Research, Singapore head Desmond Sim too noted that there has been only a marginal improvement in sales, on a six-month rolling total basis.

In the first nine months of this year, developers sold 6,005 private homes, and property consultants polled on Wednesday predict the full-year tally will be in the 7,000-9,000 unit range. This marks a big downward revision from the 10,000-14,500 unit sales most consultants had indicated in a BT poll in mid-January this year. Some had been even more bullish; ERA Realty key executive officer Eugene Lim had forecast sales of 15,000 to 18,000 units.

When contacted on Wednesday, Mr Lim gave a drastically reduced estimate of 8,000-9,000 units for the whole of this year. "Now we can fully see the effects that the cooling measures as well as the TDSR framework are having on buyers; they force buyers to be very selective as they are constrained by the amount of loan they can get. Price quantum remains key. It is easier to move units priced S$800,000-S$1.2 million than units above S$1.5 million."

Mr Lim expects the pace of sales to be similarly measured next year. "In the absence of the government tweaking any of the cooling measures, we can possibly expect a similarly muted market going forward," Mr Lim said.

Agreeing, JLL's Mr Ong said: "The main threat is that our economy is slowing down and how that will affect sentiments in the property market."

A seasoned market watcher noted that developers have trimmed their price expectations for new launches and at times also cut prices of existing launches, sometimes through a "star buy" campaign of discounts on selected units.

"When prices soften, there is some buying before sales stall again. It is not a situation of cutting prices and you clear all your unsold stock. TDSR is biting hard," he said. "Developers are cutting prices selectively to avoid a downward price spiral - otherwise things will be messy."

This mix of price declines and sluggish sales, with no end in sight of the cooling measures, spells a painful journey ahead for Singapore's real estate market, reckon most observers.

URA's data also show that developers sold 59 executive condo (EC) units in September, just one unit more than the August sales of 58 units. But the EC sales engine is set to rev up in Q4, with sales bookings slated to begin for at least three EC projects - Lake Life near Jurong Lake, Bellewoods in Woodlands and Bellewaters in Sengkang.

Developers found buyers for 168 EC units in Q3, slightly more than the 154 units in Q2. In Q3 last year, the figure was 1,240 units.

In the first nine months, developers transacted 471 EC units.

Last year, they sold 3,588 ECs and 14,948 private homes.

Based on URA's latest data, last month's top-selling project was Keppel Land's Highline Residences condo near Tiong Bahru MRT Station, with 142 units transacted at a median price of S$1,848 per square foot (psf), followed by UOL Group's Seventy Saint Patrick's with 110 units sold at a median price of S$1,652 psf.

This quarter's sales numbers will be supported by the recent launch of Marina One Residences. The market is also expecting the release soon of Sophia Hills at Mount Sophia, as well as two mass-market projects: Tre Residences in Geylang East Avenue 1 and Symphony Suites in Yishun Avenue 9, noted CBRE.

Excluding ECs, developers launched 514 private homes last month, up from 399 units in August.

No ECs were launched in both months.

*Analysis shows median price declines of houses in majority of projects

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-est...ed-in-2015

25% fewer BTO flats to be launched in 2015
By
Kelly Taykellytay@sph.com.sg@KellyTayBT
btoflateprojje2110.jpg THE government will launch 25 per cent fewer Build-to-Order (BTO) flats next year, said National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan in a blog post on Monday evening - PHOTO: SPH
21 Oct5:50 AM
Singapore

THE government will launch 25 per cent fewer Build-to-Order (BTO) flats next year, said National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan in a blog post on Monday evening.

This would mark a further slowdown in pace - the BTO programme has already been reduced by 10 per cent to

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-est...down-in-q3

Industrial property prices, rents down in Q3
Bigger supply of space and state measures against speculation taking their toll, especially in factory segment

By
Lynette Khoolynkhoo@sph.com.sg@LynetteKhooBT
Industrialproperty241014.jpg A ramp-up in supply of industrial space and anti-speculation measures have dented prices and rents in the third quarter, with the softness most pronounced in the factory space segment. PHOTO: ST
24 Oct5:50 AM
Singapore

A RAMP-UP in supply of industrial space and anti-speculation measures have dented prices and rents in the third quarter, with the softness most pronounced in the factory space segment. And property consultants expect further downward pressure on factory occupancy and rental rates next year.

Data released by JTC on Thursday showed that industrial property prices slipped 0.9 per cent from the second quarter, weighed down by a 1.8 per cent drop in prices of multiple-user factory space.

This marked a reversal from their respective 0.7 per cent and 2.5 per cent rises in Q2.

Colliers International research director Chia Siew Chuin noted that a standoff between buyers and sellers for strata-titled industrial property has led to a fall in multiple-user factory prices.

Industrial rents dropped 1.8 per cent in Q3, despite a 0.2 percentage point increase in occupancy to 90.9 per cent. Compared to a year ago, rents fell 1.3 per cent - their first year-on-year fall since early 2010, according to JTC.

Rents for multiple-user factory space slipped 2.2 per cent from a quarter ago as the vacancy rate rose to 13.2 per cent from Q2's 12.7 per cent. At 86.8 per cent, the average occupancy rate is the lowest since the third quarter of 2007.

Bucking the trend, warehouse space prices rose 3.2 per cent while rents were unchanged from Q2.

Nicholas Mak, executive director at SLP International, expects overall industrial property prices this year to still mark a 2 per cent to 3.5 per cent rise - propped up by the 4.5 per cent gain in the first half of the year.

Overall industrial rents, which had already started to weaken in Q2, is likely to drop by 1.5 per cent to 3 per cent for the full year, he said.

Ms Chia noted that sentiment for industrial space remains mixed in the fourth quarter, "taking into consideration the presence of persistent downside risks, including the uncertainties surrounding the global economic recovery and the political unrest in Iraq, as well as the traditional year-end holiday lull".

Unless the price gap between buyers and sellers is bridged, sales of strata-titled industrial properties will remain slow, she said, though prices for properties with longer tenure could hold up better.

"Rents for higher specification properties, such as those located within the business parks and independent high-specification buildings, are expected to hold steady in Q4 2014 due mainly to a tightening in supply."

Since last year, JTC has introduced a string of measures to discourage speculation on industrial properties and address changing business needs. For instance, the assignment prohibition and minimum occupation periods were lengthened to ensure that industrialists are committed to the land that is allocated to them for productive economic activity for a reasonable period of time.

At the same time, JTC has ramped up supply of industrial space. Four industrial Government Land Sales (iGLS) sites totalling 7.4 hectares were awarded in the third quarter, and some 44.6 ha of prepared industrial land was allocated to end-users.

In the fourth quarter, some 1.2 million square metres of industrial space, including 167,000 sq m of multiple-user factory space, will come onstream - taking full-year supply to 3.1 million sq m.

Some 2.6 million sq m and 1.9 million sq m of industrial space is estimated to come onstream in 2015 and 2016 respectively.

JTC said: "This is significantly higher than the average annual supply and demand of around 1.4 million sq m and 900,000 sq m respectively in the past three years and is likely to exert further downward pressure on occupancy rates."

According to JTC, recent measures have already tamed tender prices for large iGLS sites targeting multiple-user developments.

JTC said that it would continue to monitor the market closely and introduce appropriate measures where necessary to promote a stable and sustainable market.

Mr Mak cautioned that regulations on the use of industrial space may be due for a review, given the changing economic landscape in Singapore and the oncoming industrial supply.

"One example is to be more flexible in the types of trades that are allowed to use industrial space. Currently, interior designers are allowed to use B1 factory space but architect firms are disallowed."

This, he believes, will "minimise a mismatch in supply and demand in the near future".

Another confirmation of oversupply due to overbuilding responding to speculative/investment demand. History repeated itself again.

Though I agree Singapore should review the industrial use again. Like the '活化 industrial' policy in HK. Widening the uses.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-est...-and-rents

Record wave of new homes could swamp prices and rents
This is despite URA data showing the fall in private home prices moderating in Q3

By
Lynette Khoolynkhoo@sph.com.sg@LynetteKhooBT
privatehomes251014.jpg WITH a record number of new private homes being completed this year and the next, it could be a while before prices and rents hit bottom, property consultants say. PHOTO: ST
25 Oct5:50 AM
Singapore

WITH a record number of new private homes being completed this year and the next, it could be a while before prices and rents hit bottom, property consultants say (view infographic).

More HDB flats entering the rental market could further heat up the competition for tenants, they add. Such projections dispelled any mild optimism that could have arisen from Friday's data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), which showed the fall in private home prices moderating. URA's overall private residential price index slipped 0.7 per cent in the third quarter - marking its most gentle decline since it turned south a year ago - after a one per cent fall in the second quarter.

The main drag was a 1.8 per cent fall in landed homes, while non-landed homes fell by a smaller 0.4 per cent quarter on quarter, with the decline most pronounced in the Core Central Region (CCR) where prices fell 0.8 per cent.

DTZ regional head of research Lee Lay Keng noted that prices in the city fringe and suburban regions were supported by new launches in the third quarter, including Highline Residences and City Gate located in the Rest of Central Region (RCR) and Seventy Saint Patrick's in the Outside Central Region (OCR).

Yet, Ms Lee does not "expect prices to plateau soon as the cooling measures coupled with the stricter financing conditions will still keep transaction activity low".

Some 20,852 private condos and executive condos will be completed in 2014, according to URA (view infographic). Another 23,769 units are expected to be completed next year.

A total of 13,575 private residential units were completed in the first nine months of this year, already surpassing the 13,150 units for the whole of last year.

"This is already about 20 per cent higher than the past five-year (2009-2013) annual average number of completions," Ms Lee said, adding that more than 50 per cent of the completions in the third quarter were located in the suburban areas.

JLL national research director Ong Teck Hui reckoned that the record numbers of completions this year and the next two years are expected to "intensify competition in the leasing market and exacerbate the softening in rentals".

In the third quarter, private residential rents sank by a deeper 0.8 per cent, after a 0.6 per cent decline in the preceding quarter.

Developer sales in the third quarter fell a steep 42.6 per cent quarter on quarter to 1,531 units, in tandem with a 54.5 per cent fall in new units launched. New sales accounted for 51.8 per cent of total sales in the third quarter, down from 63.3 per cent in the second quarter.

Close to half of new sales took place in the suburban region and some 43 per cent in the city fringe, URA data shows.

Still, the 738 units sold by developers in the OCR represent the lowest since the fourth quarter of 2009, showing how hard cooling measures have also hit the supposedly more resilient OCR segment, Mr Ong said.

By pulling back on new launches, developers managed to move more units in existing launches, where the number of unsold units fell 7.4 per cent quarter on quarter to 5,845 units in the third quarter, after rising for four straight quarters, Ms Lee observed.

After a total of 5,940 new sales in the first nine months, consultants project full-year sales raked in by developers to be in the region of 7,500-8,000 units - well below the 14,948 units sold last year.

Knight Frank research head Alice Tan pointed out that there is a limit to how much developers can cut prices given the need to guard margins, though they may dangle discounts for selected units from time to time.

A potential waiting fatigue could draw buyers back to the market and "we foresee a bottoming out of prices at the end of Q1 2015", she said.

While stronger holding power among sellers has lent support to private home prices, HDB resale flats dealt a bigger blow from cooling measures and posted their steepest quarterly fall in prices since the third quarter of 2001.

But the 1.7 per cent drop in HDB resale prices seemed to have enticed more buyers, with resale transactions rising 2.8 per cent during the quarter to 4,513 transactions.

Leasing activity for HDB flats also increased; subletting transactions in the third quarter rose 5.5 per cent to 8,923 cases.

Consultants expect more HDB upgraders to put up their HDB flats in the rental market as they move into their newly completed condo units.

ERA Realty key executive officer Eugene Lim said he expects resale volumes to fall to an all-time low of below 17,500 for 2014 before rebounding next year when the government scales down its build-to-order (BTO) flats supply.

"As resale prices continue to stabilise, we may see the return of more first-time buyers to the resale market, particularly those that are unable or unwilling to wait the three years or so for the completion of the BTO flats," Mr Lim said.

SLP International executive director Nicholas Mak noted that with a reduction of new BTO flats next year, the fall in HDB resale prices should moderate in the later part of 2015.

"However, as the government has not indicated any plans to reduce the cooling measures, prices would still face downward pressure in the next six to 12 months or until some property curbs are relaxed," he said.

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-est...-s3280-psf

21st level of Samsung Hub sold at S$3,280 psf
Price a record for full floor in the 999-year leasehold office tower

By
Kalpana Rashiwalakalpana@sph.com.sg@KalpanaBT
BT_20141028_KRSAMSUNG28FIJS_1338757.jpg Inclusive of the latest deal, Church Street Holdings, a partnership between Singapore-based Buxani Group and a group of offshore investors, has sold all six floors in Samsung Hub that it bought from OCBC in 2007. PHOTO: THE STRAITS TIMES
28 Oct5:50 AM
Singapore

THE 21st level of Samsung Hub has been sold at S$3,280 per square foot - on strata area - setting a record for an entire floor in the 999-year leasehold office building along Church Street.

This surpasses the previous whole-floor record in Samsung Hub of S$3,225 psf in

PROPERTY prices in Singapore have not seen a "meaningful correction" yet, said Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam on Tuesday.

"We've seen some correction in both private property prices and HDB resale prices over the last four to five quarters, but there is some distance to go in achieving a meaningful correction after the sharp run-up in prices in recent years," said the chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore at the Credit Counselling Singapore's 10th anniversary luncheon.

"If we do not get a meaningful reversal after each upswing, property prices will run ahead of the growth in household incomes in the long term. And that, we must avoid."
Source: Business Times Breaking News