Issue 236

Copyright 2011-2014 www.Propwise.sg. All Rights Reserved.

CONTENTS
p2

FROM THE

EDITOR

3 Issues You Must Consider When

Welcome to the 236th edition of the

Singapore Property Weekly.

Planning Your Estate

Hope you like it!

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Singapore Property News This Week

p10

Resale Property Transactions

Mr. Propwise

(November 10 November 17 )

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 236

3 Issues You Must Consider When Planning Your Estate

By Janelle Tan (guest contributor)

Recently, we seem to be deluged with news
of terrorist attacks or threats, plane crashes
and sudden deaths. The one closer to heart
for property buffs may be the passing on of
CDL's deputy chairman, Mr KwekLengJoo.

If you are like me, news such as this may

have triggered thoughts about what happens
when you die. Your family; your possessions;
your wealth; your liabilities. What would
happen to them? Your bank and investment
accounts,
properties
and
businesses
will remain, but so do your property loans, car
loans, business loans, and final income tax.

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 236

None of our assets or liabilities disappear with
our deaths.
The question is: Would our spouse, children
and even parents/siblings be inheriting our
assets or liabilities? Would they be inheriting
financial blessings or burdens?
Any wealth accumulation strategy is not
complete without proper estate planning.
Since 2008, Singapore has abolished estate
duty. Perhaps because no tax is to be paid on
the wealth left behind, few plan for how their
estate may be effectively transferred. Yet, tax
is not the sole issue.
There are three key things you must know
and consider especially if real estate forms a
significant part of your inheritance to your
loved ones.

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1. Liabilities Management
How will your property loan be paid off in the
event of your passing away? Where would
the legal fees to transfer the title deed to your
beneficiaries come from? How would the
ABSD and TDSR impact their financial ability
and standing to undertake the transfer of
home ownership? Would there be a need for
forced liquidation of some or all of the
properties?
The key here is debt cancellation. Mortgage
insurance can easily take away this burden.
2. Ownership Transfer
The first concern here is with the right of
ownership. Are the real estate properties you
own in your sole name, in joint tenancy or
tenancy in common?

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 236

In the case of joint ownership, the surviving
owner(s) will receive your share i.e. you
cannot gift it away as you please. For tenancy
in common and sole ownership, you are free
to gift away your portion as you wish.
The second concern is with common
disasters i.e. husband and wife, or a family
traveling together met with an incident that
resulted in the death of all. In such a
scenario, if you had willed the property to
immediate family members who travelled with
you, there would be no living beneficiary to
inherit your estate.
Consider organisations or communities that
may benefit from the liquidation of your estate
and your gifting should your primary
beneficiaries not survive you.

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3. Protection
Beneficiaries

of

Minors/

Vulnerable

The issue here is with regard to gifting to

children under 18, family members with
special needs, and/or elderly parents and
relatives.
Can you trust your child to handle a large
amount of inheritance or manage real estate
property affairs at age 18 or 21? Or do you
think that perhaps age 25 or 30 would be a
more mature age to manage large amounts
of wealth?
Do you intend that your elderly parents, or
family members with special needs be
guaranteed a roof over their heads for as long
as they live? How can you ensure that this
wish is legally binding on those you entrust
them to?

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 236

Testamentary trusts or a living trust can solve
these problems.
The above are typical questions raised and
discussed in the course of estate planning.
Estate planning in essence is the process of
creating our blueprint of how we want our
assets and liabilities to be managed and
distributed for the assured benefit of our loved
ones after we are gone.
Your wishes may be legalised through a
written will and where appropriate, a family
trust or family foundation. Some asset types
require more planning than others when it
comes to passing them down effectively. It is

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thus too simplistic to only consider the

percentage distribution of your assets. In the
next article, we will look at trust planning in
greater detail.
Janelle Tan, co-founder and Managing
Partner of Dunn & Partners Pte Ltd, is a
licensed estate planning practitioner who
provides consultation to families and
businesses on wealth protection, preservation
and transfer. She also runs financial literacy
seminars and workshops on an invite basis.
She
may
be
contacted
via
email
at janelletan@dunn-partners.com

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 236

Singapore Property This Week

Residential
Bidadari flats: popular choice at Nov HDB
sale

Despite higher prices, build-to-order (BTO)

flats at Bidadari attracted the highest
application rates among all projects released
at the November HDB sale. According to the
Business Times, the five-room flats at
Bidadari were 20 times over-subscribed while
four-room flats saw a high application rate of
5.1 times. In comparison, Fernvale Woods at
Sengkang was only one time subscribed
across its different-size units. Lawrence
Wong, Minister for National Development said
that the high application rates for the Bidadari
flats could have been due to its prime
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location. To meet strong demand, more flats

will be launched in the upcoming BTO
exercise in February next year, said Wong.
(Source: Business Times)
Warm interest expected for residential site
at Siglap
A residential site at Siglap is expected to be
well-received by developers in its tender. The
1.93-ha land parcel is located near to the
future Siglap MRT station, which is expected
to be operational in 2023. The site has a
gross plot ratio of 3.5 and could yield 750
units. It has been released under the
confirmed list for the Government Land Sales
(GLS) programme for H2 this year.
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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 236

Nicholas Mak from SLP International said that
it is rare for a residential site to be offered for
sale under the GLS programme, from that
region. Ong Kah Seng from RST estimates
that the winning bid would be between $640
and $680 psf ppr. On the other hand, Lee Nai
Jia from DTZ predicts that the winning bid will
be between $790 and $850 psf ppr. The
tender is expected to close in January next
year.
(Source: Business Times)

29 GCBs sold for $645 million in total this

year
According to the Business Times, 29 Good
Class Bungalows (GCBs) have changed
hands for a total of $645 million since the
start of the year. This is slightly more than the
28 transactions made last year, which totalled
$626 million. Market experts believe that the
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GCB market is picking up as owners are

lowering their price expectations. A recent
sale was completed at $19.5 million or $1,258
psf for a 15,504 sq ft freehold bungalow along
Peel Road. The property, which consists of
two storeys and a basement, has a swimming
pool and a home theatre room. The total built
up area of the bungalow is about 9,000 sq ft.
Despite the limited stock of GCBs, prices
have fallen in the past year due to weak
buyer sentiments, said market experts. Mary
Sai from Knight Frank added that the global
and local economic outlook had dampened
interest in the market. Sai believed that the
total debt servicing ratio framework that was
implemented in 2013 had limited effect on the
GCB market as GCB buyers typically do not
need to borrow substantially to finance their
homes.
(Source: Business Times)
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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 236

Septs private home prices down 8.2%
from 2013
According to the Asia-Pacific Structured
Finance Chart, Singapores private residential
property prices have fallen 8.2% since
September 2013. Market experts attribute the
drop to tighter policy controls. It is believed
that if immigration rates remain low and
vacancy rates and property supply remains
elevated, property prices will continue to drop.
However, interest rates are unlikely to have a
substantial impact on property prices in the
near term, added market experts.
(Source: Business Times)
Commercial
Industrial site at Tampines and Woodlands
launched for sale
A Tampines industrial site and another at
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Woodlands have been launched for sale

under the confirmed list and reserve list
respectively for H2 government land sales
programme this year. The Tampines site is
about 0.41 ha and has been zoned for
Business 2 development. It has a 20-year
tenure with a maximum gross plot ratio of 1.4.
Ong Kah Seng from RST Research predicts
that the site will sell between $65 and $70 psf
ppr. The Woodlands site, which is 1.61 ha,
has been zoned for Business 1 development.
Ong predicts that the earliest that the site
could be triggered for sale is in Q2 next year.
(Source: Business Times)
Average psf price for office deals achieved
at Suntec increases to $2,774 psf this year
According to the Business Times, there has
been an increase in the number of office
transactions made this year in Suntec City
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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 236

as buyers and sellers price expectations
start to match up. This year, six deals totalling
$169.12 million were completed in the region.
In 2013, 12 deals were completed totalling
$185.85 million. The average psf price
achieved has increased from $1,745 psf in
2009 to $2,641 psf in 2013 to $2,774 psf this
year. While office deals at Suntec have
picked up this year, Alan Cheong from Savills
Singapore said that the office investment
sales activity on the whole remains muted.

253,453 sq ft. The total net lettable area is

210,268sq ft. The plot has been zoned for
commercial use and has a plot ratio of 5.6. It
may be built up to 35 storeys. According to
Sammi Lim from CBRE, there is limited stock
for freehold commercial buildings in the CBD
area as such the building is expected to
attract strong interest from both local and
foreign buyers.
(Source: Business Times)

(Source: Business Times)

Commercial building at CBD area up for
sale
A freehold commercial building at Hoe Chiang
Road has been up for sale by means of
Expression of Interest. The building consists
of 29 storeys and has a site area of about
39,337 sq ft. It has a gross floor area of
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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 236

Non-Landed Residential Resale Property Transactions for the Week of Nov 10 Nov 17

Postal
District
1
3
3
5
5
5
5
5
9
9
9
10
10
10
10
11
11
11
12
12
12
12
14

Project Name
THE SAIL @ MARINA BAY
ALEXIS
QUEENS
HUNDRED TREES
DOVER PARKVIEW
THE INFINITI
GLORIA MANSION
WEST BAY CONDOMINIUM
THE LAURELS
THE METZ
THE PATERSON
CYAN
WING ON LIFE GARDEN
VALLEY PARK
QUEENSBERRY LODGE
RESIDENCES @ EVELYN
THE SHELFORD
TEN @ SUFFOLK
TREVISTA
AIRSTREAM
ONE ST MICHAEL'S
MOONSTONE RESIDENCES
LA FLEUR

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Area
(sqft)
883
904
1,184
484
936
1,367
1,227
1,216
549
581
2,250
1,658
3,305
861
1,851
1,109
1,033
1,184
1,098
495
1,259
1,238
431

Transacted
Price ($)
1,560,000
1,250,000
1,560,000
750,000
965,000
1,400,000
1,180,000
1,020,000
1,420,000
1,370,000
4,100,000
3,103,000
5,200,000
1,290,000
1,720,000
1,860,000
1,670,000
1,590,000
1,468,000
639,988
1,400,000
1,300,000
538,000

Price
Tenure
($ psf)
1,767
99
1,382
FH
1,318
99
1,548 956
1,030
99
1,024
FH
962
FH
839
99
2,587
FH
2,357
FH
1,822
FH
1,872
FH
1,574
FH
1,498 999
929
FH
1,678
FH
1,616
FH
1,343
FH
1,337
99
1,293
FH
1,112
FH
1,050
FH
1,250
FH

Postal
District
14
14
14
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
16
16
16
17
19
19
19
20
20
20
21
21

Project Name
LE REVE
D'OASIA
THE HELICONIA
THE ESTA
COSTA RHU
COTE D'AZUR
THE MAKENA
THE MAKENA
HAIG COURT
BUTTERWORTH VIEW
COSTA RHU
THE BAYSHORE
CASA MERAH
EASTWOOD GREEN
EDELWEISS PARK CONDOMINIUM
AMARANDA GARDENS
FONTAINE PARRY
SUNGLADE
GOLDENHILL PARK CONDOMINIUM
LAKEVIEW ESTATE
BRADDELL VIEW
JARDIN
PARC PALAIS

Area
(sqft)
861
1,098
1,335
1,399
2,239
1,141
1,023
1,582
1,550
1,216
1,399
1,012
1,216
980
1,055
1,464
850
1,163
1,335
1,615
1,615
1,787
1,238

Transacted
Price ($)
1,018,000
1,180,000
1,170,000
2,100,000
3,000,000
1,520,000
1,285,000
1,950,000
1,850,000
1,285,000
1,470,000
1,030,000
1,200,000
825,000
875,000
1,888,000
1,040,000
1,220,000
1,730,000
1,220,000
1,150,000
2,550,000
1,260,000

Price
Tenure
($ psf)
1,182
FH
1,075
FH
877
FH
1,501
FH
1,340
99
1,332
99
1,257
FH
1,232
FH
1,194
FH
1,056
FH
1,051
99
1,018
99
987
99
842
99
829
FH
1,290
FH
1,223 999
1,049
99
1,296
FH
756
99
712
99
1,427
FH
1,018
FH

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 236

Postal
District
21
21
22
22
23
23
23
26
26

Project Name
PANDAN VALLEY
CLEMENTI PARK
THE CENTRIS
IVORY HEIGHTS
GUILIN VIEW
NORTHVALE
REGENT GROVE
THE CALROSE
CASTLE GREEN

Area
(sqft)
1,647
1,658
1,851
1,701
1,259
1,173
1,195
1,141
947

Transacted
Price ($)
1,650,000
1,650,000
1,375,000
1,120,000
1,120,000
835,000
838,000
1,360,000
820,000

Price
Tenure
($ psf)
1,002
FH
995
FH
743
99
659
100
889
99
712
99
701
99
1,192
FH
866
99

NOTE: This data only covers non-landed residential resale property

transactions with caveats lodged with the Singapore Land Authority.
Typically, caveats are lodged at least 2-3 weeks after a purchaser
signs an OTP, hence the lagged nature of the data.

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