Issue 53

Copyright 2011-2012 www.Propwise.sg. All Rights Reserved.

CONTENTS
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Singapore Property News This Week The Trouble with Shoebox Homes

FROM THE

EDITOR

Welcome to the 53th edition of the Singapore Property Weekly. Hope you like it!

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Resale Property Transactions

(May 9 May 15)

Mr. Propwise

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 53

Singapore Property This Week

Residential
Two freehold residential sites up for sale; one at Hillview Ave, another at Amber Road The first is a 230,915 sq ft freehold site located at 63 Hillview Avenue with a 1.92 gross plot ratio and an asking price of $330 million or $925 psf ppr if the $80 million development charge is included. Currently occupied by Lam Soon Industrial Building, it can be potentially redeveloped into a 10storey residential project with 370 1,200-sq ft units. Though re-zoned residential since 1993, the buyer could also make additions or alterations to the existing building instead, if URA grants approval. The site is expected to be fairly popular, given its proximity to the
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upcoming Hillview MRT station and the upcoming retail mall hillV2. The other, a site at Amber Road consisting of three adjoining landed properties with a total combined land area of 28,409 sq ft is asking for $73-80 million, or $1,243-1,318 psf ppr including a $25 million development charge and based on its 2.8 gross plot ratio. Commercial Six ground-floor strata retail units at People's Park Complex available for $3638m The six adjoining units in People's Park Complex are asking for $36-38 million or These units have been subdivided into 33 units, of which 29 are currently occupied and
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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 53

the remaining four units deliberately kept vacant since the recent expiration of lease to give the new owner more options. If all the units are rented out, the net property yield would be 4.8% assuming a $36 million deal compared to 4.4% with 29 leased units. People's Park Complex sits on a site with 55 years of lease remaining and is located near Chinatown MRT Station. The six units may appeal to those seeking to invest in prime retail space for rental returns or retailers seeking large prominent ground-floor retail space in the region. Improvement in net allocation of JTC facilities in Q1 While the occupancy level at JTC's ready-

built factories (RBF) fell slightly by 0.4 percentage points to 95.9% in Q1 2012, net allocation improved to 5,700 sq m from 14,800 sq m in Q4 2011. This is due to the improvement in the main RBF segments, such as the standard factory segment which improved to 3,800 sq m from -7,700 sq m in Q4 2011 and the flatted factory segment which improved to -400 sq m in Q1 2012 from -6,100 sq m in Q4 2011. Net allocation of prepared industrial land (PIL) has also increased to 67.9 hectares in Q1 2012 from 29.8 ha in Q4 2011. Gross allocation has also increased to 91.6 ha in Q1 2012 from 46.6 ha in Q4 last year while terminations increased to 23.7 ha in Q1 from 16.8 ha in Q4 2011.

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 53

The Trouble with Shoebox Homes

By Calvin Yeo
According to PropertyGuru, at least one bank in Singapore is declining all loan applications for properties under 500 square feet in size, which are termed shoebox units in Singapore. The property market sentiment is generally poor now and banks are keeping a tight rein on financing. This also comes on the back of poor stock market sentiment which is in part caused by the Greece crisis and slowdown of the China and US economy. Apparently, an unnamed employee of CIMB said that they are no longer offering financing for shoe box units, even for high credit rating clients.
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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 53 The reasons given are extremely high prices per square foot as compared to more reasonably sized units. Another reason given is that the buyers of these units tend to be investors rather than owner occupiers, which means that default rates will probably be higher if there is an economic downturn. I wonder if other banks may follow suit. So far though, the local banks have not said anything. More regulation units? coming for shoebox investors and could ill afford a downturn should their investment turn sour. Minister Khaw said: They must have seen shoebox units in the central region being able to be tenanted out easily with reasonable yield. The difference this time round is that most of the units are in the heartlands where the market is untested. He added that he would not hesitate to intervene should there be clear evidence of unsustainable investor demand for shoebox apartments. Record sales for inhuman shoebox units There is good reason to be concerned as CBRE reported that smaller units are being built, with median size of homes shrinking 24 percent to 667 sf. Furthermore, there is a record number of shoebox units sold this year where private apartments below $750,000

Minister of National Development Khaw Boon Wan, who is responsible for housing matters, has repeatedly dropped hints that shoebox units could be regulated. Among some of his comments were that most of the buyers for these shoe box units had HDB addresses, which indicates that they are likely not rich

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 53 made up 42% of new home sales, up from 25% in the previous quarter according to the URA. The small size, and hence the affordable quantum, is also one of the reasons per square foot prices continue to rise despite several government measures to control housing prices. Even CapitaLand CEO Liew Mun Leong joined in the fray by calling shoe box units inhuman. He said that it was not good for the welfare of the family to feel constrained, which I certainly agree with. Apparently CapitaLand has been lobbying against shoebox units, after Mr. Liew visited a 400 square foot unit in Hong Kong. After having been to Hong Kong, I cant help but agree with him there should be a minimum apartment size set at 500 square feet. Anything below that compromises the occupants quality of life. The minimum size should also serve to help control the rising per square foot prices. Calvin Yeo is the founder of the Making Passive Income blog. He graduated with a Business Major in Finance and Accounting and spent a few years working in an investment bank. The knowledge from his studies and working experience serve as a good base for him to grasp the ideas for passive income generation.

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 53

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 53

Non-Landed Residential Resale Property Transactions for the Week of May 9 May 15
Postal District 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 7 8 8 Project Name ICON ICON RIVER PLACE QUEENS ALESSANDREA MARINA COLLECTION MARINA COLLECTION THE OCEANFRONT @ SENTOSA COVE CARIBBEAN AT KEPPEL BAY CARIBBEAN AT KEPPEL BAY TERESA VILLE VARSITY PARK CONDOMINIUM ISLAND VIEW BOTANNIA VARSITY PARK CONDOMINIUM THE SPECTRUM BOTANNIA DOVER PARKVIEW VILLA DE WEST PASIR VIEW PARK THE INFINITI PARK WEST SOUTHBANK OXFORD SUITES BRISTOL LODGE Area Transacted Price Tenure (sqft) Price ($) ($ psf) 904 1,800,000 1,991 99 786 1,500,000 1,909 99 786 1,125,000 1,432 99 1,184 1,400,000 1,182 99 1,249 1,340,000 1,073 FH 1,873 5,338,050 2,850 99 1,873 5,338,050 2,850 99 1,507 2,694,516 1,788 99 1,733 2,800,000 1,616 99 1,313 1,960,000 1,493 99 1,959 2,200,000 1,123 FH 1,528 1,700,000 1,112 99 3,100 3,400,000 1,097 FH 1,302 1,416,888 1,088 956 1,367 1,480,000 1,083 99 1,216 1,290,000 1,061 FH 1,636 1,700,000 1,039 956 2,228 2,280,000 1,023 99 1,012 1,030,000 1,018 FH 1,335 1,300,000 974 FH 1,259 1,160,000 921 FH 872 720,000 826 99 904 1,440,000 1,593 99 678 880,000 1,298 FH 969 965,000 996 FH Postal District 8 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 11 Project Name PETAIN COURT ORCHARD VIEW PATERSON SUITES BELLE VUE RESIDENCES SCOTTS HIGHPARK VISIONCREST CAIRNHILL CREST THE PIER AT ROBERTSON LEONIE STUDIO TRIBECA MIRAGE TOWER LEONIE GARDENS ONE ROBIN THE CORNWALL ONE JERVOIS BALMORAL HEIGHTS VIZ AT HOLLAND MONTVIEW THE SIXTH AVENUE RESIDENCES SHANGHAI ONE DUCHESS CREST DUCHESS CREST THE SERENADE @ HOLLAND DUCHESS CREST RESIDENCES @ EVELYN Area Transacted Price Tenure (sqft) Price ($) ($ psf) 1,464 1,200,888 820 FH 2,530 7,380,000 2,918 FH 2,164 6,100,000 2,819 FH 3,348 8,500,000 2,539 FH 1,141 2,300,000 2,016 FH 947 1,880,000 1,985 FH 1,733 3,188,000 1,840 FH 678 1,200,000 1,770 FH 926 1,630,000 1,761 99 1,367 2,400,000 1,756 FH 1,367 2,250,000 1,646 FH 1,733 2,580,000 1,489 99 3,498 5,988,888 1,712 FH 657 1,100,000 1,675 FH 1,841 3,000,000 1,630 FH 1,163 1,868,000 1,607 FH 947 1,440,000 1,520 FH 1,744 2,650,000 1,520 FH 1,356 2,050,000 1,512 FH 560 840,000 1,501 FH 1,345 1,700,000 1,263 99 1,722 2,030,000 1,179 99 1,507 1,695,000 1,125 99 1,711 1,920,000 1,122 99 2,250 3,900,000 1,734 FH

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 53

Postal District 11 11 11 12 12 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 Area Transacted Price Tenure (sqft) Price ($) ($ psf) 570 770,000 1,350 FH 861 1,080,000 1,254 FH 3,358 2,900,000 864 99 980 1,070,000 1,092 FH 1,711 1,680,000 982 FH 667 890,000 1,334 FH 807 950,000 1,177 FH 1,292 1,418,000 1,098 FH 1,119 1,117,000 998 FH 753 728,000 966 FH 980 872,000 890 99 1,432 1,248,000 872 FH 1,249 1,080,000 865 99 1,378 1,050,000 762 99 958 1,550,000 1,618 FH 1,615 2,480,000 1,536 FH 1,259 1,800,000 1,429 FH 2,239 2,960,000 1,322 FH 506 650,000 1,285 FH 1,130 1,400,000 1,239 FH 1,367 1,680,000 1,229 99 969 1,190,000 1,228 FH 1,356 1,630,000 1,202 FH 753 900,000 1,194 FH 2,207 2,600,000 1,178 FH 1,356 1,540,000 1,135 99 1,195 1,320,000 1,105 FH 883 928,000 1,051 FH Postal District 15 15 15 15 15 15 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 17 17 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 19 19 19 19 Area Transacted Price Tenure (sqft) Price ($) ($ psf) 1,615 1,560,000 966 99 4,166 3,800,000 912 99 1,711 1,155,000 675 99 1,528 1,021,000 668 99 1,798 1,173,000 653 FH 2,562 1,630,000 636 FH 420 598,000 1,425 FH 1,023 1,100,000 1,076 FH 1,475 1,550,000 1,051 99 980 995,000 1,016 FH 936 950,000 1,014 99 980 870,000 888 99 1,281 1,126,000 879 FH 990 858,000 866 FH 829 800,000 965 FH 1,324 1,090,000 823 FH 1,066 980,000 920 FH 1,292 1,160,000 898 FH 1,206 1,025,000 850 99 1,227 1,020,000 831 99 936 738,000 788 99 936 730,000 780 99 1,227 940,000 766 99 1,345 900,000 669 99 1,163 1,250,000 1,075 99 1,830 1,860,000 1,016 99 1,292 1,150,000 890 99 969 800,000 826 99

Project Name MANDALE HEIGHTS NOVENA COURT THE TREVOSE CHELSEA GROVE CALARASI COSMO LE REVE THE WATERINA MILL CREEK ESCADA VIEW SIMSVILLE EUNOS GREEN SIMSVILLE THE ALCOVE ONE AMBER THE SEAFRONT ON MEYER THE BELVEDERE HAWAII TOWER BLU CORAL VERSILIA ON HAIG COTE D'AZUR THE BEACON EDGE THE AMERY CALLIDORA VILLE POSHGROVE EAST SANCTUARY GREEN FERNWOOD TOWERS EAST GROVE

Project Name LAGUNA PARK KATONG PARK TOWERS TELOK INDAH TELOK INDAH UNI BUILDING D'SAVILLE EASTWOOD REGENCY EAST COAST RESIDENCES COSTA DEL SOL EASTERN LAGOON THE BAYSHORE THE BAYSHORE SUNHAVEN SUNHAVEN EDELWEISS PARK CONDOMINIUM CARISSA PARK CONDOMINIUM RIS GRANDEUR RIS GRANDEUR SAVANNAH CONDOPARK THE TROPICA MELVILLE PARK MELVILLE PARK THE TROPICA MELVILLE PARK SUNGLADE SUNGLADE COMPASS HEIGHTS RIVERVALE CREST

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 53

Postal District 20 20 20 20 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 22 22 23 23 23 23 23 23 25 25 Area Transacted Price Tenure (sqft) Price ($) ($ psf) 1,259 1,350,000 1,072 FH 883 892,000 1,011 99 1,152 845,000 734 99 1,152 805,000 699 99 1,184 1,940,000 1,638 FH 947 1,305,000 1,378 FH 872 1,100,000 1,262 99 1,033 1,160,000 1,123 FH 1,625 1,730,000 1,064 FH 1,550 1,472,500 950 FH 2,174 2,020,000 929 FH 1,270 1,170,000 921 FH 1,798 1,650,000 918 99 1,421 1,245,000 876 999 1,259 1,100,000 873 FH 1,755 1,500,000 855 99 1,755 1,399,999 798 99 1,152 1,160,000 1,007 99 3,261 1,680,000 515 99 1,507 1,480,000 982 FH 1,249 1,200,000 961 999 990 950,000 959 FH 807 720,000 892 99 4,026 3,350,000 832 FH 1,238 948,000 766 99 1,119 880,000 786 99 1,625 1,137,500 700 99

Project Name MARYMOUNT VIEW THE GARDENS AT BISHAN FAR HORIZON GARDENS FAR HORIZON GARDENS THE CASCADIA THE NEXUS GARDENVISTA SIGNATURE PARK PANDAN VALLEY PARC PALAIS PANDAN VALLEY GRAND CHATEAU MAYFAIR GARDENS SOUTHAVEN II SHERWOOD CONDOMINIUM PINE GROVE PINE GROVE THE LAKESHORE LAKEPOINT CONDOMINIUM GLENDALE PARK HILLVIEW RESIDENCE HILLVIEW HEIGHTS MAYSPRINGS COMFORT GARDEN HILLTOP GROVE CASABLANCA WOODGROVE CONDOMINIUM

Postal Project Name District 26 CASTLE GREEN 26 FOREST HILLS CONDOMINIUM 28 SERENITY PARK

Area Transacted Price Tenure (sqft) Price ($) ($ psf) 1,216 920,000 756 99 1,163 848,000 729 99 1,313 1,100,000 838 FH

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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