Property agents have apparently collected cheques from buyers for the 99-year leasehold development in Shenton Way, according to sources.

Pre-marketing is common these days, with agents busy drumming up interest before the preview, so some buyers try to get in early.

‘On the ground, there seems to be a lot of interest, but the real test will come next week when it is previewed,’ said one agent.

A property expert added: ‘New launches are hot today, but the older condos are forgotten.’

The 39-storey downtown condominium - called 76 Shenton - is being developed by Hong Leong Holdings. It is at 76 Shenton Way in Tanjong Pagar on the site that used to house the Ong Building, next to Lippo Centre.

This article was first publishd in The Straits Times.
By Joyce Teo

But any comfort they took from that would have been cut short when National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan added what has become his signature catch phrase: ‘We will monitor the market closely.’

He told Parliament: ‘If there are signs that the market will overheat again, we are ready to introduce additional measures to stabilise the market.’

The words in themselves are not new. The Government has often assured home buyers that it will keep a close eye on the market and go in if necessary.

The problem is that it is now unclear what the Government considers an ‘overheated’ market - and when it will decide to intervene.

After all, when it announced measures to cool the private property market last month, the move came as a shock to property developers and home sellers.

Cooling measures had been introduced just five months earlier in September, when the Government removed the Interest Absorption Scheme and rolled out a huge supply of land.

More importantly, the property market last month seemed nowhere near the feverish heights of 2007 or even last year.

Sales of new homes were only just starting to recover after the September measures, while prices were rising at a slower pace than before.

So, why did the Government decide to cool the market last month?

Traditionally, there are three triggers for intervention: property speculation, prices and sales.

The key catalyst is usually speculation, but it was apparently not the main reason last month. The Government acknowledged that the overall level of speculation in the market was lower than at the height of the property boom.

This was backed up by an analysis by DTZ Debenham Tie Leung, which found that sub-sales - the main measure of speculation - fell to a three-year low last year. Sub-sales are when people buy new apartments and resell them quickly even before they are built.

But perhaps the Government could have started measuring speculation in another way: The number of apartments bought and then resold within a year, whether or not they have been built.

Still, sceptics noted that even if these transactions had risen, that may not have been evidence of real speculation. Private home prices surged by 24 per cent in the second half of last year, likely persuading even genuine home owners to cash in for a quick profit.

So, the Government was more likely to have intervened based on the second and third factors: A jump in prices and sales.

Indeed, it said in its statement that private home prices, which rose 7 per cent in the fourth quarter despite the cooling measures, had rebounded faster from its trough than in previous slumps.

But this in itself does not mean that the price rally is unfounded or unsustainable. The entire economy recovered faster than expected, partly because not many jobs were lost in last year’s recession.

This helped to explain the quick property rebound: As most home owners kept their jobs, fire sales were rare.

At the same time, the economic uncertainty brought the booming market to a standstill. This prompted home seekers to rush in - many of them genuine buyers who had been priced out of the 2007 boom - and propped up home prices.

The Government also cited a sharp spike in new home sales in January as a reason for its measures last month.

But while sales tripled in January from the month before, this was only the first rise since July last year, and came on the heels of three months of slow sales - hardly a sign of excessive exuberance.

All this adds up to questions about whether the Government has fundamentally changed its approach of market interference.

In the past, the Government has preferred to stay out of the market as much as possible, waiting until a bubble has definitively built before going in to burst it, often with plenty of advance warning.

Even when it intervened ‘pre-emptively’ in September last year, it came after seven consecutive months in which developers had sold more than 1,000 new units each month.

But now, the Government seems to be signalling it will take a more active approach and intervene at the smallest - and earliest - sign that froth is beginning to build up.

And it will watch not just activity in the property market itself, but also broader economic trends - rapid growth, for instance, or low interest rates - that could spur on speculators and build a bubble.

It may have been no coincidence that the Ministry of National Development released its cooling measures on the same day the Ministry of Trade and Industry raised its 2010 growth forecast for the Singapore economy and warned of asset price bubbles in the region.

While it would be too extreme for property players to now nervously eye economic growth as a harbinger of cooling measures, it certainly seems many more factors than showroom crowds must be taken into consideration these days.

Then again, it may not matter what the Government actually takes into account when determining a bubble - only that these factors are kept a secret.

That way, a certain level of uncertainty will be introduced into the market - a clever and more permanent way to temper speculation.

Of course, there is also another possible reason the Government seems to be coming down insistently on private property: The fact that opposition politicians have made housing an election issue.

On March 5, the Government introduced cooling measures in the HDB market as well, making it clear it wants home prices to ease or, at least, stop rising.

Whether these measures will work remains to be seen.

But DBS property analyst Adrian Chua sees it this way: If the measures work, prices fall, and if they do not, the Government may intervene until they do.

Or, then again, it may not.

The fact is, no one knows - which is ultimately the most effective cooling measure of all.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.
By Fiona Chan

All 20 residents interviewed by The Straits Times yesterday expressed no objections. Some were even welcoming of their future rental block neighbours who are expected to move in around May.

Their only gripe: the loss of the football field on which the new block is coming up.

Said project manager Koh Chin Lee, 40, whose Block 294 is next to the rental block: ‘It is good that we have a place for the poor people to live. They are humans, too. This is a nice neighbourhood and they are welcome here.’

Retiree J. Lim, 68, is confident that the rental block will not affect the value of his five-room flat.

‘This is a very good location. We have a market nearby and the MRT station is not too far away. One rental block is not going to change anything,’ he said.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.
By Nur Dianah Suhaimi

Private home transactions - for both new and resale homes - jumped by more than 130 per cent last year, despite the downturn. Singaporeans were the main drivers of the surge: There was an overall rise of 144 per cent in private property transactions by them last year - 23,516 compared with 9,649 in 2008.

In the non-landed segment, Singaporean purchases rose almost 159 per cent. The rise in landed property purchases was nearly 83 per cent.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.
By Melissa Sim & Melissa Kok

PRs will not be able to buy flats in certain areas in Jurong West, Choa Chu Kang, Sembawang, Sengkang or Bukit Batok unless they are prepared to pay a premium over the asking price in the hope of enticing other PRs to sell.

The areas have long been popular with PRs but some neighbourhoods and blocks are at the limit outlined by the Singapore Permanent Resident (SPR) quota introduced earlier this month.

It sets a cap for PR households of 8 per cent in each block and 5 per cent within each neighbourhood to prevent enclaves of foreigners forming in the heartlands.

The HDB’s website showed that certain addresses in these areas have reached their PR quota. The addresses include Admiralty Drive and Canberra Road in Sembawang, Anchorvale Link in Sengkang, Choa Chu Kang Avenue 5, Bukit Batok East Avenue 3, Woodlands Avenue 6 and Jurong West Central 1.

A non-Malaysian PR, for example, is eligible to buy a flat from any seller in Clementi Avenue 6. But he can buy only from a fellow non-Malaysian PR at Bukit Batok East Avenue 3 because the quota for the proportion of non-Malaysian PRs in that area has already been reached.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.
By Esther Teo

The developments - Fernvale Ridge in Sengkang and Sembawang RiverLodge in Sembawang - comprise 266 three-room, 436 four-room and 126 five-room units.

Another 126 two-room flats in Sembawang RiverLodge will not be offered for sale. They will be set aside for lower-income families at a later date, said the HDB yesterday.

This is the first time the HDB has set aside flats. It said that two-room flats generally received fewer applications in BTO launches but they were central in helping families in financial difficulties get suitable housing.

The low-income group was placed in the spotlight recently during this month’s Budget debate with several MPs asking whether this group had inadvertently been left out in the pursuit of growth and if substantial government support had been provided for them.

Yesterday’s launch is part of a broader HDB plan to offer at least 12,000 new flats this year. So far 3,653 flats have been offered this quarter with a further 1,200 BTO units to be launched in Punggol next month. Future launches have been earmarked for estates such as Yishun and Woodlands. Construction on BTO projects is triggered once a certain level of sales has been achieved.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.
By Esther Teo

The Tampines site was a victim of the financial meltdown when it closed for tender in August 2008, but the property market rebound has brought it back into favour.

Sim Lian Land lodged the highest bid for the 99-year leasehold plot, which would be suitable for mass market housing - the property industry’s hottest sector these days.

Sim Lian’s offer - $302 million or $420.90 per sq ft per plot ratio - topped seven others for the land at the junction of Tampines Avenue 1 and Avenue 10.

The huge rebound in price follows a similar tender last month when a site at the junction of Choa Chu Kang and Woodlands roads above Ten Mile Junction attracted a top bid of $164 million, yet in 2008 it drew a top bid of $61 million and was therefore not sold.

The Sim Lian offer was above the $300 to $400 pricing tipped by some experts but within the $410 to $470 psf ppr range forecast by Ngee Ann Polytechnic lecturer Nicholas Mak.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.
By Joyce Teo

The robust figures follow from a bumper January, when 1,480 private units were sold - a number that trumped the miserly 481 shifted in December, and helped prompt government measures to pre-empt a property bubble.

Sales in January and February hit 2,676 units, already well up on the 2,596 sold in the first three months of last year, with March numbers yet to come.

CBRE Research executive director Li Hiaw Ho said yesterday: ‘As the strong sales momentum in January-February continues into March, new home sales in the first quarter of 2010 could reach 4,000 units.’

Already, Cheung Kong (Holdings) at the weekend sold 160 units of The Vision in the west coast at $1,000 to $1,200 per sq ft.

Last month’s sales serve to underline that the property resurgence is more resilient than some had thought.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.
By Joyce Teo

Demand was strong for mass market and prime projects, with buyers especially keen on The Laurels, an upmarket 229-unit project in Cairnhill Road.

Developer Sing Holdings has sold 135 of the 179 units so far, with around 40 - comprising mostly two-, three- and four-bedders - going over the weekend and two more taken up yesterday.

More than 90 units had already been sold at private previews for business associates and former Hillcourt Apartments owners, where the development now sits.

Prices at the project ranged from $2,800 to $3,200 per sq foot (psf).

All four penthouses have also been bought, for between $8 million and $10 million each, and the 45 one-bedroom units are also gone, a DMG & Partners report said.

‘We had a good mix of buyers with strong take-up rates across the different unit sizes. Mostly two- and three-bedroom units are left but we have no plans to release the remaining 50 units yet,’ the spokesman said.

DMG & Partners property analyst Brandon Lee said turnout for The Laurels preview was healthy, with 20 to 40 people in the showflat at any one point.

Locals made up a good proportion of the buyers, although there were some Indonesians as well, the Sing Holdings spokesman said.

Mr Lee expects 30 to 50 units to be retained for future launches so as to ride on continued rising prices within the high-end segment.

The Vision at West Coast - marketed as a high-end project in a suburban location - was also popular.

As of yesterday, 160 out of the 295 units in the Cheung Kong Holdings development had been sold, including the 100 that went during the initial preview.

This is in spite of record prices - from $1,000 to $1,200 psf - for a mass market project.

The Vision, a 99-year leasehold condominium located across the road from West Coast Park, has 281 apartments and 14 strata terrace units. It is next to Blue Horizon, where units in the resale market have gone for $764 to $841 psf this year.

UOB Kay Hian analyst Vikrant Pandey said the strong demand for The Vision served to reinforce positive views about the sustainability of the property market’s recovery, with turnout strong despite Sunday’s rain.

He expects demand to remain strong for other upcoming launches.

‘We believe the turnaround in the property segment is well supported by favourable demand-supply dynamics, high liquidity and a low interest rate environment,’ Mr Pandey added.

Tiong Aik’s Coralis near Marine Parade has also seen strong sales, with more than 50 out of its 127 units taken up at its weekend preview in Raffles Hotel. Prices were between $1,350 and $1,550 psf. It is expected to be launched this weekend.

Coralis is a freehold condominium featuring one-bedders as small as 495 sq ft and penthouses of up to 3,089 sq ft.

Mr Dennis Yong, head of special projects at HSR International Realtors - a co-marketing agent of the project - said strong demand was seen mostly from local people with the ‘perspective of home ownership’. Investors made up only about 20 per cent of buyers, he said.

Mr Yong expects continued demand in the next two to four weeks as there is still genuine demand from home buyers.

But he tips prices to continue increasing, given developers’ depleting landbanks and that new site tenders are attracting high bids.

‘Developers are not in a rush to sell. They can still push up their prices to maximise their value and to increase the average price of each unit,’ he said.

‘They are not sure how high to price their units, (so) every four to five units sold, they adjust their prices again.’

City Developments has said it plans to launch the 228-unit Residences at W Singapore Sentosa Cove this month while it hopes to release a 429-unit project in Chestnut Avenue next month. A spokesman said that while it has not launched any new projects as yet, there has been buying interest.

Local developer Hiap Hoe Group will preview its 61-unit Skyline 360??? at St Thomas Walk and its 48-unit Treasure on Balmoral - a luxury development costing at least $4 million per unit - at Raffles Hotel this weekend.

CB Richard Ellis executive director of residential services Joseph Tan said he has seen ‘decent sales’ even for some of the ongoing projects such as Centennia Suites in Kim Seng Road over the past weekend.

‘Sales are still okay even for the older launches…All (projects) are moving, some are faster, some are slower but even if sales are slower, it could be the marketing strategy of the developer. Prices might still go up and with a developer having a depleting landbank, it is not in its interest to sell fast,’ he said.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.
By Esther Teo

Sim Lian Land submitted a top bid of $302 million or $4,530.79 per sq m of gross floor area.

Other bidders include MCL Land and Allgreen Properties, which put in bids of $278.3 million and $251.8 million respectively.

The second highest bid of $289 million was submitted jointly by Waterfront View and FCC Tampines Court, while the lowest bid of $168 million came from Boon Keng Development.

The plot at the junction of Tampines can yield a maximum gross floor area of 66,655 sq m.

It is next to The Tropica condominium and about five to 10 minutes’ drive from Tampines Central and Tampines MRT station.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.
By Joyce Teo