Residential Market News Extract - 29 May 2012

NUS small apartment sub-index dips in April

The tide may be turning for shoebox apartments, even as the prices of private resale homes continue to inch upwards in April.

According to the NUS Singapore Residential Price Index (SRPI), prices of small apartments (up to 506 sq ft) lost the most ground in April; the sub-index registered an islandwide drop of 1.2 per cent month-on-month according to flash estimates released yesterday.

The overall SRPI for April increased 0.8 per cent month- on-month.

In March, the SRPI sub-index for small apartments posted the strongest price gains across all the categories, rising 2.7 per cent.

As of the end of the first quarter of this year, there are about 2,500 completed shoe-box apartments, which make up 1.2 per cent of the 210,000 non-landed units in the private housing stock. Looking ahead, this stock is expected to increase to about 9,700 by 2015.

Separately, the SRPI sub-index for the Central Region (excluding small units) rose 1.6 per cent. The sub-index for the Non-Central Region (excluding small units) remained unchanged.

The increase in the number of higher value transactions in April led to the SRPI for Central picking up by 1.6 per cent.

Transaction volume in the resale market is holding above the 1,000 unit mark since March 2012. Furthermore there could be spillover demand from the primary market to the resale market. For buyers who are looking to buy a residential unit in the Central Region, they have to turn to the resale market as there are limited launches in the Central Region.

Buyers who have been on the sidelines are recognising the attractiveness of homes in the central region, largely for the investment fundamentals and because the aspiration for a prime address supersedes other private residential address.

Source: Business Times – 29 May 2012

More rogue property agents surfacing

As public awareness of unregistered property sales people gains traction, more rogue agents are expected to be uncovered.

In fact, the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA), which helps regulate the real estate agency industry here, says it will have its hands full over the coming months as it tries to prosecute unregistered agents who have been carrying out estate agency work illegally.

Recently, unregistered agent Raymond Sim Soon Leong was sentenced to a fine of $40,000, or in default eight weeks' imprisonment, for flouting rules under the Estate Agents Act and Regulations.

Describing himself as a sales director of a licensed estate agent, Sim had put up advertisements for the rental of two HDB flats via an online property site and represented clients in making offers for properties despite not being registered with the CEA and not having written agreement with the estate agency for him to practise. His deeds were uncovered when his clients lodged a complaint against him for impersonating a registered salesperson after they found out that the photo of the named person shown on CEA's Public Register of Estate Agents and Salespersons did not match Sim's appearance.

"This case illustrates the importance of checking the identity of a salesperson on the Public Register before consumers engage any salesperson for his or her services," said the CEA.

So far, the CEA has convicted two persons for flouting rules this year with another awaiting a further court hearing on June 21.

The first unregistered salesperson to be prosecuted by the CEA was Tan Cher Peng, who was sentenced to a fine and jail term on Jan 12 this year.

The CEA advises consumers to engage only sales agents who are registered with the body and says they ask for the salesperson's registration number to verify that he is indeed listed on the public register before engaging his services. The council also said the public should not respond to any real estate agency flyer or advertisement that does not provide a salesperson's details or registration number.

Source: Business Times – 29 May 2012