Residential Market News Extract - 4 July 2012

Private home owners gain from property rebound

The recovery of Singapore's property market since 2009 has been a welcome fillip for the wallets of private home owners.

Based on caveats lodged, private residential home owners pocketed at least $20.3 billion in gross profit since the sector recovered in late 2009, explaining robust developer sales of around $60.1 billion in the period.

The report also noted that actual profit figures would have been higher as gains from collective sales were not factored into the profit calculations, among various things.

But overall profitability has fallen since the first half of last year - when home owners pocketed more than $4 billion in profit - to $3.2 billion in the second half of 2011 and $2.7 billion in the first half of this year.

Similarly, the percentage of unprofitable transactions in the secondary market has also crept up slightly from one per cent in the latter half of 2011 to 2 per cent during the first half of this year.

For one thing, average profitability per transaction in the secondary market registered a new high of $522,056 in the first half of this year, a near-doubling from the $288,991 recorded in H2 2009.

Notably, the top five most profitable secondary market projects in the first six months of this year comprised the likes of Serangoon Garden Estate (most profitable with $59 million in profit realised), The Quintet, Frankel Estate, Seletar Hills Estate and Trevista, according to data from URA.

On the flip side, the five most unprofitable projects in the same period included developments such as Reflections at Keppel Bay (the most unprofitable project, where a total loss of $7.4 million was realised), St Regis Residences, Latitude, CityVista Residences and Duchess Residences.

Source: Business Times – 4 July 2012

 

Landmark Tower up for public tender

A prime 99-year leasehold residential site was launched for public tender yesterday.

Landmark Tower, located on Chin Swee Road, has a site area of about 60,821 square feet and is zoned "residential" under the 2008 Master Plan. The development, comprising 38 floors and a 360-degree view of the Singapore skyline, also boasts a plot ratio of around 4.014 based on the property's existing gross floor area (GFA).

Consultants say the property is likely to be warmly received at an indicative price range of $280-288 million, though that excludes a $42 million cost to top up the lease to 99 years.

Factoring that in, the indicative prices for the plot would translate to around $1,315-1,355 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr), or $1,252-1,286 psf ppr should a developer choose to tap the 10 per cent bonus GFA for balcony space.

Set on elevated land, the site is conveniently located close to Chinatown and Outram Park MRT Stations as well as F&B and family amenities.

Source: Business Times – 4 July 2012