Residential Market News Extract - 16 October 2012

Developer sales surge to 3-year high

Developers' private home sales surged to a three-year high in September, taking the tally for the first nine months past the full-year 2010 record and underscoring the need for the latest cooling measures.

The 2,621 private homes, excluding executive condos (ECs), sold last month were 83.7 per cent more than the 1,427 units in August and the highest since July 2009's 2,772 units. The numbers were released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority yesterday.

This means that in the first nine months of this year alone, developers have found buyers for 17,927 homes - up 12.7 per cent from 15,904 units for the whole of last year and surpassing the full-year 2010 record of 16,292 units by around 10 per cent.

Market watchers generally attribute the surge in September sales to high liquidity/low interest rates and a jump in new launches. Developers launched 2,224 private homes last month, double the 1,118 units in August. Some developers held back releasing projects until after the Ghosts Month ended in mid-September. That also coincided with the announcement of QE3 in the US.

The preliminary Q3 2012 developer sales tally now stands at 5,999 units (the final number will be released on Oct 29). Most property consultants reckon sales will slow this quarter, ending the year at 21,000-22,000 units.

While the restrictions on home loan tenures could take some demand away, property remains an attractive option.

The September sales volume was also up 60.7 per cent year on year.

Home buying continued to be dominated by Outside Central Region (OCR), where suburban condos are located. The 2,062 units in this location that developers sold last month was a 146 per cent jump from 837 units in August as well as a new monthly benchmark sales record for OCR.

Three major projects - Riversails in Upper Serangoon Crescent, Kovan Regency and eCO at Bedok South Avenue 3 - together contributed to sales of 974 units in September - or 37.2 per cent of developers' total sales in the month.

For eCO, 402 units were transacted at a median price of $1,283 psf, making it the top-selling project, followed by Kovan Regency (369 units at $1,275 psf median price), Riversails (203 units), Foresque Residences (104 units) and Bartley Residences (78 units).

Upcoming launches could include Eco Sanctuary at Chestnut Avenue and The Sennett.

URA figures yesterday also show that developers sold 150 ECs (a public-private hybrid housing) last month, up from 118 units in August. This takes the preliminary Q3 tally for ECs to 392 units - and that for the first nine months to 2,818 units, not far off the 2,883 units last year.

September's priciest deal (in per square foot terms) was a unit in The Marq on Paterson Hill which sold for $6,215 psf, followed by a unit at Skyline@Orchard Boulevard which fetched $5,011 psf.

Amid rising home sales, the government yesterday rolled out five residential sites and reiterated that it is ready to act, if and when necessary, to keep a good handle on the property market.

Source: Business Times – 16 October 2012

 

Two sets of Tg Katong shophouses for sale

A pair of freehold four-storey shophouses at Tanjong Katong Road, owned by a family trust, has been launched for sale by public tender. The owner is seeking offers in the region of $10-12 million for the plot of land which measures 3,811 square feet with a total gross floor area of 11,046 sq ft.

Located within the gazetted Tanjong Katong Conservation area, the properties consist of two units of retail shops on the ground floor and six units of apartments on the upper floors.

Tanjong Katong was given conservation status on Dec 1, 2003, and is characterised by the ornate late style and the more geometric art deco style shophouses together with the more streamlined modern style shophouses built after World War II.

The subject site is zoned Residential with Commercial on the first storey and has a gross plot ratio of 3.0.

The properties are currently fully tenanted with estimated total gross monthly rental revenue of $18,350.

The tender for the subject properties closes on Nov 2, 2012 (a Friday), at 2.30pm.

Source: Business Times – 16 October 2012

 

Property cooling measures proving successful: Khaw

Five sites yielding some 2,880 homes have been released for sale, even as the government has pledged that it remains ready to cool the housing market if necessary.

Minister for National Development Khaw Boon Wan, asked by Members of Parliament yesterday what the government is doing to ensure housing remains affordable, said the cooling measures put in place thus far - including the curb on housing loan tenures - have met with some success. He said: "Both the private property and HDB resale market have shown signs of stabilising."

Specifically, the growth in private property prices has moderated significantly, from 18 per cent in 2010 to 6 per cent last year and to 0.9 per cent in the first three quarters of this year.

On the public housing front, the yearly Resale Price Index growth has also come down; it was 14.1 per cent in 2010, 10.7 per cent last year and 3.9 per cent in the first three quarters of this year. Mr Khaw indicated, however, that the market was not yet out of the woods, going by the uptick in RPI in Q3 2012 - a 2.0 per cent growth from Q2 based on flash estimates.

He added that although the supply of Built-to-Order flats has been significantly ramped up, it will take time for the ramped-up supply to catch up with demand. The government will continue to monitor the public housing market, he said.

Of the five 99-year-leasehold sites launched for sale this month under the government's plans to ensure a significant supply of housing - public and private - in the next two years, two are executive condominium (EC) sites.

The first EC site is next to Flo Residence, at the junction of Punggol Field Walk and Punggol East. Sitting on 153,999 sq ft of land, it has maximum gross floor area (GFA) of about 461,997 sq ft and is expected to yield 435 units. The tender for this land parcel closes on Dec 6.

The second site, located next to Sky Habitat in Bishan St 14, sits on a 120,855-sq-ft plot, and has maximum GFA of 592,189 sq ft, enough for 645 units. The land parcel set aside for Sky Habitat was sold to CapitaLand in February last year at $550 million, or $869 psf ppr. The tender for this site closes on Nov 29.

Another EC site at the Sembawang Crescent- Sembawang Drive junction, measuring 233,760 sq ft, will be launched for tender on Oct 30. It has total GFA of 654,527 sq ft and can yield about 650 units.

Two other sites in Tampines Ave 10, Parcels C and D, were made available for application by developers through the reserve list.

Parcel C is approximately 238,860 sq ft, and has maximum GFA of about 668,806 sq ft. It is expected to contain 680 units.

Parcel D is 168,567 sq ft and has maximum GFA of 471,988 sq ft. It is expected to contain about 470 units.

Source: Business Times – 16 October 2012