There are several HUDC estates that are close to getting on board the proverbial bandwagon for collective sales. The largest in question is Braddell View which will take a great deal of capital investments to complete.
HUDC or Housing and Urban Development Company are housing properties that are unique to Singapore and cater to a class of people who can afford better housing vs the typical public housing. Here are some estates that are on the horizon of making changes:
Braddell View, formerly a HUDC estate, is getting closer to agreeing to collective sales. Chairman of the Management Corporation Strata Title, Alex Teo, said a vote was taken on Tuesday with 493 votes in favor of forming a collective sales committee while only 28 voted against it. Braddell has 918 units and is leaning toward collective sales, which should not be surprising with the increase of more collective sales involving former HUDC estates. Some residents do not have a stance one way or the other but believe exploring the possibilities is not out of the question. They are willing to wait and see what happens.
There are approximately 19 HUDC estates that have become private with a group of 11 sold since 2005 (Shunfu Ville Estate is one of them). While Braddell View, Laguna Park, Pine Grove, Florence Regency, and Chancery Court are just now starting the collective sales process, Ivory Heights is already on the market.
Normanton Park was sold a few weeks ago for $830.1 million which is considered the highest sale to date. It was originally built in 1977 for military people and their families.
On the subject of Braddell View, Mr. Teo stated that originally the owners were hoping for $2 billion for the property which is well over the asking price for Pine Grove at $1.65 billion. The higher price tag is probably due to the fact that it is the largest HUCD estate coming in at 1.124 million square feet. It is in easy walking distance to the Caldecott MRT stations and nearby the suburbs of Bishan and Toa Payoh. It also has 63 years left on its 99-year lease. All in all, this property has many perks including its enormous size.
Head of research at Edmund Tie & Company, Dr. Lee Nai Jia, believes that the sale of the 488-unit Normanton Park is showing signs that developers are focusing on larger sites, especially if there is a capacity to build up and improve the site and boost their investments.
On the other hand, executive director of the ZACD Group, Nicholas Mak, thinks it’s premature and there might be several challenges in getting developers to come on board. Just considering the size of Braddell View will have its own share of challenges. It will take a great deal of committed capital for such a large project. Mr. Mak believes it would work better if the property could be broken up into 3 separate parcels of land, but even that would be very difficult to carry out.
Comparing Normanton Park and Braddell View. Normanton Park has a total sum of approximately $1.3 billion with a land mass of 661,000 square feet. Braddell View, on the other hand, is much larger and the land mass is almost double that of Normanton Park.
Developers are still a little cautious regarding their bidding, considering that the cooling measures are still in place and developers have a strict timeline in order to sell off units. Singapore’s property cooling measures have created a drop in sales and prices since 2009, but the central bank believes these measures are necessary and there are no signs of the government relenting.
Only time will tell if the plans for Braddell View will happen or not. There are many challenges but those in favor believe there are also many rewards. Others question whether large investments will be justified for taking on such a huge project.
Fore more info, learn more from the link below
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/braddell-view-gets-closer-to-kick-starting-process
New Launch Condos with lands that were bought by developers from direct Government Land Sales.
