A generous site located on Holland Road, which is capable of providing opportunities in both residential and commercial sectors, was just made available by the state. The Urban Redevelopment Authority offer a 99-year leasehold for this particular site, which is divided into two distinct zones, as mentioned earlier. Already some of the developers that want the site placed more than one bid to get it. Thus, the site managed to gather a total number of 15 bids so far. While the URA publicly released the name of the developers competing for the site, it did not provide any information concerning the value of their bids. Also, it is expected for the tender to last two months before the URA will decide which developer will win this site.
Will Hong Kong Tax Unsold Units Held By Developers Or Continue Down A Dangerous Path Of Soaring Costs
The latest news coming out of Hong Kong, they are seriously considering imposing a tax on developers who are hoarding empty homes in order to bring down the furry in the housing market. The financial secretary told a talk show that the number of unsold units has increased significantly since 2017 which reached an all-time high over 9,500. The secretary did stress that they need to have a specific target in mind instead of attacking all properties on the market.
Hong Kong has the most expensive residential properties that have more than doubled over the past 10 years. This has caused a significant problem by not being able to keep up with the increasing demand for properties. A practice favored by developers has added to the situation by only selling new units in groups and constantly increasing the home prices during their releases.
Singapore: HDB Flat Prices Rose This Month by Almost Ten Percent!
According to the Housing Development Board resale price index, the price of resale flats in Singapore have fallen for the second month in a row, yet the actual sale volumes of the flats have increased by a considerable amount. The pricing index back in February 2017 noted that the resale price was around 135; a year later and it shows that the resale price has dropped down to approximately 131.7. The executive director of ZACD Group, a real estate investment firm, noted that the slight dip in prices is not surprising.
Read more
Developer releasing 30 units in Nim Collection
Bukit Sembawang Estates is releasing a private residential project this year. They are launching 30 for sale. There were a total of 47 units in the first phase of this development. the average selling price for this new launch landed houses range from $2.8mil to about $3million
The 99 year leasehold development is among the first few residential development in Singapore that uses the envelope control guidelines. These are bringing in a lot of flexibility when it comes to the interior configuration and design. The guidelines have multiple micro controls and that’s quite a unique perspective in this regard.
Community events became senior-friendly due to a contest-winning idea
When something goes on in the communities of Singapore, such as the gathering of stalls at hawker centers and the organization of wet markets, many senior citizens are unable to participate. This is due to the fact that they move around by using wheelchairs or walking sticks, which makes the task of checking out the available stalls, placed in a crowded area or around wet floors, a mission impossible. Thus, until now, Singapore’s elders that had mobility issues had no other options but to stay away from these crowded events. But this doesn’t have to be a problem in our present days anymore, as there are ways to make these events enjoyable for senior citizens as well, regardless how they manage to visit the venue.
The prices of condos exceed the peaks reached in precedent years
By now, it’s no secret that the prices of condos in Singapore are going up. But, how much is up? Well, this February, these prices reached an increase of 1.9%, exceeding not just the increase of 1.3% that was recorded in January, but also the most significant increase recorded in the past 4 years. Thus, ever since 2014, in the month of January, the apartments and Singapore condominiums in Singapore that were put up for resale, did not record such important price increases. Specialists estimated an increase of only 1% in February, compared with January, but the market proved them wrong, as the increase was almost 2%.
Wheelock Apartments Sell Out in Hong Kong
Over a weekend in March 2018, Hong Kong’s hot residential market reared its head, as a new housing development in Kowloon Wheelock & Co, was completely sold out. The development is made up of 750 units and they were 100% sold. There a huge buyer enthusiasm over the units, with over 9,800 applicants submitting for approval despite only having 750 residential units. This has shown that the housing market does not show any sign of stopping even though Hong Kong is the least affordable city in Southeastern China. To put this in perspective, Hong Kong’s housing prices have seen a three hundred percent surge since 2003.
Finding the Best Real Estate Agent Has Now Become Easy With RealHome
An outstanding property app was introduced by Desmond Lee, Second Minister for National Development. This app was designed with the purpose of enhancing the transaction services in the real estate industry. The RealHome app will be available for free on both Play Store and App Store.
RealHome is the perfect solution for contacting top real estate agents. This app is developed to make it easy to find experienced and qualified real estate agents. This app is headed by PropNex Realty, Huttons Asia, and ERA Realty with the aim to boost the standards of the real estate industry. Through this app, the customers may be able to review and rate agents. In order to provide authentic information to the users, the review will contain details such as the type of transaction and concise address of the property.
HDB Buyers of older age prefer flats of shorter leas
According to an article in Straits Times dated 26th Feb 2018, Mr Yeoh who is a resident that needed to give up the canteen helper job a few years ago because he had a poor health, and he was actually diagnosed with cancer. The problem for him and his wife is that he had to move from a 5-room flat to a 2-room flexi flat and a 30 year lease came with that one. They are not the only people doing this.
Most seniors are downsizing right now, but it’s easy to see why. Not only do they want to avoid spending a lot of money, but they want to figure out a good, creative and professional way to handle with the shorter leases in a meaningful and powerful way. The best part about handling them this way is that it’s a lot easier for them to move into a smaller place.
Is it wise to give up your financial security and follow the type of dream that may never be able to pull of adequately? It can happen, but in the end the best thing that you can do is to identify the best options and just go ahead with them the best way that you can. This approach is quite good for old people that want to downsize.
Rise in Singapore Business Confidence in the 2nd Quarter in 2018
SCCB – Singapore Commercial Credit Bureau released a survey recently that showed an upward trend for a second consecutive quarter in local business confidence. As per the chief executive of SCCB, Audrey Chia, there will be certain downside risk prevalent during 2018; however, the overall growth outlook is expected to remain positive. She cited service-oriented and transportation sectors as the major factors that will lead the growth in 2018.
On the other hand, she believes that there are fewer chances of growth in the construction sector. This is due to the lacklustre performance expected in this sector in the near future. However, the overall trend is going to remain positive.
Hollandia, a generous property of 48 units is won by FEC Properties at a recent collective sale
Built somewhere in the middle of the 80s, Hollandia, which is a beautiful property located at the intersection of Queensway and Holland Road in District 10, was just won by FEC Properties as a result of a collective sale. The property has quite a potential when it comes to future developments, considering that at the moment it has 6 stories and a total of 48 flats to offer. FEC Properties, which is a subsidiary company owned entirely by Far East Consortium International, from Hong Kong, got the property for $183.38 million. The price was triggered by the value of the property’s square foot, which was $1,703 at the moment of the collective sale, as mentioned by Savills Singapore, the market agent that supervised the selling process.
4 More Multi-Million Dollar Residential Plots Join the EnBloc Sale Market
The collective market has seen another four freehold residential development sites of different region go on the market in Singapore for millions of dollars. The insatiable demand for development has taken the market by storm over the last few months, causing many residential properties to choose to sell their land. The four residential sites include the Asia Gardens which is in the central Singapore along Everton Road, Park View Mansions which is the West and is close to the Jurong Business District, Moulmein Rise, and Katong Omega Apartments.
Bidding For An Executive Condo Site In Punggol Hits All-Time High
Bidding for sites across Singapore are very actively taking place across Singapore. Developers firmly believe that supply and demand for executive condominiums will drive bidding higher and higher. There is a great deal of speculation where this will go during this year. Some analysts are still quite skeptical and warning developers to slow down a bit. That said, developers are not sharing their views and believe the market is ripe for picking.
City Development Land Constellation, in joint-venture with TID Residential, won the bid for executive condominium site, setting the highest record for Executive Condo Land. The winning bid was a stunning $509.37 million, equating to $583 per square foot per plot ratio. This price was higher than anyone could have imagined and believed it’s due to a shortage of executive condos in Singapore. The executive condo site on Sumang Walk in Punggol brought in an astonishing 17 bids and closed on Tuesday. Acting as land sales agent, the site’s tender was conducted by the Housing & Development Board.
The households of Singapore are not yet noticing the country’s economic recovery
Starting at the beginning of this year, we keep hearing about how well the economy of Singapore is doing, as it began to recover and follow a positive trend since the last part of 2017. But, for the moment, the households of Singapore are only seeing the numbers, as there are no palpable effects of this economic improvements just yet. Still, the statistics are showing that we are doing better than in 2016. So, according to a report made public by the Department of Statistics, a medium sized household had its income increased by 2% every month starting with 2016. Thus, if this income was around $8,846 in 2016, it reached $9,023 in the year that just passed.
But, of course, the numbers are a bit better than what is actually happens in reality. So, the increase was only 1.5% because we had to think about the inflation as well and cut it from the increase the authorities are bragging about. Still, having in mind that the economy surprised everyone with its improvements that exceeded all expectations, an increase of 3.5% is expected to be recorded during the remainder of the year. Even so, some state that the income of the average household increased by 2.6% in reality, in spite of an economy that was not showing signs of improvement at the moment. According to experts, this happened because of two main reasons.
The prices of future projects may increase due to an increase in the Buyer’s Stamp Duty
While it is not believed that the rise in the value of Buyer Stamp’s Duty will affect the current recovery of the property market in Singapore in any way, this change may affect the prices of future projects. The much higher prices of land, which falls in the expenses supported by developers, is another factor that can lead to a price rise as well, according to specialists. According to Mr. Augustine Tan, who is the president of Redas, or Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore, the sudden increase in this particular stamp duty will not impair the recovery of the market in this sector, although it may cause a certain degree of friction. Home buyers are still reacting to prices in a very sensitive manner, but they will still do their best to obtain the desired property.
Mr. Tan spread the good news at a lunch during the Spring Festival, an event that is celebrated every year by Redas. Having no less than 620 guests, there were plenty of people to hear the news and share them with the rest. As Mr. Tan said, the recovery of the market is just in its beginnings, but the feelings are positive about it and it is expected to the trend to continue in the same manner. Although there are circumstances that are difficult to predict, the economic growth recorded in Singapore in recent times, which is more than expected, gives everyone hope that that the positive trends will remain the same in the following years.
But, in spite of all these increased, the property prices in Singapore are still affordable, if we are to compare them with what you can find in larger cities like London or Shanghai. While it takes 14 or 15 years to afford a property in Beijing or Shanghai, and 8 and a half years to afford one in London, it takes only 4 or 5 years to be able to afford one in Singapore. So, the situation is by far a grim one. It is also worth mentioning that the rise in buyer’s stamp duty applies only in the case of properties that cost more than $1 million. For the properties that have a selling price of $1 million or less, the stamp duty will remain in the 1 to 3% area, as it did so far.
Let us not forget that property prices were on a constant drop in the past years, falling 3.7% in 2015 and 3.1% in 2016. Last year the first raise was recorded, of 1.1%, in the past 3 years, so we are still far from having to face large prices. Desmond Lee, who is the Second Minister for National Development said that even though he is confident in the market growth Singapore is enjoying at the moment, the number of properties that will be available for sale will likely double or go beyond this threshold in the near future. At the end of 2017 alone there were no less than 17,000 unsold properties, so we tend to believe Mr. Lee. Mr. Tan added the fact that there may be more than 34,400 private residences available on the market between 2018 and 2019, a number that is generated by the sales of land sites that have not received planning approval just yet. But he also said that the limited land availability in Singapore will lead to the development of properties with mix uses, if the country and its developers wish to maintain the economic growth and meet the demand.
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/prices-at-new-projects-may-rise-due-to-hike-in-duty
Upcoming new launch condos in Singapore
Upcoming new launches that are freehold