MARKET NEWS

Similarly, though less spectacularly, Tampines Court has seen a 36% rise in price in just 1 year.  This defies all the nay sayers in the last en bloc round who roundly predicted that TC prices would head no where but down. I predict $900k by Christmas.

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Unit at Queens sells for $1,126 psf; Central Green hits $1,034 psf

Homes near MRT stations generally enjoy strong demand. For homes in mature estates with shopping centres and other amenities, demand is well supported — even in a quiet market.
One such development is Queens, located a short walk from the Queenstown MRT station. The 722- unit, 99-year leasehold condominium comprises three 39-storey towers. The eight-year-old condo along Stirling Road is near good schools such as Global Indian International School, Tisch School of Art and Crescent Girls’ School, shopping
amenities — IKEA, Queensway Shopping Centre and Anchorpoint — and car showrooms along Alexandra Road. Tan Jiawei, an agent with PropNex who specialises in this project, says the buyers are mainly local owner-occupiers. Tan also notes that Queens attracts HDB upgraders, as it is more affordable than other condos in the district, which typically command $1,300 to $1,400 psf.

MARKET NEWS

Guillemard Court up for en-bloc sale 

Guillemard Court, located along Geylang, Lorong 28, is up for an en-bloc sale.
The freehold estate has a land area of 31,684 square feet.
It has a plot ratio of 2.8 and can be built up to eight storeys.
The existing development is a four-storey walk-up apartment with 32 units
The indicative price of the land is S$33 million, which works out to S$360 per square foot per plat ratio.
Deans Realtors, the marketing agent for Guillemard Court, said the first advertisement for a public tender will be out on Thursday.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 22 Sep 2010

Naung Court sold for S$28m

Naung Court, a 20-unit development at Jalan Naung in the Hougang area, has been sold to developer Orion-Two Residential for S$28 million.
The 32,689 sq ft site is zoned for ‘Residential’ use with a gross plot ratio of up to 1.4 and can be built up to five storeys.
This works out to about S$662 per square foot per plot ratio if a development charge is payable.
To date, only one unit out of the 20 units has yet to sign the Collective Sale Agreement.
The marketing agent, Jones Lang LaSalle, said the site will yield a potential gross floor area of up to 45,764 sq ft, subject to approval and payment of a development charge of about S$2.3 million.
It could potentially yield some 43 apartment units with an average size of 1,000 square feet each.
Head of Investments at Jones Lang LaSalle, Stella Hoh, said she is encouraged by the strong interest in the site despite the recent property-cooling measures announced by the government.
She said the site’s convenient location – near Hougang Central and Hougang MRT Station as well as the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway – appeals to developers and home buyers.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 20 Sep 2010

Glenville up for en bloc sale

Another apartment is angling for an en bloc sale.
Owners of Glenville off Upper Serangoon Road are asking between S$38 and S$40 million for the property.
That works out to about S$715 to S$745 per square foot per plot ratio for owners of the 32-unit, freehold residential development located at Lim Tua Tow Road
The site spans 43,335 square feet with a gross plot ratio of 1.4.
It can be built up to five storeys, yielding a potential gross floor area of more than 60,670 square feet.
It is subject to a development charge of about S$5.3 million.
Sole marketing agent Jones Lang LaSalle said the site can yield some 57 units with an average size of 1,000 square feet each.
It added that Glenville is in close proximity to Serangoon MRT Station, the upcoming NEX Mega Mall and Serangoon Stadium.
The tender for Glenville will close at 4pm on October 5.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 8 Sep 2010

Just Wait

Just wait; Tampines Court will follow because space and size are what matters most. As larger units become scarcer and scarcer, our value will increase - regardless of the fact we are 99yr leasehold. We will attract more permanent residents, more HDB upgraders who are looking for space for their growing families. The demographics of the estate will change and hopefully all the whingers and complainers will be replaced by positive owners, keen to make our shared property a nice place to come home to.

SHOEBOX UNITS

Lifestyles and Quantum price.. when will people realise they are being conned ...

Shoe-box units shrink median price of developers’ sales

‘About five years ago, studio units were about 500 sq ft; now it’s common to find 350-400 sq ft units. Two-bedders used to be around 900-1,000 sq ft; now they could be 700-800 sq ft,’ said the developer who declined to be named.

While this trend is not expected to fizzle out anytime soon, developers may move away from the shoebox model when more of these projects are completed, and if these tiny units do not quite achieve their touted high gross rental yields of 8-10 per cent, says Mr Ow.

Agreeing, the developer said: ‘It may not be so easy to resell these units when they are completed as buyers can actually see how tiny the apartments are. I think this phase of exuberance in owning tiny apartments will fade when they’re ready for occupation. When more shoebox apartments are completed, the supply will be saturated vis-a-vis the demand.’

Source : Business Times – 13 Oct 2010

Man who made ‘shoebox apartments’ a lifestyle to venture overseas

 

Luxury is SPACE

What defines a luxury property?

In attempting to describe the top category of residential real estate in Singapore, we often find ourselves struggling with adjectives. Before the Urban Redevelopment Authority came up with the term CCR (Core Central Region), we used to say “9, 10 and 11″ in reference to the prime residential postal codes. However, since the frenzy of the 2007 property boom, new terms have cropped up, such as super prime, super luxury, uber luxe, ultra luxury, etc.
Amid the slew of superlatives, Singapore lacks a clear definition of what a luxury property is, one that can be used as a benchmark by which others are measured.

What defines a luxury property?

Many characteristics can, in combination, define a luxury home. These would include location, price, size, furnishings, neighbouring homes, surrounding amenities, interior furnishings, layout, security, etc.

The top characteristic, in my opinion, would be location. If we are asked to name the Beverly Hills or the Knightsbridge of Singapore, we might think of Nassim Road, Ardmore Park, Holland Road, Paterson Road, Grange Road and Orchard Road, among others. If the same question is asked of the foreign investors here, Sentosa Cove, Marina Bay and Orchard Road might feature more prominently.

And within a prestigious neighbourhood, there are often streets that provide a distinction between those who have clearly arrived and those who are merely on their way.
A second characteristic is price or price per square foot of real estate. Knightsbridge, Sloane Street and Belgrave Square in London have been home to Britain’s most expensive residential real estate for the last 200 years and they will continue to lead because the richest people in the world own property there.

According to The Times of London, 14 out of the top 200 most expensive streets in Britain are in Knightsbridge. The world’s most expensive apartment is a penthouse at One Hyde Park, sold for £100 million or over £4,000 psf. That’s over $12,000 psf in early 2007, when the exchange rate was more than £1 = $3.

Singapore’s most expensive homes are in the Orchard Road area. They have been for the past three decades and I believe they will remain so for the next century. Any location elsewhere in Singapore trying to rival Orchard Road will merely serve to push up Orchard Road’s premium.

Economist and real estate investor Alex Shlaen, in the August 2009 issue of Property Report magazine, listed the Top Ten luxurious property projects in Singapore. Except for Sentosa Cove’s villas taken as a whole, and The Sail at Marina Bay, the other eight were condominiums in Orchard Road area.

Beyond location, Mr Shlaen’s key considerations were the condominiums’ furnishings and interiors and facilities. I think interiors and facilities are important factors but space and the immediate environment around a home rank higher on my list.

At the rate Singapore is developing, we are becoming more congested and might soon end up like Hong Kong or Tokyo. A very well decorated and furnished home, in the middle of a congested street where building-to-building distances are at a minimum, cannot be considered a luxury home.

Consider Sentosa Cove, where rows of detached houses stand side-by-side at 2m apart where the eaves of the roofs extend and 4m apart between the houses’ main structures. In most cases, this 4m space is separated by a perimeter wall. Compared to the luxurious space so evident in Victoria Peak in Hong Kong or even Kenny Hills in Kuala Lumpur, the streetscape in Sentosa Cove appears cluttered.

The sense of space gives the home a premium-space outside and space inside. Therefore, shoebox-sized apartments of 300-500 sq ft, even if built in a prime location, are not considered luxury homes.

The low price quantum for these units comes with a premium in terms of relatively higher dollar per sq ft prices, which may or may not be recoverable through higher unit rental rates and limited capital appreciation.

No matter where they are located – in New York’s Tribeca, London’s Knightsbridge, Hong Kong’s Victoria Peak or Singapore’s Orchard Road, these “prime” shoebox units are at best considered serviced apartments or hotel rooms, not luxury homes. Two- or three-bedroom apartments under 1,000 sq ft also fall into this category.

To sum up, the three most important characteristics of a luxury property are, in my view, location, price (quantum as well as unit rate) and space (both inside and outside) – all taken together.

So, for luxury properties, what are the three top street names in Singapore? My votes go to Chatsworth Road, Nassim Road and Bishopsgate. Think tree-lined boulevards, generous space between houses and blocks of condominiums, tranquility and, despite a high percentage of car ownership in these streets, traffic density is low. And, oh yes, crickets chirping, too.

By Ku Swee Yong, founder of real estate agency International Property Advisor.
03 Sep 2010