Saturday, April 29, 2006
HDB resale market seen stabilising
THE Housing & Development Board's (HDB) resale flat price index, which rose 0.2 per cent in the first quarter from the preceding three months, is likely to remain flat this year, says ERA Real Estate.
'There is an absence of factors that can significantly cause the market to move either way,' says ERA assistant vice-president Eugene Lim.
'Any upward movement of prices may be negated by supply from HDB's clearance of its unsold stock of flats. For the subsequent quarters of this year, we expect HDB's Resale Index to rise only marginally, turning in a full-year increase of no more than 1.5 per cent.'
Average valuations for three and four-room flats edged up 0.3 and 0.2 per cent respectively in Q1, while the larger five-room and executive flats registered respective declines of 0.1 per cent and 0.8 per cent, according to the latest data released by HDB yesterday.
Market watchers reckon the HDB resale market has stabilised after the board implemented anti-cashback measures on April 1 last year and the final one percentage point hike in cash downpayment to 5 per cent kicked in from Jan 1 this year for buyers who take bank loans.
Cashback deals previously led to over-declaration of sale prices of HDB flats, particularly for the smaller three and four-room flats. ERA's Mr Lim says: 'The prices we're seeing now in the resale market are truly reflective of the actual demand and supply situation.
'With the implementation of the 5 per cent cash payment for buyers taking bank loans completed now, and with no further hikes looming, there's no longer a push factor for buyers to beat the clock, as seen in the last two years.
'They now have more time and face less pressure to commit to the flat that they want. This has contributed to the stabilisation of HDB resale prices so far this year.'
The number of HDB resale flat applications in Q1 was 7,039, down 17.1 per cent from the previous quarter and up by just 10 applications from Q1 last year.
On a brighter note, five-room and executive flats enjoyed bigger shares of the resale application pie in Q1 this year compared with Q1 last year, ERA's analysis shows.
'Buyers are now more confident of the market and many are taking the chance to upgrade now that prices have stabilised,' says Mr Lim.
 |
Yahoo! Mail goes everywhere you do. Get it on your phone.
// posted by Shajahan @ 10:17 AM 
Biggest collective sale site changes hands for $206m
COLLECTIVE sales of residential estates in Singapore are continuing to set new records, with the largest-ever site being sold en bloc yesterday for $206.1 million.
 LARGE AREA: A new 545-unit project will go up on the 311,829 sq ft Westpeak location. |
Westpeak Condominium in West Coast Walk was bought by construction group Chip Eng Seng for about $348 per sq ft (psf) of potential gross floor area.
At 311,829 sq ft, the 20-year-old estate is the largest private freehold residential collective sale site to be sold in recent years, said property consultancy Savills, which marketed the site.
Each Westpeak owner will pocket between $1.29 million and $1.94 million depending on the size of their apartments, a premium over the last sale of a Westpeak apartment, at $900,000 in November 2004.
A new project with 545 units of 1,200 sq ft each is set to go up on the Westpeak site, which has a height restriction of 24 storeys, Chip Eng Seng said in a statement yesterday.
The group, which is expanding its niche property development activities, has been snapping up collective sale sites recently.
Earlier this month, it bought Venus Mansion in the Cairnhill area for $123 million, which works out to $783 psf per plot ratio (ppr).
It also paid $19.5 million for a freehold property at 21 Balmoral Road in August last year and $79 million for Quelin Gardens at St Thomas Walk in 2004.
Meanwhile, in yet another collective sale transaction, Hilton Towers in Leonie Hill has been sold for $79.2 million, or about $880 psf ppr, including a development charge of $3.9 million.
The 33,700 sq ft freehold estate in District 9 was bought by Koh Brothers Development and Heeton Land, which jointly developed Sun Plaza next to Sembawang MRT station, as well as The Montana off River Valley Road.
And another property deal was sealed yesterday when Mapletree Logistics Trust Management, which manages Mapletree Logistics Trust (MLT), said it acquired a warehouse-cum-office property at Penjuru Lane for $16.2 million. The deal will add 0.12 cent to the distribution per unit of MLT for the year ended Dec 31 last year.
Blab-away for as little as 1¢/min. Make PC-to-Phone Calls using Yahoo! Messenger with Voice.
// posted by Shajahan @ 10:16 AM
Largest increase in private home prices in six years
Rebound at top end yet to filter down to mass market in big way, say analysts
By Joyce Teo
Property Correspondent
PRIVATE home prices have posted their biggest quarterly increase since the first quarter of 2000, rising 1.5 per cent in the three months ended March 31 from the preceding quarter, boosted mainly by some sizzling sale prices for high-end homes.
Resale HDB flat prices, h owever, edged up a mere 0.2 per cent as they stabilised after last year's anti-cashback measures, which aimed to stop people from artificially inflating prices to get a bigger loan.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority's first-quarter home price index rose 1.8 points to 120, while the HDB resale price index rose 0.2 point to 101.8.
Private home rentals rose 1.1 per cent, up from 0.7 per cent in the previous quarter.
Property consultancy Knight Frank's managing director, Mr Tan Tiong Cheng, said the index shows that prices are going in the right direction. 'Certain pockets are enjoying a revival,' he said.
Besides high-end condos, landed homes did well too.
First-quarter landed home prices rose by 1.4 per cent, up from 0.9 per cent in the previous quarter, as the number of launches rose and buyers bought in anticipation of price increases, said Chesterton International head of research Colin Tan.
Still, the marked recovery in the high-end residential market has yet to filter down to the mass market in a big way, property consultants said.
'The general recovery is taking longer than expected as people are concerned about things like rising interest rates and the use of their CPF,' said one.
But there are signs that the recovery is filtering down, such as the strong take-up in the resale market, said Savills (Singapore) senior manager of research and consultancy Wallace Chu.
'Foreigners will still buy into the growth story of Singapore, especially with the result of the General Election and the announcement of the first integrated resort in Marina Bay. These will boost the overall sentiment for all sectors of the economy, which will filter down to the property sector,' he added.
Colliers International associate director of research & consultancy Tay Huey Ying noted that there are fewer unsold completed units, which implies that developers are under less pressure to reduce prices to clear stock.
Often, a project's unsold units are not the best ones, so developers may price them lower but that does not mean that the market has fallen, said Mr Tan.
That said, there is no lack of land and apartments.
Some developers have empty sites bought in the previous peaks in 1996 and 1999/2000 that they have yet to launch, said Mr Tan.
This year's property index could rise by 4 to 6 per cent, compared with the 3.9 per cent rise last year, said Mr Chu.
As for the HDB resale market, prices and sales volume are seen as staying relatively flat, said ERA Singapore assistant vice-president Eugene Lim.
Buyers have plenty of choices as the HDB continues to clear its unsold stock.
Thus, prices are unlikely to rise much, even as sentiment improves, he said.
Love cheap thrills? Enjoy PC-to-Phone calls to 30+ countries for just 2¢/min with Yahoo! Messenger with Voice.
// posted by Shajahan @ 10:14 AM
Private home prices up 1.5% in Q1, fastest rise since recovery in 2004
Private home prices rose 1.5 percent in the first three months of 2006, the fastest acceleration since the recovery of the residential property market in the second quarter of 2004.
The numbers match flash estimates released at the end of last month.
Analysts attribute the improvement to the strength in the high-end market such as Orchard Road and Marina Bay - which was bolstered by foreign buying.
But prices for HDB flats rose at a slower pace in the first quarter, climbing 0.2 percent to March this year compared to 0.4 percent in the fourth quarter last year.
The number of HDB flats also slowed to 7,039 units in the first quarter from the 8,490 units in the preceding quarter. - CNA/ir
The numbers match flash estimates released at the end of last month.
Analysts attribute the improvement to the strength in the high-end market such as Orchard Road and Marina Bay - which was bolstered by foreign buying.
But prices for HDB flats rose at a slower pace in the first quarter, climbing 0.2 percent to March this year compared to 0.4 percent in the fourth quarter last year.
The number of HDB flats also slowed to 7,039 units in the first quarter from the 8,490 units in the preceding quarter. - CNA/ir
Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Make PC-to-Phone Calls to the US (and 30+ countries) for 2¢/min or less.
// posted by Shajahan @ 10:12 AM
Friday, April 28, 2006
Newton, Balmoral sites set to be sold
TWO prime collective sale sites that were put on the market last month look set to be sold soon, after potential buyers made bids that met asking prices for the properties.
The Straits Times understands that Newton Meadows received about six bids, while Pinetree Condominium, at Balmoral Road, attracted three bids.
The freehold estates, both of which are being marketed by Jones Lang LaSalle, had invited expressions of interest from developers until yesterday.
The 28 owners of Newton Meadows are asking about $75 million for their 42,886 sq ft estate, or about $680 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr).
Each owner stands to pocket between $1.4 million and $3.5 million from the sale. The site can host a 36-storey condo with about 83 apartments of 1,300 sq ft each.
For Pinetree, which comes with a price tag of close to $59 million, or about $888 psf ppr, the estate's 50 owners are offering to forgo cash in exchange for units in the new project that will be developed on the site.
About 60 units at 1,100 sq ft each can go up on the 41,361 sq ft plot. The new units are expected to fetch about $1,400 psf, while the existing units are worth half of that.
Meanwhile, another site has been put up for collective sale, this time in the Whampoa area.
Mutual Court at Mar Thoma Road is asking for $23.2 million, or $274 psf ppr, for the 999-year leasehold site. There is a development charge of $103,000. A 36-storey condo can be built on the 30,331 sq ft plot, with 67 units of 1,200 sq ft each. The site now hosts a five-storey development with 34 apartment units.
Yahoo! Mail goes everywhere you do. Get it on your phone.
// posted by Shajahan @ 3:29 PM
HPL bags Beverly Mai for $238m
Price works out to $1,184 psf of potential gross floor area
By KALPANA RASHIWALA
HOTEL Properties Ltd (HPL) has clinched Beverly Mai on Tomlinson Road through a $238 million collective sale - $1,184 per square foot of potential gross floor area inclusive of an estimated development charge of $16.8 million.
 |
| Millionaires' row: The owners of Beverly Mai's 50 apartments will receive about $4.4 million per apartment |
Market watchers estimate HPL's breakeven cost for a new condo on the 76,888 sq ft freehold site could be about $1,600 psf. HPL can develop the site into a new 36-storey condominium with about 107 units averaging 2,000 sq ft.
HPL officials were not available for commment yesterday. However, David Lawrence, CEO of Wheelock Properties (Singapore) which recently bought a 21 per cent stake in HPL, yesterday told BT: 'HPL has had big success in the area. Beverly Mai is next to Four Seasons Park condo and close to their Four Seasons Hotel. I'm sure they'll find ways to make money from this project. HPL has a reputation as a stylish developer and they have a good following. They will do very well.' HPL developed the Four Seasons Park condo and Four Seasons hotel in the 1990s.
Mr Lawrence said there were no plans for Wheelock to team up with HPL in redeveloping Beverly Mai, which he described as 'a very good freehold site'.
CB Richard Ellis brokered the sale. The tender for the site drew five bids when it closed on Tuesday - with HPL being the highest bidder. The other four bidders were said to be City Developments, Far East Organization, SC Global Developments and Wing Tai. The deal is subject to approval from the Strata Titles Board as unanimous approval from the owners has yet to be obtained.
The Beverly Mai site is zoned for residential use with a 2.8 plot ratio (ratio of potential gross floor area to land area).
The owners of Beverly Mai's 50 apartments will receive slightly over $4.4 million per apartment while the two penthouse owners will walk away with double that amount - about $8.81 million per unit. These sums represent collective sale premiums of 76 per cent to 146 per cent - depending on which benchmark is used - in terms of what the apartments would have fetched on an individual basis. In March 2004, before Beverly Mai's collective sale was initiated, an apartment in the development changed hands for $1.8 million while in August last year, after the owners began signing for the en bloc sale, another apartment was sold for $2.5 million. Market watchers reckon the latter deal probably factored in some of the potential collective sale premium.
Analysts observed that the acquisition of Beverly Mai marks HPL's first major property acquisition in nine years. In July 1997, HPL led a consortium that bought The Forum, a retail and office property along Orchard Road, for $359 million.
Analysts said the last time the group bought a major development site was probably in September 1993 when it teamed up with MCL Land to buy the Scotts Road bungalow of Khoo Teck Puat, which has since been developed into the Scotts 28 condo.
Get amazing travel prices for air and hotel in one click on Yahoo! FareChase
// posted by Shajahan @ 3:27 PM
IR effect on property prices fizzling out
Prices at nearly 40% of prime condos launched in 2005 fell or hardly moved in Q1 2006
By ARTHUR SIM
(SINGAPORE) One year after the 'OK' on the integrated resorts helped give the property market a boost, prices appear to have flattened out with the trickle-down effect having petered out.
Prices at nearly 40 per cent of new prime district condominium projects launched in 2005 either fell or showed no movement between the time of their launch and the first quarter of 2006.
A Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) study of developer sales showed that some 27 projects were launched in districts 9, 10 and 11 in 2005.
Transactions at 10 out of 27 of these developments showed negative or no price movement between the average price at the time of launch and average prices for the latest transactions made in 2006. Six fell in price while four showed no change.
Of the six that dropped in average price, two depreciated by between 12-15 per cent, while prices at the other four fell by less than 5 per cent.
|
The JLL study excluded sub-sales (and the effect of speculation) to reflect a more accurate overall market price.
Of those developments that showed price gains, six appreciated by less than 5 per cent, two by less than 10 per cent, five by less than 15 per cent, and three by less than 20 per cent.
The trickle-down effect created by the high prices fetched at developments like The Sail @ Marina Bay and various developments at Sentosa Cove is, as JLL head of research (South-East Asia) Chua Yang Liang points out, a 'theoretical concept that is difficult to pinpoint, let alone measure'.
Between the first and second quarters of 2005, the increase in Urban Redevelopment Authority's property price index (PPI) more than doubled from 0.5 per cent to 1.2 per cent. It then increased by 0.2 per cent in Q3, followed by 0.1 per cent in Q4. Flash estimates for Q1 2006 show that the PPI also increased by 0.1 per cent.
'If we just use price as an indication of this effect, then we haven't seen it in the mass market. Within the higher-end market though, this effect is possibly more evident,' added Dr Chua.
Still, the wide price range for developments in Districts 9, 10 and 11 - between -15 per cent and +18 per cent - should be cause for some concern.
To some extent, this reflects the uncertain recovery of the property market. This has, in turn, prompted some developers to launch their developments in phases, perhaps exacerbating the price issue by controlling supply of new units in the hope of gauging demand to price their projects optimally.
City Developments Ltd (CDL) group general manager Chia Ngiang Hong said: 'The initial soft launch is usually only open to a select group of CDL customers who are on the wait list and have indicated strong interest in the project.
'Price adjustments are made within each phase to ensure that they remain competitive, taking into consideration the market conditions. This also helps to protect the investment made by the buyer.'
Another reason for the spread in prices - perhaps more grave - is that the lower end of the two-tier market may have grown to include mid-market properties. And in this respect, one cannot underestimate the impact of rising home loan interest rates.
Tay Huey Ying, associate director for research and consultancy at Colliers International, said: 'The borrowing environment is less favourable compared with 10 years ago, although the loan-to-value ratio has recently been raised to 90 per cent. In addition, policies on use of CPF funds for purchase of private properties are less favourable now than in 1996.'
Knight Frank head of research Nicholas Mak pointed out that rising interest rates usually affect the mass market and Housing and Development Board (HDB) upgraders, but added that Singapore buyers in all categories are generally 'more realistic' about property prices. Indeed, it seems that foreigners are to blame for the mixed prices.
'Foreigners have different reasons for buying. We don't have a big bond market but property is stable and bulky - representing a large single investment,' added Mr Mak.
Quek Kwang Meng, Citigroup Private Bank (Asia-Pacific) managing director and head of real estate, said that real estate 'is often a huge portion of our client's overall portfolio'.
He added: 'This is more so among Asian clients than with clients from other regions. It could be as much as 40-50 per cent with some clients, but on average it is about 15-25 per cent.
'Many of Asia's high net worth clients built their fortunes in real estate first before venturing into other businesses and sectors.'
How this affects property prices here is still uncertain. Some note that increasingly, savvy investors - with help from equally savvy private bankers - seem to be banking on additional gains by hedging against currency and interest rate fluctuations, perhaps adding to the volatility of the property market.
Wealth management firm dollarDex said that it is possible that some foreign investors may have sold their properties here because the Singapore dollar has strengthened against their own currency.
On Indonesian investors in particular, dollarDex said: 'The condition is ripe in the sense that the rupiah has come down from 6,400 (rupiah to the Singapore dollar) in August last year to 5,600 now.
'In fact, some initial signs are already there, with a few small sales consummated.' Coincidentally, sub-sales for the period of 2005 were the highest in Q4.
Official figures for Q1 PPI are expected to be out tomorrow, and a clearer picture of what exactly is happening with the property market here may emerge.
 |
Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Make PC-to-Phone Calls to the US (and 30+ countries) for 2¢/min or less.
// posted by Shajahan @ 3:24 PM
Retail enters a new era
After floundering in the last decade, the industry is set to offer 6m sq ft of new retail stock and bold new shopping concepts
By TAY HUEY YING
THE retail property market has seldom seen so much excitement. The retail industry, floundering for the last decade, is finally recovering. In fact, retail sales in 2005 were the strongest in the last five years, on the back of two consecutive years of record visitor arrivals.
 |
| VivoCity at HarbourFront: Set to open in October, the mall will be 40 per cent larger than Suntec City Mall |
This recovery also marks a new era for the industry, driven by the proposed integrated resorts and the increasing number of real estate investment trusts (Reits).
For a start, Singaporeans and tourists alike will have a bigger choice of shopping malls, after an eight-year lull in new supply of space. More than six million square feet of new retail stock (equivalent to 18 per cent of the current retail stock) will enter the market over the next four years. This will add 21 malls in both new and established retail locations.
The first new mall after a long hiatus is VivoCity at HarbourFront, which opens in October. With over one million square feet of retail and entertainment space, VivoCity will be 40 per cent larger than Suntec City Mall, and the largest mall in Singapore when completed.
The spate of new completions will climax in 2008 and 2009 when Orchard Road will see three new malls, increasing the total retail floor area in the prime shopping belt by a whopping 30 per cent. The new jewel of Orchard Road will come up at Orchard Turn and will be about the size of Ngee Ann City.
At the former Glutton's Square, a smaller mall with some 275,000 sq ft of lettable space will come up. A third site, next to Specialists' Centre, could see a mixed development with some 200,640 sq ft of retail space.
At around the same time, a new retail node will be born when the two integrated resorts in Marina Bay and Sentosa are completed with a combined lettable retail area of 861,110 sq ft.
Aside from new destinations, shoppers can expect to see existing malls rejuvenated. With more quality commercial buildings joining the Reit bandwagon, Reit managers have to work harder at maximising returns on their property portfolios for unitholders. As such, shoppers can expect new space-utilising concepts from Reits to generate higher rental revenue, major building revamps, new retailers and novel shopping ideas.
CapitaMall Trust (CMT) has been one of the more aggressive players in this respect. Most of its assets - among them IMM Building, Tampines Mall, Junction 8 and Funan DigitaLife Mall - have been rigorously enhanced over the last few years.
The relentless drive to revamp and raise returns by Reit managers is also pushing owners of other malls to improve their offerings. One significant trend is the eroding importance of anchor tenants. In the past two years, smaller specialty stores have replaced several anchor stores in malls. These include two Metro outlets in Far East Plaza and Marina Square which were replaced by small local shops such as Ice Lemon Tree, 77th Street, Craft IV and Pure Milk.
Shoppers can expect to see the rise of the small specialty store. In addition, established foreign labels that have won a strong following among well-travelled shoppers will be showcased in the new shopping malls. Possible new entrants include Victoria's Secret, J Jill, H&M, Abercrombie & Fitch and NEXT.
Other trends that are still in the exploratory stages include 24-hour shopping and warehouse retail schemes. The latter involves 'big box' retailers setting up in suburban areas and offering a huge variety of goods and bulk discounts.
For mall owners and developers, understanding the psyche of today's shopper is a brand new area of study. The expectations of shoppers are certain to be higher than ever. With Internet access and budget airlines, Singapore consumers are becoming more exposed to global shopping trends compared to 10 or 20 years ago.
Sensitivity to changes in fashion and technology trends is also much keener. The cosmopolitan, savvy consumer will not accept copycat trends. This explains why some 'small shop' concepts which offer no clear differentiation have failed. Also, malls that duplicate the tenant mix and chase after the same few successful retailers will no longer work.
What is needed are bold new retailing concepts and products. One new concept is to blend shopping with entertainment or lifestyle. An example is Harnn & Thann, a Thai brand of bodycare and aromatherapy products that uses its products in spa services offered in the same store.
With the right formula, Singapore could be on its way to becoming the hub for international retailers and a true shopping haven. The government's ambitious efforts to remake Orchard Road will boost its position in the international arena. And the two integrated resorts with casinos are set to draw droves of visitors, including the rich and the famous, when completed. These will be the twin forces driving Singapore's retail industry and providing a compelling reason for international retailers to set up here.
On the downside, however, retailers will have to contend with the prospect of rising rents, not only due to the market recovery but also because percentage lease agreements are becoming a common feature with the entry of Reit landlords. This rental structure typically takes the form of tenants paying a lower fixed rental rate and a percentage of gross turnover.
Another common practice is for tenants to pay a fixed rental rate or a percentage of gross turnover, whichever is higher. While such a rental structure gives retailers some flexibility, it could result in higher rentals being paid by thriving businesses. Whether the influx of new retail space puts downward pressure on future rents remains to be seen.
The writer is associate director for research and consultancy at Colliers International
Yahoo! Mail goes everywhere you do. Get it on your phone.
// posted by Shajahan @ 3:22 PM
No mandate for Clementi Park just
Many of us residing in Clementi Park are perturbed over your report, "En bloc fever hits district 21" (April 22).
The article stated, "Spurred by the success of the sales, the owners of Clementi Park condominium are planning to put the 22-year-old freehold condo up for sale".
In 2004 at the Annual General Meeting, a motion was put forward to conduct a feasibility study as to the possibility of having an en bloc sale and this was flatly defeated. Therefore, this matter was not pursued.
The majority of the residents have not even given their vote for or against such an en bloc sale, neither has a flat mandate been entrusted to the present council of only four members who come from only one block and are not representative of the entire condominium.
It is interesting to note a "pro-tem sales committee was recently set up whose members include representatives from the condominium's management committee, including the chairman". Is it any wonder the use of the phrase "Clementi Park owners" in the sub-head of the report came as a shock?
The article stated, "Spurred by the success of the sales, the owners of Clementi Park condominium are planning to put the 22-year-old freehold condo up for sale".
In 2004 at the Annual General Meeting, a motion was put forward to conduct a feasibility study as to the possibility of having an en bloc sale and this was flatly defeated. Therefore, this matter was not pursued.
The majority of the residents have not even given their vote for or against such an en bloc sale, neither has a flat mandate been entrusted to the present council of only four members who come from only one block and are not representative of the entire condominium.
It is interesting to note a "pro-tem sales committee was recently set up whose members include representatives from the condominium's management committee, including the chairman". Is it any wonder the use of the phrase "Clementi Park owners" in the sub-head of the report came as a shock?
Get amazing travel prices for air and hotel in one click on Yahoo! FareChase
// posted by Shajahan @ 3:19 PM
Far East clinches Skyline Angullia site: sources
Top bid for Beverly Mai is saidto have been $1,184 psf ppr
By KALPANA RASHIWALA
DEVELOPERS are continuing to bid for prime residential sites.
 |
| Hot property: Far East is understood to have bought Skyline Angullia for $100m, or $1,073 per sq ft of potential gross floor area |
BT understands that Far East Organization has clinched the freehold Skyline Angullia for $100 million, or $1,073 per square foot of potential gross floor area.
A stone's throw away at Tomlinson Road, a tender that closed yesterday for the collective sale of Beverly Mai is understood to have attracted several bidders, among which are Hotel Properties, City Developments, Far East, SC Global and Wing Tai, sources suggest.
The top bid for the freehold Beverly Mai is understood to have come in at around $238 million, or $1,184 psf per plot ratio inclusive of development charges.
All the parties who reportedly bid for Beverly Mai have stakes in the area.
Hotel Properties, said to be a frontrunner for the site according to some sources, owns a huge chunk of properties there that add up to almost 220,000 sq ft.
Spanning Orchard Road, Cuscaden Road and Orchard Boulevard, the properties comprise the Hilton and Four Seasons hotels, the Forum and HPL House.
Far East, headed by property tycoon Ng Teng Fong, bought Angullia Mansion earlier this year.
SC Global bought Paterson Tower last month and developed The Boulevard Residence or BLVD at Cuscaden Walk.
City Developments is getting ready to launch its upmarket condo, St Regis Residences, in the Cuscaden/Tomlinson roads area.
The $1,073 psf ppr price that Far East is paying for the Skyline Angullia site is inclusive of a development charge (DC) of about $7.6 million.
This unit land price is slightly higher than the $1,060 psf ppr including DC that Far East paid for the Angullia Mansion site in February.
Market watchers reckon the breakeven cost for new apartment developments on both sites could come in at about $1,450 to $1,550 psf. Both deals were brokered by DTZ Debenham Tie Leung.
While Angullia Mansion involved a collective sale with multiple owners, Skyline Angullia is owned by a single party, Skyline Investment Holdings Pte Ltd, controlled by Kang Swee Liat and his wife.
They developed the property, completing it in 1992 and have kept it since for rental income.
The boutique property group also developed houses on Barker Road in the 1980s. The existing Angullia Skyline is a 14-storey tower comprising 22 apartments and two penthouses.
The 35,810 sq ft freehold site is zoned for 36-storey residential use with a 2.8 plot ratio (ratio of potential gross floor area to land area).
The site may be redeveloped into a new project with about 45 units averaging 2,000 sq ft.
Far East has been one of the most active and successful land buyers this year. Its earlier acquisitions include the Amberville site in Katong and the former Glutton's Square parcel on Orchard Road.
The Beverly Mai site, marketed by CB Richard Ellis, has a 76,888 sq ft site area. It also has a 2.8 plot ratio and 36-storey height limit.
Love cheap thrills? Enjoy PC-to-Phone calls to 30+ countries for just 2¢/min with Yahoo! Messenger with Voice.
// posted by Shajahan @ 3:18 PM
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
MCL Land buys Boon Teck Heights for $22.88m
MCL Land Ltd, through its wholly owned unit MCL Land Development, has bought the Boon Teck Heights property off Balestier Road for $22.88 million.
The en bloc purchase price for the freehold property was arrived at after taking into account various commercial factors including the development potential, location of the property and the recent transacted prices for properties in the vicinity, said MCL Land.
The $22.88 million price tag works out to be $300 per square foot (psf) of potential gross floor area inclusive of development charges for the freehold property, BT understands.
This is slightly lower than the $344 psf per plot ratio City Developments paid for a combined en bloc purchase of Lock Cho Apartment, Comfort Mansion and a four-storey walk-up apartment building earlier this month. The three adjoining properties are in nearby Thomson.
The collective sale of Boon Teck Heights was carried out through a private treaty brokered by DTZ Debenham Tie Leung.
The 27,368 sq ft site is zoned for residential use with a 2.8 plot ratio (ratio of potential gross floor area to land area). Analysts estimate that MCL Land's break-even costs for a new apartment project on the site could be about $550 psf.
Boon Teck Heights, a 19-storey apartment building, is more than 10 years old and is located along Boon Teck Road, close to the Toa Payoh town centre and MRT station.
In a statement yesterday, MCL Land said that its offer for the site has been accepted by the majority of subsidiary proprietors holding not less than 80 per cent of the share value of the property.
MCL Land also said that the acquisition and development of the property will be financed by internal funds and/or bank borrowings.
The transaction is not expected to have any material effect on the consolidated earnings and net tangible assets per share of MCL Land for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2006.
Love cheap thrills? Enjoy PC-to-Phone calls to 30+ countries for just 2¢/min with Yahoo! Messenger with Voice.
// posted by Shajahan @ 2:49 PM
Banks should offer smaller housing loans
| | |||
| By JURENA CHAN CASE - the Consumer Association of Singapore - is thinking of urging banks and financial institutions to make small loans to help public flat upgraders.
The consumer watchdog brought attention to this issue yesterday at a press conference, saying that many people are concerned about having to borrow too much. Case has been approached twice within the past few days by would-be borrowers. Case says that the Housing and Development Board (HDB) has changed its housing loan regulations, so that buyers not eligible for a HDB loan need to approach banks or financial institutions to obtain one. As a result, some home buyers are saddled with bigger loans, way above what they have set out to borrow. Citing an example, Case said that a Hougang resident who wanted to upgrade needed only a loan of $30,000 to finance his purchase, after using his CPF and proceeds from the sale of his previous flat. He approached many banks but to no avail, eventually having to obtain a finance-company loan of $60,000, a figure twice the level he required. The president of Case, Yeo Guat Kwang, who was 'shocked' when he first heard about this, said: 'Initially we thought that since the market has opened up, banks will provide such a loan product that will be made available to all. However this was not the case. When asked why, banks only told us that this was their internal policy.' From a recent survey carried out by Case, it found that the minimum amount for a bank loan ranged from $80,000 to $100,000. 'We would like to call on the banks to exercise more flexibility because consumers will be adversely affected by this rigidity as this means that the cost of borrowing for the consumer is high,' said Mr Yeo. For new and resale flats, HDB offers a housing loan limit of up to 80 per cent of the flat's cost for those applied before July 19 last year, and up to 90 per cent of the flat's cost for applications on or after this date. Kevin Lam, head of loans division of United Overseas Bank, said: 'This minimum loan quantum is set, based on market demand as well as commercial viability.' The banks BT contacted also wanted to highlight that customers usually take up a loan amount higher than or equal to the minimum loan amount. Applications for loan amounts below the minimum quantum were, as DBS puts it, 'negligible'. The banks assured BT that they will continually 'review market conditions' and 'make adjustments', stating that they may consider the feasibility of offering lower-quantum HDB home loans in line with market conditions. Gregory Chan, head of consumer secured lending of OCBC Bank, said: 'For the few requests we get for home loan amounts that are below the minimum . . . we have been addressing them on a case-by-case basis.' | |||
Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. PC-to-Phone calls for ridiculously low rates.
// posted by Shajahan @ 2:48 PM
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Invest more in your home
NINETY-THREE per cent of us own our homes while the rest rent.
It gives us the highest home ownership rates in the world. This is lucky for us because owning is better.
You pay a mortgage for 30 years and at the end you have something to show for it - a house.
Better yet, your home is free, in a way, since if you didn't buy it, you would have paid just as much in rent but with nothing to show for it at the end.
This 'free home' concept works well for HDB flats and low-priced homes.
It doesn't work for expensive homes since their mortgage payments usually exceed the rents.
It is another instance of HDB flats being the best deal around.
Another advantage of home ownership is you can borrow cheaply.
Personal loans, car loans and credit card debt all cost more than a home loan.
More importantly, you can raise a family and fix up your home with enthusiasm. It's your castle.
In comparison, stocks, bonds and unit trusts have little emotional appeal.
ASSET-RICH, CASH-POOR
Recently, much attention has focused on a big drawback of home ownership: Over-investing, or putting more into a home than you can afford.
The risk is you will sink all your money into a house then end up retiring asset-rich but cash-poor.
Does it mean you should invest less in a home? I don't think so.
Here is why.
1. There is no good alternative to buying a home. If you rent for 40 years, you will retire asset-poor and cash-poor.
2. Suppose you throw caution to the wind and buy a big home.
Most likely, you will grow into it. As your career progresses, your income will increase.
Your savings will too.
A house that looks expensive now will seem quite affordable in 10 years.
In 20 years, you will probably think that you had under-invested.
3. If you retire and find that you have a big house but no cash, it is an easy problem to fix.
Simply sell your house.
This instantly transforms you from being asset-rich and cash-poor to the opposite.
You become asset poor but cash rich.
4. Another solution is to keep your home and use it as collateral to borrow money.
You can do it through a reverse mortgage.
5. Avoid becoming cash-poor by keeping your home but cutting back on other investments that squeeze your cash.
Recent CPF changes make this a necessity for home owners.
That's because new rules to take effect from 2003 to 2013 mean that much less will go into CPF ordinary accounts, which are the primary source for home-loan payments.
It is a big problem and the easiest solution is to cut back on other investments that tie up your money.
Whole life, education and endowment insurance policies, for example, require that you keep paying for up to 20 years before you can break even.
6. Final advice: Don't worry too much.
Bank and HDB rules make it very difficult to over-invest.
They limit your loan size so that monthly mortgage payments do not exceed 40 per cent of your income.
You couldn't over-invest even if you wanted to.
A way to 'pawn' your home
IF you are super sentimental and cannot bear to sell your home, here is a solution: Borrow money using your home as collateral.
It is called a reverse mortgage. It works like a pawnshop loan but instead of using gold jewellery as collateral, you use your home.
For HDB flats, it is available to people over 70 years of age who have already paid off 90 per cent of their mortgage. They can borrow up to 70 per cent of the value of the home over a period of 20 years.
After 20 years - at age 90 - they must pay back the loan. To do this, most people sell their homes.
In fact, you can think of a reverse mortgage as selling your home gradually. If you change your mind, you can always pay off the loan and keep your home.
It works like this: If you have a $400,000 HDB flat, you can borrow $280,000 over 20 years. It means you will receive monthly payments of $655.
I think a reverse mortgage is useful. For senior citizens, it may be their only source of cash other than selling their home.
Most banks won't refinance a home loan unless the mortgage is paid off prior to the borrower's 65th birthday.
It means you must be under 45 years of age to qualify for a 20-year home loan.
An HDB flat's reverse mortgage costs 5 per cent interest, which is about
1 per cent more than a fixed-rate home loan.
1 per cent more than a fixed-rate home loan.
It is cheaper than all other sources of borrowing. The only company offering reverse mortgages is NTUC Income. It just started offering them for HDB flats and has issued four so far.
For private property, it has issued 300 since 1997. The small numbers may indicate that being asset-rich and cash-poor is not such a big problem for retirees after all.
Love cheap thrills? Enjoy PC-to-Phone calls to 30+ countries for just 2¢/min with Yahoo! Messenger with Voice.
// posted by Shajahan @ 10:18 AM
Two sites near Orchard Rd up for collective sale Hitting the jackpot?
Furama Tower going for $82m, Lucky Tower up for whopping $400m
By Joyce Teo
Property Correspondent
TWO prime residential sites near Orchard Road have been put up for collective sale, but the record price being asked for one of them left some property experts shaking their heads.
The sites are the 33-unit Furama Tower in Leonie Hill Road, on sale for a relatively modest $82 million, and Lucky Tower, a potential $400 million Grange Road goldmine.
The latter comprises 91 units over 169,188 sq ft, including a shop, but market-watchers are sceptical about its whopping asking price, despite the prime location.
They cite signs that developers are baulking at acquiring increasingly expensive properties being sold en bloc.
'Developers have a limited budget and appetite,' said an industry source.
'Developers can't soak up all the plots out there at higher and higher prices,' said another industry source.
'Tender bids are not as aggressive as six months ago. Almost every developer has bought something in the past one to two years so they would be more cautious now.'
Lucky Tower could find itself in the super league of properties sold for over $1,000 per sq foot. Its asking price is at $1,126 on a per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr) basis, inclusive of a $20 million development charge.
That puts it above the $1,064 psf ppr price, or $266 million, SC Global paid for Paterson Tower last month.
Since February, three sites have been sold for over $1,000 psf with Eng Lok Mansion in Napier Road reaching $1,218 psf last month. This all-time high was likely achieved because the site is conducive for medical suites.
Lucky Tower is being marketed by its managing agent, Newman & Goh Property Consultants, in what is the firm's first collective sale launch. The tender closes May 24.
Its breakeven is estimated at around $1,500-$1,700 psf. But nearby projects, such as The Grange, are selling for only around $1,500-$1,600 psf, said a source.
'There are a lot of comparables in the Orchard Road area. Where Lucky Tower is, if you're not careful, you'll be walking into River Valley!'
But Newman's head of investment sales, Mr Jeffrey Goh, is optimistic as foreign and local developers are keen.
Newman said Lucky Tower has an estimated value of $600 million and could accommodate 165 luxurious apartments costing around $2,000 psf each.
Mr Goh, who plans to advertise the site in Hong Kong, said a listed Hong Kong developer and a Dubai-based one have told him they are keen.
Meanwhile, Colliers International is putting Furama Tower up for sale at $82 million, or $936 psf ppr, including a $6.6 million development charge. Its tender closes on May 23.
While some experts talk of a more cautious market, the deals so far this year have been eye-catching.
Last week, Hilltops Apartments at Cairnhill Circle was sold for $294 million, or $951 psf ppr, putting sales this year at 20 deals worth $1.9 billion.
Compare this with last year when 49 deals worth $2.2 billion were done, according to Credo Real Estate, which specialises in collective sales.
Executive director Karamjit Singh said: 'Developers and investors still have a lot of confidence in the high-end market, particularly in foreigner-led demand.'
But the pace at which deals are being done suggests a slowdown is on the horizon: 'The market will likely take a breather in the third quarter.'
Until then, collective sale fever seems to remain unabated as sellers race to get the best offer.
'Everybody is trying to test the market,' said Jones Lang LaSalle regional director Lui Seng Fatt.
'It has recovered but there is a fair bit of stock around. The sites that are priced more realistically will go first.'
Hitting the jackpot?
LUCKY Tower could find itself in the super league of properties sold for over $1,000 per sq foot.
Its asking price is at $1,126 on a per sq ft per plot ratio basis, inclusive of a $20 million development charge.
But observers say there are signs that developers are baulking at acquiring increasingly expensive properties being sold en bloc.
Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. PC-to-Phone calls for ridiculously low rates.
// posted by Shajahan @ 10:16 AM
JTC reports high demand for land allocation
SINGAPORE'S biggest industrial landlord, JTC Corporation, continues to report strong demand growth in the net allocation of Prepared Industrial Land and other segments for the first quarter of this year.
Thanks to strong growth in demand, the net allocation of Prepared Industrial Land shot up 158 per cent from the fourth quarter of 2005, to 124.9 hectares in Q106.
Most segments enjoyed growth, except the Flatted Factory Space sector. Its net allocation for Q1 fell to 1,100 sq m, from the previous quarter's 7,700 sq m, due to higher termination and weaker gross allocation.
Other than that, the Specialised Parks, Standard Factory, Stack-up Factory, Business Park and Technopreneur spaces all recorded growth.
Top of the table in terms of performance for Q1 is the Specialised Parks segment, which had a 17-fold jump in net allocation, hitting 91.2 ha, from 5.2 ha in the previous quarter.
The improvement, JTC said, was from an increase in gross allocation in logistics parks and Jurong Island, which accounted for 68 per cent of gross allocation of total Prepared Industrial Land, or 85.6 ha.
Net allocation for Standard Factory space more than doubled to 19,700 sq m, from the previous quarter's 8,700 sq m. It was also helped by there being no terminations, JTC said, so occupancy reached 92.4 per cent.
The net allocation of Stack-up Factory space also grew, from 8,100 sq m to 11,600 sq m, with occupancy improving by four percentage points to 63.7 per cent, while net allocation for Business Park space remained positive, despite an increase in termination to 2,800 sq m this quarter.
Occupancy in that segment rose three percentage points to 85.9 per cent.
Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Make PC-to-Phone Calls to the US (and 30+ countries) for 2¢/min or less.
// posted by Shajahan @ 10:14 AM
Lucky Tower owners want record $400m
By ARTHUR SIM
AT $400 million, Lucky Tower will be the largest amount ever paid for a collective sale site.
 |
| Windfall: Owners stand to make 65-80% more than if they sold their units individually |
This is the asking price that owners of the 91-unit condominium want for their 25-year-old building.
Located on Grange Road, the large 169,188 sq ft site has a potential gross floor area of 355,295 sq ft. At the asking price of $400 million, which includes a $20 million development charge, it will cost $1,126 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr). This makes Lucky Tower cheaper than the record-breaking $1,218 psf ppr for Eng Lok Mansion (on Napier Road) which was sold in March. Being a smaller site, however, Eng Lok Mansion only cost $138 million.
Indeed, Lucky Tower will likely top the previous record of $315 million paid by Li Ka-shing's Glenfield Investments for Cairnhill Court in 2000.
Jeffrey Goh, head of investment sales of Newman and Goh, which is marketing agent for Lucky Tower, said that owners stand to make 65-80 per cent more than if they sold their units individually.
Mr Goh said that 165 'super luxurious' units of about 2,000 sq ft each can be built. At an estimated price of about $2,000 psf for each unit, a new development could be worth $660 million. Yet, he believes that Lucky Tower has been 'priced competitively' compared to other recent collective sale sites.
Also for sale is the 33-unit Furama Tower on Leonie Hill Road. At 33,821 sq ft, it is a significantly smaller site and is expected to fetch $82 million or $952 psf ppr, including a $6.6 million development charge.
Ho Eng Joo, director for investment sales at marketing agent Colliers International, said owners will make 60-80 per cent more than the current market price of individual units.
Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Make PC-to-Phone Calls to the US (and 30+ countries) for 2¢/min or less.
// posted by Shajahan @ 10:13 AM
Sales of private homes on the rise
PROPERTY developers continue to chalk up sales of private homes. Peak Development, part of Wee Cho Yaw's privately held Kheng Leong group, did a preview at the weekend for a 24-storey freehold apartment project, The Chuan.
 |
| Lavish: The Chuan, being marketed by CB Richard Ellis, boasts large master bedrooms with a walk-in wardrobe and big bathroom |
BT understands it has sold about 30 per cent of the 50 units released so far.
The project, in the established private-housing locale of Lorong Chuan, comprises 106 units in all.
The average price is $710 per square foot on normal progress payment terms.
For those who prefer a deferred payment scheme, the average price works out to a higher $722 psf.
Buyers pay 5 per cent on booking a unit, another 5 per cent eight weeks later, and the next payment of 10 per cent in January next year.
The rest is deferred until the project is completed in early 2008.
Kheng Leong is a boutique residential developer focusing mostly in the prime districts.
The Chuan, being marketed by CB Richard Ellis, boasts large master bedrooms with a walk-in wardrobe and big bathroom.
In the West Coast area, Frasers Centrepoint, which has been previewing its Infiniti condo on the former Faber Hills condo site, sold another 10 units last week, bringing total sales to almost 40 units since it began previews on April 8.
The buyers include Housing & Development Board flat upgraders living in areas like the West Coast, Clementi, Bukit Batok and Jurong. Colliers International is marketing the project, which comprises 315 units in total.
The 12-storey freehold project is priced on average at $550-560 psf.
Meanwhile, in the Katong area, a consortium led by United Industrial Corp sold about 30 units at One Amber condo during the weekend.
This brings total sales to 240 of the 300 units released so far at the freehold project, which was released at the start of this month.
The average price has edged up to $725 psf from the initial $720 psf.
One Amber comprises 562 units in total. UIC is jointly developing the project with Singapore Land and United Overseas Land on the former Maryland Park site.
Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. PC-to-Phone calls for ridiculously low rates.
// posted by Shajahan @ 10:12 AM
My money's gone, where can I go?
Talk is cheap. Use Yahoo! Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates starting at 1¢/min.
// posted by Shajahan @ 10:11 AM
Monday, April 24, 2006
Housing agency shuts down overnight
Agents left in the lurch with unpaid commissions as high as $20,000; some of them are considering legal action
By Daryl Loo and Tracy Sua
A HOUSING agency boasting 1,000 agents and seven offices across the island has closed suddenly, leaving its agents demanding thousands of dollars in unpaid commissions.
 MR SHAWN LIM, CEO of CHR Realty, has been uncontactable by agents. |
Phone lines at the offices of CHR Realty, a licensed agency that has been operating for eight years, have been disconnected, its offices shuttered and its management, gone. Some of the company's trainees have also been left in the lurch after paying fees to attend the company's courses.
According to agents, the first signs of trouble appeared two months ago when they had problems getting the company to pay their commissions.
Five agents told The Sunday Times they had been waiting more than a month for sums ranging from $700 to more than $20,000. All of them said they knew many others were caught in the same predicament.
On Thursday, alarm bells began ringing when the company was spotted selling the furniture from one of its branches at the Toa Payoh HDB Hub.
Agencies typically require an agent's client - whether a buyer or seller - to make a cheque out to the company when paying commission.
The agency then takes its cut of this commission, usually between 10 per cent and 30 per cent, and then pays the agent the balance. The agency takes the cut in exchange for giving the agent the use of its offices, phone lines and computers.
CHR, whose agents handled both private and HDB properties, had made a name for itself in the industry over the past year by offering new agents a bargain 'agency cut' of 5 per cent, or even less.
The managing director of C&H Realty, Mr Albert Lu, said: 'A lot of agents were attracted to this. But it seemed to me at that time that something like this could not last long because an agency can have very heavy costs.'
One CHR agent, 34-year-old Mr Mike Lim, said he is still owed $5,600 for the commission on a flat he sold last December. 'I handed the cheque over to CHR in February and the company gave me a receipt for it. It was supposed to pay me one week after that but I didn't get anything,' he said.
Mr Lim said he had tried calling the agency's CEO Shawn Lim and executive director Yvonne Tang for several weeks, but they never responded. Last month, he made a police report.
Several attempts by The Sunday Times to reach Mr Shawn Lim and Ms Tang were unsuccessful. CHR's head office in Peck Seah Street in the Central Business District was also found abandoned, with a sign advertising the space for rent.
The company also has addresses in Bugis, Hougang, Jurong East, Tampines and Yishun. The Jurong East office apparently shut two weeks ago.
One of CHR's trainee agents, who wanted to be known only as Julie, said she had paid $100 for a three-month course at the branch and got to attend only one lesson, on April 11. When she turned up for her second lesson on April 13, the office was closed.
'I just want to complete my lessons and start working as an agent. Now I don't know who to turn to,' she said.
Another agent, 32-year-old Mr Joseph Chew, said that on March 15, after much persuasion, he had managed to get Mr Shawn Lim to issue him a cheque for the $1,440 that was owed to him.
'He gave me a cheque post-dated to March 30. Five days after I banked it, the bank called me to say that it had bounced. I haven't been able to reach Shawn after that,' he said.
Mr Mike Lim said he and a few other agents are now considering legal action.
As late as Friday, Mr Shawn Lim was apparently trying to buy himself time. He called one agent, who had left a message on his phone threatening to expose him.
'He begged me to give him more time and said he was still trying to raise the money. And he said he was the victim because many people still owe him money,' claimed the agent, who declined to be named.
Company secretary Chong Hok, 65, told The Sunday Times that the company's other director, Mr Shin Tai Tim, called him two weeks ago to say he wanted to resign.
Mr Shin also could not be contacted.
Celebrate Earth Day everyday! Discover 10 things you can do to help slow climate change. Yahoo! Earth Day
// posted by Shajahan @ 10:28 AM
Saturday, April 22, 2006
636 Zion Road households get offer of new HDB flats
Five 33-year-old blocks to make way for redevelopment
Love cheap thrills? Enjoy PC-to-Phone calls to 30+ countries for just 2¢/min with Yahoo! Messenger with Voice.
By Daryl Loo
RESIDENTS of five 33-year-old HDB blocks in Zion Road will be resettled in the Housing Board's latest redevelopment exercise.
The 636 households, in blocks 88 to 92, are being offered replacement flats the HDB is building at the corner of Havelock Road and Ganges Avenue.
The 1,200 new units - studio apartments and three-, four- and five-room flats - will be completed in 2011. Residents will be able to register for the new flats in the middle of next year.
Under the Selective En-bloc Redevelopment Scheme (Sers), owners will receive compensation for their existing flats based on market value, and will be offered a 20 per cent price discount on new flats.
 |
| |
| |
Dr Lily Neo, adviser to the Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng ward where the flats are located, said about 44 per cent of residents are more than 50 years old, and many of these older residents have asked for the smaller and cheaper studio apartments.
Studio apartments are on a 30-year lease, unlike others on a 99-year lease, and sell for about $60,000 to $75,000 each. In contrast, a four-room flat in the Zion Road area can sell for about $280,000 on the resale market.
Said Dr Neo: 'Some older residents want to downgrade from their old flats into these studios so they can have some money left over for their retirement.'
Also to be torn down for redevelopment are 33 shops, two eating houses, and seven rental shops at the foot of the five affected blocks.
The HDB will hold an exhibition on the redevelopment projects at Kim Seng Community Centre from tomorrow to next Saturday.
Love cheap thrills? Enjoy PC-to-Phone calls to 30+ countries for just 2¢/min with Yahoo! Messenger with Voice.
// posted by Shajahan @ 8:00 PM
Friday, April 21, 2006
Loan sharks' new tactic: Threaten alleged debtor's
WHEN freelance tour guide Anna Sim (right), 48, opened her mailbox at 10.30pm last Monday she found an innocent-looking white envelope with a Singapore postmark.
 |
| --Pics/CHOO CHWEE HUA |
Its contents, though, were far from innocent.
When she opened the envelope - which had only her address on it and not her name - Ms Sim found what was clearly a loan shark's note demanding payment.
Not from her though, but from a neighbour.
The note (right), in broken English, said:
'Neighbour who receive this letter HOUSE will be locked IF he no pay I (LOCK, PAINT) YOUR HOUSE.'
'Neighbour who receive this letter HOUSE will be locked IF he no pay I (LOCK, PAINT) YOUR HOUSE.'
The envelope also contained five hell notes, a type of paper money burnt for the dead, especially during the Chinese seventh month.
This could be the first time loan sharks have harassed the neighbours of an alleged debtor .
And many residents in Block 314, Tampines Street 33, have got the letter.
Of the 25 units in the 40-unit block that The New Paper visited, residents in 15 said they had received the same kind of letter.
UPSET RESIDENTS
Ms Sim, who has lived there for 12 years, said: 'I'll call the police. This is very threatening.
 |
'If we're locked in, how can my children go to school? And my husband and I won't be able to go to work.'
Ms Sim said her next-door neighbour had told her that she too had received a similar letter the day before.
'She told me that the letter came in a nice white envelope with a nice stamp, but no names were typed on the envelope, although her address was on it.
'She threw the letter away as she thought the loan sharks got the wrong person.
'This has nothing to do with us.
'The loan sharks should go after the person who owes them money. Harassing us won't settle the debt.'
Mr Raymond Chen, 45, general manager in a marine offshore company, who got the envelope on Monday, was so shocked that he threw the notes away at once and called the police.
Speaking to The New Paper outside his flat, he said: 'I've lived here for seven years and this is the first time I've been threatened.
'I hope the police will step up patrols in this area.
'There was no name or address on the envelope.
UNLOCKED MAILBOX
'I believe the loan shark inserted the letter into my mailbox because I leave the slotting flap unlocked.
'Now, I'll lock up the slotting flap.
'It's unfair that we're targeted simply for living near the person who borrowed money.'
The New Paper also saw scribblings of the address and name of a man, together with the words O$P$ (owe money, pay money), on the walls around the staircase.
Black paint was also splashed on the gate and door of one flat on the third storey.
Nobody answered the door bell at that unit. It seemed unoccupied as there were flyers stuck on the gate.
The resident next door, a 23-year-old customer service officer who gave his name as Mr Fazli, told The New Paper that he called the police two weeks ago, after loan sharks burnt his neighbour's door knob.
When showed the note that his other neighbours had received, Mr Fazli, who has lived there with his parents and three siblings for two years, said he had not received such a letter.
'We probably didn't get the letter as we lock the slotting flap. We did so because we don't like to receive junk mail.'
Mr Fazli said the loan sharks appeared three weeks ago, throwing some red paint on an exterior wall.
He recalled that their first visit came a day after the family next door had moved out.
He said the town council had repainted the walls twice, only for them to be defaced again.
'The family came back only once to collect some things and to remove the red paint.
'But last week, the loan sharks splashed the black paint on the door and nobody has done anything since then.'
Police spokesman Mohamed Razif confirmed that the police have received several calls from residents in the block about being harassed by loan sharks.
He added that they are investigating and stepping up patrols in the area.
HOME Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng said in May last year that tougher action would be taken against loan sharks.
Mr Wong said the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) would set up two new units. One would focus on casinos and keeping them crime-free. The second would target loan sharks as they tend to be linked to gambling.
Mr Wong told Parliament in April last year that mandatory minimum sentences could be introduced for illegal money-lending and harassment.
And in November, the Moneylenders' Act was beefed up to include mandatory caning for convicted loan sharks. Loan sharks who vandalise public property could already be caned under the Vandalism Act.
On 9 Mar, Tan Tze Wee, 32, became the first loan shark to be caned under the beefed-up Act.
He had been arrested on 8 Feb in the Sembawang Drive neighbourhood.
At that time, he was with another loan shark, Benjamin Lim Kuan Seng, 30, and they had just scribbled the usual message on the walls of an alleged debtor's staircase landing in Block 478.
Tan was sentenced to 21 months in jail and 10 strokes of the cane.
On 29 Mar, Lim was sentenced to 21 months in jail and eight strokes of the cane.
New Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Call regular phones from your PC and save big.
// posted by Shajahan @ 11:36 AM
SC Global snaps up Hilltops Apts at Cairnhill for $294m
By KALPANA RASHIWALA
Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Make PC-to-Phone Calls to the US (and 30+ countries) for 2¢/min or less.
ANNOUNCING its second major residential site acquisition in a month, SC Global Developments yesterday said it is buying Hilltops Apartments at Cairnhill Circle for $294 million through a collective sale.
 |
This works out to about $951 per square foot of potential gross floor area for the 67,308 sq ft freehold site. No development charge is payable.
SC Global, controlled by Simon Cheong, can redevelop the site - at the highest point of the Cairnhill area - into a 20-storey condo with about 150 units averaging 2,000 sq ft.
Analysts estimate the breakeven cost could be about $1,400 psf which should leave Mr Cheong with a nice profit margin given that the highest price fetched for a unit at the nearby Cairnhill Crest condo is $2,002 psf. SC Global has been successful in positioning itself as a luxury developer able to command premium prices.
The Hilltops Apartments deal is subject to approval by the Strata Titles Board as unanimous approval from owners has yet to be secured.
The owners of the 99 apartments will receive $2.8 million per unit while the owners of the three penthouses will pocket $5.6 million each. Recent transactions of apartments in the development have been at $1.5-1.6 million.
SC Global will use internal funds and bank borrowings to pay for the acquisition, which follows the group's $266 million purchase of Paterson Tower last month.
DTZ Debenham Tie Leung handled the tender for Hilltops Apartments which closed on Wednesday and is said to have attracted one other bid that complied with tender conditions. Industry sources suggest the other bidder could have been Wing Tai, but its bid was short of owners' expectations.
DTZ had also offered an adjacent parcel with Hilltops - 16 terrace houses surrounding part of the Hilltops site. The reserve price for the 49,856 sq ft plot is said to be about $100 million - which in terms of psf per plot ratio land cost, is about 15 per cent lower than the $948 psf ppr reserve price for Hilltops.
However, SC Global has decided against buying the 16 terrace houses. Market watchers say this may leave their owners in the lurch as it would be difficult to develop the 49,856 sq ft site on its own.
For the Hilltops site, written permission has been granted to redevelop it into a 20-storey residential project with a 4.59 plot ratio (ratio of potential GFA to land area).
The price is the highest fetched in the area during the current wave of collective sales. This week, BT reported that Hoi Hup is paying $795 psf ppr inclusive of development charge for the Cairnhill Gardens site. And last week, Chip Eng Seng paid $785 psf ppr for Venus Mansion in Peck Hay Road. Last month, Bukit Sembawang bought The Vermont for $750 psf ppr. In July last year, Wing Tai bagged Phoenix Mansion for $716 psf ppr.
The $951 psf ppr price that SC Global is paying for Hilltops is also within the range of other major sites in the Cairnhill area sold in the past and which have been redeveloped. These include the sites on which The Edge on Cairnhill, Light at Cairnhill and Cairnhill Crest now stand.
SC Global's collective sale purchases of Hilltops Apartments and Paterson Tower bring its recent acquisitions to over $550 million and provide it with a landbank of over 550,000 sq ft gross floor area of prime residential space in the Orchard belt.
'With these acquisitions, the group is well positioned to benefit from the strong sentiment in the high-end segment of the property market and continued interest in Singapore by international investors,' the company said.
Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Make PC-to-Phone Calls to the US (and 30+ countries) for 2¢/min or less.
// posted by Shajahan @ 11:34 AM
Previous Posts
- [RealEdge] BT : Hostile end to Horizon Towers hearing
- [RealEdge] ST : Land authority's sales soar to nin...
- [RealEdge] ST : New en bloc rules kick in today
- [RealEdge] TodayOnline : Legal exchange rivets gal...
- [RealEdge] TodayOnline : Industry weighs new en bl...
- [RealEdge] TodayOnline : SLA rides the bulls
- [RealEdge] BT : Is the sub-prime crisis really beh...
- [RealEdge] BT : The story of Goldilocks in the hou...
- [RealEdge] BT : Wise not to ignore market risks
- [RealEdge] BT : Credit crisis hits US high-end pro...
Archives
-
May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007