How to save space and costs? Go for spiral staircases

Source : Straits Times – 6 Jun 2009

NESTLED within Toa Payoh Central lies a Housing Board block unlike any other in Singapore.

Its unique feature: Antique-looking spiral staircases snaking around its exterior.

The staircases are not there for aesthetic purposes, however.

The block’s original internal stairwell was gutted to make way for a small lift shaft when it underwent the lift upgrading programme (LUP) in February.

As a result, new staircases had to be built. Since there was no room within the blocks, the stairs had to be added to the building’s exterior.

The HDB said the conventional lift-upgrading solution – building an external lift shaft – would not have worked for the four-storey block.

It has no common corridor joining the apartments, so more lifts had to be installed.

The units are also on so-called ‘half-landings’, which means that even if an external shaft was built, residents would have had to walk up half a flight of stairs from the lift lobby to reach their apartments.

The block, 186, is the first of six to get similar staircases under the LUP.

Work on the others – blocks 177, 178, 183, 184 and 185 – is expected to be completed in the third quarter of next year.

By the time the project is done, a total of 67 lifts and spiral staircases would have been added to the blocks.

An HDB spokesman said the current solution saves space, reduces the amount of new foundation works required for a new lift, and is also cost-effective.

It declined to give the full cost of the project, although it said owners of three-room units will pay $1,580, four-room residents will pay $2,370, and five-roomers will have to fork out $3,000.

Generally, the Government pays between 75 per cent and 90 per cent of the total cost of the LUP, which aims to build lifts which stop on every floor for HDB blocks constructed before 1990. Town councils will co-pay the remaining cost with flat owners.

The move to add lifts for the four-storey blocks drew praise.

The past-president of the Singapore Institute of Architects, Mr John Ting, lauded HDB for finding a solution to equip ‘awkward blocks’ with lifts.

‘They are finally doing it, even though the block is only four storeys. It gives the older residents a chance to get out, get a bit of fresh air, and have a better quality of life.’

But he felt more thought could have gone into the staircases. He said they were neither pretty nor practical.

‘They’re made of metal and exposed on the side, so they will definitely get wet even when it drizzles,’ said Mr Ting.

Housewife Diana Low, 45, agreed, saying the stairs were slippery when wet.

But the HDB said the chequered surface of the staircase would provide traction. In addition, a finish will be added to the stairs for greater slip resistance.

Many residents, however, looked past the stairs and were more than happy that they would be getting lifts.

Ms Huang Xiao Hong, 22, who works at a fast-food restaurant, said she was looking forward to a quick and easy climb, especially when lugging heavy bags of groceries.

Another resident, factory worker Madam Rosni Ahmad, 48, said she would be getting the best of both worlds – the convenience of a lift, as well as a snazzy look for the block, thanks to the spiral staircases.

She said: ‘The new design is fashionable and colourful. I already took pictures of the blocks under construction to show my relatives.’

The changing face of Singapore

Source : Straits Times – 6 Jun 2009

ARCHITECTURE in Singapore has evolved at a remarkable pace. It was not too long ago that buildings here, especially homes, were characterised by a pastiche of styles with the classical pediment a favourite roof ornament. Today, the stylish home is more likely to have a flat roof with all ornament stripped to the structural bone. This aesthetic is well represented in Singapore Houses, a new book by Robert Powell with photographs by Albert Lim, and featuring the work of some of Singapore’s best known architects.

One of them, Mok Wei Wei of W Architects, has been described as the ‘de facto leader of the next generation of Singapore architects’ and his design for a sprawling home in Cornwall Gardens epitomises this evolution of Singapore architecture.

The floor plan of the house is simple – essentially an asymmetric H-shape, with two parallel wings running from east to west, linked at the first-storey by a large living room and at the second-storey level by an equally large family room.

The play of architectural forms is also simple and comprises a combination of glass, concrete and timber boxes. The articulation of these forms, however, is not simple and every surface seems to have been lovingly detailed. Describing the use of concrete in particular, Mr Mok says: ‘The off-form concrete used in Cornwall Gardens House is impregnated with white pigments. We wanted the house to be polished and sophisticated, yet have a quality of naturalness.’

Studying the design a little more closely reveals that decorative elements, although spare, have also been incorporated. The round columns on the entrance facing facade, for instance, are not needed structurally. The architect explains that these are a continuation of the colonnade on the western facade which do support the sun-shading fins and roof and were extended to form a ‘continuous rhythm’. ‘Originally, we had designed for slender steel columns inlaid with timber. However, for a greater sense of grandeur, the client requested that it be changed to a bigger timber profile,’ explained Mr Mok.

Apart from its size, the Cornwall Gardens House, like all the houses in Singapore Houses, are in fact extremely understated. Noting that Singapore architecture has changed ‘dramatically over the last 25 years’, Mr Powell adds: ‘The most remarkable change in this time has been in the sheer quality of finishes and the simple elegance of many of the recent houses. Also the inventiveness of Singapore architects and their clients’ exploring new ideas on how to live in the 21st century.’

Of the overall design of the Cornwall Gardens House, Mr Powell notes that the circular columns and vertical timber sunscreens of the verandah also ‘bear a slight resemblance to the facade of the 1993 Reuter House designed by William Lim Associates, the predecessor of W Architects.

The comparison is telling because the Reuter House appears in Mr Powell’s first book on Singapore houses called, The New Singapore House (2001). In the book, he notes that some had referenced the design to Chinese temples, colonial buildings and even kampung houses. Mr Powell said that the house (whose project architect was Lim Jin Geok), ‘goes a long way towards successfully fusing a universal language of architecture with local/vernacular traditions and creating a regional modern architecture’.

On his own evolution, Mr Mok reveals that having graduated in 1982 and joining one of the key proponents of ‘Post-modernist’ architecture – William Lim Associates – two well-known buildings he designed in the 1980s, Tampines North Community Centre and Church of our Savior in Queenstown, were ‘unabashedly post-modern’ in expression.

However, in the early 90s, he began to take a different path from William Lim Associates, ‘designing in a language that is modernist in essence but layered with elements of local conditions and personal cultural perception’.

It is an approach that typifies contemporary architecture here today.

Chan Soo Khian of SCDA Architects is another of Singapore’s leading architects featured in Singapore Houses whose designs are equally simple in plan, yet ’stands out for its precision and clarity of form’. Describing the experience of arrival to the Harbour View House, Mr Powell says: ‘Entry to the house is expertly choreographed through a series of spaces in the inimitable style that is the hallmark of Chan Soo Khian’s architecture.’ Mr Chan has designed more than 50 houses in Singapore and the designs, ‘are about the human experience and takes into consideration the tropical condition’.

‘Architecture is about appropriating ideas and integrating the nuances of place, climate and culture. This involves observing architecture both past and present and overlaying them with your own intuition and understanding of the composition and experience of spaces,’ he adds.

The works of 20 architectural practices are featured in Singapore Houses. Several, like WOHA Architects, are also winners of international design awards. And Mr Powell adds that all also show a good grasp of the ‘principles of designing with climate’. ‘They are concerned with orientation in relation to the sun path and to wind. Overhanging eaves are part of the vocabulary that most architects draw upon, as are high ceilings, louvred walls and the use of the ’skin’ of the building as a permeable filter’.

Even though the houses share the same ‘vocabulary’, Mr Powell believes each is also very different.

‘What is obvious when one studies the houses in detail is that there is enormous variety, in the form and materiality of the houses,’ says Mr Powell, adding that, ‘there are deep underlying differences in approach to design to the areas to which (the architects) attach importance and the way they interact with their clients’. Of the designs that do differ in architectural ‘vocabulary’, those by Chan Sau Yan Associates and Linghao Architects stand out the most.

Explaining the design for 2Q Bishopsgate which uses 20cm thick fairface cast in situ concrete construction for the floors, walls and roofs, veteran architect Chan Sau Yan explains that the intention was to express the design as ‘continuous folded planes to achieve the naive iconic house silhouette’. This was in response to the clients’ initial request for a ‘barn-like clapboard house’. ‘Superficially, the house in Bishopsgate does not fit with the typical image of the tropical house,’ concedes Mr Chan.

There is also a perceptible streak of rebellion in Linghao Architects design for the Breamar Drive House when Mr Ling says: ‘We conceptualised the house in the simplest and almost banal manner, with the idea of different materials relating to the different atmospheres for entertaining, dining, sleeping and so on.’

While this does not shed much light on why the attic bedroom was clad in corrugated steel, it does at least suggest that the Singapore house is continuing to evolve.

No need to rush back onto housing ladder

Source : Business Times – 6 Jun 2009

LONDON’S housing market has always seemed different. An oversupply of affluent buyers and an undersupply of good houses have always kept prices here higher than elsewhere in the UK. But that does not mean that London can achieve house-price inflation as a UK recession bites.

Prime London property rose as property prices in the rest of the country fell from November 2007, and did not peak until March last year. They then fell 24 per cent in 12 months, according to Knight Frank, a property consultancy.

Now a small bounce is underway. Prices across the capital rose 0.4 per cent in April and 1.6 per cent last month. Central London boroughs saw the biggest leaps, with Marylebone prices up 2.7 per cent and Mayfair climbing 2.9 per cent, Knight Frank says.

London enjoys two big advantages. First, it has more first-time buyers who can afford the kind of deposits now required by banks to take advantage of the slump in values and cheap mortgage financing – these will be £37,500 (S$87,600) at the very least.

Second, the slump in sterling has tempted international investors back in. A 25 per cent fall in the UK currency is a 50 per cent fall for euro buyers, for example. That has countered downward pressure on prices from Americans and continental Europeans returning home after losing financial sector jobs.

All this helps explain the boom time gazumping and sealed bid auctions, back for the first time in 18 months. Sales volumes, having halved between 2007 and 2008, are now up 30 per cent from last May.

So is now the time to get back in? Caution is needed. The preponderance of cash-rich buyers in certain areas may be dragging up values, but only in a market that remains very thin. Buyers are discerning and seem to be feasting on top-quality properties that have returned to the market after being withdrawn by vendors last year.

This looks like a high-end clearance sale. Once these properties are snapped up, London still faces the impact of a forecast 4 per cent contraction in UK GDP this year and UK unemployment rising over 10 per cent. That could yet tilt the supply-demand balance in buyers’ favour once again. Sterling’s surprising resilience also bodes ill for the confidence of overseas buyers.

Londoners should probably expect yo-yoing prices for the rest of the year. They would be ill advised to think now is the time to overreach themselves to join the party.

Strong demand at Nathan Residences relaunch

Source : Straits Times – 6 Jun 2009

FRESH evidence emerged yesterday of a possible short-term rebound in the private residential market with strong demand at a 91-unit development in River Valley.

A quiet relaunch preview was held at the freehold Nathan Residences – and 75 units were snapped up quickly. These sales were sealed even though there was no interest absorption scheme or stamp duty waiver to entice buyers.

The deals were done at $1,220 to $1,320 per sq ft – a level market observers say is not entirely cheap but is easily 30 per cent to 35 per cent below last year’s prices.

Small developer Tat Aik first released the Nathan Road project for sale in September last year. At prices averaging $1,800 to $2,000 psf, the project saw no takers.

Yesterday, the one-bedders were sold from about $730,000 to $785,000 while the two-bedders went for about $960,000 to just over $1 million. Those are the only two options at Nathan Residences – the one-bedders at 592 sq ft and the two-bedders at 786 sq ft.

All the one-bedders have been sold. The left-over units include eight penthouses costing around $1.6 million each and a few ground-floor units priced around $1.2 million.

Knight Frank, which marketed the project, said buyers were mostly couples and singles, and an overwhelming number were locals and permanent residents. HDB upgraders made up about 30 per cent of buyers.

‘This shows that confidence is back and people are willing to buy when something good comes along,’ said its executive director, Mr Peter Ow.

A new sold-out project sale nearby – The Mercury in Shanghai Road – was launched in March this year. Its 67 units went for a lower price range of $779 psf to $1,258 psf in March and April.

Market observers have said that more developers are preparing to launch their projects, hoping to bank on the renewed buying interest in the market.

Demand for new projects has generally risen as developers lower prices from earlier levels. The buying mood has also largely been helped by the recent rally in the stock market, observers said.

However, quite a number of individual sellers appear to have started raising their prices from the lows, following in the footsteps of some developers.

Upcoming major launches this month may include the 152-unit One Devonshire in the Killiney Road area, the 388-unit Oasis@Elias in Pasir Ris and Frasers Centrepoint Homes’ 330-unit leasehold project near the Woodleigh MRT station.

China to build 5.2m homes, subsidise rents

Source : Business Times – 4 Jun 2009

China plans to build 5.2 million apartments and offer housing subsidies to help accommodate as many as 7.5 million low-income families by 2011, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said.

The planned units are in addition to 380,000 low- cost homes the government started work on in the fourth quarter, the ministry said in a statement posted on its website yesterday. The units are no larger than 50 sq m, or 13 sq m per person, it said.

‘Our principle is to insist on satisfying people’s basic housing needs,’ the statement said. The ministry will also subsidise the rents of 1.9 million families in the three years from 2009 to 2011.

Seletar aerospace hub making good progress

Source : Straits Times – 4 Jun 2009

FRESH details have emerged on the development of Seletar Aerospace Park, where construction work is largely on track despite the economic downturn.

Roads and other infrastructure projects for the first phase will be completed soon. These works include a new substation that will supply power to the entire aerospace park and airport.

Work has also started on lengthening the runway, expanding the airport and building a new air traffic control tower.

Then, by the year end, work will start on a new commercial complex for aerospace industry players.

In a progress update, JTC Corp’s chief executive Ow Foong Pheng yesterday unveiled new details on the park.

Plans are under way for a second factory-like facility – for companies needing space for heavier manufacturing and aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul work.

Talks are being held with industry players on the development of a shared hangar facility, she added.

Speaking at the ground-breaking for a new fuel depot, Mrs Ow said: ‘Companies will be able to tap on this shared hangar as and when they need it. This will enable them to save on the need to invest in fixed infrastructure and enjoy operational cost savings in the long run.’

The target is to launch a site for this purpose early next year. JTC’s director for the aerospace cluster Tang Wai Yee told reporters it is hoped the private sector will take up the project.

The facility will be useful for smaller firms clustered in the area which may not be able to afford their own hangar.

JTC is spearheading the transformation of the airport area into a 300ha aerospace hub – set to be completed by 2018.

As part of the plans, ST-Airport Services will build a new fuel depot on a 1.07ha site to serve the new park.

When completed by August, the $6 million facility will be able to store about 300,000 litres of jet fuel, more than double the previous capacity. This can be expanded to 500,000 litres if necessary.

ST-Airport Services, majority-owned by Toll Asia – a unit of ST Logistics – has been supplying fuel there since 1996.

President and chief executive of Toll Asia Wayne Hunt said ST-Airport is keen to be part of the development. ‘This new fuel facility will allow us to do that, and is testament to our commitment to the aviation industry in Singapore.’

The downturn has meant companies such as engine-makers Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney have delayed plans to build new facilities at Seletar.

But the long-term prospects for Singapore’s aerospace industry remain strong, industry players said. Last year, total industry output exceeded $7 billion, compared to $6.9 billion in 2007.

Outright land sales remain suspended

Source : Straits Times – 4 Jun 2009

THE local property market may be showing signs of buoyancy but the Government is playing it safe by continuing to suspend the sale of ‘confirmed’ land sites for six more months.

It cited ‘prevailing market uncertainties’ for the suspension.

Confirmed sites will definitely be put out to tender, as opposed to sites on the ‘reserve’ list which are put out to tender only if enough initial interest is shown by developers.

The move, said analysts, is prudent as it will allow the property market more time to stabilise. CBRE Research said that, notwithstanding the recent uptick in activity in the private home market, the Singapore economy remains weak.

The Government cannot be sure if the renewed buying interest will last, said Knight Frank’s director of consultancy and research Nicholas Mak. There is ample ‘reserve list’ supply, he said.

The land sales programme for the second half will include almost all – 36 – of the reserve list sites carried forward from the first half, as well as two new sites. It is removing a white site at Outram Road as the site will be affected by future infrastructure works.

The Government had late last year removed all sites from the ‘confirmed list’ to help stave off oversupply risk as the sector was clearly on a downtrend.

The move to continue the suspension will ‘provide flexibility for the market to adjust supply in accordance with current market economic conditions’, said the National Development Ministry.

Despite the generally cautious approach, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has added to the reserve list a 505-unit condominium site in Bartley Road and a commercial-cum-residential site at Bedok Town Centre.

A URA spokesman defended the move, saying the two sites ‘provide a greater variety of choices for developers if they desire to initiate more supply’.

‘Although the outlook for the Singapore economy and property market remains uncertain, there are some positive signs of increased activities and investment interest in the property market.’ For instance, some developers have enquired about reserve-list sale sites. There has been increased take-up of new private homes as well.

The release of the two new sites is also to meet planning objectives as the Bartley Road site will help to raise the ridership catchment for the rail line, he said.

The Bedok North site is part of rejuvenation plans for Bedok Town Centre. The proposed development will have to incorporate a new bus interchange.

Mr Mak reckons the Bartley Road site can fetch about $150 million, or $250 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr) today while the Bedok site can fetch $280 million, or $300 psf ppr. Both are in attractive locations, with the latter most certain to draw developers’ interest as Bedok New Town has no shopping major mall, said CBRE Research director Leonard Tay.

Other sites that might interest developers include the residential ones in Bishan, Dakota Crescent and Serangoon Road, and maybe a few smaller-sized hotel sites, he said. But office sites are off developers’ radar screens as the sector remains very weak.

Meanwhile, supply from other government agencies will include only 28,000 sq m of gross floor area of commercial space, down from a planned 40,000 sq m for the first half.

URA grants last-minute extension

Source : Straits Times – 4 Jun 2009

SOME 200 tenants of an Orchard Road condominium who were to have moved out by yesterday have been given a last-minute reprieve.

But in a twist, their landlord, Ideal Accommodation, has been given the boot.

The situation arose after the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) discovered that Ideal had illegally partitioned apartments – thus creating 600 sub-units from 140 units – at The Grangeford condominium.

This tactic allowed Ideal to collect more in rent. It could collect up to $8,000 by leasing one apartment to eight tenants, instead of about $4,600 by renting it out to one.

URA told Ideal in late April that the partitions had to be torn down by yesterday, but it did not let the tenants know. Most were told only on Sunday, giving them a scant three days to clear out.

Yesterday, the official owner of the condo, Cove Development, a unit of Overseas Union Enterprise (OUE), took action.

It terminated Ideal’s two-year lease after just five months, and gained a deadline extension from the URA.

Cove now has till July 27 to tear down the partitions and restore the apartments.

The tenants, mostly expatriate professionals and students from places like the United States, Hong Kong and Indonesia, will have to move out earlier than that, although the date is uncertain, said Mr Steven Ngai, OUE’s company secretary.

He said there were several options before the tenants, and that Cove would meet them soon to discuss these.

In a statement yesterday, OUE said it decided to terminate Ideal’s lease because the company sub-let illegally partitioned rooms and did not comply with URA’s enforcement notice.

URA, meanwhile, said it acted because of the unauthorised use of the Grangeford. It said it did so in response to public complaints.

It revealed that Ideal had already been given one chance to comply with its enforcement order: The company was first told to tear down the partitions on April29, and was given a month to do so.

Ideal then appealed, and was given a few days more, till June 3, to comply. However, it failed to do so and made another appeal for more time, which URA rejected.

Yesterday, residents – some of whom said they were prepared to stay put even if told to go yesterday – were visibly relieved.

Operations manager Lam Nguyen Van Ann, a Vietnamese who shares a room with her husband, said: ‘I’m really happy about the new deadline. Just a few days ago, I didn’t even know where I was going to stay.’

The residents added, however, that though the immediate crisis had passed, Ideal has many more questions to answer.

They said substantial amounts of money – agents’ fees, deposits and rent that was paid upfront – are still with the company, and they want to get these back.

Said Mrs Lam, who has been in Singapore for three years: ‘What about compensation from Ideal, all our deposits and agent fees?’

Added the 32-year-old: ‘Are they going to take all our money and run away?’

When The Straits Times visited the condo, an Ideal representative was seen discussing matters with residents.

However, she refused to comment when approached, and instead physically attacked a photographer from this newspaper.

Another tenant, Singaporean Kevin Chia, 27, wanted to know if the new landlord had answers.

No, said Cove Development.

Explained OUE’s Mr Ngai: ‘Their tenancy contracts are with Ideal, not us. Besides, we’re victims ourselves.

‘Ideal still owes us about two months’ rent, which we cannot get back despite repeated chasing. We’re considering our options too.’

He added that Cove also cannot help tenants who moved out abruptly and gave up their deposits when Ideal issued eviction notices.

However, the company said it will move to meet tenants quickly.

Said Mr Ngai: ‘They could stay at Grangeford, or we could give them some new accommodation options.’

Grangeford grace period extended

Source : Business Times – 4 Jun 2009

THE Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has granted Overseas Union Enterprise (OUE) an extension of a grace period until July 27 to remove all partitions in units at The Grangeford condominium and cease the unauthorised use as a boarding house or hostel.

This is to allow OUE time to make arrangements and address the needs of the current residents, URA said yesterday. Having stayed there for only a few months, the tenants were given just three days’ notice on Sunday to clear out by their landlord Ideal Accommodation – although the latter knew for at least a month that the partitions breached government rules.

Many residents were frustrated at the lack of information from the landlord.

OUE said in a statement yesterday that its wholly owned unit Cove Development has terminated its tenancy agreements with Ideal Accommodation.

Cove Development leased 171 units at The Grangeford to Ideal Accommodation, which began sub-letting the converted apartments this year.

URA’s investigations showed Ideal Accommodation had sub-divided the apartments from the original 141 units to 600 units, and individually leased them to many tenants on an en bloc basis for boarding house or hostel use.

This breached URA regulations and infringed the Planning Act.

URA issued Enforcement Notices to Cove Development and Ideal Accommodation on April 29 over the unauthorised use. Ideal Accommodation was given one month until May 30 to remove all partitions and cease unauthorised sub-letting. It appealed, and the deadline was extended to June 3.

URA noted that during this period, apart from removing the partitions from 141 studio units, Ideal Accommodation had not taken any action on the other 459 room units.

A subsequent appeal was made by Ideal Accommodation on June 1 to the Ministry of National Development (MND) for an additional 2-3 months to comply with the enforcement notice.

URA said yesterday that MND would not consider Ideal Accommodation’s latest appeal, since Cove Development had informed it of its plan to terminate its tenancy agreement with Ideal Accommodation and take action to rectify the breaches quickly.

‘As the owner of The Grangeford, Cove Development will ultimately be responsible to recover the property effectively and rectify the infringement of the Planning Act,’ URA said in a statement yesterday. Cove Development has also told URA it will make arrangements to address the interests of the sub-tenants.

URA said it will keep a close watch on the situation at The Grangeford for any unauthorised use and, at the same time, will bear in mind the interests of the residents and sub-tenants.

S’pore sees steepest drop in office occupancy cost

Source : Business Times – 4 Jun 2009

A new report shows that office occupancy costs in Singapore fell a whopping 34.4 per cent in the 12 months to March 2009 – the largest fall among some 170 cities tracked.

CB Richard Ellis’ (CBRE) semi-annual Global Office Occupancy Costs survey showed that Singapore’s occupancy cost stood at US$82.79 per square foot (psf) per year, which put the country at No. 15 on the list of the most expensive markets. Singapore was No. 9 a year earlier with an occupancy cost of US$139.31 psf per year.

This is a reversal from what was seen in CBRE’s last report on global occupancy costs, which said that office occupancy costs in Singapore rose 27.8 per cent in the 12 months to end-November 2008.

The office market here was hit as rents fell off sharply in the first quarter of this year.

‘The fall in office occupancy costs escalated in Q1 2009 with an average decline of 18 per cent across the island,’ said DTZ.

And data from Knight Frank showed that rents of Grade A offices in Raffles Place fell 29 per cent in Q1 2009, while rents of offices in suburban areas declined 15.3 per cent over the same period.

Singapore was not alone. Occupancy costs fell by 20 per cent or more across most of the major global office markets in the 12 months to March 2009.

CBRE considers rents as well as local taxes and service charges when calculating office costs.

‘The great global recession has clearly taken its toll on the world’s office markets, particularly those with significant concentrations of financial industry employers,’ said Raymond Torto, CBRE’s global chief economist.

Across the 170 cities as a whole, office occupancy costs fell 2.8 per cent over the 12 months ending March 2009 compared with an increase of 8 per cent for the 12-month period ending September 2008.

The findings from the survey showed that Tokyo’s inner central district has supplanted London’s West End as the world’s most expensive office market.

London’s West End is now the world’s second most expensive office market, followed by Moscow, Hong Kong’s central business district and Tokyo’s outer central district.

‘The most expensive office markets, as measured in dollars, are considerably less expensive than a year ago and occupiers are now in a strong position to procure prime space at attractive costs,’ said Dr Torto. ‘For instance, a year ago office space in London’s West end was nearly US$300 psf, while today that space goes for $172 psf.’

In the Asia-Pacific region, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Mumbai also posted large drops in office occupancy costs together with Singapore.

The decline in office occupancy cost and rentals is expected to continue, said Andrew Ness, executive director of CBRE Research Asia. However, ‘it is likely that the pace of decline will slow and leasing activity will begin to pick up, especially when corporations become more certain about their business outlook’, he added.

For Singapore, analysts expect office rents to continue to fall as more new supply comes on stream over the next few quarters amid a shrinking demand.

Knight Frank, for one, predicts that rents of Grade A office space could drop by 40-50 per cent for the whole of 2009, with rents of prime office space falling more due to the substantial new supply scheduled for completion.

New sites may entail hefty bids

Source : Business Times – 4 Jun 2009

THE two new sites that have been added to the Reserve List for second-half 2009 Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme are attractively located next to MRT stations. However, with estimated values of about $150 million (for the residential plot next to Bartley Station) and $300 million (for the commercial and residential plot in Bedok), bidding for the sites will involve substantial sums and this may limit the number of bids, market watchers say.

‘We’ve seen some smaller developers starting to look out for residential sites to restock their land banks but they are generally looking for smaller-scale sites, costing less than $100 million each,’ says DTZ executive director Ong Choon Fah.

Developers may still bid for bigger sites – such as the new plots announced yesterday by the Ministry of National Development (MND) – but may form joint ventures to mitigate the investment risk, she added.

The 1.98 ha plot next to the newly opened Bartley MRT Station on the Circle Line can be developed into a new condo with about 505 units. The plot has a 2.8 plot ratio (ratio of maximum potential gross floor area to site area).

It is currently occupied by a plant nursery and the Jin Long Si Temple. ‘The temple will be relocated by Sept 30, 2010 or when the site is triggered for sale, whichever is earlier,’ a URA spokeswoman said. Earlier this year, the Court of Appeal upheld a High Court judgment that the government did not discriminate against the temple when it acquired its land for the Circle Line.

As for the nursery, it is operating on a Temporary Occupational Licence that expires on July 31, 2009. ‘The tenant has been informed to move out by this date,’ URA’s spokeswoman added.

Knight Frank chairman Tan Tiong Cheng estimates the site is worth about $150 million or $250 per square foot (psf) of potential gross floor area (GFA). That’s assuming a new condo on the site can sell for about $600-$700 psf today and based on current construction costs.

CB Richard Ellis highlighted that four of the 19 residential sites on the H2 2009 Reserve List will be of special interest to developers because of their proximity to MRT stations. Besides the new Bartley plot, the other three are at Bishan St 14, Serangoon Ave 3 and Dakota Crescent.

Knight Frank’s Mr Tan reckons that the Bedok plot, designated for commercial and residential use, could be valued at about $280 million-$300 million today, based on a blended land price of about $300 to $320 psf per plot ratio. The estimated commercial GFA in the development will be about 31,460 sq m (about 338,632 sq ft).

Market watchers feel that the most logical use for the commercial component of the Bedok project would be retail and entertainment.

The plot’s developer will have to incorporate a new bus interchange. ‘Transport-oriented developments or TOD are a global trend and Singapore is no different,’ observes DTZ’s Mrs Ong.

City Developments executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng, commenting on the MND’s H2 2009 GLS Programme, which comprises entirely the Reserve List, said: ‘With limited supply coming on-stream, the office sector should start to stabilise in that the drop in rentals will be less severe.

‘With no new hotel rooms in the pipeline, hotels will face less pressure in resorting to fierce price-cutting measures which is currently being practised. The residential property market should sustain the recovery that we have been experiencing in the last few weeks. Overall, we welcome this news which will certainly help to instill confidence.’

Jones Lang LaSalle’s head of research for South-east Asia Chua Yang Liang reckons that even when the market recovers, the Reserve List may remain the mainstay of the GLS Programme. ‘The confirmed list is a policy tool for the release of sites for strategic developments,’ he said.

Dr Chua acknowledged, however, that a serious drawback of such a strategy is that the lead time for releasing a reserve site is longer than a confirmed site. ‘So relying solely on the Reserve List when the market picks up may cause a supply crunch,’ he added.

Govt land sales stay nimble to nurse property recovery

Source : Business Times – 4 Jun 2009

The government yesterday announced a land sale programme for the second half of this year that should help nurse the nascent property market recovery.

As expected, the Ministry of National Development (MND) has continued its suspension of the confirmed list for the July-December period and has not made any dramatic increase to the reserve list either. In fact, it has added just two sites to the reserve list.

One is a private housing plot next to the new Bartley MRT Station on the Circle Line. The other site, next to Bedok MRT Station, is slated for a commercial and residential project incorporating a new bus interchange that will help rejuvenate Bedok Town Centre.

MND has removed from the reserve list a ‘white site’ above Outram MRT Station, ‘as it will be affected by future infrastructure works’.

Reserve list sites are launched for tender only if there is a successful application by a developer, unlike parcels on the confirmed list, which are released for sale according to a pre-stated schedule. In October last year, the government suspended the confirmed list.

City Developments executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng said the latest announcement will ‘certainly help instill confidence’ in the property market.

DTZ senior director and head, South-east Asia research, Chua Chor Hoon said: ‘The government is not rushing to re-introduce the confirmed list just because of a few months of strong home sales activity, which makes sense because we have not seen the economy bottom out yet.’

MND said its decision to extend the confirmed list suspension for another six months, amid prevailing uncertainties, will provide ‘flexibility for the market to adjust supply in accordance with current economic conditions’.

‘The government will monitor the situation closely before reviewing in late 2009 whether to suspend the confirmed list further.’

Besides the two new sites, the H2 2009 reserve list will include 36 sites from the H1 reserve list that will be rolled over to the second half.

The total 38 sites can potentially yield 8,655 private homes, 448,550 sq m of gross floor area (GFA) of commercial space and 4,430 hotel rooms.

The potential private housing supply on the H2 list is 9 per cent higher than the 7,920 units on the H1 list. The commercial supply is 12 per cent lower and the hotel room supply 14 per cent lower than in H1.

The smaller commercial space quantum is mainly due to MND’s decision to remove the Outram site from the reserve list.

Knight Frank chairman Tan Tiong Cheng said: ‘The government has not done anything that will cause alarm amid the supply glut for commercial space.’

According to CB Richard Ellis, 8.3 million sq ft of net lettable office space is slated for completion between now and 2013. Already, the office market has seen two consecutive quarters of negative take-up.

‘The absence of new office sites on the latest Government Land Sales (GLS) list is hardly surprising,’ said CBRE director (research) Leonard Tay.

Mr Tay expects more reserve list sites to be activated for release in H2 this year – including the better-located housing plots and smaller hotel sites – contrasting with a dearth of such releases in the past nine months.

CBRE figures show residential supply of about 40,300 private homes, comprising unsold units in projects launched as well as projects yet to be launched. Based on average annual demand of about 8,000 units over the past 10 years, this can last four to five years.

MND also said yesterday that outside the GLS Programme, government agencies will not release any additional supply of private homes and hotel rooms in H2 2009. And the commercial space supply from these agencies will also be lower, at about 28,000 sq m of GFA compared with planned supply of 40,000 sq m in H1.

‘These comprise projects to meet strategic economic or development objectives, and some of these projects also have pre-committed end users,’ MND said. The planned commercial space supply for H2 includes localised retail facilities at Sentosa, community centres, parks and MRT stations and about 7,000 sq m of GFA at one-north.

Knight Frank’s Mr Tan said the latest announcement will contribute to the property market recovery. ‘Private housing sales are in recovery mode but there isn’t sufficient evidence to say the worst is behind us,’ he said.

‘The Deferred Payment Scheme, on which many high-end homes were sold in the past, may or may not cause another round of concern, as projects sold on DPS during the peak year of 2007 near completion,’ he added.

‘At the same time, there is a sufficient spread of suburban housing sites catering to upgrader demand on the reserve list. Anyone who thinks the upgrader market has recovered can trigger these sites for release.’

Grangeford residents refuse to vacate premises, demand compensation

June 4, 2009

Some 300 residents of troubled condominium The Grangeford said owner Cove Developments have no right to evict them since their rental leases were signed with another company.

Ideal Accomodation had been contracted to rent out the apartments but Cove said that has since been terminated.

The condominium came under the spotlight after the authorities found some 140 apartments converted into 600 units through illegal partitions.

It was supposed to be a meeting for Cove Developments to explain alternative accomodation which included those on shorter lease and hotel rooms at preferential rates at Meritus Mandarin.

But the residents wanted answers to other burning issues.

One resident said: “Since you’re chasing us away in 10 days, I think we should be talking about how to get back our compensation?”

Cove said they cannot guarantee the deposits and advanced rent payments, since the money was paid to Ideal Accomodation.

Residents walked out 30 minutes into the meeting but some came back for more answers.

One key issue was whether Cove, a subsidiary of UOB, had the right to ask residents to vacate, since the leases were signed with Ideal Accomodation.

Steven Ng, group company secretary, UOB Bank, said: “Cove developments have taken over these premises and we’re in the process of obtaining a court order to repossess this building.”

The company said it plans to demolish the building on 15 June. But some residents have heard different stories from Ideal Accomodation.

One resident said: “They’ve informed us that we can still stay up to 30 June and we can consume our deposit so they’ll not refund anything to us but we can consume it. And just right now Cove is telling us that their contract is terminated how can that be? Where are we going to stay?”

Some residents said they’ve paid deposits ranging from S$1200 to S$1800 for leases between three months to a year.

Another resident said: “I also know of some people who have paid six months rent because they had an offer that if you paid six months rent, you get half a month off or one month off.”

Residents are also putting up a petition to seek compensation from Ideal Accomodation and Cove Developments.

Tenants torn between two ‘landlords’

Source : Straits Times – 5 Jun 2009

THE owner and master tenant of an illegally refurbished condominium are now tussling over who the rightful landlord is of the property, leaving 200 residents wondering when they have to move out and what will become of their security deposits.

At separate meetings with residents yesterday, both parties gave them different dates to move out of The Grangeford in Leonie Hill.

The master tenant, Ideal Accommodation, which had carried out the renovations and rented out the rooms, said they could move out by the end of this month, while property owner Cove Development has given them till June 14.

Tenants do not know who to believe, but noted that they have a legal contract with Ideal, and not with Cove.

They were asked to go after the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) discovered that Ideal had illegally partitioned apartments in the condo – sold en bloc in 2007 – to create 600 sub-units from 140 units.

URA told Ideal on April 29 to tear down the partitions by Wednesday, but most tenants were told only on Sunday, giving them three days to clear out.

On Wednesday, Cove Development, a unit of Overseas Union Enterprise (OUE), terminated Ideal’s two-year lease and gained an extension from the URA till July 27 to remove the partitions.

But yesterday, in its first meeting with tenants in a week, Ideal said that its contracts with tenants still stand, and so does its lease agreement with Cove.

A representative, who identified himself as Mr Lee, said to the crowd: ‘We don’t care what Cove says.’

In response, Mr Steven Ngai, company secretary for OUE, told The Straits Times: ‘If the tenants want to listen to Ideal and get cheated, don’t blame Cove.’

One tenant, Australian Mr Ken Williamson said: ‘Both parties clearly have a communication problem. Just address our main concern – how to get our money back.’

Ideal has told tenants, most of whom have about $1,800 deposited in security and agent fees, that the rent can be used to offset the deposits if they stayed till the end of the month. But tenants pay only $900 in rent per month, and many say they have already paid this month’s.

Mr Williamson, a computer games designer, said: ‘Just let us stay till the value of our deposits runs out.’

Some residents prefer Ideal’s offer of end June to Cove’s, which said residents can stay till the deadline of June 14, or it can arrange short-term accommodation with selected hotels.

They found it hard to believe that Cove did not know Ideal had installed the illegal partitions.

One asked at the meeting: ‘You’re the property owner, you have an office here, you approve Ideal’s building plans, don’t tell me you were not aware at all?’

Cove said that Ideal did not submit plans for renovation works despite repeated chasing, and that it found out only through the URA.

Residents questioned if Cove had the right to make them move out by June 14.

Asked about the dispute, one property lawyer, Mr Eben Ong, said: ‘It depends on the terms of the contract. But most contracts would not allow illegal sub-letting. If so, Cove may have a case to terminate and take over.’

HDB upgraders have their say in muted market

Source : Business Times – 5 Jun 2009

The first quarter of this year saw a major trend reversal. HDB upgraders bought more private homes than those already living in private properties.

Fifty-six per cent of caveats for private home purchases in Q1 were lodged by buyers with HDB addresses, up from a 43 per cent share in the previous quarter. The last time this figure breached 50 per cent was in Q3 2002, when it was 52 per cent.

Market watchers note that the pick-up in HDB upgraders’ share in Q1 came amidst the launch of mass-market projects like Caspian near Jurong Lake and Double Bay Residences in Simei as well as the relaunch of The Quartz in Buangkok. Such entry-level 99-year leasehold condos cater to HDB upgraders.

Property consultancy DTZ highlighted this trend in its analysis of caveats from URA Realis as at May 29. The reason behind this could be the pent-up demand from this segment of buyers who had been priced out of the private residential property market during the bull run in 2007.

Another important factor was the narrowing price gap between public and private homes, which resulted in private properties becoming increasingly within reach of HDB upgraders. ‘With cash proceeds from the sale of existing HDB flats, the upgrader needs to borrow only about 50-60 per cent of the value of the new private property,’ estimates DTZ’s head of SEA research Chua Chor Hoon.

Knight Frank executive director (residential) Peter Ow also credited the rise in proportion of HDB upgraders to developers offering a combination of attractive pricing and interest absorption schemes (IAS) for projects. ‘IAS helps tide these buyers until their new condo is completed and when they can sell their existing HDB flat,’ he explained.

‘At Double Bay, which we marketed, we saw many buyers in their 40s currently living in HDB flats nearby,’ Mr Ow added.

DTZ’s analysis showed that the highest proportion of buying (in URA Realis’s 14-year caveats database) by HDB upgraders was in Q2 2002, at 81 per cent.

Generally, HDB upgraders’ share of private home purchases tends to be higher when private residential prices are falling and come within their reach. And when property prices are shooting up, their share of purchases ebbs.

During the 1998 Asian Crisis, for instance, HDB upgraders’ share hovered between 51 and 65 per cent per quarter, against a much lower share of 33-40 per cent in 1995 when prices were spiralling up.

Again, during the recent property bull run in 2007, their share was pretty low at 21-23 per cent, before starting to rise again last year when the property slump began.

DTZ also compared some buying preferences of HDB dwellers and private property owners who bought private homes in Q1. Some 88 per cent of total purchases by those with HDB addresses were under $1 million. In contrast, 40 per cent of buyers with private addresses invested in homes that cost $1 million and above. HDB upgraders also bought mostly smaller apartments.

Some 92 per cent of private homes that HDB dwellers bought in Q1 were outside prime districts 9, 10 and 11. And for those HDB dwellers who did pick up private properties in prime districts, 68 per cent were for units below 1,000 sq ft. Based on caveats lodged in Q1, the most popular projects for those with HDB addresses include The Caspian, The Quartz, Alexis and Double Bay Residences.

HDB dwellers accounted for 57 per cent of the total 227 caveats lodged for Alexis and for 75 per cent of the total 458 caveats for Caspian.

DTZ’s Ms Chua reckons HDB dwellers’ share of private home purchases may ease in Q2, when sales activity permeated to the mid/upper-mid segments where more buyers have private addresses.

Knight Frank’s Mr Ow said the proportion of HDB upgrader buying will vary depending on the profile of property launches or relaunches in the months ahead.

Ripples in developer sales lift secondary market

Source : Business Times – 5 Jun 2009

THE recovery in private home purchases in the primary market (developer sales) has rippled over to the secondary market.

The number of resale private apartments and condominium units that changed hands in April this year alone was 817, almost the same as the 853 resale units sold in the first three months of this year.

Subsale transactions of non-landed private homes also gained momentum with 275 caveats in April, nearly 70 per cent of the Q1 2009 volume of 404 units, according to DTZ’s analysis of URA Realis caveats information as at May 29.

The Q1 caveats for condos/apartments bought in the subsale and resale markets already represented quarter-on-quarter increases of 52 per cent and 20 per cent respectively.

Subsales and resales are secondary-market transactions. Subsales involve projects that have yet to obtain Certificate of Statutory Completion (CSC) while resales relate to projects that have received CSC. Typically, a project obtains CSC three to 12 months after it receives Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP).

Putting things in perspective, DTZ’s head of SEA research Chua Chor Hoon recalled that the pick-up in primary-market transactions began with the launches of Caspian and Alexis condos in February. By April, the action had spilled over to the secondary market, where buyers have prospects of picking up a completed property for immediate occupation or for leasing.

Says DTZ executive director Ong Choon Fah: ‘During the initial stages of the volume recovery, individual sellers were not that aggressive in pricing. It’s only when the buying momentum developed that they got bolder in asking prices.

‘For some owners, if they don’t get their price, they’ll probably lease out the apartments for now.’

Knight Frank executive director (residential) Peter Ow reckons that if owners jack up prices too fast, buyers may pull back and this could lead to slower activity again in the secondary market. Potential buyers may then prefer to shop for homes in the primary market.

‘Developers generally do not increase their prices too much for their project launches, as they have more stock to sell, compared with individual owners trying to offload one or two units in the secondary market,’ he added.

But market psychology may be hard to predict and some potential buyers may sense an urgency to buy for fear of missing the boat again, he added.

DTZ’s data showed that median subsale price of City Square Residences, One Amber and The Centris eased 2 to 5 per cent in Q1 over the preceding quarter, smaller declines compared with drops of 3 to 14 per cent in Q4.

However, for upper mid-tier projects, there were double-digit quarter-on-quarter declines in prices. Median prices of The Sail @ Marina Bay and Rivergate both slipped 15 per cent to $1,321 per square foot (psf) and $1,200 psf in Q1. In Q4, median subsale price of The Sail slipped 9 per cent while that of Rivergate, which is near the Singapore River, appreciated one per cent.

Resale prices of private homes in the prime districts were more resilient, with an average price fall of 3 to 4 per cent in Q1 2009.

DTZ’s analysis also showed that subsales accounted for 14 per cent of non-landed private residential deals in Q1 2009, down from 18 per cent in the preceding quarter and the lowest subsale share since Q1 2007. The fall in subsale proportion in January to March 2009 was due to a bigger quarter-on-quarter jump – in fact a tripling – in caveats lodged for apartments/condos bought in the primary market in Q1.

The highest subsale activities were registered for projects that had been granted TOP since Q3 last year or are likely to obtain TOP this year. There were 43 subsale deals for City Square Residences at Kitchener Road from January to March 2009, making it the top subsale project in the period, followed by The Centris in Jurong with 40 subsales, One Amber in Katong (23 deals), and the The Esta and The Sail @ Marina Bay (19 units each).

Looking ahead, CB Richard Ellis executive director Joseph Tan said Rivergate is likely to top the subsale charts in Q2, when about 100 units owned by entities linked to Ferrel Asset Management were put on the market at about $1,300 to $1,600 psf. The units are said to have been substantially sold.

DTZ’s Ms Chua reckons that interest in the subsale market will continue given that about 11,000 new private homes are slated for completion this year according to government data.

‘Investors who don’t want to be tied down with financial commitments upon TOP of the projects, especially those who bought on Deferred Payment Scheme, will choose to sell their units as the flagging rental market will further weaken their holding power,’ she added.

Landlord tells Grangeford tenants to stay till end-June

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 5 Jun 2009

The housing saga at The Grangeford condominium continued on Friday.

Landlord Ideal Accommodation told tenants they can stay till end-June, so that it does not have to return them their month’s deposit. Those who have given more than a month’s rent will get back the balance.

There was also drama on Friday after some tenants went to Ideal’s office demanding a staff accompany them back to The Grangeford to ensure the presence of a spokesperson during negotiations.

Many residents were also worried they might be evicted before the end of the month.

Property owners, tenants encouraged to check windows every 6 months

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 5 Jun 2009

Property owners and tenants are encouraged to check and maintain windows in high-rise buildings at least twice a year.

In a joint statement, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) and the Housing and Development Board (HDB) said the safety of exterior features such windows are critical in Singapore’s densely built environment as these could cause serious injuries.

BCA said since it introduced legislation to retrofit casement windows in October 2004, the number of fallen window incidents has gone down significantly.

In 2005, the number was 125 but this has dropped to an average of 52 cases per year from 2006 to 2008.

BCA and HDB said all property owners are responsible for ensuring that their windows are well maintained so that they do not fall off and cause danger to the public.

The statement came a day after a huge glass window went crashing down 18 floors from a high-rise building in downtown Singapore on Thursday morning.

A man in his early 40s suffered cuts on his head as a result of the accident.

He was believed to be working on the glass panel on the 18th floor of the AIA Building.

Fortunately there were no vehicles or pedestrians when the glass panel came crashing down.

Momentum spurs series of project launches

Source : Business Times – 2 Jun 2009

But consultants warn that the buying drive may not be sustainable

STRIKING while the iron is hot, more developers – big and small – are riding on buying momentum to relaunch or spur interest in their properties.

Shelford 23: Close to half of the development’s 33 apartments have been sold at an average price of $1,250 and buyers can opt for an interest absorption scheme at no extra cost

Hoi Hup Realty has soft-launched the freehold Shelford 23 in the Bukit Timah area. Of the project’s 33 apartments, close to half have been sold at an average price of $1,250 per square foot (psf).

Buyers can opt for an interest absorption scheme at no extra cost, Hoi Hup told BT. The project is expected to receive a Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP) in 2012.

Hoi Hup opened Shelford 23’s showflat for preview in September last year but later closed it. The average launch price then was $1,400 psf. Based on Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) data, no units had been taken up by April this year.

Preparations to launch the freehold Holland Residences near Holland Village also appear to be under way. The development, by Allgreen Properties, comprises three five-storey blocks with a total of 83 units. It is due to obtain TOP in a few years. BT understands that private previews may start from end-June and that agents are currently ascertaining interest.

Similarly, the freehold Nathan Residences in the River Valley area may soon be back on the market. Indicative asking prices appear to start from $1,200 psf. According to URA data, developer Tat Aik Property launched the 91-unit freehold project in September last year but nothing had been sold by April this year.

Projects in the east are also getting in on the action. Private previews of Oasis@Elias in the Pasir Ris area could start in the next few weeks. BT understands that launch prices could be in the range of $600 psf. The 99-year leasehold Chip Eng Seng development has 388 units.

Meanwhile, marketing of the 26-unit Spring@Langsat near the Eunos MRT station began last Friday night.

Over in the west, City Developments (CDL) said last Friday that it is accelerating plans to launch a project at the former Hong Leong Garden Condominium.

Sentiment in the residential property sector has improved in the past few months. And brisk sales recently have encouraged more developers to try their luck.

Evan Lim & Co said last Friday that it sold the last 44 units at Parc Centennial after a relaunch some two weeks ago. And CDL said that its Botannia is fully sold, with the 33 remaining units having been taken up in the past few weeks.

Despite the activity, some property consultants warned that the buying momentum may not be sustainable until there are clear signs of a global economic recovery.

Grangeford residents remain stranded, landlord silent on URA breach

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 2 Jun 2009

Residents of The Grangeford condominium off Orchard Road continue to face eviction after their landlord illegal partitions in their units.

They were given three days notice to clear out by the landlord, who’d known for at least a month that the partitions breached government rules.

Tenants of The Grangeford were informed on Sunday that they had three days to move out.

With the deadline looming, many are frustrated at the lack of information from their landlord, Ideal Accommodation.

They have been staying there for only a few months and face the prospect of losing money and lodging.

Said one tenant: “If I can just get my money back, I’ll worry about that later, because I’d rather just get out of here if possible.”

“I don’t know what I’ll do with my stuff. But at the same time, I’ll crash on a couch until something happens. It’s just completely not cool,” said another tenant.

The landlord had converted the condo’s 140 units into 600 smaller rooms through partitions.

This is in breach of Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) regulations.

The firm leased the property from owners Overseas United Enterprise and began sub-letting the converted apartments this year.

Experts said arrangements like these are not common.

Eugene Lim, associate director, ERA Asia Pacific, said: “The primary reason is that by allowing something like this to happen, it may affect the renovation of the unit. It may damage the renovation. Secondly, some illegal partitions or partitions which are not done properly may pose a fire hazard.”

The URA has yet to make an announcement about the situation and the management itself remains silent. But for the residents of Grangeford, they have less than 48 hours to find another place to stay.

Developers sell close to 1,200 homes in May

Source : Business Times – 2 Jun 2009

Estimated number based on BT survey comparable to April figures; Frasers Centrepoint leads the pack.

DEVELOPERS sold an estimated 1,200 private home units in May, according to market watchers. This is comparable to the 1,207 units they sold in April, based on official Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) numbers.

Waterfront Waves near Bedok Reservoir – PHOTO by Frasers Centrepoint Ltd.

A BT survey across nine developers as well as some property agents yesterday already showed that some 1,130 units were sold last month. ‘Developers could have easily sold about 1,200 units in May if you include all the smaller pockets of developments as well,’ a seasoned residential property consultant estimated.

However, BT understands that some units may also be returned by buyers who may have got caught up in the home-buying frenzy fuelled by the stockmarket rally in the past few weeks.

Frasers Centrepoint sold a total 294 units in May – comprising 186 units at Martin Place Residences at Kim Yam Road, 46 at Caspian in the Jurong Lake District, 22 units at Woodsville 28, and 40 homes at Waterfront Waves.

Frasers Centrepoint is developing Waterfront Waves, near Bedok Reservoir, jointly with Far East Organization. The latter sold a total of 165 units (inclusive of Waterfront Waves) last month.

BT eliminated the double-counting for joint-venture projects in arriving at the May sales tally.

City Developments reported total sales of 138 units (of which 97 units came from The Arte at Thomson and 36 units from Livia in Pasir Ris) in May.

CapitaLand also achieved brisk sales for The Wharf Residence at Tong Watt Road.

EL Development also found buyers for a total of 74 units last month (comprising Parc Centennial at Kampong Java Road and Rosewood Suites in Woodlands).

Soilbuild is understood to have sold close to 90 units at The Mezzo in the Balestier location. In other developments, sales of around 30 units were seen for Kovan Residences and 21 units at BelleRive in Bukit Timah.

According to official government numbers, developers sold 1,332 private homes in February, followed by 1,220 units in March and 1,207 units in April.

Lower property prices have been the main attraction for buyers, said DTZ executive director Ong Choon Fah.

Many developers have either re-priced or re-sized their units to make them more affordable.

Many people also feel that residential property prices have corrected substantially, she added.

‘The thinking is: whether it’s the bottom or not, probably the worst is over so it’s about time to go in.’

The recent stockmarket rally has also helped to improve sentiments, Mrs Ong said.

With sales momentum gathering, developers have been gradually inching up prices for mass-market and mid/upper segment projects, following earlier price reductions from the 2007 peak levels.

However, pricing power is not expected to return to developers of luxury projects anytime soon. ‘The price push in 2006-2007 period came from overseas buyers; this segment is still out of action,’ a developer said.

A veteran developer observed that buyers now include those who had been sidelined by the rapid price surge in 2007.

Whereas the 2006/2007 residential property bullrun was substantially wealth-driven, with a strong element of overseas money, the current recovery in home buying has started in the mass-market and is now permeating to the mid/upper-middle segments, he added.

‘So this is a traditional, bottom-up recovery, which is more sustainable. Upward price movements will be constrained by affordability at the end of the day,’ he added.

DTZ’s Mrs Ong too agrees that while there is ‘cautious optimism’ in the property market, developers are unlikely to raise prices significantly at this point in time.

Some developers may have lowered the level of discounts for projects that have sold well but they are doing this carefully.

‘You don’t want to derail the momentum that has been built up,’ she said.

512 two- and three-room flats on offer at Sengkang’s Fernvale Crest

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 2 Jun 2009

Nearly 75 per cent of flats on offer at a new Build-To-Order (BTO) project are two- and three-room flats.

The Housing & Development Board (HDB) said the 700-unit development, Fernvale Crest at Sengkang, comprises 512 two- and three-room flats.

HDB said this is the largest number and proportion of smaller flats offered for sale in a BTO project.

The 140 units of two-room flats are priced at between S$74,000 and S$98,000.

The 372 units of three-room flats are for sale at between S$116,000 and S$157,000.

Four-room units are priced at between S$203,000 and S$250,000.

Located at the junction of Jalan Kayu and Sengkang West Way, Fernvale Crest has two LRT stations nearby – Fernvale and Thanggam – which connect to the Sengkang MRT station.

Eligible first-timers with an average monthly income of S$5,000 and below can apply for an Additional CPF Housing Grant of up to S$40,000 which can be used to offset the initial downpayment.

Applications for the new flats can be submitted online at www.hdb.gov.sg from June 2 to 15.

URA releases first sale site at Kallang Riverside for hotel development

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 2 Jun 2009

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has released the first sale site at Kallang Riverside for hotel development.

The 0.74-hectares land parcel will be made available on the reserve list under the Government Land Sales Programme for the first half of 2009.

URA said the plot has a permissible gross floor area of 20,917 square meters with a maximum building height of 16 storeys.

The site will have a lease period of 99 years.

Urban planners said the hotel development will cater to business travellers and tourists, and provide for complementary shops like retail and food outlets.

Earmarked as the new waterfront lifestyle precinct, the Kallang Riverside is one of the key growth areas unveiled in the Master Plan 2008.

The Master Plan is a statutory land use plan that guides physical development of the country for the next 10 to 15 years.

The plot was originally scheduled to be made available on the Reserve List in December last year. But as more time was needed to finalise the planning and development conditions of the Kallang River, the release of the site was deferred till this month.

Some market watchers said the site could yield a 300 to 380-room hotel development based on the plot ratio, and the bid price could range between S$150 and S$190 per square foot per plot ratio.

Under the Reserve List system, a site would be released for sale only if the bid meets the minimum price acceptable to the government.

URA’s Kallang Riverside hotel site shrinks by half

Source : Straits Times – 3 Jun 2009

THE first hotel sale site at the upcoming waterfront lifestyle district of Kallang Riverside has shrunk in size by half even before it hits the market.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) initially intended to release the 1.59ha site late last year but deferred it to this month – and then reduced the size to 0.74ha after taking into account market feedback.

It has placed the plot on the reserve list, meaning that interested developers can apply for it to be put up for tender.

The delay came after the URA said that it needed more time to finalise the detailed planning and development conditions of the site as they relate to the broader plans for the area.

Industry experts speculated at the time that the URA was taking advantage of the slower market to re-do its plans and that the site would be unlikely to attract interest even if made available then.

‘Originally, we planned for the land parcel to have a site area of 1.59ha with a gross floor area of about 45,000 sq m,’ said a URA spokesman.

But market feedback suggested that ‘a smaller hotel development is preferred’. This prompted it to scale back the site’s land area to 0.74ha and the gross floor area to 20,000 sq m, said the spokesman.

The hotel investment market remains weak but six months ago, it would have been even worse than now, said Knight Frank’s director of consultancy and research, Mr Nicholas Mak.

He estimated that bids could come in at $48 million to $58 million, or between $215 and $260 per sq ft per plot ratio.

Still, the hotel site is not likely to be snapped up immediately as it has challenges and there will be a lot of supply coming up in the market, he added.

The site has visibility as it is in a prominent spot but is not comfortably accessible to pedestrians, for instance. Still, whoever buys this site has first-mover advantage as the area is not yet developed, said Mr Mak.

‘It is an unproven hotel market,’ he added. Nearby hotels are in the red-light district of Geylang.

As part of the Greater Marina Bay district and an integral part of the city centre, the Kallang Riverside is one of the key growth areas unveiled in the latest Master Plan.

More small flats in latest build-to-order HDB launch

Source : Straits Times – 3 Jun 2009

THE Housing Board has launched a build-to-order (BTO) project with far more smaller flats than usual.

The project – Fernvale Crest – is at the junction of Jalan Kayu and Sengkang West Way and near the Fernvale and Thanggam LRT stations.

There are 700 flats – 372 three-roomers, 188 four-room units and 140 two- room flats of 45 sq m each. This is the largest number of smaller BTO flats ever offered for sale.

The two-room flats will cost $74,000 to $98,000 each, while the three-roomers will go for $116,000 to $157,000 each.

A family on a total monthly income of $1,300 buying an $85,000 two-room flat will need to pay a monthly mortgage of just $180, said HDB yesterday.

But at 5pm yesterday, there was only one application for the two-room units, against 22 for the three-room flats and 131 for the four-roomers.

The four-room units are priced from $203,000 to $250,000 each – a level that HDB says compares favourably with the comparable resale flats in Sengkang.

These comparable flats – each costing $290,000 to $360,000 – are all premium units as there are no standard resale flats in the area. Fernvale Crest is a standard project, which means it comes with minimal finishes. The prices, for instance, do not include flooring in the bedrooms.

ERA Asia Pacific associate director Eugene Lim said BTO standard flats are the most affordable kind of public housing as they target first-timers and those on a lower household income band.

‘This batch of units is priced very attractively. We reckon they are a good 5 to 8 per cent lower than last year’s prices,’ said Mr Lim.

Under the BTO scheme, flats are built only when demand hits a certain level. In the first quarter of this year, HDB launched about 1,300 new flats in two BTO projects in Punggol and Woodlands.

It plans to launch a further 2,400 BTO flats in the next two quarters.

HDB launches BTO project in Sengkang

Source : Business Times – 3 Jun 2009

THE Housing & Development Board yesterday launched a 700-unit project at Sengkang for sale under its build-to-order (BTO) system.

Fernvale Crest, at the junction of Jalan Kayu and Sengkang West Way, comprises 140 two-room flats, 372 three-room flats and 188 four-room units.

In line with the government’s commitment to increase the supply of smaller flats during the economic downturn, 75 per cent of the Fernvale Crest flats are two-room and three-room units.

‘This is the largest number and proportion of smaller flats ever offered for sale in a BTO project,’ HDB said.

The flats are also priced below market prices so first-time buyers can afford them, it said.

Prices range from $74,000 to $98,000 for a two-room flat, $116,000 to $157,000 for a three-room flat and $203,000 to $250,000 for a four-room flat. In comparison, a four-room resale flat at Sengkang goes for $290,000 to $360,000, according to data provided by HDB.

Analysts reckon the launch will be well received.

‘We expect Fernvale Crest to be hugely popular based on the new flat types and low prices,’ said Adam Tan, a spokesman for property firm PropNex. ‘The four-room flats on offer are 35-45 per cent cheaper than others in the vicinity.’

Mr Tan expects Fernvale Crest to be at least five times subscribed.

URA hotel site available on reserve list

Source : Business Times – 3 Jun 2009

THE Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) yesterday released a hotel site along Kallang River for application through the reserve list.

The first sale site in the new Kallang Riverside growth area comes with a 99-year lease and spans 0.74 hectare. The maximum permissible gross floor area (GFA) is 225,148 sq ft.

URA estimates that the plot can yield 450 hotel rooms and 33,906 sq ft of commercial space, though the actual mix would depend on the developer’s plans.

The development can go up to 16 storeys high and will front Kallang River. It will also be near the upcoming Sports Hub. ‘Its proximity to the Central Business District and waterfront setting makes it ideal for a hotel development that can cater to business travellers and tourists,’ URA said.

Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels executive vice-president Chee Hok Yean noted that the plot may be suitable for an economy hotel. The hotel might cater to a younger crowd, such as sports teams or tourists in town for sporting events, she said.

Knight Frank’s director of research and consultancy Nicholas Mak pointed out that the site has a good river view and may fit a three to three and a half-star hotel.

He estimates that bids may range from $48 million to $58 million, which works out to $215 to $260 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr). In April, a reserve list hotel site in Short Street received a committed bid of $8.8 million, which works out to about $200 psf ppr.

Given the weak market however, Mr Mak noted that the site may not be triggered for launch this year. Hotel developers have already bought many sites in the last few years and several still remain on the reserve list, he said. Kallang in particular, is a relatively ‘unproven market’ for hotels.

Developers interested in the parcel can apply to URA for it to be put up for tender. Because of the site’s prominent location, a URA-chaired design advisory panel will guide the development team with its design.

URA had planned to release the site in December last year but later deferred it to finalise planning and development conditions. With the financial and property sectors faltering then, market watchers had felt that the site would not attract interest even if it was available.

URA also reduced the size of the hotel site last year, after market feedback indicated preference for a smaller development. The plot originally had a site area of 1.59 hectares and a GFA of about 484,376 sq ft.

Global retail rents hit by economic crisis

Source : Business Times – 3 Jun 2009

PRIME street-front retail rents in most cities worldwide shrank by double digits – and in some cases, as much as half – over the past 12 months as consumers cut back on spending, according to a survey released yesterday.

Published annually by Colliers International, the survey tracks annual retail rents – in terms of US dollars per square foot – along the prime retail corridors of 127 cities in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Asia-Pacific and Latin America.

Singapore’s Orchard Road remained the 28th most expensive place in which to rent retail space. Annual retail rents there fell to US$324 psf in the latest survey, from US$367 psf a year earlier. But the worldwide slide in rents meant Orchard Road retained its ranking.

Fifth Avenue in New York topped the global chart again this year with annual retail rents of US$1,400 psf, followed by the Champs Elysees in Paris at US$1,203 psf and Causeway Bay in Hong Kong at US$1,192 psf.

‘As in other cities, as the financial crisis deepened and Singapore’s economy slipped into a recession in the final quarter of 2008, domestic consumers tightened their belts on fears of rising unemployment and wage cuts,’ said Tay Huey Ying, Colliers’ director of research and advisory. ‘Declining visitor arrivals also affected retail sales.’

Amid the less favourable operating environment, tenants became more selective and rent-sensitive, Colliers said. Coupled with the supply of retail space in the pipeline, Singapore’s prime retail rents started to buckle in Q4 2008.

But although rents in Singapore are falling, they are not falling as fast as those elsewhere. Due to their relative resilience, and the relative strength of the Singapore dollar against the US currency, Singapore’s prime retail rents recorded a milder decline of 12 per cent in US dollar terms compared with rents in some other Asia-Pacific cities.

‘What this means is our retail competitiveness against our more costly neighbours has been eroded,’ Ms Tay said. ‘For example, while Singapore’s premier retail rents were 18 per cent cheaper than those in Sydney and Melbourne in 2008, the gap has now narrowed to just 3 per cent in the latest survey.’

By the same token, Singapore’s competitiveness against cheaper neighbours – such as Auckland, Bangalore, Christchurch, Delhi, Perth and Wellington – has worsened because the gap in rents has widened.

Colliers expects prime retail rents in Singapore to fall between 10 and 15 per cent in 2009, hit by weak consumer sentiment and falling visitor arrivals.

Foreigners shopping for homes again

Source : Business Times – 3 Jun 2009

After a nervous lull, foreign buyers are property-hunting again. Their private home purchases in Singapore have begun to recover after bottoming out in Q4 last year, according to the latest analysis of caveats by consultancy DTZ. The momentum is expected to continue.

URA Realis data as at May 29 show that foreigners (excluding Singapore permanent residents) lodged a total 117 caveats for private home purchases in April, a relatively impressive showing given that this was two-thirds of the 174 caveats lodged by these foreigners for the whole of the first quarter of 2009.

The Q1 figure itself was an 11.5 per cent rise from the 156 caveats foreigners lodged in Q4 2008. However, with Singaporeans and PRs posting much bigger quarter-on-quarter increases of 90.8 per cent and 60.4 per cent respectively in caveats in the first three months of this year, foreigners’ share of home buying slipped to 6 per cent in Q1 this year, the lowest level since Q3 2004.

On the other hand, fuelled by upgrader demand, Singaporeans’ proportion of home buying increased from 79 per cent of total caveats lodged in Q4 last year to 84 per cent in Q1 – the highest proportion since Q3 2001. PRs’ 10 per cent share of home buying in Q1 was the lowest since Q4 2004. There were hardly any caveats lodged by corporate purchasers in the first quarter.

‘We’re seeing more queries from Indonesia and North Asia. They can see the pick-up in buying by Singaporeans and want to ensure that they will also benefit should the market turn around soon,’ said DTZ executive director Ong Choon Fah.

Market watchers also observed that generally, foreign buyers’ share of total private residential property purchases picks up when prices are escalating and dips during the lull periods. For instance, for each quarter of 1998 during the Asian Crisis, the figure ranged from 4 to 6 per cent. And during the recent height of property buying fever in 2007, foreign buyers’ share ranged from 12 to 15 per cent each quarter.

DTZ’s Mrs Ong said that with capital appreciation figuring as a major goal for foreign property investors, they would prefer to enter the market on upswings. ‘Foreign buying will continue to improve in tandem with the increase in home sales activity, assuming sentiment on the stockmarket remains upbeat and overall confidence returns.’

Foreigners bought 31 per cent more homes in the subsale market in Q1 2009 than in Q4 last year. They picked up 16 per cent more units from developers, Q-on-Q, and 2 per cent more in the resale market. As a result, the subsale market accounted for 27 per cent of private homes acquired by foreigners in Q1; this share was at a 10-year high.

Subsales and resales refer to secondary market deals. Subsales involve projects that have yet to obtain Certificate of Statutory Completion (CSC) while resales relate to projects that have received CSC.

Jones Lang LaSalle head of residential Jacqueline Wong said that foreigners may have been increasingly drawn to the subsale market to pick up properties in Q1 as property launches in the luxury market have almost come to a halt.

‘So if foreigners want to buy something prime, they have to turn to the secondary market. They’re interested in projects like Ardmore II as well as completed developments like Ardmore Park, Grange Residences and Draycott 8 that lease well,’ she added.

DTZ said: ‘The appeal of subsale units to foreigners could be due to immediate availability for occupation for newly-completed ones. Seventy per cent of total subsale units bought by foreigners have been granted Temporary Occupation Permit, mostly in H2 2008 and Q1 2009.’

DTZ said that while homes in districts 9, 10 and 15 remained popular with foreigners, they are increasingly more inclined to buy mass-market and mid-tier projects in suburban areas. Projects with the largest number of foreign buyers in Q1 were The Lakeshore and Caspian, both near Jurong Lake.

As for PRs, their purchases of homes directly from developers surged from 33 in Q4 last year to 115 units in Q1, as most of the mass-market launches during the period appealed to them, DTZ said. The primary market accounted for 36 per cent of homes bought by PRs in Q1 2009, double the 17 per cent share in the preceding quarter. Districts 22, 15 and 23 were the most popular among PRs, whose top picks were Caspian (in District 22) and Alexis.

Singapore to extend suspension of confirmed list in GLS programme

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 3 Jun 2009

Singapore will continue to suspend the confirmed list of Government Land Sales (GLS) for another six months, given the poor property market conditions.

The government had suspended the list for the first half of this year in October last year, placing all sale sites on the reserve list.

The National Development Ministry said this will provide flexibility for the market to adjust supply according to the current economic conditions.

The reserve list has 37 remaining sites, including the White site at Outram Road and Eu Tong Sen Street.

The White site, affected by future infrastructure works, will be removed from the Government Land Sales programme with immediate effect.

The remaining 36 sites will be carried forward to the reserve list.

The reserve list also has two new sites – a residential site at Bartley Road, and a commercial & residential site at New Upper Changi Road.

The residential site at Bartley Road is located next to the new Bartley Circle Line Station.

The ministry said placing it on the reserve list will enable early development of the site and increase the ridership catchment for the MRT line.

As for the New Upper Changi Road site, it will form part of the rejuvenation plans for Bedok Town Centre.

The ministry said a new bus interchange will be incorporated into the proposed development.

In addition, the government will reduce the supply of commercial space.

It will not offer any new supply of private residential units and hotel rooms from government agencies for the second half of this year.

The ministry said it has seen an increased take-up of new private residential properties.

The first quarter of this year saw a take-up of 2,552 units of uncompleted private housing, more than six times the take-up in the fourth quarter of last year.

The government said it will monitor the situation closely before reviewing late this year on whether to suspend the confirmed list further.

MND adds two sites to H2 reserve list land sales schedule

Source : Business Times – 3 Jun 2009

Singapore’s Ministry of National Development (MND) has announced the Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme for second half 2009.

The confirmed list will continue to remain suspended and MND is sticking to offering land during this period only through the reserve list, where sites are launched for tender only if there is a successful application by a developer.

For H2 2009, MND will add two new sites to the reserve list – a residential site at Bartley Road/Lorong How Sun and a commercial and residential plot at New Upper Changi Road/Bedok North Drive.

‘The residential site at Bartley Road/Lorong How Sun is located next to the new Bartley Circle Line (CCL) Station. Placing the site in the reserve list of H2 2009 GLS Programme will provide opportunity for early development of the site and increase the ridership catchment for the CCL.

The sale and development of the commercial & residential site at New Upper Changi Road/Bedok North Drive will form part of the rejuvenation plans for Bedok Town Centre. A new bus interchange will be incorporated into the proposed development,’ MND said in a release issued on Wednesday.

Another 36 sites on the existing H1 2009 reserve list are being rolled over to the H2 2009 reserve list. As a result, the H2 2009 GLS Programme will comprise a total 38 reserve list sites that can potentially yield about 8,655 private homes, 448,550 sq metres gross floor area of commercial space and 4,430 hotel rooms.