Thursday, October 16, 2008

Parkway Centre Up For Collective Sale

Source : Channel NewsAsia, 15 October 2008

The 99-year leasehold Parkway Centre has been put up for collective sale.

The commercial property, which is located in the Marine Parade town centre, can be redeveloped into an office-cum-retail development, with a gross floor area of up to 157,625 square feet.

The building is located opposite Parkway Parade and near Roxy Square. It is surrounded by residential projects like Parc Seaview, Silversea and Amber Residences.

The property is linked to the East Coast Park Expressway and is near Singapore's central business district.

Jones Lang LaSalle is the sole marketing agent for the project.

The tender will close at 3pm on November 19. - CNA /ls

September Figures Show Continued Softness In Private Home Sales

Source : Channel NewsAsia, 15 October 2008

Sales of private homes in Singapore improved 17.5 per cent in September, compared to the previous month.

But analysts said the pickup fell short of expectations, given the low base in August caused by the Hungry Ghost Festival. The seventh month of the Lunar calendar is traditionally regarded as an inauspicious period and buyers usually refrain from making purchases during that time.

Almost 300 per cent more units were launched for sale in September, compared to August. Property developers sold 376 units in September, just 51 units more than the preceding month. Nonetheless, some analysts see something to cheer about in the data.

Ku Swee Yong, director, Marketing & Business Development, Savills (Singapore), said: "I already see that as a positive (sign) because in September, the stock market beat the whole market down, so many investors were spooked."

The stock of private residential properties has been building up in the past year and was compounded by a large oversupply in September.

As buyers become more cautious in light of the economic downturn, prices are expected to fall.

Nicholas Mak, director, Consultancy & Research, Knight Frank, said: "Whatever gains made in the first half of this year will probably be lost by Christmas. Depending on how the global economic and financial situation plays out, I think there's still a lot of uncertainty and turmoil out there.

"There is a possibility we could see further weakness in home prices in 2009, especially if the Singapore economy were to slip into a prolonged recession.

"At the moment, we haven't seen some of the major bad news like massive retrenchments or fall in salary levels. If such a thing were to happen, we could see people giving up homes or downgrading."

Knight Frank said bad economic outlook could result in a double-digit fall in home prices in 2009. But others are not as pessimistic.

Ku said: "Private residential prices in mass market will still hold up very well, probably for the next 18 months... we believe so because the demand for public housing is still strong.

"In the third quarter, HDB price index for resale HDB (flats) still managed to climb 4.2 per cent. That should support mass market prices for HDB upgraders very well."

However, all agree that within the private residential sphere, luxury properties will bear the brunt of price pressures.

"For luxury and mid-tier residential market, we think that over the next 18 months, we might see about 5, 10 per cent drop. For the very luxurious properties, about 15 per cent drop in prices," Ku added.

Luxury properties tend to attract speculators who have retreated from the market in the current unpredictable financial environment. - CNA/so

Robust Demand For Recent HDB Launches

Source : The Straits Times, Oct 14, 2008

Two offerings of wide range of flats attract more than 10 applicants per unit

DEMAND has been red hot for two recent launches from the Housing Board, with over 10 times more applicants than flats available.

An offering of 150 smaller flats - studios to three-roomers - was swamped with 2,426 applications in the space of just a week.

And, last Friday, the half-yearly sale of three-room premium, four-room and bigger flats achieved an extraordinary response: 7,036 applications have been submitted for 683 units, yet the offer runs until Thursday.

The launch of the smaller units featured three-roomers, two-roomers and studios in estates across the island, including Bukit Merah, Geylang, Jurong East, Sengkang, Ang Mo Kio and Marine Parade.

There were 582 applications for studios and 1,844 for two- and three-roomers combined in the offer from Oct 2 to 8.

Studio prices range from $62,900 to $116,400. A two-roomer goes for $74,000 to $106,300, while a three-room flat will set you back $134,500 to $275,200.

PropNex chief executive Mohamed Ismail was not surprised at the robust demand. He said: 'HDB prices, although subsidised, have gone up. Lower-income households are left with not much choice but to turn to three-room flats as a starting platform.'

Three-roomers also provide the highest rental yields in the long term, he added, making them profitable for buyers.

Such flats are offered to lower-income households. Studio applicants must be 55 or older and their gross monthly household income must not exceed $8,000.

The gross monthly household income for applicants for three-room flats must not exceed $3,000. The limit for those hunting for a new two-roomer is $2,000 .

This month's launch shows some changes from the previous small-flat offering held in July. Then, 103 two-room flats and 97 three-roomers were offered, attracting 1,809 applications.

Two-roomers were priced from $72,800 to $99,800 while three-room flats went for $99,000 to $211,000, far lower than this month's offering.

Demand is also robust for HDB flats at the other end of the price spectrum.

A total of 9,083 applications came in for 992 homes offered in a balloting exercise held between Sept 26 and Oct 9.

Four-roomers at the Pinnacle@Duxton, for example, are priced from $457,000 to $555,000 and attracted 2,291 applicants; 825 people applied to buy five-room units at the same development priced from $545,000 to $646,000.

Only One Bid Received For Transitional Office Site

Source : The Business Times, October 15, 2008

THE tender for a transitional office site in Mohamed Sultan Road has closed with only one bid of $4.65 million, from RSP Architects Planners and Engineers.

Based on the 66,482 sq ft site and maximum permissible gross floor area (GFA) of 99,727.5 sq ft, the bid equates to a unit land price of $46.67 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr).

Knight Frank director (research and consultancy) Nicholas Mak said this is the second-lowest bid received for such a site.

In January, a site at Aljunied was not awarded after the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) rejected the sole bid of $38.37 psf ppr.

Mr Mak said RSP's bid reflects the 'turbulence in the markets and the knowledge that there is a lot of supply coming up'. He doubts URA will award the Mohamed Sultan Road site as it might encourage opportunistic bidding, especially as the tender for another transitional office site is set to close next month.

Transitional office sites were introduced in 2007 as a stopgap measure to address an office space crunch.

RSP's present office is in Scotts Road. It would likely build an office for its own use on the Mohamed Sultan site, though Mr Mak said that based on the permissible GFA, it would also be looking to lease out the remaining space.

The low bid comes as a surprise, especially as Mohamed Sultan is considered a central location.

Cushman & Wakefield managing director Donald Han said he expected bids to be at least half of those for two previous transitional office sites around Newton MRT, which were awarded at $242.50 and $226 psf ppr in April and May.

'There is a chance the site will not be awarded as it would distort property prices,' he said.

Perhaps more importantly, the market appears to have reached saturation point as far as demand for transitional office sites goes. 'This will send a strong signal to URA,' Mr Han said.

9月份私宅卖得还不错

Source : 《联合早报》October 16, 2008

上个月掀起的全球金融海啸,虽然也波及本地房地产市场,但令市场人士惊讶的是,上个月的销售数字还是比8月份(农历七月)稍高。

市区重建局公布的数据显示,9月份卖出的私宅单位有376个,比8月份售出的325个单位多出51个单位(16%)。

市场推出新项目 刺激“买气”

分析师指出,这是因为9月初的时候,市场推出一些新的中档私宅项目,刺激了一些“买气”。

不过,戴德梁行研究部高级董事蔡楚芬也相信,多数的交易可能集中在9月初。

她指出:“在9月15日开始的两个多星期,(美国)金融机构破产和政府的拯救行动震惊全世界。但本地房地产市场9月份售出的新单位数目尽管相当低,却依然比其他一些月份高,可能是因为多数的交易是在9月头两个星期进行的。”

在9月15日,美国陆续传出雷曼兄弟(Lehman Brothers)申请破产保护,美国银行收购美林,以及美国国际集团(AIG)脱售资产并向联储局紧急借贷等不利消息,让进入农历八月份的楼市迅速冷却下来。

在新推出的单位方面,由于传统私宅销售淡季的农历七月刚过,新登场的私宅项目也开始增加。

博纳集团(PropNex)就指出,在9月份推出的新私宅单位有767个,比起8月份的194个单位,涨幅将近300%。

高力国际研究部主管郑惠匀却指出:“9月份推出的单位数目虽多,但销售量却落后了,只有新供应量的51%。这也导致发展商已推出但未出售的单位数目快速囤积,给价格带来下跌压力。”

莱坊研究部主管麦俊荣也说,在推出的新项目中,又以代表中档私宅的其他中央区(RCR)项目最多(占48.2%),例如美芝路的Concourse Skyline、芭美路的Peak@Balmeg和马林百列的Silversea项目。

但麦俊荣也指出,全岛的新私宅单位销售数字只出现微小的增长。其中,合乎预料的是,中档私宅也有最多买家——Concourse Skyline(售出68个单位)、Peak@Balmeg(47个单位)和位于玛丽蒙台的Trasalveo(41个单位)项目。

所卖出单位 六成属中档私宅

郑惠匀也指出,9月份找到买主的单位,就有60%属中档私宅。

在高档项目方面,9月份也没有出现售价超过每平方英尺4000元的单位,因此,整个第三季都没有卖出超过4000元尺价的单位,不象第二季还有三个单位,再一次显示高档豪宅的“高峰期”已过。

在这一季取得最高尺价的共管公寓单位,是华业集团的Nassim Park Residences的一个单位,售价为每平方英尺3197元,最低价的则是里岭(The Linear)的一个单位,销售尺价是每平方英尺570元。

世邦魏理仕执行董事李晓和说:“一些较高档的项目销售成绩也一般,如Reflections、乌节史格园(Orchard Scotts)和Martin No.38这个月至只分别卖出八个、两个和四个单位。”     

根据世邦魏理仕的计算,第三季找到买主的新单位有1603个,比第二季的1525个单位稍高。今年首三季出售的单位总数共达3890个。

第一太平戴维斯(Savills)行销与业务开发主管邱瑞荣也指出,这一季售出的单位,是去年第四季(即次贷危机在去年8月份开始影响本地房地产后不久)以来最高的。

9月份数字未显示 所有地区房价下滑

在价格方面,李晓和认为,9月份的数字还看不出所有地区的房地产都出现下滑的迹象。

他举例说,卖出11个单位的Silversea和附近的Aristo@Amber分别取得每平方英尺1400和1443元的中位数价格、市区外的Livia和Clover by the Park等项目的中位数价格也持平。然而,武吉知马和纽顿一带则出现价格稍微下滑的迹象,比一年前的价格低了10%左右。汤申路的VIVA的价格,也比今年初一些相等项目的价格,低了约5%。

市建局不久前公布的第三季初步预估数字显示,本地私宅价格指数下跌了1.8%,上半年则上涨了3.9%。

但卓登新达国际研究部主管陈瑞谨认为,价格已经开始趋软,并认为这一波的价格调整,会由各别投资/投机者带动,而非发展商,因为接下来,一些没有持有能力的投资者可能会被逼售手中的房地产来“止血”。

贸工部不久前公布的第三季经济预估数字显示,我国经济增长萎缩了0.5%,这意味着新加坡已陷入经济衰退。

郑惠匀认为,这将打击本地买家的信心,让买家更趋谨慎。同时,市场囤积未卖出的“存货”也可能导致中档和大众私宅的价格下滑。然而,她也指出,一些原本就一直在关注房地产市场走势的本地买家/组屋提升者也可能会择机进场,为大众私宅价格提供一些支撑力量。

仲量联行研究部主管蔡炎亮博士也认为,虽然经济衰退的影响在未来半年内可能会给大众私宅市场带来价格下滑的压力,整体房地产市场也将趋软,但一些地点好的项目,应该会受到手头拥有足够现金的买家青睐。

邱瑞荣说:“市场较疲弱,主要是因为许多人还在持观望态度,不是因为潜在买家没有钱,主要还是没有信心。”

他也相信,房地产市场有望最早在明年第二季走出阴霾,因为届时,滨海湾金沙会大量招募人手,也会带动市场对大众私宅的需求。  

随着金融海啸逐渐发挥威力,郑惠匀也认为,10月份的销售情绪会依旧谨慎,因此发展商推出的项目可能会比9月份少,销售量也可能会介于250至300个单位之间。