Source : The Business Times, February 14, 2009
New interest-absorption schemes offered by developers through banks are attracting the smart money
JUDGING by the response to the recently launched Caspian and Alexis, real estate remains a key element of the typical Singaporean's wealth-management strategy.
While cash is still king, real estate - like gold - is something tangible to hang on to. And recent downward price adjustments are making it an increasingly attractive asset class. What is making new launches even more enticing is that investors are cottoning on to the fact that new interest absorption schemes (IAS) offered by developers through banks are very much like the former deferred payment scheme (DPS).
At the recent launch of Alexis, units were not only offered with IAS but did not come at higher prices, typically 3 per cent more. Buyers, said mostly to be Singaporean investors, homed in. The project was almost fully sold in less than a week. Considering the depth of the economic downturn, this would seem to defy logic. So, could real estate be where the smart money is migrating to now?
Looking at yields from stocks, bonds and even fixed deposits, and comparing these with IAS, which is essentially an interest-free loan on almost all new property, the argument for putting your money, or at least some of it, into real estate is compelling - especially if you subscribe to the notion that real estate values always rise in the long run.
This last point is what differentiates property buyers now from those who bought in the run-up to peak prices in 2007 - they are more realistic.
Certainly, few buyers today would be hoping to make a fast buck. Indeed, prices may actually have some way to go before they hit bottom.
Reality appears to have set in, with investment horizons now longer than the time it takes to flip a property. The only danger is that if the recent surge in sales has more to do with IAS and less with the fundamentals of the market, recent experience is just another round of speculation, albeit a tiny one.
Does IAS encourage speculation? Some believe that unlike DPS, IAS is much more stringent insofar as terms go. A purchaser who is offered the IAS has to take out a loan with a bank, which will carry out credit checks before granting the loan. In addition, the purchaser has to make progress payments, part of which may be disbursed from the bank loan, to the developer. This amounts to 60 per cent of the purchase price of the property before the temporary occupation permit (TOP) is granted, including 20 per cent at the downpayment stage.
With DPS, as little as 10 per cent of the purchase price was payable by the purchaser before TOP.
Given that a buyer has to commit to a loan and make progress payments, the authorities do not believe IAS encourages speculation.
Hopefully, then, what the market is experiencing now is the realisation that real estate is fundamentally a safe asset class - not a flash in the pan brought on by speculation.
Monday, February 16, 2009
发展商为何替买家还利息？
Source : 《联合早报》February 15, 2009
这两个星期推出的公寓项目有个共同促销策略——发展商都以“利息承担计划”(Interest Absorption Scheme，简称IAS)作为诱饵来刺激销量。
在利息承担计划下，新公寓完工之前，发展商将替买家偿还贷款利息。换句话说，买家付了20％的头期后，接下来三四年不必作出任何支出。
上周推出的Caspian共管公寓，只有三成买家选择“利息承担计划”。
上周推出的Caspian共管公寓，有三成，或大约100名买家就选择了这个贷款配套。本周新登场的Alexis@Alexandra和Nova 88也提供这个选择。市场人士指出，过去几个月新推出的项目，90％都提供利息承担计划，其中在一些项目申请这个配套的人近半数。
利息承担计划的吸引力在哪里？什么样的买家适合申请？申请者又该注意什么？
什么是利息承担计划？
利息承担计划类似租购（hire purchase）计划，允许买家在支付了头期后，在发展商“交货”、公寓领取临时入伙准证(TOP)之前都不必付款，所有的贷款利息将由发展商承担，因此被市场人士称为变相的延迟付款计划(deferred payment scheme，简称DPS)安排。
和延迟付款计划不同的是，买家在购买房子之后，首先需要和银行签订贷款配套，由银行鉴定买家的信贷和付款能力。在公寓建设期间，发展商将替买家付贷款利息，等到公寓完工之后，买家就接手偿还本金和利息。
此外，利息承担计划只提供给直接向发展商购买房地产的买家，买家如果将房子转卖，接手的买家不能在利息承担计划下受惠。
在过去的延迟付款计划下，买家可以等到公寓完工前才向银行申请贷款，意味着只要买家支付头期的款项，即使没有申请银行贷款，也可以买下售价上百万元的私宅，而转卖时，接手买家也可能继续受惠。
另一方面，环球信贷危机爆发后，不管是个人还是企业申请任何贷款都非常困难。提供这类配套的发展商就等于将银行和买家“撮合”，不必担心在房子完工后找不到银行贷款。
10年前面世并不受欢迎
利息承担计划并不是个新贷款产品，早在10年前已面世。
据了解，这个计划最初是由大华银行连同一家本地发展商共同开发的，但前几年并不受欢迎，直到政府在前年10月撤消了延迟付款计划后，才开始热起来。
大华银行贷款部主管林世约指出，与其直接给予价格上的折扣，发展商提供利息承担计划等于以另一个方式给予折扣，让项目能在市场上脱颖而出。
业内人士告诉本报，利息承担计划的幕后运作相当繁琐，银行必须分别向发展商和买家收钱，同时得承担双方面的违约风险。一般上，只有当发展商要求，银行才会为即将推出的私宅项目量身定做这样的贷款配套。提供这类配套的大多是小型发展商。
除了大华银行外，马来亚银行和华侨银行也曾与发展商携手推出延迟付款计划。星展银行则曾以“零分期付款房贷计划”（zero instalment home loan scheme ）的名义，让买家在公寓领取临时入伙准证之前免付分期付款，但在去年10月已终止了这项配套。
买家应选利息承担计划 还是分阶段付款计划？
买家应选择利息承担计划还是分阶段付款计划(progressive payment scheme)？林世约表示，这取决于个人在新公寓建设期间的财务情况和贷款安排喜好。
打个比方，如果是还在偿还现有贷款的组屋提升者，也许希望在新公寓建设期间，减少每个月的现金支出，直到新房子建好，现有房子卖出了才开始偿还新房子的贷款。在这样的情况下，买家应该考虑利息承担计划，以帮助他们管理现金支出。
不过，如果买家希望尽早偿还房贷，林世约建议，应该选择分阶段付款计划。
并不是所有申请利息承担计划的人都能获得批准。
林世约表示，买家的信贷信誉是银行主要的考量，银行将在买家购屋时，评估他们在公寓完工后的本金和利息偿还能力。
发展商可能抬高房价
天下没有免费的午餐。
房屋贷款咨询网站www.HousingLoanSG.com创办人吴加万提醒，由于发展商须承担一些风险和成本，提供利息承担计划的发展商可能把房价抬高，或给予较少的折扣。
以Caspian共管公寓为例，申请分阶段付款计划的买家能享有10％的回扣，若选择利息承担计划，买家只能享有7％的回扣，而省下的利息只占房子价格的约2％左右。比如一间卖价为65万元的两房式公寓，若不选择利息承担计划，买家可享有约2万元的折扣，而申请计划的人，所省下的利息仅为1万多元。这也是为何，七成的Caspian共管公寓买家，还是选择了普通的分阶段付款计划。
不是每个公寓项目都提供利息承担计划，只有在发展商向银行特别要求提供这类配套的项目，买家才能申请。
发展商只与一银行合作 买家无法货比三家
由于发展商一般只与一家银行携手提供利息承担计划，吴加万指出，计划所征收的利息可能较高，买家也许将错过市场上最优惠的配套。
他说：“若选择普通的分阶段付款计划，买家可以选择任何银行的房屋贷款配套，货比三家，找出最优惠的配套。”
由于买家支付的房价较高，星展银行发言人指出，在利息承担计划下购买的房子，所需付的印花税较高。
此外，发言人也提醒，由于在公寓完工之前，买家无须偿还任何本金，因此公寓完工后每月的分期付款也会较高。
至于可预见的风险，吴加万提出：“若发展商面对财务困难，在建设期间无法偿还利息，买家就必须接手偿还。”
对此，林世约表示，银行在选择发展商作为合作伙伴时非常谨慎，以免上述情况发生。
另外，过去的延迟付款计划被指是鼓励炒卖的祸根，卓登新达国际(Chesterton Suntec International)研究部主管陈瑞谨指出，由于买家在完工前不必付款，利息承担计划还是有可能引发炒卖。
在利息承担计划下，买家付20％的头期，然后在新公寓完工之前，接下来三四年不必支出任何款项。什么样的买家适合申请利息承担计划？申请者又该注意什么？
这两个星期推出的公寓项目有个共同促销策略——发展商都以“利息承担计划”(Interest Absorption Scheme，简称IAS)作为诱饵来刺激销量。
在利息承担计划下，新公寓完工之前，发展商将替买家偿还贷款利息。换句话说，买家付了20％的头期后，接下来三四年不必作出任何支出。
上周推出的Caspian共管公寓，只有三成买家选择“利息承担计划”。上周推出的Caspian共管公寓，有三成，或大约100名买家就选择了这个贷款配套。本周新登场的Alexis@Alexandra和Nova 88也提供这个选择。市场人士指出，过去几个月新推出的项目，90％都提供利息承担计划，其中在一些项目申请这个配套的人近半数。
利息承担计划的吸引力在哪里？什么样的买家适合申请？申请者又该注意什么？
什么是利息承担计划？
利息承担计划类似租购（hire purchase）计划，允许买家在支付了头期后，在发展商“交货”、公寓领取临时入伙准证(TOP)之前都不必付款，所有的贷款利息将由发展商承担，因此被市场人士称为变相的延迟付款计划(deferred payment scheme，简称DPS)安排。
和延迟付款计划不同的是，买家在购买房子之后，首先需要和银行签订贷款配套，由银行鉴定买家的信贷和付款能力。在公寓建设期间，发展商将替买家付贷款利息，等到公寓完工之后，买家就接手偿还本金和利息。
此外，利息承担计划只提供给直接向发展商购买房地产的买家，买家如果将房子转卖，接手的买家不能在利息承担计划下受惠。
在过去的延迟付款计划下，买家可以等到公寓完工前才向银行申请贷款，意味着只要买家支付头期的款项，即使没有申请银行贷款，也可以买下售价上百万元的私宅，而转卖时，接手买家也可能继续受惠。
另一方面，环球信贷危机爆发后，不管是个人还是企业申请任何贷款都非常困难。提供这类配套的发展商就等于将银行和买家“撮合”，不必担心在房子完工后找不到银行贷款。
10年前面世并不受欢迎
利息承担计划并不是个新贷款产品，早在10年前已面世。
据了解，这个计划最初是由大华银行连同一家本地发展商共同开发的，但前几年并不受欢迎，直到政府在前年10月撤消了延迟付款计划后，才开始热起来。
大华银行贷款部主管林世约指出，与其直接给予价格上的折扣，发展商提供利息承担计划等于以另一个方式给予折扣，让项目能在市场上脱颖而出。
业内人士告诉本报，利息承担计划的幕后运作相当繁琐，银行必须分别向发展商和买家收钱，同时得承担双方面的违约风险。一般上，只有当发展商要求，银行才会为即将推出的私宅项目量身定做这样的贷款配套。提供这类配套的大多是小型发展商。
除了大华银行外，马来亚银行和华侨银行也曾与发展商携手推出延迟付款计划。星展银行则曾以“零分期付款房贷计划”（zero instalment home loan scheme ）的名义，让买家在公寓领取临时入伙准证之前免付分期付款，但在去年10月已终止了这项配套。
买家应选利息承担计划 还是分阶段付款计划？
买家应选择利息承担计划还是分阶段付款计划(progressive payment scheme)？林世约表示，这取决于个人在新公寓建设期间的财务情况和贷款安排喜好。
打个比方，如果是还在偿还现有贷款的组屋提升者，也许希望在新公寓建设期间，减少每个月的现金支出，直到新房子建好，现有房子卖出了才开始偿还新房子的贷款。在这样的情况下，买家应该考虑利息承担计划，以帮助他们管理现金支出。
不过，如果买家希望尽早偿还房贷，林世约建议，应该选择分阶段付款计划。
并不是所有申请利息承担计划的人都能获得批准。
林世约表示，买家的信贷信誉是银行主要的考量，银行将在买家购屋时，评估他们在公寓完工后的本金和利息偿还能力。
发展商可能抬高房价
天下没有免费的午餐。
房屋贷款咨询网站www.HousingLoanSG.com创办人吴加万提醒，由于发展商须承担一些风险和成本，提供利息承担计划的发展商可能把房价抬高，或给予较少的折扣。
以Caspian共管公寓为例，申请分阶段付款计划的买家能享有10％的回扣，若选择利息承担计划，买家只能享有7％的回扣，而省下的利息只占房子价格的约2％左右。比如一间卖价为65万元的两房式公寓，若不选择利息承担计划，买家可享有约2万元的折扣，而申请计划的人，所省下的利息仅为1万多元。这也是为何，七成的Caspian共管公寓买家，还是选择了普通的分阶段付款计划。
不是每个公寓项目都提供利息承担计划，只有在发展商向银行特别要求提供这类配套的项目，买家才能申请。
发展商只与一银行合作 买家无法货比三家
由于发展商一般只与一家银行携手提供利息承担计划，吴加万指出，计划所征收的利息可能较高，买家也许将错过市场上最优惠的配套。
他说：“若选择普通的分阶段付款计划，买家可以选择任何银行的房屋贷款配套，货比三家，找出最优惠的配套。”
由于买家支付的房价较高，星展银行发言人指出，在利息承担计划下购买的房子，所需付的印花税较高。
此外，发言人也提醒，由于在公寓完工之前，买家无须偿还任何本金，因此公寓完工后每月的分期付款也会较高。
至于可预见的风险，吴加万提出：“若发展商面对财务困难，在建设期间无法偿还利息，买家就必须接手偿还。”
对此，林世约表示，银行在选择发展商作为合作伙伴时非常谨慎，以免上述情况发生。
另外，过去的延迟付款计划被指是鼓励炒卖的祸根，卓登新达国际(Chesterton Suntec International)研究部主管陈瑞谨指出，由于买家在完工前不必付款，利息承担计划还是有可能引发炒卖。
在利息承担计划下，买家付20％的头期，然后在新公寓完工之前，接下来三四年不必支出任何款项。什么样的买家适合申请利息承担计划？申请者又该注意什么？
Chinese Property Hunters Catch On To US Bargains
Source : The Business Times, February 14, 2009
Slumping US real estate prices are proving to be irresistible to many
(Beijing)BEIJING lawyer Ying Guohua is heading to the United States on a shopping trip, looking not for designer clothes or jewellery, but for a US$1 million home in New York City or Los Angeles.
He expects to get a bargain. Mr Ying is part of a growing number of Chinese who are joining tours organised especially for investors who want to take advantage of slumping US real estate prices amid a financial crisis.
ATTRACTIVE INVESTMENTS - The United States has plenty of unsold homes to offer - some 3.67 million, according to the National Association of Realtors
'It's a great time to buy because of the financial crisis, and houses in large cities like New York and Los Angeles will definitely go up in a few years,' Mr Ying said. The home is an investment, but he's also planning long term: He hopes his five-year-old son might use it if he goes to college in the US.
While China's ultra-rich have been buying property in the US for years, the buying tours are new, made attractive by still-rising Chinese income levels and American real estate prices that have been falling for two and a half years.
More than 100 Chinese buyers have joined such tours since late 2008, according to Chen Hang, the China-born vice-president of real estate at Fortune Group. The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, company shows foreclosed commercial property to Chinese buyers. 'The Chinese are going to seize the opportunity to take advantage of some great deals,' Mr Chen said.
Mr Ying, the Beijing lawyer, is one of 40 investors going to New York, California, Boston and Las Vegas on a Feb 24-March 6 tour organised by Beijing-based SouFun Holdings Ltd, a real estate website. SouFun plans to show participants foreclosed properties priced at US$300,000 to US$800,000.
'We never thought these tours would garner such interest, but we've had an overwhelming response,' said SouFun CEO Richard Dai. 'Before, we heard of Chinese or Hong Kong movie stars buying homes in the US, and now more and more Chinese can afford to have the same.'
The home-buying opportunities mirror a larger trend. Cash-rich Chinese companies are looking to buy resources made suddenly cheaper by the downturn or companies suffering under the global debt meltdown. On Thursday, the Aluminum Corp of China, also known as Chinalco and the world's leading aluminium producer, invested US$19.5 billion in debt-burdened global miner Rio Tinto Group - China's biggest overseas investment to date. Because the authoritarian government has imposed controls limiting China's exposure to international capital flows, the country has largely avoided the worst of the global financial crisis.
Meanwhile, high-level incomes have continued to rise. China had the world's fifth-largest population of millionaires in 2008 with 391,000, up 20 per cent from the previous year, according to Boston Consulting Group.
But Chinese with money in the bank have few good investment options at home. Real estate prices have cooled and stock prices peaked in October 2007 after a two-year boom that saw shares rise six-fold in value. After years in which foreign money poured into China to take advantage of the hot economy, economists estimate that tens of billions of dollars began leaving the country in the last three months of 2008 as Chinese investors began bargain-hunting.
Chinese buyers are looking at both commercial property and homes to rent out or use on business trips. And the US has plenty of unsold homes to offer - 3.67 million as of the end of December, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Many buyers are unfamiliar with US markets, so they focus on well-known ethnic Chinese neighbourhoods, according to John Wu, president of the Chinese American Real Estate Professionals Association in San Gabriel, California.
Lion's Property Development Group in New York City organises Chinese groups to visit New York homes. The company also treats visitors to Broadway shows and famous restaurants in hopes that they will take to the city and buy a US$1 million to US$2.5 million home. -- AP
Slumping US real estate prices are proving to be irresistible to many
(Beijing)BEIJING lawyer Ying Guohua is heading to the United States on a shopping trip, looking not for designer clothes or jewellery, but for a US$1 million home in New York City or Los Angeles.
He expects to get a bargain. Mr Ying is part of a growing number of Chinese who are joining tours organised especially for investors who want to take advantage of slumping US real estate prices amid a financial crisis.
ATTRACTIVE INVESTMENTS - The United States has plenty of unsold homes to offer - some 3.67 million, according to the National Association of Realtors'It's a great time to buy because of the financial crisis, and houses in large cities like New York and Los Angeles will definitely go up in a few years,' Mr Ying said. The home is an investment, but he's also planning long term: He hopes his five-year-old son might use it if he goes to college in the US.
While China's ultra-rich have been buying property in the US for years, the buying tours are new, made attractive by still-rising Chinese income levels and American real estate prices that have been falling for two and a half years.
More than 100 Chinese buyers have joined such tours since late 2008, according to Chen Hang, the China-born vice-president of real estate at Fortune Group. The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, company shows foreclosed commercial property to Chinese buyers. 'The Chinese are going to seize the opportunity to take advantage of some great deals,' Mr Chen said.
Mr Ying, the Beijing lawyer, is one of 40 investors going to New York, California, Boston and Las Vegas on a Feb 24-March 6 tour organised by Beijing-based SouFun Holdings Ltd, a real estate website. SouFun plans to show participants foreclosed properties priced at US$300,000 to US$800,000.
'We never thought these tours would garner such interest, but we've had an overwhelming response,' said SouFun CEO Richard Dai. 'Before, we heard of Chinese or Hong Kong movie stars buying homes in the US, and now more and more Chinese can afford to have the same.'
The home-buying opportunities mirror a larger trend. Cash-rich Chinese companies are looking to buy resources made suddenly cheaper by the downturn or companies suffering under the global debt meltdown. On Thursday, the Aluminum Corp of China, also known as Chinalco and the world's leading aluminium producer, invested US$19.5 billion in debt-burdened global miner Rio Tinto Group - China's biggest overseas investment to date. Because the authoritarian government has imposed controls limiting China's exposure to international capital flows, the country has largely avoided the worst of the global financial crisis.
Meanwhile, high-level incomes have continued to rise. China had the world's fifth-largest population of millionaires in 2008 with 391,000, up 20 per cent from the previous year, according to Boston Consulting Group.
But Chinese with money in the bank have few good investment options at home. Real estate prices have cooled and stock prices peaked in October 2007 after a two-year boom that saw shares rise six-fold in value. After years in which foreign money poured into China to take advantage of the hot economy, economists estimate that tens of billions of dollars began leaving the country in the last three months of 2008 as Chinese investors began bargain-hunting.
Chinese buyers are looking at both commercial property and homes to rent out or use on business trips. And the US has plenty of unsold homes to offer - 3.67 million as of the end of December, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Many buyers are unfamiliar with US markets, so they focus on well-known ethnic Chinese neighbourhoods, according to John Wu, president of the Chinese American Real Estate Professionals Association in San Gabriel, California.
Lion's Property Development Group in New York City organises Chinese groups to visit New York homes. The company also treats visitors to Broadway shows and famous restaurants in hopes that they will take to the city and buy a US$1 million to US$2.5 million home. -- AP
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