Thursday, June 25, 2009

永久地契新公寓价格 过去三个月平均涨28%

Source : 《联合早报》June 25, 2009

私宅销售额连续几个月报捷,售价也跟着水涨船高。过去三个月,新的永久地契公寓项目售价平均上涨了28%,而新的99年地契公寓项目售价则起了13.2%。

世邦魏理仕(CBRE)根据呈报给市建局的买卖禁令(caveats)进行的最新研究发现,本地私宅价格在今年第二季里直线上升,较第一季高,以获市场重视永久地契公寓项目的价格涨幅最为显著。

今年4月至6月期间,永久地契的新公寓项目售价平均为93万8000元。相比之下,同样的永久地契公寓单位在1月至3月期间平均为73万3000元,涨幅为28%。

世邦魏理仕研究部指出,新永久地契公寓项目的售价上扬主要是因为今年首三个月出售的Alexis、Newton Edge、Parc Sophia、RV Suites和The Mercury等项目单位为“鞋盒型”,面积小,整体售价较低。第二季推出市场的IResidences、The Arte、Versilia On Haig等的单位则属于较大型的家庭式单位。

不过,以尺价来比较,第一季售出的项目中数价位较第二季来得高,介于1000元至1200元,第二季的则为830元至925元。不过,第二季的数据没有把最近以较高尺价出售的Martin Place Residences、The Wharf Residences和One Devonshire等包括在内。这些项目的中位数价格介于每平方英尺1150至1650元之间。如果计算在内,预计将使第二季中数尺价超越第一季的平均1051元。

至于像水之轩(Caspian)、新乐园(Mi Casa)等99年地契公寓项目,今年第一季的平均售价为69万6000元,但在过去三个月则上涨至78万8000元,涨幅为13.2%。尺价方面,99年地契公寓项目的每平方英尺655元售价要比第一季高6.9%。

世邦魏理仕私宅部执行董事陈金道指出,本地股市飙涨,加上发展商给予的诱人折扣,推动楼市销售情况回升到接近2007年高峰期的水平。

找到买家单位 次季料比首季多

世邦魏理仕预测,今年第二季成功找到买家的单位预计介于3500至4000个,较第一季的2596个来得多。这个水平与2007年高峰期每一季平均有3700个单位出售,不相上下。

另外,根据买卖禁令上的地址,世邦魏理仕指出,今年上半年买新房者主要为组屋提升者,占65%。相比之下,组屋提升者去年只占所有新私宅购屋买的44%。

组屋提升者也活跃于转售市场,占了整体买家的49%,比去年全年的33%来得多。这使转售私宅项目的售价在今年第二季走俏。世邦魏理仕的研究显示,过去三个月,永久地契公寓项目的转售价较第一季高8.2%,而99年地契公寓项目的转售价则增加了2.9%。若以尺价为比较,则分别起了1.4%和10.1%。

在昨天发布的有关转售私宅单位的报告中,仲量联行(JLL)研究部主管蔡炎亮博士指出,转售市场是在新楼盘买气回暖后的近一季后才开始动起来。

他表示,由于转售价格合理具吸引力,需要立即迁入房子的组屋提升者,以及认为能取得良好出租回报的投资者选择在过去几个月进场,带动转售市场热起来。

尽管私宅转售价已回升,见证最大涨幅的大众化私宅项目在第二季平均起了9.4%,达每平方英尺580元,但蔡炎亮指出,这依然比2008年第一季的高峰价低17%,处于市场能负担得起的价位。

比如位于蔡厝港的北桦苑(Northvale),虽然转售价在过去三个月上涨了16%,但尺价仅为485元。同样的,位于淡滨尼的濠景园(The Tropica)的转售价虽涨了14%,但尺价只回升至560元。

高档豪宅的转售市场也呈现类似的景象。根据仲量联行(JLL)统计的资料显示,虽然高档豪宅的转售价在过去三个月回升了7.8%,平均达每平方英尺1800元,但考虑到高档豪宅的售价在去年第二季至今年第一季之间退低了45%,一些买家认为目前是进场的时机。蔡炎亮指出,高档豪宅目前的平均转售价依然比去年第一季高峰期低24%。

尽管如此,蔡炎亮提醒,在没有获得国内生产总值回升的支撑下,楼市回暖的趋势无法持久,被抑制的需求、折价新项目和具吸引力的贷款配套等因素无法长久地驱动楼市。

Home Resales In May Increase 2.4%

Source : The Business Times, June 24, 2009

LATEST US DATA

(WASHINGTON) Home resales in the US rose in May for a second month as record foreclosures caused prices to drop.

Purchases increased 2.4 per cent to an annual rate of 4.77 million, lower than forecast, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said yesterday. The median price fell 17 per cent, the third-largest decrease on record.

Tax breaks for first-time buyers in the Obama administration's stimulus plan, falling property values and lower mortgage rates have helped support the market. At the same time, any recovery is likely to be limited with unemployment rising and borrowing costs shooting back up.

'We're seeing some signs of stability,' Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James & Associates in St Petersburg, Florida, said before the report.

'A lot is going to depend on mortgage rates if they stay low. You're still looking at a lot of supply out there and it's going to take a long time to work through all of that.'

Economists forecast that existing sales would rise to a 4.82 million rate, according to the median of 74 projections in a Bloomberg News survey. Estimates ranged from 4.6 million to five million. April's reading was revised down to a 4.66 million pace from 4.68 million.

May's sales pace was the strongest since October and last month's gain marked the first back-to-back increase since 2005.

May traditionally is one of the top three sales months of the year as the weather turns warmer and families prepare to move before the start of the next school year, according to the NAR. The group adjusts the figures for these seasonal variation in order to facilitate month-to-month comparisons.

Sales were 3.6 per cent compared with a year earlier.

The number of houses on the market dropped 3.5 per cent to 3.8 million in May, NAR said. At the current sales pace, it would take 9.6 months to sell those homes, compared with 10.1 months in April.

While the loss has devastated some families, others were able to buy a house for the first time because of the drop in values. The federal government is trying to stabilise the market by offering lenders incentives to modify the terms of delinquent mortgages and the Federal Reserve has pledged to buy mortgage-backed securities to free up funding for home loans. -- Bloomberg

Widjaja Family Member Buys Cree Court For $53m

Source : The Business Times, June 24, 2009

Price paid by Frankle for the freehold site on Dalvey Rd works out to $800 psf

THE Good Class Bungalow (GCB) market continues to buzz with activity.

Frankle Widjaja, a member of the family that controls the Sinar Mas group, is understood to have recently inked a deal to buy Cree Court along Dalvey Road.

Changed hands: Cree Court, on 65,416 sq ft of land area, can be redeveloped into a maximum of four GCBs

Mr Widjaja, who sits on the boards of Asia Food & Properties and Golden Agri-Resources, is said to have signed a sale and purchase agreement to buy Cree Court for about $53 million, which works out to slightly over $800 per square foot based on the site's freehold land area of 65,416 sq ft.

Cree Court is a four-storey development comprising 12 apartments. The site is in a designated Good Class Bungalow Area, which means that it can be redeveloped only into GCBs.

Based on the minimum plot size of 1,400 square metres (about 15,069 sq ft) stipulated for a GCB, the Cree Court site can be redeveloped into a maximum of four GCBs. Of course, Mr Widjaja may also develop a single luxurious bungalow on sprawling grounds, a market watcher suggested.

The seller is The Asia Life Assurance Society, part of Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co group. The sale is understood to have been brokered by Peter Ng of HRL Properties and Helen Li.

The $53 million fetched for Cree Court under the recent deal is lower than the $58 million that another party had agreed to pay last year for the property. However, that deal was aborted a few months later, with the buyer forfeiting a deposit of least 10 per cent of the purchase price, BT understands.

That unsuccessful buyer is understood to be an entity linked to Agus Anwar, a Singaporean businessman linked to Kapital Asia Pte Ltd, an investment holding company.

Asia Life Assurance Society bought Cree Court in 2000 from DBS Bank for $24.07 million or $368 psf.

The bank had sold the asset as part of its strategy of divesting non-core assets.

Cree Court's latest buyer, Mr Widjaja, runs his family's China property business and is credited with spearheading the development of the Sinar Mas group's Westin Bund Center in Shanghai.

91% Of Woodleigh Condominum Sold

Source : Channel NewsAsia, 23 June 2009

Developer Frasers Centrepoint said on Tuesday that 91 per cent of its 8@Woodleigh residential project has been sold following a weekend preview.

The mass market development comprises 330 units, out of which 302 have been snapped up during the past four days.

Frasers said it will now release the remaining units for sale and there will be no public launch.

The 99-year leasehold property comprises a mix of two to four-room units and studio apartments. They were sold at an average price of S$790 per square foot.

Some 97 per cent of the buyers are Singaporeans, and over half of them are upgraders from public housing flats. - CNA/yb

Waiting For The Right Time

Source : The Business Times, June 20, 2009

CapitaLand will launch new projects only when they can fetch prices the developer wants.

BUYERS may be rushing back to the private housing market, but CapitaLand is in no rush to release new projects. 'If we think there is potential in a piece of land when the market recovers, there is really no need for us to rush to launch it,' CapitaLand Residential Singapore's chief executive Patricia Chia told BT in an interview.

MS CHIA - The Silver Tower site - renamed Urban Resort Condominium (next) - and the Char Yong Gardens site will hit the market first, towards the end of the year when the new malls in Orchard Road are up and running

CapitaLand has sold more than 150 residential units in Singapore so far this year, versus less than 100 it sold last year. Most recent sales were at The Wharf Residence, one of several properties in the mid- and high-end sectors to benefit from a recent rise in optimism. Last month, buyers took up 1,668 apartments, setting a year-high.

While CapitaLand's sales have picked up, they are still far behind those clocked up in 2006 and 2007 when it sold some 2,400 units. Robust take-up in those two years has relieved pressure to sell today, Ms Chia said.

CapitaLand has more than 2,700 units in the works - from the Silver Tower, Char Yong Gardens, Gillman Heights and Farrer Court sites it acquired some years back. It plans to start launching them after the third quarter of 2009 at the earliest.

The units represent some 4.5 million sq ft of space. CapitaLand's effective stake is close to two million sq ft while its partners in some of the projects hold the rest.

According to Ms Chia, the Silver Tower site - renamed Urban Resort Condominium - and the Char Yong Gardens site will hit the market first, towards the end of the year when the new malls in Orchard Road are up and running.

'That period will enable us to really maximise the value for these two developments,' she said.

The Urban Resort Condominium will have 64 units and the Char Yong Gardens plot will yield around 150. The freehold parcels, next to each other, will feature complementary resort-style designs, courtesy of Kerry Hill Architects.

In a June 10 report, Kim Eng analyst Wilson Liew estimated the projects will sell for an average of $2,000 psf.

The 99-year leasehold Gillman Heights plot is next in line for release, and some 1,000 units should be ready for launch at the start of 2010. CapitaLand and its consortium partners took more than two years to close the $548 million deal last month and will begin redevelopment after November, when all residents have left.

The group has appointed OMA - known for the CCTV headquarters project in Beijing - to design the project. There will be 'a lot of attention to space', to tie in with the site's proximity to the southern ridges, said Ms Chia.

Kim Eng's Mr Liew has estimated a breakeven cost of $753 psf for the site, with an average selling price of $900 psf.

Among the last to come on-stream will be the Farrer Court site near Farrer Road, which CapitaLand bought with partners for more than $1.33 billion in 2007. The project, near the popular Nanyang Primary School, will comprise seven 36-storey blocks with around 1,500 units, offering residents a good view of the area, Ms Chia said.

'If we were to launch it today, we would not be doing justice to the site,' she said. The launch will happen 'when the market is ready to accept that location with the kind of pricing that we want'.

According to Urban Redevelopment Authority caveats, units at the 12-year-old Gallop Gables nearby sold for up to $1,312 psf last month. Reports last year suggested the breakeven cost for the Farrer Court project could range from $1,350 - $1,450 psf. But Ms Chia said that this should have fallen as construction and other costs have eased about 20 per cent since.

'We have a very strong financial position,' she said. 'It gives us quite a lot of flexibility to plan our launches.'

According to her, CapitaLand Residential Singapore typically has a market share of 8-10 per cent on a three-year moving average basis.

Ms Chia remains fairly upbeat on the property market here. The general consensus points to Asia as the economic growth leader, and Singapore is one of the few cosmopolitan cities in the region where asset values have corrected to 'reasonable' levels, she said.