Leisure Plan Drawn Up To Enhance Recreational Options In Singapore

Source : Channel NewsAsia, 21 May 2008

In the near future, one will be able to stroll, jog or cycle around the whole of Singapore just by following an extensive route.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is developing a 150-kilometre round-island path as part of its Leisure Plan.

Overview of Gardens by the Bay site

National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan revealed details of new recreational options at the Architectural Design Awards 2008 ceremony on Wednesday.

The round-island route will be developed over the next 10 to 15 years, but up to two-thirds of the path – which includes the Punggol Coastal Promenade – could be ready in just five years.

At three and a half times the length of the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE), the route will comprise existing and new park connectors, waterfront promenades and other trails.

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It will also cover leisure destinations at the Marina Bay, Changi Point and the upcoming Jurong Lake District.

Mr Mah said: "We may be the first and only people in the world to be able to take a relatively easy walk around our whole country. You can spend a morning with your family at East Coast Park, enjoy the sea breeze at the new coastal promenades at Punggol and Woodlands, or take an evening stroll through our hilltops at the Southern Ridges."

Besides visiting the rustic countryside and farms at Lim Chu Kang, the more adventurous will also be able to trek along new nature trails to the 17-hectare Kranji Marshes.

Furthermore, the National Parks Board will be launching a Wetland Master Plan in the Sungei Buloh area to promote "bio-learning" activities.

Cheong Koon Hean, CEO of URA, said: "We already have the very beautiful Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, which we will enhance. We will add 21 hectares of park land around it to protect the ecology of the entire system.

"The agri-tainment sites have been introduced because a lot of people just want to get away and experience farmstays, so we are creating opportunities to do that. Some sites will be tendered out for agri-tainment use."

Singaporeans can also look forward to more quiet retreats, which will be made available with 900 hectares of new green spaces, including the new Gardens by the Bay and the Diary Farm Nature Park.

Authorities also plan to triple the existing park connector network from the current 100 kilometres to 360 kilometres within 15 years.

Waterways like the one in Bukit Chermin will be made more accessible. At the same time, urban planners are considering converting some of the black-and-white bungalows there into boutique hotels or spas.

The URA has also come up with ideas to transform Singapore into a 24/7 city. One way is to create more lifestyle hotspots like the one at Dempsey Hill. In the years ahead, new chill-out places will be found at the Lakeside Village in Jurong and Kallang Riverside.

Some other leisure plans will be happening much sooner this year. Come July, the National Heritage Board is holding a Night Festival at the Bras Basah area, followed by the Singapore Tourism Board's Singapore River Festival in September.

Besides hosting more programmes, URA said improvements like better night-lighting, new street furniture and more attractive activity spaces will be introduced to create a better ambience for people to enjoy the nightlife in Singapore. - CNA/so

No Takers At All For Hotel Site In Little India

Source : The Straits Times, May 22, 2008

This is the first time in 7 years a govt land tender has failed to draw any bids: URA

A HOTEL site on top of the Little India MRT station had yet to attract a single offer by the time its tender closed yesterday.

This is the first time in seven years that no bid has come in for a government land site, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said.





















It released the 0.9ha plot at the junction of Race Course Road and Bukit Timah Road for sale in February, touting it as a parcel located within a historic and vibrant tourist destination.

Property consultants offered several reasons for the lack of interest in the site, ranging from its less-than-desirable location in Little India to the cheerless mood prevailing in the property market.

Mr Colin Tan, the head of research and consultancy at Chesterton International, suggested that the Little India site failed to draw bids because of the area's 'image problem' and the crowds.

'The hotel sector is one of the brightest spots in the market, so I see no other reason the site should have no bids,' he said.

But Mr Ku Swee Yong, the director of business development and marketing at Savills Singapore, said the problem might lie with 'budget' hotel plots.

'Because of higher construction costs, it's getting tougher to generate good profits for three- and four-star hotels,' he said.

Prospects for the hotel industry remain strong, with visitor arrivals expected to rise because of the upcoming Formula One Grand Prix and the integrated resorts.

But even the hotel sector could be affected by the overall gloomy market sentiment, said some experts.

'The last time we saw no bids for a site was when the market was very weak; it's usually a sign of poor sentiment,' said Mr Nicholas Mak, the director of research and consultancy at Knight Frank.

'The overall property market is getting more uncertain, and developers or investors may think that it's too risky to commit right now.'

He also suggested that the market could be saturated with hotel sites. Since January last year, the URA has sold five parcels and made seven more available for applications from interested parties.

The Little India site is one of two hotel plots on the URA's 'confirmed list' of land sales for the first half of this year, which means the site was launched for outright sale rather than put on the 'reserve list' for developers to indicate interest.

All eyes are now on the other hotel site on the confirmed list, at Balestier Road, which was launched for outright sale in March. The tender closes on July 16.

Market watchers said the lack of response to yesterday's tender could lead the URA to put fewer sites on the confirmed list next month, when it announces its land sales programme for the rest of the year.

The last time a URA site closed without any bids was in February 2001, when two residential plots in Lengkong Empat and Geylang drew no interest at all.

Zero Bids For Hotel Site Is First In Seven Years

Source : The Business Times, May 22, 2008

Consultants cite weak economic sentiment, large site for 500 rooms

A HOTEL site at Race Course Road has failed to receive a single bid. According to the Urban Redevelopment Authority, not since February 2001 has there been a launch of a development site through the Government Land Sales Programme (GLS) that did not take off.

The 0.9 ha site at the junction of Race Course Road and Bukit Timah Road has a maximum permissible gross floor area (GFA) of 338,417 sq ft, and is next to Little India MRT station. It was launched for sale by public tender through the confirmed list under the GLS programme for the first half of 2008.

While sites on the confirmed list are generally thought to have the potential to be developed faster than those on the reserve list, developers obviously did not think so.

Knight Frank director (research and consultancy) Nicholas Mak said that the poor showing could be 'a signal to relook the quantum of land for hotel use in the confirmed list of the next GLS programme'.

In April, the government released another site on the confirmed list for sale at Balestier Road and Ah Hood Road.

In addition, there are also eight hotel sites on the reserve list currently.

Mr Mak said there could be three reasons for the Race Course Road site not receiving any bids: location; weak economic sentiment; and oversupply. He also said it was more likely to be a combination of the latter two reasons.

Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels executive vice-president and head of corporate advisory (Asia) Chee Hok Yean believes that the sheer size of the site could have put potential bidders off.

Earlier estimates had put the range of bids at between $400 - $700 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr).

Estimating that the site could yield 500 rooms for a three-star hotel at a possible bid price of $500 psf ppr, Ms Chee believes that land price of $170 million would have been too hefty for a potential hotel developer of this category to bear. 'Construction costs have also gone up,' she added.

While Ms Chee also added that investor sentiment is generally weak at the moment, she said that average room rates and occupancy levels in Singapore have remained high, suggesting that there is no issue with an oversupply of hotel rooms here yet.

S'pore Luxury Homes Ninth Most Expensive Globally

Source : The Business Times, May 22, 2008

Market supported by jet-setting high net-worth individuals: report

LUXURY homes in Singapore are the second most expensive in Asia and the ninth most expensive in the world.

According to a report by Citi and Knight Frank, luxury home prices here are now US$2,423 per sq ft.

High living: At US$2,423 per sq ft, S'pore luxury home prices are topped only by HK, where they cost US$4,507 psf. Even Tokyo is cheaper at US$2,334 psf

The only place in Asia where they are more expensive is Hong Kong, where they cost US$4,507 psf. Even Tokyo is cheaper than Singapore, coming in third most expensive at US$2,334.

Worldwide, London is the most expensive, followed by Monaco and St Jean Cap Ferrat (France) at US$6,191, US$5,888 and US$5,853 psf respectively.

The global luxury home market is supported by jet-setting high net-worth individuals who think nothing of owning homes on every continent.

As an example, the report describes a Brazilian/Russian family that owns apartments in New York, Geneva, Ibiza and, until recently, Singapore.

The family reportedly spends equal periods at each property, with business and social ties meaning they find it possible to change location for long or short periods with ease.

'In many ways, none of their properties is regarded as either a primary or secondary residence,' the report says. 'In fact, they feel equally at home in all of them.'

The report ranks high net-worth individuals in four categories - those with US$1 million to US$10 million; US$10 million to US$100 million; US$100 million to US$1 billion; and more than US$1 billion.

It found that 15.7 per cent of entry-level high net-worth individuals own four or more homes. In the second, third and fourth (the richest) categories, the respective percentages increased to 23.3, 31.5 and 60 per cent.

Importantly, the report found that in both developed and emerging economies, uncertain economic and political conditions did not affect the growth in numbers of high net-worth individuals, with the growth of their wealth, 'similarly undimmed throughout 2007'.

Citing data from Scorpio Partnership, the report says the most significant growth in 2007 was in the US, where the number grew almost 120,000 to 3.1 million. China had the second-largest increase, with the figure rising almost 46,000 to 373,000 - almost as many as Germany.

'Despite the credit crunch, extraordinary wealth creation has continued across the global oil and commodity sectors,' the report says.

An example of the strength of the global luxury home market is that in London the number of £pounds;10 million-plus sales in Chelsea, Knightsbridge and Belgravia rose 190 per cent in the six months to January 2008 from the same period a year earlier.

In the US, where prices fell 4.5 per cent over the past year and 4.2 per cent in New York generally, prices for prime Manhattan properties rose 25 per cent.

Knight Frank's head of residential research Liam Bailey said: 'Prime locations have held their own. London, New York, Shanghai and others are proving that almost any residential market tied to the global economy maintains confidence among purchasers.'

Hopes Of Property Market Rebound Fading

Source : The Business Times, May 22, 2008

Uncertain economy, housing glut fears seen taking toll on developers

HOPES that a slowdown in Singapore's property market is temporary are fading as an uncertain economic outlook and a looming housing glut threaten to plunge the sector into a prolonged downturn.

Homebuilders such as CapitaLand, Keppel Land and GuocoLand have delayed launching new projects in the moribund market, taking a hit to first-quarter earnings as they hoped for a rebound later this year.

Housing hurdle: With home prices expected to fall 30 to 40 per cent over the next three years, Singapore's developers could be badly hit

Prospects could be dented further in coming months if smaller developers face financing troubles and have to unload properties at massive discounts. Some have gorged themselves on expensive land acquisitions over the past two years.

With home prices expected to fall 30 to 40 per cent over the next three years, Singapore's developers could be badly hit and analysts may slash their earnings estimates further.

'This is the start of a multi-year price correction. Private residential property prices could easily fall by up to 30 per cent by 2010,' said Barclays Capital economist Leong Wai Ho.

Credit Suisse in a report this month saw rents and property prices falling even more steeply by as much as 40 per cent, and downgraded its investment recommendation for the sector to 'underweight'.

Warning signs have been flashing as first quarter 2008 sales volumes slumped to the lowest in five years and price growth slowed for two straight quarters, with concerns about a global economic slowdown and the US sub-prime mortgage crisis scaring off potential homebuyers.

Mr Leong said an impending oversupply will worsen the problem, with 66,000 new homes expected to be completed over the next four years, against forecast demand for 50,000 in the same period.

The three-month Singapore Interbank Offered Rate - a benchmark for mortgage loans - has fallen to near record lows below 1.3 per cent, but that may not be enough to revive buyers' flagging confidence, economists say.

'Negative real interest rates will be at best a cushion, rather than a boost to housing demand in the near term, although they could lift property demand if and when sentiment turns,' said Citi analyst Kit Wei Zheng.

'The worst is yet to come and price cuts are imminent,' said ABN Amro analyst Fera Wirawan.

BNP Paribas has flagged high financial risks for small developers including Bukit Sembawang, Low Keng Huat and Lian Beng, which have almost all their debts due within a year. Even major builders such as Allgreen, Keppel Land and GuocoLand could face difficulties after steep drops in profit in the last quarter as they launch fewer projects, analysts say.

Slower sales and rising costs could raise developers' gearing or debt-to-equity ratio to dangerous levels above 70 per cent, up from the industry average of about 62 per cent.

'We identify three developers, namely Allgreen, GuocoLand and Keppel Land, that could face some pressures on cash flow,' JPMorgan analyst Christopher Gee said in a report, noting that gearing levels could be pushed up to between 80 and 130 per cent.

The risk of price falls has been heightened by property speculators buying in recent years with little upfront cash, relying on a deferred payment scheme. The government scrapped the scheme last October in a bid to cool down the sector.

Analysts expect speculators will dispose of about 700 units on the cheap this year, and another 2,000 next year, as the properties near completion and instalments are due.

Some developers are still counting on home prices in the city state to rise for at least another year, as they see the market in the middle of an upswing even as the US housing market grapples with its worst downturn since the Great Depression.

'This is a temporary hiccup. We just had a boom starting in 2006 and it's usually a seven-year cycle,' property tycoon Kwek Leng Beng, who heads Singapore's No 2 developer City Developments, told Reuters. The property market will be supported by greater foreign investments as Singapore sees the completion of two casino projects and the influx of major events such as Formula One races and the Youth Olympics over the next few years, Mr Kwek argued.

But Barclays' Mr Leong said his bearish scenario, which calls for a near one-third drop in property value, already takes into account any boost resulting from these economic developments. 'It's not the worst-case scenario. This is the most likely scenario based on the numbers,' he said. -- Reuters