Only One Collective Sale Done So Far This Year

Source : The Straits Times, Mar 18, 2008

This is a marked fall from about 25 done in the same period last year.

SOME residential estates are still pushing for a collective sale but they face a tough market in which such transactions have almost completely dried up.

Just one small deal has been sealed so far this year, dramatically down from about 25 in the same period last year, property consultants said.

GOING EN BLOC: Pastoral View got 80 per cent owner approval before last October's rule change but had waited for One Akyab to join the sale so as to offer a bigger site. -- PHOTO: NEWMAN & GOH

The sole deal was Link (THM) Holdings buying freehold Ban Guan Park in Holland Road for $31.1 million earlier this year, with plans to build landed homes.

The escalating United States sub-prime mortgage crisis and a jittery stock market have caused many property players to scurry to the sidelines.

In the months ahead, there will be very few, if any, collective sale launches and deals, said property consultants.

They are in no hurry to launch, given that developers have built up ample land banks for now and sales are slow.

CB Richard Ellis' (CBRE's) executive director of investment properties, Mr Jeremy Lake, said the firm is working on two to three projects but has nothing planned for the collective sale market in the first half.

After that, it will 'play it by ear', he said. 'To a large extent, the market has ground to a halt.' He added that the firm has declined to take on some very large collective sale sites.

Credo Real Estate managing director Karamjit Singh said the firm has plans to relaunch one or two collective sale sites at lower prices in the second quarter. If owners are not prepared to lower their prices, the firm is advising them to wait for the market to recover.

Some estates continue to work towards a sale, with the intention of going to market towards the end of the year, property consultants said.

Chiltern Park's sale committee is asking owners to each contribute $200 towards a fund to facilitate a collective sale.

Some others just want to go to market when they are ready.

'A lot of owners fail to understand the market has turned severely,' said an industry source. 'When your estate is not in the price range developers are excited about, it defeats the purpose of marketing it.'

Yesterday, Pastoral View near Novena MRT Station was put up for collective sale at a guide price of $95 million - slightly under $1,000 per sq ft.

The 52-unit freehold development obtained the minimum 80 per cent approval from owners before rules were amended last October. They had waited, unsuccessfully, for the 18-unit One Akyab next door to join the sale, so that they could offer a bigger site.

'The market is slow but two overseas developers have expressed interest in the site,' said the head of investment sales at marketing agent Newman & Goh, Mr Jeffrey Goh.

In a report yesterday, CBRE said Singapore's investment property sales market was 'surprisingly active' so far this year, with $5.91 billion deals registered, despite the uncertain global economy. Public land sales, such as the $1.25 billion sale of a hospital site in Novena, made up the bulk of investment sales to date.

Investment activity in the residential sector slowed considerably in the first quarter this year, contributing $2.23 billion to date in transacted value. This includes good-class bungalow sales and forms 38 per cent of total investment sales.

'Developers are no longer as keen to acquire more sites compared to last year, as most of them have built a relatively strong inventory of freehold residential sites from the robust collective sales market in 2007,' said the CBRE report.

The release of more affordable 99-year leasehold sites by the Government may sway some buying interest away from private prime freehold residential sites, it added. 'The investment sales market is likely to see a challenging year in 2008.'


SLOWING DOWN

QUIET OUTLOOK

THE escalating United States sub-prime mortgage crisis and a jittery stock market have caused many property players to scurry to the sidelines.

In the months ahead, there will be very few, if any, collective sale launches and deals, say property consultants.

They are in no hurry to launch, given that developers have built up ample land banks for now and sales are slow.

SOLE DEAL

Just one deal has been sealed so far this year: Link (THM) Holdings bought freehold Ban Guan Park in Holland Road for $31.1 million earlier this year, with plans to build landed homes.

UP FOR GRABS

Yesterday, the 52-unit freehold Pastoral View near Novena MRT Station was put up for collective sale at a guide price of $95 million - slightly less than $1,000 per sq ft.