Interest Picks Up In Strata Offices: Cushman & Wakefield

Source : The Business Times, May 7, 2009

Price gap between sellers and buyers also narrows in past few months

THERE has been a pick-up lately in activity and prices in the strata office market, says Cushman & Wakefield Singapore managing director Donald Han.

Rising: A 2,443 sq ft unit on the 38th floor of Suntec Tower 2 (right) sold for $1,780 psf last month

For instance, a 2,443 sq ft unit on the 38th floor of Suntec Tower 2 sold for $1,780 psf last month - above the recent low of $1,300 psf set in March for the entire 32nd floor of Suntec Tower 1, even after factoring in a 5-10 per cent discount for an entire-floor transaction, according to Mr Han.

At International Plaza in Anson Road, which is another popular location for strata office investors, a 17th level unit changed hands for $1,146 psf in March and a 16th level unit went for $1,100 psf in April - higher than transactions of around $1,000 psf in December last year on the same floors. The gap between sellers' and buyers' prices has also narrowed in the past few months.

'Late last year, after the Lehman fallout, the gap between sellers' asking prices and bids from buyers was as much as 30 to 40 per cent,' Mr Han said. 'This has narrowed to around 5 to 15 per cent today, which is why transactions are happening. Generally, vendors have become more realistic in their pricing.'

The latest transacted price at International Plaza of $1,100 psf is about 26 per cent lower than the level in May last year. 'The smart money is now looking at compelling price discounts from the peak rather than waiting to buy at the market-bottom,' Mr Han said. 'Once you see prices about 30-40 per cent off the peak, it provides compelling reasons to look seriously. Some of those who have bought at Suntec recently may be looking to locate their businesses in these premises, instead of renting.' Credo Real Estate managing director Karamjit Singh agrees that buying interest in strata offices has picked up, but notes that there are still few transactions.

'The market is going through a phase in which buyers' perception is slowly changing,' he said. 'Previously they were staying away or offering prices that worked in a huge buffer (against potential price falls). Today, buyers are more confident that the downside is limited, or prepared to stomach further downside as the good properties may not necessarily surface at the absolute bottom of the market.'

Some market watchers say there is liquidity in the marketplace for smaller strata transactions involving investments of under $20 million. 'One contributing factor is wealth creation from the more positive stock market,' said Cushman's Mr Han.

Global Economy To Turn

Source : The Straits Times, May 11, 2009

PARIS - GRIM data revealed the depths of distress in European industry on Monday but economists seized on strengthening signs of upturn in the months ahead.

The French and Italian data 'confirm that the sector is still in dire straits' and worsens the growth outlook for the eurozone. --PHOTO: AP

France and Italy reported a big slump in industrial output in March, but central bankers from the G-10 grouping of big economies meeting in Switzerland said the global economy was near a turning point.

Some countries were recovering, and declines in output were slowing elsewhere, they said.

'We are, as far as growth is concerned, around the inflection point in the cycle,' said European Central Bank head Jean-Claude Trichet.

The French state statistics agency INSEE reported a 1.4-per cent monthly fall in output, while in Italy the fall was much sharper: 4.6 per cent in March and almost 24 per cent on a 12-month basis, statistics institute Istat said.

In France 'the recession is going to continue, but it will probably be less severe in the coming months,' said analyst Frederique Cerisier of BNP Paribas bank, commenting on the new data.

Output from France's agricultural and food production sector dropped and the only major area of the economy to see growth was pharmaceuticals.

'Industrial activity continued to contract at the end of the first quarter at a relatively rapid pace, although slightly more moderate than during the last months of 2008,' Mr Cerisier said.

In Italy, production of textiles, metals and wood plunged, but manufacture of autos stabilised on a monthly basis, curbing several months of decline.

The French and Italian data 'confirm that the sector is still in dire straits' and worsens the growth outlook for the eurozone, said analysts at consultancy Capital Economics.

The OECD grouping of leading economies said on Monday that the downturn in some recession-hit countries was easing. Its key CLI economic indicator rose in recession-hit Britain and Italy and in France and non-OECD member China. The indicators in major member countries 'continue to point to deterioration in the business cycle, but at a decreasing rate,' the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said in a report. -- AFP

兀兰、淡滨尼和榜鹅 三镇将建新租赁组屋

Source : 《联合早报》May 11, 2009

为满足更多人租赁组屋的需求，建屋发展局将在更多组屋区兴建新的租赁组屋。而先前宣布建于新镇的租赁组屋将在今年底推出，以让有需要的家庭更快地找到安身之所。

建屋局自上世纪80年代停止建造租赁组屋以来，首次恢复兴建这类组屋。

除了之前宣布的三巴旺、义顺和蔡厝港区，建屋局也决定在另外三个组屋区：兀兰、淡滨尼和榜鹅，建造新的租赁组屋。

首批建于三巴旺的新租赁组屋在年底推出，协助纾缓租赁组屋供不应求的问题。（程友明摄）

经济放缓，更多人面对失业或被裁的窘境，低收入家庭对租赁组屋的需求也大为增加。建屋局因此正加紧改建及增建租赁组屋，准备把租赁组屋的供应，从现有的4万余个单位增至2012年的5万个，其中的1450个单位预计在今年落成。

该局发言人回答本报询问时说：“为应付低收入家庭对新镇租赁组屋日益增加的需求，同时确保各组屋区拥有平衡的居民结构，新的租赁单位将建在那些没有或拥有较少租赁组屋的组屋区内。”

第一批建于三巴旺的租赁组屋就是一个例子，目前该市镇并没有任何租赁组屋。

即将在今年第四季推出供低收入者租用的两座新租赁组屋，就位于坎贝拉路（Canberra Road）第510座组屋毗邻，总共建有286个单位。

这两座新组屋各高14层楼，其中60%的单位是一房式组屋，其余是二房式单位。

记者昨天到场观察，两座租赁组屋都已建到顶层，其中一座外墙也已开始油漆，并装置了铁窗架。它们原定明年第一季完工，现在提前建好。

三巴旺集选区议员林伟杰医生受访时指出，这两座租赁组屋靠近地铁站，附近也设有巴刹和便利店等设施，相当方便，相信推出后会很受欢迎。

他指出：“目前三巴旺没有租赁组屋，最靠近的是在马西岭和义顺，相信这两座新组屋会很抢手。”

林伟杰透露，他在接见选民时，经常会有兀兰、淡滨尼和榜鹅低收入、失业或退休居民因供不起房子而要求租用组屋。

他说：“租赁组屋向来供不应求，这些居民经济上有困难，他们已习惯住在北部，所以希望可以在北部找到租赁组屋”。

国家发展部长马宝山是在前年初宣布会在三巴旺、义顺和蔡厝港兴建976个租赁组屋单位，预计它们最迟会在明年初建好。

其中，义顺和蔡厝港将分别建有352和338个单位。

此外，当局也陆续把文礼、兀兰和红山的旧组屋改建成租赁组屋，以解决燃眉之急。

根据建屋局早前公布的数据，租赁组屋等候名单上申请者约有4550人，每月有约300人加入申请。

为确保受巨额津贴的租赁组屋不被滥用，建屋局较早前提高了申请租赁组屋的门槛，希望把申请人数减少三分之一，并在两年内把成功申请者的等候时间缩短一半，让真正有需要的贫困家庭更快有栖身之所。

Developer Says: Time To Pay Up; Buyer Says: Give Me More Time

Source : The Straits Times, May 9, 2009

51 units in luxury condo bought under deferred payment

ANOTHER buyer who purchased luxury condominiums in bulk under the deferred payment scheme is now having trouble paying up.

Keppel Land said yesterday that an Indonesian investor who bought 51 units at The Suites @ Central in Devonshire Road has asked for more time to cough up the final payments.

The investor paid $1,806 per sq ft (psf) for the freehold apartments, which were bought in June 2007, Keppel said in a filing to the Singapore Exchange. It would not disclose the total price of the units or whether the investor is an individual or an institution, such as a company or a fund.

But a check of the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA) Realis caveats shows that a series of 51 units were sold at that time for a total of $127 million. The units were not bought in a single block and do not appear to make up entire floors, but span the second to the 33rd floors.

The units were bought under the deferred payment scheme. This means the buyer made a downpayment of 20 per cent of the purchase price and then deferred the rest of the payments until the apartments were completed.

The Suites @ Central was completed in February, but the buyer failed to pay up on time.

Two other buyers, both Singaporeans, also missed the payment deadline, Keppel said. One had bought two apartments in the fully-sold project; the other had bought three.
Keppel has received payment for the other 101 apartments in the 157-unit project, which is a 60-40 joint venture between Keppel and Chip Eng Seng.

The Indonesian buyer has asked for an extension of the payment deadline in order to 'arrange funds for payments', Keppel said.

The developer has agreed to a six-month extension starting from yesterday, but is requiring the Indonesian buyer to pay $500,000 per month during the extension period. The first payment has already been received, Keppel said.

Other developers have also recently reported problems collecting payments for units they sold under the deferred payment scheme.

MCL Land ran into trouble last month with the buyer of its Fernhill condominium off Stevens Road. The buyer, reported to be a company called Concordia Overseas controlled by a Hong Kong resident named Chan Ki, had purchased all 25 units in the project and managed to resell five soon after.

But when the time came to make payment for the 20 units it still owned, Concordia missed a few deadlines. It subsequently managed to resell 19 units in time to meet the final deadline, but reportedly at a loss.

The price Concordia paid for the units was $1,410 psf, but the Business Times reported that it fetched only $1,180 psf for the 19 units it resold.

Market watchers said that if the Indonesian buyer of the 51 units at The Suites @ Central has to offload the apartments in a hurry, it may end up making a loss.
The average price of apartments at the project has fallen to about $1,470 psf, according to five caveats lodged for units that have been sold so far this year.

More buyers with payment problems could surface in the coming months, as the property slump coincides with the fallout from the deferred payment scheme, which was scrapped in October 2007.

Some 29,250 homes planned for completion between last year and 2013 were offered with the deferred payment scheme, the URA revealed last year. Analysts have estimated that about 14,000 were actually sold under the scheme.

But even if a handful of buyers default, it may not be statistically significant, noted Mr Nicholas Mak, director of research and consultancy at Knight Frank.

At CapitaLand's RiverGate, about 2 per cent of buyers have missed payments since the project was completed in March, the developer said on Thursday. Most of the project's buyers had opted to take the deferred payment scheme.

'Two per cent is not an alarming figure,' said Mr Mak. 'Once in a while you get cases like a single buyer unable to pay for 51 units but, if you look at the bigger picture, it may just be a small proportion.' But he added that next year will be the time of reckoning, as many projects that were sold during the height of the market - in the second half of 2007 and early last year - will be completed then, with the bulk of their payments due.

买下The Suites 51单位 大买家没钱付款要求宽限

Source : 《联合早报》May 9, 2009

延迟付款计划(DPS)的“杀伤力”进一步浮出台面。继MCL地产的The Fernhill，以及嘉德置地的汇锦园(RiverGate)后，吉宝置业的The Suites @ Central也出现了收款方面的问题。

吉宝置业已是本星期来，连续第三家向交易所呈报收款问题的本地房地产上市公司。

它昨天发表的文告说，一名一口气扫下The Suites三分之一，即51个单位的大买家，要求公司宽限一些时间来让他筹钱。公司已经答应通融他6个月，不过他必须在这6个月内，每个月支付50万元。

“我们已经向这名买家收取了第一笔的50万元付款。”据了解，这笔50万元的款项，除了用来偿还欠款外，也包括了利息。

吉宝置业不愿透露这名大买家的身份，不过，据了解，这是一个外国机构，在新加坡拥有一些房地产投资。该机构在2007年6月利用延迟付款计划，以每平方英尺1806元一口气买下51个单位。它当时支付了20％的首期，其余80％尾数原本应该在最近缴清，不料却要求发展商“赊账”。

被拖欠的这笔尾数，确实金额不详，不过市场人士估计，以每平方英尺1445元计算，这51个单位的剩余八成屋价，动辄上亿元。

坐落于德文莎路（Devonshire Road）和圣多马径(St Thomas Walk)的The Suites（前称Ritz Residences），是一个拥有157个单位的豪华共管公寓项目。最小的单位是只有630平方英尺的套间公寓，最大的是面积约3730平方英尺的顶层豪宅单位。

这个33层楼高的永久地契项目，是由吉宝置业与集永成，通过一个占60％对40％的联营公司发展的。

吉宝置业透露，The Suites在今年2月取得临时入伙准证。它至今已收得101个单位的全数款项，另外两名买家所买下的5个单位，被安排在本月缴付尾数。

这相信是本地至今最大一宗因提供延迟付款计划而被“赊账”的房地产交易。

上个月，MCL地产（MCL Land）也传出可能被一名香港籍买家拖欠3000万元尾数的消息。该公司随后发文告澄清，这名买家虽然没有在5月4日之前支付剩余的欠款，不过却已通知公司，他已经卖出手头上的19个单位，并承诺在本月26日的最后期限内完成交易，因此整宗交易不会被取消，公司会在第二季度业绩中纳入销售有关单位的收入和盈利。

前天，嘉德置地也发表文告说，它在罗拨申码头发展的汇锦园共管公寓，自今年3月取得临时入伙证以来，已经收到98％的尾数，其余2％，即11个单位的“收款行动还在进行中”。

据了解，这11个单位有的已经接到发展商的最后通碟，这也就是说，它如果不在接到通知单的21天内付清尾数，发展商就有权取消（repudiate)整宗交易，充公对方支付的20％首期；或者是起诉对方，向它追讨剩余的欠款，包括这段期款内损失的利息。

市场人士指出，汇锦园是一个拥有545个单位的大型共管公寓单位，只有11个单位被拖欠尾数，比例其实不太大。

“由于这些单位都握在不同买家手里，发展商应该还有可能在最后期限内收回部分的尾数。反而是The Suites和其他至今都还没有申报收款情况的项目，更令人担心。”

由于今年是私宅单位的完工高峰期，再加上楼价已经从2008年的巅峰下跌了21.2％，市场人士都密切留意，之前以延迟付款计划卖出的房子，是否会出现买家悔约情况。

一般相信，今明两年将是延迟付款计划的“杀伤力”开始浮现的时候。这是因为楼价一旦跌破当初买价的八成，买家即使把房子卖掉还要倒欠发展商，就很可能出现悔约的情况。虽然发展商有追讨欠债的法律权力，但由于一些买家是外国人，而且一买就是好几个单位，发展商即使胜诉也不容易行使法律权力，无形中就像是抱着一枚枚的定时炸弹。