Sunday, July 19, 2009

三房式组屋改头换面 “透明”小白屋豁然开朗

Source : 《联合早报》July 18, 2009

丹戎巴葛一个空置了五年的“高龄”三房式组屋,有了锤子作魔术棒,加上白色作魔法,在半个月时间里彻底改头换面,空间豁然开朗,干净但不冷清,简约却富层次。屋主余文耀和廖逸姿受访分享装潢心得,以及改变背后的巧思。

家居空间简洁明亮,余文耀和廖逸姿越来越喜欢呆在家,享受悠闲时光。

70平方米的三房式组屋是狭隘是宽阔,完全在于设计师和屋主的巧思。走到丹戎巴葛这座三房式组屋第N层的走廊尽头,推开厚实的纯白色大门,背后的白色世界让人眼前一亮。

原有的墙壁和柱子大多打掉了,单位的空间重新规划。其中一个睡房拆了,宽阔了客厅,腾出了饭厅,加上透过窗口投射进来的自然光线,洁白的墙壁又没挂上任何画作或相片点缀,空间尤显明亮。

原来,屋主余文耀(37岁,营销经理)夫妇两年半前迁入新居时达成共识,刻意让墙壁保持素白,让小房更整洁,空间感更佳。

古早味浓郁的风扇是客厅的焦点。而卧房和客厅之间的折窗有双层帘子,明暗可随心调适。

女主人廖逸姿(32岁,公关公司60 40 communications创办人之一)说:“墙壁少了装饰,感觉地方更大,没那么杂。选用完全透明的玻璃饭桌,也是顾虑到空间有限的问题。有些人认为这样感觉很冷清,但我认为只要善于选择家具和家居用品,还是能传达温暖。像地板分为水泥地和木板,感觉就很实在而且富层次。”

千元风扇成客厅焦点

客厅和饭厅的素净不只是因为简化的线条和白得彻底的墙壁与壁橱,灯饰的选择也扮演举足轻重的角色。

没错,留意客厅,怎么看不到灯?廖逸姿随手启动了开关,温暖的灯光安静降临;原来,夫妻俩选用了隐藏式灯具,大部分的灯都躲在屋梁和桁条背后。

完全透明的饭桌增加空间感。水泥地和木板的分隔,实在且富层次。

或许正因客厅和饭厅的素净,视觉不由得被引至客厅中央的风扇。正如展示厅的素白突出了展品,古早味浓郁的风扇成了客厅的焦点。

廖逸姿说:“风扇的设计独特,让人一见钟情。正好朋友在家具店工作,我们购买时有50%折扣,这盏1000元的风扇应该是家中最昂贵的家居品之一。”

这间白色小屋,余文耀夫妇花了3万元在改造和装修上,另再添置约1万5000元的家具装饰,完成心目中的理想住所。

再循环使用“小树”“花盆”和“脚踏车”

决定在客厅一角添置胶合板(plywood)立体装饰,则是机缘巧合。看似特别订做的装饰,其实都是免费的再循环物品。

客厅一角的胶合板(plywood)立体装饰,都是免费的再循环物品,树、花盆和脚踏车摆放在一起异常和谐

倚墙的“树”是某百货公司丢掉的装饰,由从事橱窗设计的友人找来;摆在地上的“花盆”是廖逸姿做手工用剩的物品;摆在最前方的迷你“脚踏车”,则是她过去从事活动策划时剩下的装饰。树、花盆和脚踏车,摆放在一起异常和谐,莫名其妙联想起刷白的农舍。

廖逸姿说:“这些物品没有重新油漆或加工,捡回来就这么用了。迷你‘脚踏车’很受欢迎,朋友带孩子来,小朋友都抢着要坐上去!”

家里一定要有旋转门

买下单位后,廖逸姿和余文耀把设计事务交给设计师朋友Daniel Pillai(One Design Studio创办人)。夫妻俩的要求主要是:要白,要明亮,还有要个旋转门。

余文耀笑说:“我们夫妻俩都喜欢旋转门,所以买新家时就决定,一定要有旋转门。但为什么喜欢,其实也说不出个所以然。”

木制的旋转门装在家中唯一的卧房,隔开卧房与客厅和饭厅,温婉的弧线柔美了居住空间。轻推旋转门进入卧房,确实有点梦幻的感觉。

厨房的主要设计元素定为白色和不锈钢,连冰箱都要符合主题。

余文耀透露,家里的窗口全都开着时,屋里通风,旋转门会自动慢转。想象木门随风的节奏转动,忽然想起游乐场的旋转木马——一二三慢慢转,启动了想象,也转动了美梦。

厕所透明 如厕不安全?

设计师大量使用玻璃,确实让空间更明亮,却让到访的亲友少了安全感。位于卧房的厕所完全透明,卧房和客厅之间又有透明折窗,许多亲友上门拜访,上厕所前都犹豫:客厅的客人是不是都看得到厕所的情形?

三房式组屋改头换面,设计简约却富层次

余文耀说:“其实不必担心,厕所装了帘子,卧房和客厅之间的折窗也有双层帘子,必要时可以拉上。”

深浅双层窗帘,一拉上就完全隔绝光线,拉开又能注入明亮。只要善于选择家居品,就算在玻璃世界里,还是可以保有隐私。

特别重视厨房的设计

余文耀喜欢烹饪,更喜欢烘焙糕点,所以特别重视厨房的设计。

除了添置达专业要求的炉灶、烘炉和微波炉,家里的冰箱也是特别选购。因厨房的主要设计元素定为白色和不锈钢,所以两人首先要找的是符合主题的冰箱。好不容易找到了手把为不锈钢的白色冰箱,接着才着手选购厨房其他装置。

位于卧房的厕所完全透明,但玻璃背后装了帘子,保护玻璃世界里的隐私。

廖逸姿说:“就连杯盘碗碟,我们都尽量选用透明玻璃和不锈钢,设计越简单越好。”

厨房设计不能只是表面功夫,尤其是余文耀每周至少下厨三次,厨房的实用性更重要。两人偏爱储藏空间绰绰有余的大抽屉,但考虑到抽屉就那几个,装的东西多而重,推拉时会有碰撞杂声,所以特别在抽屉两侧装了软质配件,不管多用力开关抽屉,都不会撞出杂声。

此外,考虑到午后阳光照射进厨房,不只刺眼还闷热,所以装了百叶窗解决问题。

廖逸姿说:“厨房是我们最喜欢的地方,除了在这里吃早餐,我们有时也直接坐在地板上喝啤酒chill out,感觉很棒。”

余文耀点头:“厨房简直是我们神圣的地方。”

旋转木门隔开卧房与客厅和饭厅,温婉的弧线柔美了居住空间。

屋子明亮舒服 朋友争着买

余文耀和廖逸姿三年前结婚,现在这个单位住了两年半。朋友到他们家作客,都对明亮、设计感佳的单位赞不绝口,甚至争着买。

廖逸姿笑说:“他们都问我们什么时候要搬家,想卖房时一定要让他们知道。至今好像已经有五个人说要买了。”

不过,夫妻俩住得安心、舒适,暂无搬迁计划。加上廖逸姿刚在几个月前创办公关公司60 40 communications,目前正忙着为何耀珊策划专辑宣传事务,更不可能花时间和精神找新居。

廖逸姿说:“其实家里太舒服了,我们现在都喜欢呆在家,反而懒得出门了。”

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Experts Expect 5 To 10 En-Bloc Deals In Second Half Of Year

Source : Channel NewsAsia, 16 July 2009

Observers say more en-bloc sales are on the cards as a result of improved sentiment and rising demand for land.

Laguna Park

One market player, Credo Real Estate - a leader in the collective sales market - said at a seminar on Thursday that it expects five to 10 cases in the next few months, with more to follow in 2010.

The seminar on en-bloc property sale was Credo's second in a week on the back of rising enquiries. Representatives from about 18 residential developments attended the seminar.

In the last two months, Credo received 10 calls about potential collective sales. There were also existing clients hoping to re-initiate the sales process.

Among them was the 528-unit Laguna Park in the east, which could be launched for collective sale next month.

Observers say the project is likely to attract consortiums rather than individual developers, given the scale of the development and its S$1.2 billion price tag.

Credo said that with the current conditions, owners should lower their asking price by 20 to 25 per cent, compared to prices during the boom time in 2007.

Karamjit Singh, managing director of Credo Real Estate, said: "But that gap can also quickly narrow if the pace of recovery picks up because where the outlook remains positive and end unit prices move up 10 per cent, land values move up even more than 10 per cent - there is an exponential effect at the pace which land values rise."

The company said it expects 30 to 40 en-bloc transactions next year, comprising mainly small and medium sized projects. For 2011, it projects about 18 collective sales deal will go through. This pales in comparison to the 87 residential property transactions done in 2007.

The failed sale of Horizon Towers and new rules on the conduct of sales committees and transparency of sale process will also affect transaction volume.

Industry players say the additional requirements will mean that potential en-bloc projects will take a longer time to hit the market.

The cost of putting a project on sale will also increase, given higher administrative costs and legal fees. -- CNA/yb

1.5m Homes In US Face Foreclosure

Source : The Straits Times, July 17, 2009

Housing woes continue to spread as more people become jobless

WASHINGTON: The number of Americans on the verge of losing their homes soared to a record in the first half of this year as more lost their jobs and were unable to pay their monthly mortgage bills.

More than 1.5 million properties received a default or auction notice or were seized by banks in the period, according to a report released yesterday by foreclosure listing service RealtyTrac.

The number of properties drawing such filings jumped 9 per cent from the second half of 2008 and almost 15 per cent from the first half of last year.

Despite the Obama administration's plan to encourage the lending industry to prevent foreclosures by handing out US$50 billion (S$73 billion) in subsidies, US housing woes continue to spread.

Experts do not expect foreclosures to peak until the middle of next year.

As many as 3.2 million households will get a foreclosure filing by the end of the year, said RealtyTrac's senior vice-president Rick Sharga.

Payment-option adjustable rate mortgages will contribute to higher defaults, he added. The option allows borrowers to pay less than the interest they owe each month, tacking on the difference to their total debt and creating the potential for bigger bills in the future.

About three-quarters of those loans will adjust to require higher payments next year and in 2011, with the peak coming in August 2011 when about 54,000 loans recast, according to data from First American CoreLogic.

Last month, as home prices continued to fall, foreclosure filings rose 5 per cent from May and 33 per cent from a year earlier. June's foreclosure activity was the third-highest on record, and the fourth straight month of filings on more than 300,000 properties.

At the Federal Reserve's June meeting, central bankers were less certain than they were in April over how the US economy will emerge from the recession.

Policymakers have differing assessments of how quickly credit markets will heal, and how effective a US$787 billion fiscal stimulus and US$1 trillion expansion of the Fed's balance sheet will be, according to the Federal Open Market Committee minutes released on Wednesday.

The range of unemployment forecasts for next year widened in June to between 8.5 per cent and 10.6 per cent, a 2.1 percentage point gap, from between 8 per cent and 9.6 per cent in April.

The range of projections for 2010 growth showed a gap of 3.2 percentage points, up from a 2.5 percentage point divide in April. The lowest forecast suggests the economy will grow just 0.8 per cent from this year's fourth quarter to the final quarter of 2010; the highest projects 4 per cent growth.

'The wide array of estimates...suggests that we really don't know how this economy is going to unfold in the coming months, let alone two years from now,' said Mr Richard Yamarone, head of economic research for Argus Research Corp. -ASSOCIATED PRESS, BLOOMBERG, REUTERS

Collective Sales To Trickle Back Into Market, Says Credo

Source : The Business Times, July 17, 2009

PROPERTY consultancy firm Credo Real Estate expects collective sales to resurface this year or next, but not with the same intensity as in the boom years of 2006 and 2007.

Some 5-10 collective sales may happen this year, said Credo's managing director Karamjit Singh. But they will probably involve small to mid-sized sites, as these tend to reach the market faster, he added.

This week, 72-unit Dragon Mansion became the first property launched for collective sale this year. There were more than 100 such transactions in 2007.

The outlook for 2010 is brighter, when some 30-40 estates may be sold en bloc, said Mr Singh. A collective sale is financially feasible when the land value exceeds the total value of individual units in the open market. Right now, this situation has yet to occur for most estates, he explained.

But even when the collective sale market picks up, it is unlikely to rebound to earlier levels. Owners may also have to trim their price expectations 20-25 per cent from peak levels, according to Mr Singh.

Owners may start asking for more if recovery in the property market accelerates, he said. Since February, private home sales have been buoyant, leading to greater optimism in the industry. Developers sold 1,825 new units in June - more than double the number sold a year ago.

As more stock is cleared, developers will want to replenish their land banks and that will drive collective sales, said Mr Singh. According to him, small developers in particular have started looking for smaller sites.

Calmer markets today are less likely to create contention in collective sales, much of which arose because of steep increases in land values, he said.

But new challenges have emerged. For instance, new legislation governing such deals may make it costlier and more time-consuming for estates to reach the market. Also, fewer owners may volunteer to join sale committees now that the law has spelt out their responsibilities clearly.

Frasers Launches New Service Residence Brand

Source : The Business Times, July 17, 2009

FRASERS Hospitality yesterday launched Modena - a new line of service residences which cater to a budget-conscious and highly mobile group of business travellers.

Home away from home: The Modena line of service apartments cater to a budget-conscious and highly mobile group of business travellers

Room rates at Modena will be around 20 per cent lower than those at properties under the existing Fraser brands. Some 1,000 apartments across five Modena properties will come on-stream in the next three years.

The launch is timely 'because companies are really looking at cost-cutting measures' and Modena will be 'a lot more palatable' for them, said Frasers Hospitality CEO Choe Peng Sum, who was in Tianjin, China yesterday to launch the brand. He heads the hospitality arm of Frasers Centrepoint, which is part of local conglomerate Fraser and Neave.

Apartments at Modena will be smaller than those under the Fraser brands. But Modena properties will have various facilities catering to 'road warriors' on the go, such as lobbies supplied with food and groceries, and 24-hour play rooms with gymnasiums and electronic game machines.

The first Modena property, with 272 units, will open its doors in Tianjin towards the end of this year or early next year. The second will be in Shanghai and another two will be in Suzhou. Frasers Hospitality will run them through management contracts.

The fifth Modena property - and also the flagship - will be ready in Singapore's Changi Business Park in Q1 2012. Frasers Hospitality will own and manage the 300-unit Modena Singapore, which is under construction at a cost of $124 million.

Guests could come from the business park, Singapore Expo and the fourth university which is under development at Changi.

Modena Singapore will be part of a 4.7 ha integrated business and lifestyle development - a $500 million joint venture between Frasers Centrepoint and Ascendas.

The economic downturn has not curbed Frasers Hospitality's ambitions for Modena. Negotiations are underway to expand the brand in Asia and Europe, and countries that it is interested in include India, France, the UK and Qatar.

Frasers Hospitality has also set itself a target of managing around 8,000 service apartments by 2010 and perhaps 10,000 apartments by 2012.

'In this economic downturn, we have a very contrarian view - we see this as an opportunity for step-up,' said Mr Choe. Modena for instance, may appeal to companies tightening their budgets, he explained.

Nonetheless, the picture for the service residences industry is not all rosy. In China and Singapore for instance, the economic downturn has pushed rates at Frasers Hospitality's apartments down by 15-20 per cent. Occupancy rates have remained relatively stable, in the 80-90 per cent range.

Frasers Hospitality has also shelved plans to set up a real estate investment trust for 'a few years' until the 'market is a lot more conducive', Mr Choe said. For similar reasons, it has postponed plans to set up private equity funds to invest in service residences.