Issue 27

Copyright 2011 www.Propwise.sg. All Rights Reserved.

CONTENTS
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p6 p12
Singapore Property News This Week
Taking the Road Less Travelled Part Two Resale Property Transactions (November 5 November 11)

FROM THE

EDITOR

Welcome to the 27th edition of the Singapore Property Weekly. Hope you like it! Mr. Propwise

p14 Singapore Property Classifieds #17

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 27

Singapore Property This Week

Residential
Sale prices at a new high for The Marq on Patterson Hill The freehold project which consists of two 24storey towers with a total of 66 units kept breaking record prices since May this year. In May, a 3,003-sq-ft, four-bedroom apartment in the Premier Tower in The Marq on Patterson Hill sold for a record price of $5,842 psf, this was broken in August with a new record of $6,394 psf, which was in turn broken by the $6,850 psf paid in the recent transaction. Despite the high prices, the luxury apartment market is slow compared to 2007. Singaporeans are more likely to purchase Good Class Bungalows (GCBs) which costs around the same. Foreigners who are not qualified to buy GCBs turn to luxury condominiums instead. While foreigners are still interested in purchasing property in Singapore, the uncertain global economy results in a higher demand for value buys or fire sales, which are harder to find in Singapore. SC Global, the developer, has been able to set record high prices because of the attention it paid to the quality, design and concept of its developments.

Queues for showflat even before official launch of Bedok Residences

The 99-year leasehold Bedok Residences consisting of 583 one, one-plus- study, two, three, and four-bedroom apartments and

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 27 penthouses has attracted a queue of more than 400 people at its showflat even a day before its official launch. The project located at Bedok Town Centre will be integrated with a shopping mall and a transportation hub linked to Bedok MRT station. While prices have yet to be finalised, they could range from $1,250 per square foot (psf) for the smaller units to $1,150 psf for larger units. Demand is expected to be high, with its good location and integration with amenities like a shopping mall and a transport hub. Far East SOHO to preview the 103-year leasehold The Scotts Tower The first project to be launched under the Far East SOHO brand of Far East Organisation, the 231-unit The Scotts Tower located at Scotts Road consists of 624 sq ft to 904 sq ft one- and two-bedrooms units as well as larger three-bedroom units and four-bedroom penthouses. Prices for the units in the 13storey tower will start from about $3,200 psf. While this is the first small office, home office (SoHo) under the Far East SOHO Brand, Far East have sold more than 1,000 SoHo apartments since 2004 in its other developments such as Central, The Tennery and The Cape. Top foreign homebuyers in Q3 Mainland Chinese Mainland Chinese (including PRs) were the top buyers of private homes in Singapore in Q3, accounting for 30.6% of the transactions in Q3. This is due to the property cooling measures in China, which led them to turn to overseas markets for property purchases.

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 27 Singapore with its good environment, well developed infrastructure and education system as well as its large Chinese population proves attractive to the Chinese. Chinese buyers were particularly keen on homes in the east, which made up 21.7% of their total purchases. Generally foreign purchases rose even as the total number of sales decreased, and this may lead to governmental measures limiting foreign purchases. HDB offers 4,200 new BTO flats, 95% reserved for first-timers Seven build-to-order (BTO) projects are launched by HDB, with 95% of the 4,200 new flats (excluding the studio apartments) going to first-timers. These projects include Acacia Breeze @ Yishun; Fajar Spring in Bukit Panjang; Golden Cassia in Bedok; Hougang Capeview and Hougang Dewcourt in
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Hougang; and Waterway Banks and Waterway Ridges in Punggol. The two Punggol projects which offers a scenic view being located near a waterway is are expected to be the most popular. There will be a further launch of 25,000 BTO units in 2012, with 3,890 new flats being offered for sale in Choa Chu Kang, Punggol, Sengkang and Tampines in January next year. 99-year leasehold residential site at Chestnut Avenue draws a top bid of $180m The highest bid of $180 million or $426 psf ppr for the 201,278 sq ft site with a maximum permissible gross floor area (GFA) of 422,688 sq ft came from SP International (S) Pte Ltd. Analysts expected the high number of bids given the high interest in the Foresque Residences site last year, and its location in Bukit Timah area.
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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 27 Commercial Good response expected for new 99-year leasehold Sengkang commercial site HDB has launched a 94,618 sq ft commercial site with corner frontage along Sengkang West Avenue and Fernvale Road. The site has a maximum plot ratio of 3.0, about a maximum allowable gross floor area (GFA) of 283,854 sq ft. Located near the Fernvale LRT Station, Tampines Expressway (TPE) and Central Expressway (CTE), it is expected to draw good response from developers since supply for sub-urban malls is limited. Bids are estimated at $800 psf ppr, since it is mainly for retail use rather than for mixed retailresidential use which would draw higher prices. The price also reflects competition from nearby malls.

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 27

Taking the Road Less Travelled Part Two

by Mr. Propwise This is Part Two of an interview with Getty Goh on his tips for investing in overseas property, and his experiences developing an overseas property project. In Part Two we ask Getty which countries have the most upside for property investors, how to find deals, how much capital you need to invest overseas, and his experience developing property overseas.

Getty is the author of two real estate bestsellers (Buy, Bye Property: Mistakes you want to Avoid in Property Investing and Buy Right Property: the R.I.G.H.T. Approach to Property Investing in Singapore), as well as the Director of Ascendant Assets Pte Ltd,
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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 27 a real estate research and investment consultancy based in Singapore. With his latest foray into Krabi, Thailand, Getty is adding development to his real estate CV. Getty has an MSc in Real Estate and a BSc in Building from the National University of Singapore. Which countries should overseas property investors look at? Which have the best potential upside? Different countries present different opportunities and challenges. Even within a single country, different locations present different investment potential. For example, in big countries like the US, places like New York (in the East Coast) present different opportunities as compared to places like San Francisco (in the West Coast). Even in smaller countries like Malaysia, opportunities in Kuala
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Lumpur are very different from Penang or Johor. So it is really not possible to pinpoint a particular place that has the best upside.

A location I would have considered had you asked me this question several months earlier is Bangkok, Thailand. After the Pheu Thai party won the Jul 2011 election with a landslide victory, the political outlook seemed to be stabilising and investor optimism was quite apparent. Unfortunately, the flooding of some parts of Thailand, including Bangkok, could not have come at a worse time. Apart from economic impact from the flood damages, investor sentiments are not very positive as many believe that Thailands flooding issue is a massive problem that cannot be quickly resolved.
However, some investors may adopt contrarian view and think that now is the a

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 27 perfect time to enter the Bangkok property market. With everybody staying at the sidelines, there are indeed some extremely good deals around. I must qualify that this strategy is not for everyone. However, if you have cash to spare and have a long investment horizon of between 5 to 10 years, this strategy may be a viable one for you. further to travel to places where I want to buy a property to check out the market there personally. When it comes to property investing, the phrase information is power is absolutely true. The more you know, the better your decisions are. So if you want to make money from property, whether it is local or overseas, just do what you can to learn as much as possible. How much capital do you need to have to invest overseas? It depends on where you are looking and what you wish to buy. I have come across a particular development in Malaysia that was truly no money down. Purchasers were able to get up to 90% loan while the remaining 10% came in the form of a developers discount. On top of that, that developer still gave a guaranteed rental to sweeten the deal further.
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What are the ways an investor can find overseas property investment deals?
As an investor myself, I have tried looking for properties in Malaysia, Bangkok and even in the US before. Avenues that investors can try are property exhibitions, property portals or magazines. If you flip the papers, you will see numerous overseas property exhibitions and I reckon that all of these are good starting points. However, I will not stop there and will go a step
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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 27 Before you get excited and call your property agents to find out which development that is, I must qualify that each unit costs more than RM$5 million. This high price tag is enough to put a lot of average investors off as the monthly repayment would be quite hefty. Nonetheless, overseas property is generally not as expensive as Singapore properties; with a start-up capital of between S$50,000 and S$100,000, you should be able to find something. The size and profitability quotient would really depend on which country you decide to invest in. Why did you decide to develop property overseas? The decision to develop property overseas stems from various factors. Primarily, I have
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always wanted to own properties abroad to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Singapore is within three hours flight time to many popular destinations e.g. Bali, Bangkok, and Phuket, hence it is extremely convenient for people living in Singapore to make a quick weekend getaway to one of these travel locations. Apart from my desire to own an overseas property, another reason that pushed me to look into overseas development was the lack of investment opportunities in Singapore. As I shared earlier, I really believe there are presently limited investment opportunities in Singapore with the anti-speculation measures and high land prices. I wanted to keep growing my money, hence after doing much research, I figured that it would make sense to venture overseas.
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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 27 What sort of obstacles did you have to overcome when doing an overseas property development? Almost anything can pose as an obstacle to the development. Obstacles can come in the form of weather, soil conditions, legal issues, financial challenges, design complications, finding buyers, government policies, environmental impact, etc.

The job of any developer is to overcome these obstacles and to make sure that the project is of as high a standard as possible, while remaining within budget and within the deadline. While it may seem fairly straightforward, it is actually very challenging to juggle the numerous aspects of the development all at once.
For me, it is an extremely humbling and enlightening experience. Ultimately, I now have much greater respect for those who have the courage and ability to do it.
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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 27

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 27

Non-Landed Residential Resale Property Transactions for the Week of Nov 5 Nov 11
Postal District 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 5 5 5 5 8 8 9 9 9 9 9 9 10 10 10 11 11 11 Project Name PEOPLE'S PARK COMPLEX PEOPLE'S PARK COMPLEX ICON INTERNATIONAL PLAZA QUEENS THE ANCHORAGE THE COAST AT SENTOSA COVE THE MAYLEA HERITAGE VIEW HERITAGE VIEW VILLA DE WEST OXFORD SUITES KERRISDALE CAIRNHILL RESIDENCES THE COSMOPOLITAN RIVERGATE VISIONCREST TIARA ASPEN HEIGHTS ARDMORE PARK THE HORIZON THE CORNWALL PARK INFINIA AT WEE NAM SHELFORD SUITES EVELYN MANSIONS Area (sqft) 1,119 1,119 560 1,496 1,195 1,378 2,024 1,227 969 1,195 947 678 2,379 904 1,324 1,023 947 893 2,691 2,885 1,722 1,701 1,335 1,270 861 Transacted Price ($) 950,000 870,000 1,068,000 1,350,000 1,480,000 1,550,000 4,149,200 1,530,000 1,060,000 1,300,000 870,000 900,888 2,282,880 2,100,000 2,800,000 2,138,000 1,720,000 1,580,000 3,560,000 8,300,000 2,710,000 2,100,000 2,250,000 2,040,000 1,270,000 Price Tenure ($ psf) 849 99 777 99 1,908 99 902 99 1,239 99 1,125 FH 2,050 99 1,247 FH 1,094 99 1,088 99 918 FH 1,328 FH 960 99 2,323 FH 2,115 FH 2,091 FH 1,816 FH 1,769 FH 1,323 999 2,877 FH 1,574 FH 1,235 FH 1,686 FH 1,606 FH 1,475 FH Postal District 11 11 11 11 11 11 12 12 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 16 Project Name ADAM PARK CONDOMINIUM ADAM PARK CONDOMINIUM AMANINDA THOMSON 800 THE ARCADIA THE TREVOSE THE CENTRIO TRELLIS TOWERS LE REVE THE WATERINA LE CRESCENDO THE SUNNY SPRING SUNFLOWER MANSIONS WINDY HEIGHTS ASTON MANSIONS GOODVIEW APARTMENTS EASTERN LAGOON HAIG COURT SUNSHINE REGENCY EMERY POINT KATONG PLAZA CASUARINA COVE NEPTUNE COURT LIVINGSTON MANSIONS EASTWOOD REGENCY Area (sqft) 958 958 1,270 1,625 3,810 3,627 980 1,647 786 1,356 947 1,044 893 2,476 1,012 1,292 893 1,550 764 1,324 1,528 1,389 1,636 2,034 452 Transacted Price ($) 1,405,000 1,318,000 1,730,000 1,900,000 3,900,000 3,200,000 1,385,000 1,785,000 857,000 1,440,000 947,000 880,000 730,000 2,010,000 811,000 790,000 1,070,000 1,728,800 820,000 1,360,008 1,450,000 1,300,000 1,380,000 1,430,000 668,888 Price Tenure ($ psf) 1,467 FH 1,376 FH 1,362 FH 1,169 FH 1,023 99 882 99 1,414 FH 1,084 FH 1,091 FH 1,062 FH 1,000 FH 843 FH 817 FH 812 FH 802 99 612 FH 1,198 FH 1,115 FH 1,073 FH 1,027 FH 949 FH 936 99 843 99 703 FH 1,480 FH

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 27

Postal District 16 16 16 16 17 17 18 18 18 18 18 19 19 19 20 20 20 21 22 22 22 26 27 Project Name RIVIERA RESIDENCES TANAMERA CREST FAIRMOUNT CONDOMINIUM BAYSHORE PARK BALLOTA PARK CONDOMINIUM BLUWATERS TROPICAL SPRING EASTPOINT GREEN THE TROPICA CHANGI RISE CONDOMINIUM THE TROPICA CHERRYHILL THE SUNSHINE KENSINGTON PARK CONDOMINIUM GOLDENHILL PARK CONDOMINIUM THE GARDENS AT BISHAN BISHAN 8 CAVENDISH PARK PARC OASIS THE MAYFAIR IVORY HEIGHTS SEASONS PARK EUPHONY GARDENS Area (sqft) 1,453 861 926 2,196 1,701 2,626 1,335 958 1,238 1,130 1,722 1,539 2,034 1,647 1,313 883 1,184 1,227 1,389 1,163 1,701 1,249 883 Transacted Price ($) 1,600,000 830,888 860,000 1,930,000 1,230,000 1,500,000 1,200,000 843,000 1,080,000 890,000 1,300,000 1,340,000 1,700,000 1,270,000 1,300,000 850,000 1,100,000 1,350,000 1,100,000 915,000 1,050,000 1,005,000 690,000 Price Tenure ($ psf) 1,101 FH 965 99 929 99 879 99 723 FH 571 946 899 99 880 99 872 99 787 99 755 99 871 FH 836 FH 771 999 990 FH 963 99 929 99 1,100 99 792 99 787 99 617 100 805 99 782 99

NOTE: This data only covers non-landed residential resale property transactions with caveats lodged with the Singapore Land Authority. Typically, caveats are lodged at least 2-3 weeks after a purchaser signs an OTP, hence the lagged nature of the data.

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 27

Singapore Property Classifieds #17

For Sale HDB Beo Crescent @ Tiong Bahru, 3 'S' Blk 24, high floor, well kept, lift floor, next to corner. 5 mins to MRT. Call Pearly @ 96838120 Bliss Residences @ Kembangan. FH 1500+sf 3+1BR Penthouse. Only $1000psf. 1 min to MRT, 15 min to CBD. Rooftop pool and BBQ. TK Tan 98206228.

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