Daily Archives: 23 Sep 2009

City Dev buys partner’s half-share in Futura JV

Posted on 23 Sep 2009 | Comments Off on City Dev buys partner’s half-share in Futura JV

Elad Group’s stake in Leonie Hill condo firm amounts to $35.1 million

CITY Developments Ltd (CDL) has bought partner Elad Group’s half-share in their equal joint-venture company that owns the Futura condo site at Leonie Hill in Singapore, for about $35.1 million.

Futura: City Dev and Elad paid $287.3 million for the freehold residential property in October 2006

The two bought the freehold residential property for $287.3 million in October 2006 at $1,179 per square foot per plot ratio.

The cash consideration for the half-share, which was arrived at on a willing buyer, willing seller basis, represents a discounted value of the aggregate capital contributions of Elad Group Singapore to the joint-venture company, K-El Sun Investments, CDL said in a statutory filing with Singapore Exchange yesterday evening.

‘Elad remains our partner in the South Beach consortium,’ a CDL spokeswoman said in response to BT’s queries on the status of the group’s other joint venture involving US-based Elad Group, which is owned by Israeli billionaire Yitzhak Tshuva.

In December last year, BT reported that Elad was said to be looking for buyers for its one-third stake in the South Beach project as well as its half-share in Futura.

CDL teamed up with Elad and Dubai World to clinch the plum South Beach site opposite Raffles Hotel at a state tender in 2007 during the property bull run for almost $1.69 billion.

The three hold equal shares in the joint venture.

In November last year, CDL announced a deferment of the project’s construction until construction costs ease. The project was originally slated for completion by 2012, although the consortium has up to 2016 to complete the development under the sales terms for the 99-year leasehold plot. Continue reading →

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Watching HDB price behaviour, sensibly

Posted on 23 Sep 2009 | Comments Off on Watching HDB price behaviour, sensibly

THERE is a rising pitch of anxiety evident in queries and feedback about HDB housing in recent months. These have centred on affordability mainly, no surprise considering that the sudden spurt in private property prices since July has boosted HDB values, which already were holding better during the recession. Hence, complaints about cash over valuation. Why don’t buyers exercise their democratic right to not pay a premium by looking in towns less ‘prime’? Home buyers have also touched on policy issues like household income ceiling and the operation of ethnic quotas. National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan addressed most outstanding grouses in a well-timed statement in Parliament last week, but such is the variety of need and the habits of personal preference that assurances would still leave some home-seekers unconvinced.

Affordability is a bugbear, which in turn influences notions of supply relative to demand. Median income and the ratio of household income used for loan service (up to 30 per cent, as a general rule) cited by the minister are indicative of most people’s ability to pay, but these are rough guides. In every flat type of up to five rooms and the corresponding price ranges, households which fall below the median income line could progressively be less able to own their homes. That’s a lot of families. Financing difficulty can also arise when a family chooses a bigger flat than it can pay for, or needs. There are far too many of these big-is-better purchasers. But this is also where the comprehensiveness of HDB’s income-differentiated schemes and the different types of supporting grants available reinforce affordability. Continue reading →

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