Tag Archives: Real estate

Government to release four residential sites

Posted on 20 Apr 2013 | Comments Off on Government to release four residential sites

Government to release four residential sites estimated to yield 1,800 housing units in April 2013.

To provide developers and home-buyers with more choices in private housing, the Housing & Development Board (HDB) and Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) will be releasing four residential sites for sale in April 2013 under the Government Land Sales Programme for 1st half 2013. These four sites can collectively yield about 1,800 residential units.

One Executive Condominium site at Anchorvale Crescent and two residential sites at Fernvale Close and Faber Walk are launched for sale today under the Confirmed List. The fourth site, an Executive Condominium site at Punggol Central, will be launched on 29 April 2013 under the Confirmed List.

The tender for the Punggol Central site will close on the same day as two other Executive Condominium sites at Punggol Drive and Yuan Ching Road – 30 July 2013. The latter two sites will be launched for sale in June 2013. The move to close the tenders on the same day is being initiated in response to feedback from the public and real estate industry that this could help moderate tender bids and, in turn, future property prices. The sites were chosen on the basis that all three are meant for Executive Condominium developments and slated for launch during the second quarter of this year.

Land Parcel at Anchorvale Crescent
The site is located in close proximity to Farmway LRT station and Tampines Expressway (TPE). It is also near Sungei Punggol, Sengkang Riverside Park, Sengkang Floating Wetland and Sengkang Sports & Recreation Centre.

Land Parcel at Faber Walk
Situated within an established residential estate, the 1.5 ha land parcel has direct access to the Ulu Pandan Park Connector, and is also near the commercial amenities at Jurong such as IMM, JCube, and the upcoming JEM and Westgate.

Land Parcel at Fernvale Close
The site is located in close proximity to Layar LRT station and has frontage to Sungei Punggol and the nearby facilities and amenities like Sengkang Riverside Park, Sengkang Floating Wetland and Sengkang Sports & Recreation Centre. The upcoming Seletar Mall is also located within walking distance.

Land Parcel at Punggol Central/Edgedale Plains
The site is located in close proximity to Oasis LRT station and Tampines Expressway (TPE). Amenities and facilities in Punggol town include the award-winning My Waterway @ Punggol, the Punggol Promenade and commercial malls such as Punggol Plaza and the upcoming Waterway Point.

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Posted in Government, HDB, Land Sales, Property Market / Real Estate

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Foreigners adjust budgets to buy Singapore properties

Posted on 13 Apr 2013 | Comments Off on Foreigners adjust budgets to buy Singapore properties

Foreign buyers of Singapore properties have not totally fled the market, despite the higher taxes that they have to pay following tough cooling measures.

More are finding it worthwhile to adjust their budgets, just to get their hands on their dream homes.

A market flushed with cash and low borrowing rates has made investors all over the world to seek safe havens in Singapore properties in the last few years.

This has propped property prices faster than economic growth can catch up.

It has also led the government to come up with a series of cooling measures.

Among them is the introduction of Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD).

When an ABSD of 10 per cent was first imposed on foreigners buying Singapore property in December 2011, the number of foreign buyers dipped 73.3 per cent on-quarter in the first quarter of 2012.

But when the ABSD was raised to 15 per cent in the seventh round of cooling measures introduced in January, the number of foreign buyers decreased at a slower rate of 15.9 per cent.

DWG’s senior research manager, Lee Sze Teck, said: “For the previous cooling measures, when the government came out with that, foreigners were shocked they had to pay ABSD – Additional Buyers’ Stamp Duty – on their first property purchase.

“This time round, when the revised ABSD came out, it is only an increase in the tax rates. So in a way it is more acceptable to them. So the dip in foreigners is less pronounced than the dip in Singaporeans and permanent residents.”

From January 12, Singaporeans must pay ABSD of 10 per cent on their second property and permanent residents 5 per cent on their first property.

Still, foreigners who are exempted from paying ABSD – mainly those from countries which have Free Trade Agreements with Singapore – could be a potential market for developers.

DTZ’s associate research director, Lee Lay Keng, said: “For foreign buyers, I think they (the developers) can look at the groups of foreign buyers that are not affected by ABSD measures, the ones that have the same tax treatment…US citizens, nationals from Iceland, Switzerland, Norway and Lichtenstein.”

Most analysts Channel NewsAsia spoke to said it would take some months for a clearer direction of where the property market is heading after the seventh round of property measures was imposed in January.

Demand could still come from a large pool of first-time Singaporean buyers who are unaffected by any cooling measures, which are fast becoming a norm in Singapore and Hong Kong.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 13 Apr 2013

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Posted in Property Market / Real Estate, Tax Matters / Property Tax

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