Tag Archives: Singapore Property

Ban It ?

‘The issue here is cash over valuation.’

MR JASON ZHENG: ‘As a young couple, my fiancee and I cannot compete against buyers with access to cash, which is what most sellers ask for now. I have failed in my attempts at half-yearly sales, so the only option is resale flats. The issue here is cash over valuation (COV). The HDB discourages it because of financial prudence, and refuses loans to cover it. Yet most sellers demand substantial COV. Given the situation, why not ban COV? Alternatively, let HDB loans cover COV.’

Undersupply

‘Should the HDB build 19,000 flats a year instead?’

MR STEVEN YEO: ‘How did the HDB determine that building 8,000 new flats a year is sufficient to meet demand? There are seven applicants for each new flat. For example, there were about 24,000 marriages last year, which means only one-third of newlyweds will get a new flat. The other 16,000 must buy resale or private property. If 80 per cent of the population qualify for subsidised flats, should the HDB build 19,000 flats a year instead?’

Three-room flat

‘What percentage of income will a single Singaporean earning $2,500 a month pay?’ Continue reading

Deals stay hot on bungalow fever

Good times continue to roll for the Good Class Bungalow (GCB) market, with some high-profile business personalities involved in the latest transactions. They include palm oil giant Wilmar International’s chairman and CEO, Kuok Khoon Hong, and Prima Group boss Bernard Cheng.

The latest deals have boosted the volume of GCB transactions between January and August this year to about 60 deals with a total value of around $900 million, surpassing the $830 million transacted in the whole of last year, latest figures from CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) show. The actual year-to-date numbers could be higher if caveats for some deals done in August have still not been lodged, suggest property market watchers.

CBRE’s director, luxury homes, Douglas Wong is now predicting record GCB sales totalling $1.2 billion to $1.4 billion for the whole of this year, encompassing 80-90 transactions – up from his earlier forecast of around $1.1 billion-$1.2 billion made just three weeks ago. Up to now, the highest full-year value of GCB transactions was achieved in 2006 – involving $1.23 billion across 119 deals.

Savills Singapore director of investment sales & prestige homes Steven Ming said that while the GCB market remains active, ‘buyers continue to approach purchases with measured optimism and are sensitive to price increases’. Continue reading