Singapore Property Weekly Issue 58

Issue 58 Copyright © 2011-2012 www.Propwise.sg. All Rights Reserved.

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CONTENTS p2 Singapore Property News This Week

p6 Singapore Property Prices Defy

Gravity to Reach an All-Time High

p11 Resale Property Transactions

(June 13 – June 19)

Welcome to the 58th edition of the Singapore Property Weekly. Hope you like it! Mr. Propwise

FROM THE

EDITOR

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 58

Singapore Property This Week

Page | 2 Back to Contents

Residential

Prices for high-end homes likely to fall by

10-20%

As the average price gap between the high-

end and the mass market residential market

narrows from 98% (from Q1 2004 to Q1 2012)

to 82% in Q1 2012, the high-end home prices

will likely fall a further 10-20% as a result of

the ABSD. The mass market and shoebox

units, however, are benefitting from the low

interest rates and increased liquidity, with the

mass market residential prices potentially

increasing up to 5% and the shoebox units

sustaining the higher price premium of 7-9%

over non-shoebox units though this may

change in 2015.

Signs of change have already been seen, with

transactions in the outside central region

(OCR) and rest of central region (RCR) in the

range of $1,200 - $1,300 psf and transactions

in the core central region (OCR) in the range

of $1,600 - $1,700 psf. The number of OCR

shoebox units could inflate by 450% by 2015,

potentially leading to a 10-20% fall in rents.

Six levels of AA Centre at River Valley

Road up for sale by expression of interest

Together, the first six levels of freehold AA

Centre at River Valley Road is asking for $90-

100 million. The 32 vacant serviced

apartments on these levels have a total strata

area of 55,574 sq ft and are part of a 14-

storey mixed-used development on a



33,751-sq-ft site with a 127,712 sq ft gross

floor area. The building also includes 90 car

parking lots located in the basement level for

common use. Zoned for residential use with

an allowable plot ratio of 2.8, the site can be

built up to 10 storeys. The expression of

interest closes on Aug 7.

Suburban condos above 506 sq ft saw

1.9% price increase

According to NUS's Singapore Residential

Price Index (SRPI) series, the sub-index for

the Non-Central Region (excluding small

units) increased by 1.9% from December

2011 to May 2012 while the sub-index for

small units (up to 506 sq ft) islandwide and

the Central Region (excluding small units) fell

by 0.1% and 2% respectively. This may be

due to the demand for completed suburban

apartments from owner occupiers and

investors catering to expats with a smaller

budget. Units in the Central Region, however,

are mainly catering to investors and foreigners

with deeper pockets affected by the ABSD

and the negative global economic outlook.

Shoebox apartments remain attractive since

their lump sum price is more affordable. The

overall SRPI increased 1.5% in May from

April, with the sub-index for small apartments

islandwide having increased by 0.9% and the

sub-indices for the Central Region and Non-

Central Region having increased by 0.8% and

2.2% respectively.

99-year Pheng Geck private condo site

draws $114.8m top bid

The site located at Pheng Geck Avenue near

Potong Pasir MRT Station attracted a total of

13 bids with the winning bid of $114.8 million

or $628.22 psf ppr from Santarli Corporation.

The high number of bids reflects the

developers' confidence in sustained demand



for developments near MRT stations. There is

also a parcel of land opposite the plot which is

zoned for commercial development and it

could support a shopping mall the size of Nex.

Santarli plans to launch a 240-unit 18-storey

development with mainly two and three-

bedroom units and some one- and four-

bedroom units in nine months. The estimated

breakeven cost and average selling price are

around $1,000 psf and $1,300 psf

respectively.

Faber Drive Bungalow up for sale at

$12.5m

A two-storey bungalow with a swimming pool

sitting on an 11,719 sq ft land at Faber Drive

is up for sale by expression of interest, with an

indicative price of $12.5 million or $1,067 psf.

Located near The Clementi Mall, Clementi

Bus Interchange/ MRT Station, and the

National University of Singapore, the plot

could be subdivided subdivided into two

smaller plots with houses of at least 4,305 sq

ft. The expression of interest will close on July

20 at 3pm.

Commercial

Bugis Cube units selling well

85% or 77 out of the 91 units launched at 999-

year Bugis Cube have been sold, with an

average unit size of 355.2 sq ft. The

remaining 14 units (27 sq m to33 sq m on

average) can be found on the second and

third floor. The development located opposite

Bugis Junction and near Bugis Junction offers

units ranging from 129 to 635 sq ft at $2,900

to $7,500 psf over six floors. Each unit offers

a water point while F&B units will come with a

grease trap.

Office capital values to fall by 5% in 2012

The average capital values of Grade A office

space in the Raffles Place/New Downtown



micro-market fell by 0.5% from $2,459 psf in

Q1 to $2,447 psf by end June though the

market has been seeing much activity from

new releases and en bloc sales of strata

office units. The whole of 2012 could see a

5% fall in office capital values.

Meanwhile, rents of Grade A office space

islandwide fell by 1.2% in Q2, with the

average monthly gross rents in the Raffles

Place/New Downtown micro-market

decreasing by 3% to $9.47 psf from Q1 to Q2

and rents in other micro-markets adjusting in

the range of -2.4 - 0% in Q2. The rents are

likely to fall by up to 15% in 2012, especially

with the increase in supply of 150,000 sq ft of

space released upon lease expiry.

Shadow office space on the rise

The stock of shadow office space has

increased by 32% to 285,000 sq ft from Q1 to

Q 2012 and is expected to grow by 73,000 sq

ft to 360,000 sq ft at the end of this year. 48%

of the 285,000 sq ft shadow space in Q2 was

in Raffles Place where the average gross

face rent for prime office space fell by 3.1% to

$9.50 psf per month from Q1 to Q2. Rents on

Shenton Way, Robinson Road and Cecil

Street fell 2.6% to $7.55 psf per month in the

same period. The rents in the CBD are likely

to continue falling despite the below-average

net increase in supply of 1.1 million sq ft of

office space in 2012 since nearly 610,000 sq

ft of existing office space will become

available as occupiers vacate their current

premises. The average occupancy rate for

office space at Raffles Place fell 0.7

percentage points in Q2 to about 92% while

the average occupancy rate on Shenton Way,

Robinson Road and Cecil Street rose by 1.3

percentage points to 95% in Q2. The largest

increase of 4.5 percentage points came from

Marina Bay to 72%.



Singapore Property Prices Defy Gravity to Reach an All-Time High

By Mr. Propwise

From the URA’s recent flash estimate of the

2Q2012 Private Residential Property Price

Index (PPI), property prices have managed to

defy gravity and even managed to register a

slight increase in the quarter. The 2Q2012

URA PPI hit 206.8 and was up 0.4% on a

quarter-on-quarter basis.

At the current levels the price index is 16.5%

above the previous 2Q2008 peak, and 14.0%

above the previous all time high in 2Q1996.

This estimated increase of 0.4% comes after

the rate of growth of the PPI had slowed for

nine consecutive quarters (i.e. property price

growth had been decelerating continuously),

followed by a slight decline in 1Q2011.

Figure 1 – URA Property Price Index



It appears that the strength of property

demand has outweighed concern over the

slowing economy, the worrying global

economic situation especially with the troubles

in Europe and weak growth in the US, and the

dampening effect of multiple rounds of

government measures.

The rate of price growth differed across the

various market segments. In the Core Central

Region, prices of non-landed private

residential properties increased by 0.6%

versus a decrease of 0.6% in the previous

quarter. Prices were flat in the Rest of Central

Region, while they increased by 0.4% in the

Outside Central Region, a slowdown from the

1.1% increase in the previous quarter.

Do note that the URA’s flash estimates are

compiled based on transaction prices given in

caveats lodged during the first ten weeks of

the quarter. The actual second quarter

statistics will be updated four weeks later, and

past data have shown that the difference could

be significant, especially when the change is

small.

Sharp Decline, Gradual Decline, or

Recovery?

Figure 2 – Change in Property Price Index



The uncertainty is whether we will see a

sharp decline as during the 1997-1998 Asian

Crisis and 2008-2009 Financial Crisis,

whether it will be a more gradual decline as

we saw during the 2000-2004 Post-Dotcom

Bubble and SARs era, or whether we will

have a continued property bull market.

I believe that we will only see significant

levels of price declines if there is an external

crisis to cause a sense of panic, which we

had in each of the previous 3 declines (e.g.

Asian Crisis, Dotcom Bubble, Global

Financial Crisis). This is because the

abundant global liquidity situation could

support Singapore property prices. Led by the

European Central Bank and Fed,

governments around the world have been

easing monetary policy and keeping interest

rates low to prevent another crisis triggered

by too much debt.

Figure 3 – Straits Times Index

We saw the Straits Times Index (STI) correct

in May to a low of 2,737 points, followed by a

recovery in June to 2,878. Even then, it is still

down 4% versus the last quarter. If you

believe that the stock market is a leading

indicator for the property market, then we

could see downward pressure on property

prices in the coming quarters.



Additional Rounds of Property Cooling

Measures?

The sales volume of new residential homes

by developers fell by 23% in May after a 12%

fall in April. This suggests that the prices of

new homes are likely under some pressure,

especially given that the NUS monthly resale

price index was up in April to May. Thus even

if the prices of new launches correct, the

strengthening prices of resale units could take

up the slack.

This resilience of property prices despite the

previous five rounds of government measures

increases the probability of a sixth round of

property measures to further cool sentiment.

This is especially so given that the harsh

Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) put in

place in December 2011 seems to have not

dampened sentiment that much. It is not clear

right now whether a potential sixth round of

cooling measures would comprise merely of

refinements to the current measures (e.g.

increase ABSD?) or be something brand new.

Many analysts are still predicting a 10% drop

in property prices this year. Given that

property prices for the first half of 2012 are

still marginally up, these forecasts may not

come true unless there is a significant

correction in the coming months.

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Non-Landed Residential Resale Property Transactions for the Week of Jun 13 – Jun 19

Postal

DistrictProject Name

Area

(sqft)

Transacted

Price ($)

Price

($ psf)Tenure

1 EMERALD GARDEN 926 1,500,000 1,620 999

4 CARIBBEAN AT KEPPEL BAY 1,281 1,850,000 1,444 99

4 MOUNT FABER LODGE 3,703 4,520,000 1,221 FH

4 TERESA VILLE 1,356 1,528,000 1,127 FH

5 THE PARC CONDOMINIUM 667 880,000 1,319 FH

5 BOTANNIA 1,561 1,785,000 1,144 956

5 THE SPECTRUM 1,119 1,250,000 1,117 FH

5 BLUE HORIZON 926 968,000 1,046 99

5 VARSITY PARK CONDOMINIUM 1,894 1,920,000 1,013 99

5 FABER CREST 1,141 1,080,000 947 99

5 PARK WEST 872 825,000 946 99

5 VISTA PARK 710 670,000 943 99

7 THE BENCOOLEN 883 1,150,000 1,303 99

9 HELIOS RESIDENCES 2,002 6,961,100 3,477 FH

9 THE PATERSON EDGE 840 2,000,000 2,382 FH

9 SCOTTS HIGHPARK 1,744 3,900,000 2,237 FH

9 CAIRNHILL CREST 1,733 3,000,000 1,731 FH

9 URBANA 1,313 2,200,000 1,675 FH

9 RIVERSHIRE 1,690 2,780,000 1,645 FH

9 UE SQUARE 1,485 2,200,000 1,481 929

9 PEACE CENTRE/MANSIONS 2,605 1,775,000 681 99

10 CUSCADEN ROYALE 936 2,300,000 2,456 FH

10 BOTANIC GARDENS MANSION 1,399 2,500,000 1,787 FH

10 SPRING GROVE 1,668 2,620,000 1,570 99

10 TANGLIN RESIDENCES 4,930 7,700,000 1,562 FH

Postal


Area

(sqft)

Transacted

Price ($)

Price

($ psf)Tenure

10 THE TESSARINA 958 1,390,000 1,451 FH

10 VALLEY PARK 1,216 1,750,000 1,439 999

10 GLENTREES 1,345 1,815,000 1,349 999

10 DUCHESS CREST 1,367 1,835,000 1,342 99

10 KELLOCK LODGE 893 1,190,000 1,332 FH

10 CASABELLA 2,131 2,570,000 1,206 FH

10 JERVOIS JADE APARTMENTS 1,044 1,220,000 1,168 99



11 SOLEIL @ SINARAN 1,722 3,185,700 1,850 99

11 LION TOWERS 1,862 2,668,000 1,433 FH

11 AMANINDA 614 852,000 1,389 FH

11 MINBU VILLA 2,336 2,360,000 1,010 FH

11 THOMSON 800 1,787 1,780,000 996 FH

12 THE ARTE 1,873 2,290,000 1,223 FH

12 KIM KEAT LODGE 2,024 1,710,000 845 FH

12 BALESTIER POINT 3,961 2,710,000 684 FH

13 SENNETT ESTATE 1,033 750,000 726 FH

14 THE VINES 1,066 1,050,000 985 FH

14 ATRIUM RESIDENCES 1,044 970,000 929 FH

15 AMBER RESIDENCES 1,163 1,618,800 1,393 FH

15 VERSILIA ON HAIG 1,130 1,380,000 1,221 FH

15 SANCTUARY GREEN 1,399 1,600,000 1,143 99

15 COSTA RHU 1,345 1,380,000 1,026 99

15 NEPTUNE COURT 1,270 1,106,000 871 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.

Postal


Area

(sqft)

Transacted

Price ($)

Price

($ psf)Tenure

15 NEPTUNE COURT 1,636 1,355,000 828 99

15 LAGUNA PARK 1,615 1,328,000 822 99

16 COSTA DEL SOL 1,475 1,950,000 1,322 99

16 COSTA DEL SOL 1,238 1,510,000 1,220 99

16 BAYSHORE PARK 936 940,000 1,004 99

16 THE BAYSHORE 947 920,000 971 99

16 BAYSHORE PARK 936 890,000 950 99

16 THE BAYSHORE 1,012 953,000 942 99

16 LAGUNA GREEN 1,098 1,020,000 929 99

16 BAYSHORE PARK 936 850,000 908 99

16 BAYSHORE PARK 2,196 1,850,000 842 99

17 BLUWATERS 2 1,776 1,424,888 802 946

17 BALLOTA PARK CONDOMINIUM 1,066 820,000 769 FH

17 BLUWATERS 2 2,756 2,050,000 744 946

18 LIVIA 915 940,000 1,027 99

18 EASTPOINT GREEN 958 888,000 927 99

18 ELIAS GREEN 1,528 950,000 622 99

19 SUNSHINE LODGE 592 570,000 963 FH

19 KOVAN ESQUIRE 1,001 950,000 949 FH

19 KENSINGTON PARK CONDOMINIUM 2,250 1,950,000 867 999

19 RIO VISTA 1,055 900,000 853 99

19 RIO VISTA 1,249 970,000 777 99

20 GRANDEUR 8 1,259 1,245,000 989 99

20 SIN MING PLAZA 1,938 1,823,000 941 FH

20 THE GARDENS AT BISHAN 1,152 1,050,000 912 99

20 FAR HORIZON GARDENS 1,152 860,000 747 99

20 THOMSON IMPERIAL COURT 2,228 1,388,000 623 FH

21 GARDENVISTA 893 1,000,000 1,119 99

Postal


Area

(sqft)

Transacted

Price ($)

Price

($ psf)Tenure

21 SIGNATURE PARK 1,367 1,380,000 1,009 FH

21 SIGNATURE PARK 1,055 1,020,000 967 FH

21 SHERWOOD TOWER 1,830 1,358,000 742 99

22 PARC OASIS 1,765 1,450,000 821 99

23 CASHEW HEIGHTS CONDOMINIUM 1,227 1,239,270 1,010 999

23 GUILIN VIEW 861 795,000 923 99

23 CASHEW HEIGHTS CONDOMINIUM 1,658 1,520,000 917 999

23 HILLVIEW RESIDENCE 1,238 1,075,000 868 999

23 CHESTNUT VILLE 1,658 1,340,000 808 999

23 NORTHVALE 1,270 970,000 764 99

23 PARKVIEW APARTMENTS 1,119 850,000 759 99

23 NORTHVALE 1,087 820,000 754 99

26 THOMSON GROVE 1,539 1,390,000 903 FH

26 CASTLE GREEN 1,152 930,000 807 99

27 YISHUN SAPPHIRE 1,206 840,000 697 99

27 YISHUN SAPPHIRE 1,184 800,000 676 99

27 YISHUN SAPPHIRE 1,313 845,000 643 99

28 MIMOSA PARK 1,755 1,430,000 815 FH

28 SUNRISE GARDENS 1,270 980,000 772 99

Singapore Property Weekly Issue 58

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