THINGS are looking up for landlords of private homes, such as condominiums and landed houses.

After suffering through five quarters of rental decline and a 20 per cent drop in rents since 2008, they may finally be able to raise their rates this year.

Private home rents halted their slump and started to turn around with a 0.6 per cent rise in the fourth quarter of last year, according to figures released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) yesterday.

Although rents still haemorrhaged 14.6 per cent for the whole of last year, consultants say they have stabilised and are on the way to recovery.

‘From September last year, we started seeing more landlords raise rents off the lows of the first and second quarters of last year,’ said Mr Donald Han, managing director of Cushman & Wakefield.

‘I think the trend will probably continue this year in anticipation of an economic recovery.’

As economic growth picks up, businesses, including multinationals, are stepping up hiring and are likely to bring in more expatriates, who form the bulk of tenants of private homes in Singapore, Mr Han said.

‘Usually the first to come in are the heads of divisions, the top honchos, who will be hired to start operations in Singapore,’ he said, adding that this will start pushing up rental demand for high-end properties.

Already, landlords of some luxury homes – from high-end apartments to good-class bungalows with rents of $8,000 per month or more – have raised their rates by 5 to 6 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year, Mr Han said.

Rents are also rising because the demand for completed homes outstripped the supply of such homes last year, noted Ms Tay Huey Ying, Colliers International’s director for research and advisory.

The stock of private homes increased by 8,285 units last year, the biggest net increase in five years, she said.

But that was not enough for home seekers. The increase in demand for physically completed homes hit a nine-year high of 10,520 units, Ms Tay said.

Colliers calculates the demand for completed homes by taking the total number of completed units available and deducting the number of vacant units left on the market.

Any increase in this number of occupied homes is deemed an increase in demand. This pushed the occupancy rate of private homes to an all-time high of 95 per cent at the end of last year, from 93.9 per cent at the end of 2008.

The surge in demand for completed homes allowed rents to inch up towards the end of last year, added Ms Tay. She expects the tight supply of homes to continue pushing up rents by 5 to 10 per cent this year.

High-end homes in central areas, which are traditionally more popular with expats, will lead the charge, she said. Rents there are projected to grow by 8 to 12 per cent this year due to their proximity to the upcoming integrated resorts, international schools, the Central Business District as well as the rejuvenated Orchard Road shopping belt.

But Mr Han said rent increases this year will depend on whether the economy continues to grow in the second half of the year.

Between now and June, ‘homes in the upper mid-tier to luxury range will see a rental uptick of 5 to 8 per cent’, he said. If the economic recovery maintains its strength past June, rents could rise another 5 to 10 per cent.

Mid-tier homes on the city-fringe region, which include expat-friendly areas such as Tanjong Rhu and Marine Parade, are expected to see rents rise by 5 to 8 per cent, said Ms Tay.

But rents of suburban homes are expected to stay soft for a while, rising by at most 3 per cent this year, she added.

These trends are in line with what URA data showed from the fourth quarter of last year.

Rents of non-landed properties in the prime districts – Orchard, Holland, Newton, Novena, Bukit Timah, Marina Bay and Sentosa – led the market increase by rising 0.9 per cent in the quarter, according to URA data.

But rents in the city-fringe areas, which range from Marine Parade to Queenstown to Bishan, were largely flat, as were rents of suburban homes.

For the full year, rents of prime homes plunged 15.9 per cent. Those in city-fringe areas slumped 14.9 per cent and suburban rents dropped 14 per cent.

Source: Straits Times, 23 Jan 2010

CERTAIN popular public housing estates are commanding the biggest premiums from eager buyers.

Fresh data from the Housing Board (HDB) yesterday showed that flats in established towns such as Queenstown, Marine Parade and Bukit Timah are pulling in the biggest cash top-ups.

The difference between the bank’s valuation and the actual price paid is known as the Cash-over-Valuation (COV).

The median COV hit a record $24,000 in the fourth quarter across all towns islandwide and all flat types.

In some central locations such as Bukit Timah, the overall median COV paid for flats trebled to $30,000 in the fourth quarter from the third quarter.

Further out, even at suburban spots such as Punggol, median COV shot up 195 per cent to $28,000, while at sleepy Pasir Ris, it jumped 186 per cent to $20,000.

Housing agents on the ground say cash-rich buyers – both locals and permanent residents (PRs) – are driving the recent rally in HDB resale flat prices and the resulting high COV levels. PRs are the only foreigners able to buy HDB flats.

PropNex agent Wilson Low, 44, recently brokered a sale where a local couple paid $730,000 for a five-room flat on a high floor at Cantonment Close. That meant an eye-popping $85,000 COV.

‘The buyers, flush with cash from a private property en bloc sale, paid the whole sum without a bank loan. We are seeing quite a few such cash-rich buyers who are meeting the high demands of sellers,’ he said.

He said PRs, mostly from China, Malaysia and Indonesia, tend to favour central locations and are more serious buyers than locals, given their urgent need for housing.

ERA Asia Pacific associate director Eugene Lim added that the resale market ‘will continue to be driven by families who have immediate housing needs, namely the second-time buyers and PRs’, for the near future.

HDB’s data showed median resale prices at central Queenstown hit $800,000 for executive flats and $645,000 for five-room flats, up from $712,000 and $619,000 in the third quarter respectively.

Other notable prices were fetched at Clementi, where the median resale price for an executive flat was $690,000, and Marine Parade, where a five-room flat was $625,000.

Monthly rents for HDB flats also inched up for all flat types in the fourth quarter from the third, except those for three-room units, which were flat at $1,500.

Rents for four- and five-room flats both rose about 3 per cent to $1,750 and $1,850 respectively, while rents for executive units rose 2 per cent to $2,000 a month.

HDB said yesterday that subletting transactions edged up by about 1 per cent to 3,902 cases in the fourth quarter, compared with those in the third.

The number of HDB flats approved for subletting rose to about 24,300 units in the fourth quarter – up from 23,800 units in the third quarter.

ERA’s Mr Lim said COV is ‘likely to continue to inch upwards in 2010 as we enter economic recovery’.

‘However, as we are not in very positive economic waters yet, COV increases are likely to moderate in the months to come,’ he said.

Source: Straits Times, 23 Jan 2010

BUYERS desperate to get into the public housing market are shelling out twice as much in cash top-ups for HDB resale flats as they did just a few months back.

These cash premiums are known as the Cash-over-Valuation (COV), and refer to the amount a buyer has to pay above a flat’s valuation set by a bank.

High demand and tight supply drove the median COV paid to $24,000 in the fourth quarter of last year, according to fresh data from the Housing Board (HDB) yesterday.

That is double the $12,000 median in the previous three months and breaks the COV record of $22,000 achieved in the fourth quarter of 2007.

The buying frenzy seems to have abated a little since the new year. The HDB said yesterday that median COV has come down to $22,000 for the first half of this month.

Analysts say COVs are being pushed to dizzying levels on the back of high demand from cash-rich buyers with immediate housing needs in a market with tight supply.

And there is always a disparity between valuations and sellers’ expectations in a hot market, said ERA Asia Pacific associate director Eugene Lim.

‘Valuation is lower than actual resale prices because it is based on past prices,’ he said. ‘Currently, the market is on the upswing and is therefore forward-looking; this explains the disparity,’ he said.

HDB’s latest data showed resale prices rose 3.9 per cent in the last three months of last year to hit a fresh record, bringing the full year increase to 8.2 per cent.

Private homes got in on the act as well with prices up 7.4 per cent in the same period, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) yesterday.

This builds on an increase of 15.8 per cent in the previous quarter and offsets the contraction of 18.8 per cent that occurred in the dismal first half of the year.

The final tally saw private home prices rise 1.8 per cent for the whole of last year.

The HDB’s figures showed that about nine out of 10 sales – or 93 per cent – in the fourth quarter were done above valuation. This is up from 79 per cent in the third quarter.

Ngee Ann Polytechnic real estate lecturer Nicholas Mak said this indicates that HDB resale prices could still rise as an increasing proportion of sales are done above valuation.

‘This could also fuel the HDB upgraders’ demand for HDB flats and private properties in the months ahead,’ he said.

The new HDB figures are evidence of the price rally that began in the middle of last year. It tripled median COV from $3,000 in the second quarter to $12,000 in the third before the fourth’s spectacular leap.

Sales volume for the fourth quarter – a typically quieter period – declined by about 23 per cent to 8,926 transactions.

But last year was still a bumper year compared with 2008, with the total number of resale transactions surging 31 per cent to 37,205. It was also 26 per cent up on 2007’s sales numbers.

PropNex chief executive Mohamed Ismail noted that the larger flat types commanded the largest jumps in COV. Five-room flats were up 150 per cent, while executive units rose 178 per cent in the fourth quarter.

But the number of sales in these categories fell 34 per cent in the fourth quarter compared with those in the third quarter, while sales of smaller flats declined only 18 per cent.

Such steep rises in COVs are not sustainable, say analysts. But given the continued high demand for public housing, they expect prices to rise by about 5 per cent to 10 per cent this year.

With COVs so high, buyers have ‘become resistant and are exploring other options, including buying smaller flats or delaying their purchases’, said Mr Lim.

Permanent resident Liu Li, 29, said she has given up trying to buy a resale flat and is now queuing for a new flat with her Singaporean husband under the HDB’s build-to-order (BTO) scheme.

The HDB said yesterday it will launch 12,000 BTO flats this year, or more if there is demand.

‘In total, the HDB is planning to offer 6,900 flats in (the first half of this year). The projects will have a good geographical spread over areas such as Sengkang, Sembawang, Punggol, Yishun and Jurong West,’ it said in a statement.

Source: Straits Times, 23 Jan 2010

A LAVISH new entertainment complex for Jurong has received the green light after being put on the back burner during the financial crisis.

The manager of CapitaMall Trust (CMT) told a results briefing yesterday that the facility – including its Olympic- sized ice-skating rink – should be ready in early 2012. Demolition of the old Jurong Entertainment Centre will be completed soon.

The new centre has been designed by Benoy Architects, the group that conjured up the Ion Orchard look.

Besides the ice-skating rink, which will be visible from the surrounding eateries, the centre will have a rooftop garden plaza and cinema alongside retail outlets.

Mr Simon Ho, chief executive of CapitaMall Trust Management Limited, which manages CMT, said the centre will have five storeys and three basement levels. There will be a 24-hour linkway to the Jurong East MRT station.

He said that plans for the centre were reactivated after a deferment last year due to the economic crisis and sky-high construction costs. But he said the retail sector is looking up again.

The retail sales index – an industry measure – was up 4 per cent last November from a year earlier. This was the first increase in 13 months.

CMT’s positive fourth-quarter results also increased confidence about tackling the Jurong centre.

It will have retail floor space of 204,153 sq ft with average rent per sq ft estimated at $12.26, a 123 per cent increase from the $5.49 psf level at the old centre. The project is expected to cost $200.3 million and generate 8 per cent in return on investment.

CMT’s manager also said yesterday that reconfiguration works at Basement 1 of Raffles City Shopping Centre has started. This is to facilitate the building of a linkway from Basement 2 to the upcoming Esplanade MRT station. It will open in the third quarter of this year. About 63 per cent of the retail floor space in the link is pre-committed.

Shopping malls certainly delivered the goods for CMT in the last quarter.

Increases in revenue from five CMT centres – Bugis Junction, IMM Building, Lot One Shoppers’ Mall, Plaza Singapura and Tampines Mall – coupled with savings boosted the bottom line. Distributable income for the three months to Dec 31 increased by 25.5 per cent to $76.5 million from the same period in 2008.

Distribution per unit (DPU) was 2.4 cents, 24.4 per cent higher than the 1.93 cents paid out for the fourth quarter of 2008. Payouts will be made on Feb 26.

Fourth-quarter gross revenue increased 4.2 per cent to $140.1 million while net income rose 32.5 per cent to $61.8 million over a year ago.

Property operating expenses decreased by 9.3 per cent to $44 million. Full-year gross revenue rose 8.2 per cent to $552.7 million while net property income was up by 10.4 per cent at $376.8 million.

It sent full-year DPU 17.7 per cent higher to 8.85 cents from the previous year’s 7.52 cents.

The retail landlord maintained 99.8 per cent occupancy throughout last year and renewed 614 leases.

Positive rental reversions of 3.4 per cent in the last quarter and an overall 2.3 per cent increase in rental rates for the year were good achievements in a tough year, said Mr Ho.

‘Retail rents are likely to remain stable. In addition to active lease management, we will continue to drive DPU growth through asset enhancements, selective acquisitions of yield-accretive properties and prudent capital management,’ he added.

CMT units dropped four cents to $1.78 after the results were announced.

Source: Straits Times, 23 Jan 2010

CDL intends to release additional units in the 177-unit freehold condo over the weekend

CITY Developments Ltd (CDL) has sold almost all of the 120 units it had released as of yesterday evening at its Cube 8 condo at Thomson Road during a two-day preview. Most of the units were sold yesterday .

CDL released an initial 80 units at an average price of $1,250 psf but due to strong demand, offered a further 40 units. Prices of the latter batch are understood to have been increased slightly, probably in the order of 2-3 per cent.

The company said yesterday evening that it intends to release additional units in the 177-unit freehold condo over the weekend. ‘The strong sales-to-date for Cube 8 reflects the positive sentiment in the property market and attests to our ability to market the appropriate products at the right time,’ said CDL’s group general manager Chia Ngiang Hong

One- and two-bedrooms were the first to be snapped; for three bedders, higher floor units were in greater demand, BT understands. The 36-storey condo is being built on the site of the former The Albany and Thomson Mansions in District 11. The 39 one-bedders have been sold out and a substantial number of the 58 two-bedroom apartments have also found takers.

The one bedders, with an area of 560 sq ft, were priced from $740,000 upwards, BT understands. Prices of two-bedders start from $1.1 million while three-bedroom apartments, ranging from 1,335-1,475 sq ft, cost anywhere from nearly $1.6-1.8 million. Four bedders are priced at about $2.5 million each, while sky villas or penthouses cost at least $3.5 million apiece.

BT understands that Singaporeans had bought the majority of units as of yesterday. Foreigners (including permanent residents) picked up about 20-25 per cent. Indonesians, Indians and Koreans were among those said to have bought.

CDL opened the showflat to former owners of The Albany and Thomson Mansions on Thursday. After they had made their selections, directors and staff were invited. The ‘public preview’ began yesterday.

CB Richard Ellis and Huttons are the marketing agents for Cube 8.

Source: Business Times, 23 Jan 2010

Analysts bullish after URA data shows hike in Q4 prices and dip in vacancies

THE increase in Singapore private home prices moderated in the fourth quarter, but there are also signs of things firming again if the economy continues to grow. After all, much of the physical infrastructure for the Remaking Singapore story is being delivered this year.

Urban Redevelopment Authority’s private residential rental indices posted modest quarter-on-quarter increases in Q4 – marking a reversal of the declines posted in the preceding quarter. The islandwide vacancy rate for private homes dipped to 5 per cent as at end-2009, compared with 6.2 per cent as at end-Q3 2009 and 6.1 per cent as at end-2008.

A total 10,488 private homes received Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP) last year – the highest level since 2004 when 11,799 homes were completed. Taking into account demolitions, the net increase in the stock of completed private homes last year was 8,285. However, there was an even bigger net jump in demand for physically completed private homes last year to a nine-year high of 10,520 units, said Colliers Intenational.

DTZ executive director Ong Choon Fah argues that with the number of private homes receiving TOP this year expected to slip 28 per cent to 7,584 units (based on URA’s surveys of developers), vacancies will ease further and rents will continue to firm up across the board.

Singapore also expects to see an influx of workers and expats as the integrated resorts and Marina Bay Financial Centre become operational. This will drive up demand for rental homes across the whole spectrum – from HDB flats to upscale condos.

Landed home prices, especially those for terrace houses, posted a sparkling performance last year. URA’s landed property price index rose 7.7 per cent in 2009, compared with just a 0.5 per cent rise for non-landed homes. The terrace house price index appreciated 10 per cent in 2009, followed by semi-detached houses (up 8.8 per cent) and detached houses, (up 5.6 per cent). Agents credit the landed sector’s resilience to its relatively more limited supply.

URA’s overall private home price index (covering both landed and non-landed segments) rose 7.4 per cent quarter-on-quarter in Q4, translating to a full-year increase of 1.8 per cent. The index slipped 18.1 per cent in the first half of 2009 before recovering 24.3 per cent in the July to December period.

Developers sold 14,688 units in 2009, nearly 3.5 times the 2008 figure and close to the all-time high of 14,811 in 2007. DTZ’s South-east Asia research head Chua Chor Hoon forecasts a take-up of 8,000 to 10,000 units in 2010. Consultants generally predict 8 to 15 per cent increase this year for URA’s overall private home price index, with greater upside for high-end homes.

Knight Frank chairman Tan Tiong Cheng, however, said the pace of price increase for upmarket homes will depend on how many expat tenants pour into Singapore and the size of their rental budgets since the majority of such properties are bought for investment.

On the other hand, mass-market private condo prices may still have room to power up, assuming HDB resale flat prices continue to rally, and especially if the condo launches are in plum locations, Mr Tan added. ‘Landed homes will also continue to do well in 2010 due to the scarcity factor,’ he added.

URA’s figures also show that the supply pipeline of private homes with either provisional or written permission shrank from nearly 65,000 at end-2008 to 60,476 units at end-2009. The number of unsold units in uncompleted private housing projects contracted from 43,414 at end-2008 to 34,234 at end-2009, reflecting developers strong sales last year.

The office market achieved its second consecutive quarter of positive net demand of 301,389 sq ft in Q4 2009, higher than the 32,292 sq ft posted in Q3. For full year, net demand was minus 236,806 sq ft; nonetheless, this was better than in 2002 and 2003, when net demand was minus 926,000 sq ft and 1.13 million sq ft respectively, notes Colliers director Tay Huey Ying.

Islandwide office vacancy improved slightly from 12.2 per cent at end-Q3 2009 to 12.1 per cent at end-Q4.

The median monthly rental for the choicer Category 1 office space based on rental contracts signed in Q4 was $8.76 per square foot, down 7.8 per cent from Q3. DTZ says a recovery in office rentals at the end of this year is plausible if the economy grows more strongly than expected and more existing office blocks are redeveloped.

In the retail property segment, URA’s shop rental index for the Central Region dipped 1.4 per cent in Q4 over the preceding quarter, resulting in a 7.4 per cent full-year drop. Despite another 404,723 sq ft of new shop space being completed in Q4, the islandwide shop vacancy rate improved to 5.7 per cent from 6 per cent in Q3.

Knight Frank’s Mr Tan said: ‘There is a lot of confidence that with the completion of the IRs, there will be multiplier effects for the retail and private residential property markets. The IRs will attract a lot of MICE visitors, who tend to have higher spending power than the typical tourist. Some overseas visitors drawn by IRs may end up liking Singapore and want to buy a home here, especially if there are prospects of economic recovery.’

‘The Government began telling the Remaking of Singapore story about five years ago. Now the physical part of the story is almost ready. And it’s about time to reap the fruits of these investments.’

Source: Business Times, 23 Jan 2010

UNITS at City Developments’ Cube 8 in Thomson Road have been selling like hot cakes since the developer opened its doors for previews on Thursday.

The Straits Times understands that all 80 units released in Phase One have been snapped up. A further 40 released in Phase Two have mostly been sold as well.

The average price of the units sold is $1,250 per sq ft, valuing the three-bedroom units at $1.6 million to $1.8 million, while the four-bedders cost around $2.5 million. The penthouses or sky villas will set buyers back by $3.6 million to $3.8 million.

City Developments will be releasing more units this weekend.

‘The actual units sold would have crossed 100 already,’ said Mr Joseph Tan, executive director for residential at CB Richard Ellis, the project’s marketing agent.’From the look of things, maybe around 20 per cent of the buyers are foreigners, with the rest locals. We also see an equal 50-50 mix of owner-occupiers and investors.

‘All the one-bedroom apartments have been sold, as have most of the two-bedders.’

The freehold project in Thomson Road is on the site of the former The Albany and Thomson Mansion and next to City Developments’ The Arte at Thomson, which was launched for sale in March last year.

While the two projects are adjacent, The Arte is in District 12 while Cube 8 is in District 11.

City Developments opened the doors to Cube 8 on Thursday to former owners of The Albany and Thomson Mansion. Staff and directors were also invited to the private preview.

The public preview started yesterday.

The 36-storey Cube 8 has 177 apartments, comprising 39 one-bedroom units, 58 two-bedders, 67 three-bedders, nine four-bedroom apartments and four sky villas.

Sizes range from about 560 sq ft for a one-bedder to 893 sq ft to 926 sq ft for two-bedroom units. and 1,335 sq ft to 1,475 sq ft for three-bedders. The four-bedroom apartments will be around 1,905 sq ft, while the sky villas will be 3,025 sq ft to 3,229 sq ft.

Ms Tay Huey Ying, director of research and consultancy at Colliers International, said: ‘The strong demand for Cube 8 does not come as a surprise.

‘The market has been rather quiet over the last few months in terms of launch activity. Now that people have come back from their holidays, they are ready to look into serious commitments such as home purchases again.

‘With the economy looking up, job prospects looking up, and wages going up… all these contribute to the positive sentiment.’

Ms Tay added that if the economic recovery remains on track and there are no external events or new government cooling measures, buying should stay healthy this year, although new sales volume is unlikely to repeat last year’s bumper figure.

She expects 7,000 to 9,000 new sales this year, as opposed to the 14,688 new units sold last year.

Source: Straits Times, 23 Jan 2010

LANDED homes turned out to be the star performer of the private property market last year, rising far more in price than other types of housing.

As a whole, detached, semi-detached and terrace houses jumped in price by 8.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year and 7.7 per cent for the whole of 2009.

This significantly outstripped condominiums and apartments, according to data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) yesterday.

Despite rising 7.2 per cent in the fourth quarter, non-landed property registered a meagre 0.5 per cent price increase for last year.

‘Landed homes are limited in supply, so people always aspire towards owning one,’ said Ms Chua Chor Hoon, head of South-east Asia research at DTZ Debenham Tie Leung.

‘When the market was in a slump, some buyers took the chance to buy landed properties. And now that condominium prices have gone up a lot again, people are seeing better value in landed homes.’

Terrace houses, the cheapest type of landed housing, were the most sought-after. Prices of terraces shot up 10 per cent last year, followed by semi-detached houses with an 8.8 per cent rise.

Detached houses – which include good-class bungalows, the grande dames of Singapore property – rose in price by a smaller 5.6 per cent last year.

Taken together with non-landed property, this translated into overall private home prices rising by 1.8 per cent for the whole of last year.

The rise in prices, despite 2009 being a recession year, was entirely due to the property market roaring back to life in the second half of the year as the economy emerged from recession.

Private home prices jumped 7.4 per cent in the fourth quarter, after soaring 15.8 per cent in the third quarter, said the URA yesterday.

Unlike in earlier quarters, the price increase between October and December was led by more expensive homes nearer to town.

Prices of homes on the city-fringe – covering the East Coast, Queenstown and Bishan – rose the most, by almost 10 per cent.

Homes in the core central region, which refers to the prime districts of 9, 10, 11, Marina Bay and Sentosa, saw prices rise by 7.3 per cent.

For the first time, suburban homes were the laggard in the fourth quarter last year, with a price rise of only a 6.3 per cent.

But although overall prices surged in the fourth quarter, home sales slowed considerably.

Only 1,860 new homes were sold in the final quarter of last year, just a third of the sales in the preceding quarter, said Mr Li Hiaw Ho, executive director of CB Richard Ellis Research.

Resale and sub-sale transactions fell by about half in the fourth quarter, which is traditionally a subdued period for home sales. Last year, this coincided with the introduction of government measures to cool the property market in September.

For the whole year, home buyers bought 14,688 new homes from developers and 18,129 homes from other home owners. While this was a big jump from the muted activity in 2008, sales were still lower than during the boom year of 2007, Mr Li said.

He expects home sales to moderate this year after last year’s rapid buying activity.

About 8,000 to 10,000 new homes will probably be sold, while prices are projected to rise by 8 per cent to 10 per cent through the year, led by the high-end segment of the market, according to Mr Li’s forecasts.

‘Already, the year has started with a positive sentiment in light of the Government’s forecast of 3per cent to 5 per cent economic growth for the whole year,’ he said. ‘Increased hiring and pay rises are also on the cards.’

Source: Straits Times, 23 Jan 2010