From Seletar Aerospace Park to Biopolis and Fusionopolis, estates showcase green technologies for a sustainable environment

DEVELOPING industrial parks used to be relatively straightforward – clear the land, build the factory blocks and companies will come and set up their production lines.

But JTC Corporation’s job has got more complex over the years as Singapore’s manufacturing sector moved up the value chain. Industrial space has had to move beyond drab buildings, to incorporate elements of good design and environmental sustainability to attract investors.

This reflects the requirements of new economic clusters such as clean technology – sectors that need to be in areas that complement their business activities.

Also, researchers, product designers and other talent vital to these sectors are looking for more than a job these days. Many are looking for a high quality of life – and green liveable workplaces count towards that.

The wider green movement is hard to ignore. As the government puts more emphasis on sustainable development, JTC has to play its part by boosting the eco-friendliness of its estates. Examples include Seletar Aerospace Park, Biopolis and Fusionopolis.

Preserving heritage

JTC’s green initiatives will be plain to see at the upcoming Seletar Aerospace Park, a 300-hectare centre for aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul and aircraft system design and production.

The agency told BT: ‘Great effort was made during the planning process to balance economic and infrastructural space needs with the preservation of the area’s architectural and environmental heritage.’

When JTC was developing the park’s master plan, it consulted the National Parks Board and held dialogue sessions with the Nature Society on trees in the area. These discussions led it to retain nine heritage trees. Inevitably, some trees had to go for roads, and to ensure airport operations will be safe.

JTC has also kept 202 of the 378 heritage buildings on the site. It plans to convert some black-and-white houses into food and beverage establishments or training institutions.

Seletar Aerospace Park will be a unique centre ‘nestled in greenery and the charm of old Seletar’, the agency believes.

Besides preserving the character of the site as much as possible, JTC is looking at improving water quality there. It will test a gravel filtration system at the park, aimed at cleaning rainwater before it reaches drains and reservoirs.

The stormwater management system will comprise layers of gravel, coarse sand and granite, which will remove pollutants from rainwater. This will help save water treatment costs downstream.

The gravel filtration system will debut at the Business Aviation Complex. If it improves water quality, JTC could encourage other companies in the park to adopt it in their land parcels.

The Business Aviation Complex will also have other green features, such as natural ventilation systems, vertical greenery and energy-saving lights. Construction of the building began recently and is expected to finish by the first half of 2011.

Protecting environment

Biopolis is another estate that showcases JTC’s environment protection efforts. The first phase of the development at Buona Vista for biomedical research and development received the inaugural Green Mark Gold award in 2005.

The Building and Construction Authority came up with the Green Mark scheme that year to recognise environment-friendly buildings. Such buildings not only provide good publicity for developers and designers, but also use fewer resources and can help tenants save water and electricity costs.

Biopolis Phase One took the gold award for incorporating green technologies in its seven buildings. For instance, there is a district cooling system for centralised air-conditioning – water is chilled at one location and sent through a network of pipes to keep all seven buildings cool. This arrangement frees space that would have been needed for cooling equipment in each building and reduces maintenance needs.

Phase One also makes use of a pneumatic waste conveyance system. Non-toxic waste from the seven buildings is sent to a central collection area using a network of underground pipes. This removes the need to transport waste around the site.

The buildings are also test-beds for solar LED lighting, solar hot water systems and waterless urinals. For all these green measures, Biopolis phase one has won other accolades such as the PUB Water Efficient Building award and the Landscape Industry Association of Singapore’s gold award.

Providing green lungs

Nearby Fusionopolis is not to be outdone when it comes to environmental sustainability. The two towers in the first phase of development have 13 sky gardens between them. These spots, some with ponds and water wells, allow employees to take a break from work in the infocommunications, media, science and engineering centre.

The International Green Roof Congress in May last year recognised these efforts – the rooftop garden at Fusionopolis received the leadership award in the category for sustainable architecture.

The upcoming Phase 2B will extend the green theme, with more roof gardens and spiralling green terraces. It is designed by Ken Yeang, an architect renowned for his work on eco-skyscrapers, and will be ready by the end of this year.

Phase 2B will see ‘a network of open interactive public and semi-public spaces, creative use of skylights and courtyards for natural light and ventilation, and cascading landscaped garden terraces,’ JTC said.

‘It aims to inspire and meet the needs of its resident tenants in the creative industries with the provision of a wide range of intimate spaces with differing and flexible layouts.’

Source: Business Times, 30 Mar 2010

It will be a ‘seed’ building to testbed and showcase innovative green solutions

(SINGAPORE) The first building at Singapore’s CleanTech Park is expected to be up by end 2011 at a cost of $90 million, JTC Corporation said yesterday.

With a gross floor area of 403,646 square feet, CleanTech One is expected to house about 40 green tenants, such as cleantech companies’ headquarters, firms financing cleantech activities, as well as private and public research institutions.

Nanyang Technological University, which is adjacent to the CleanTech Park, will be its first tenant.

Surbana International Consultants beat 30 other entries to win the design tender JTC launched last December, with its ecological and commercially sustainable design.

As the first development on the eco-business park launched last month, CleanTech One will act as a ‘seed’ building to testbed and showcase innovative green solutions for tropical, urban settings.

These include solar panels, sky gardens, rainwater harvesting and sky trellises. If successful, these can then be rolled out to the rest of the CleanTech Park, Singapore and even the region, said JTC director for the aerospace, marine and cleantech cluster, Tang Wai Yee.

Surbana said that green features aside, the building itself was designed to minimise ‘cut and fill’ of the sloping terrain on which it is located, and takes into account the direction of wind and sun so as to reduce energy consumption.

Piling works will start around June while actual construction of CleanTech One should begin by August – an ‘aggressive and accelerated timeline’, Surbana said.

The 50 hectare CleanTech Park, which will house cleantech research, innovation and commercialisation activities, is expected to draw $2.5 billion worth of investments in buildings by its 2030 completion.

Source: Business Times, 30 Mar 2010

WEF report also shows big role govt plays in Republic’s high ranking

Even before the full rollout of the ambitious Next Generation National Broadband Network (Next Gen NBN), Singapore has moved up two places to the second spot in the global Networked Readiness Index (NRI) ranking published by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

The NRI is part of the 2009-2010 Global Information Technology Report, a widely watched study that has been jointly published by the WEF and global business school Insead for the past nine years.

Sweden has emerged as the most networked country in the world in the current NRI rankings, overtaking Denmark which occupied the top spot last year. Sweden was a runner-up in the last three editions of the report.

This year, Denmark comes in at third place, behind Singapore. Denmark is followed by Switzerland in fourth place and the United States in fifth place.

The NRI examines how prepared countries are to use ICT (infocomm technologies) effectively in three dimensions: the general business, regulatory and infrastructure environment for ICT; the readiness of the three key stakeholder groups in a society – individuals, businesses and governments – to use and benefit from ICT; and the actual usage of the latest information and communication technologies available, according to Soumitra Dutta, who is Roland Berger Professor of Business and Technology at Insead and a co-editor of the report.

The current NRI covers 133 economies from both the developed and developing world, accounting for more than 98 per cent of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Singapore’s stock has been rising for the past three years. In 2008, it came in a disappointing fifth, while last year it was up one slot to fourth.

When the rankings first started in 2001-2002, Singapore was ranked eighth. In 2004-2005, it jumped to the top spot before slipping to fifth in 2008.

Irene Mia, senior economist of the Global Competitiveness Network at the WEF, and the other co-editor of the report, noted that Sweden, Singapore and Denmark’s superior capacity to use ICT for economic growth stems from the focus on education, innovation and ICT access.

The report also shows the role that the government plays in Singapore’s high ranking.

In the Readiness component of the NRI, Singapore has the world’s top ranking, driven by No 1 rankings in areas such as government’s prioritisation of ICT, government’s procurement of advanced technology products, and importance of ICT to the government’s vision of the future.

The Republic also takes top spots in quality of education system, and quality of math and science education.

Singapore also tops in the Political and Regulatory Environment component.

Some of the areas where it doesn’t do as well are, for example, the infrastructure environment (where it is ranked 21st) and also in broadband Internet subscription (24th).

However, the broadband result is based on 2008 data and, according to other measures and rankings, broadband penetration in Singapore has improved over the past year and it is expected to improve even further when the Next Gen NBN becomes fully functional.

Some of the other Asia Pacific economies that figure in the top 20 this year are: Hong Kong (eighth), Taiwan (11th), Korea (15th), Australia (16th) and New Zealand (19th).

The two largest Asian emerging markets – China and India – continue their progression in the NRI rankings, leapfrogging another nine and 11 places to 37th and 43rd respectively, Prof Dutta said.

Europe remains one of the most networked regions of the world with 12 economies ranked among the top 20 performers in this year’s rankings.

Source: Business Times, 30 Mar 2010

FAMILY ties among public housing residents have strengthened over the years, the Housing and Development Board’s latest sample household survey shows.

The survey, which covered 8,000 households, also revealed a growing trend among married couples to live near or together with their parents.

The survey explored three main aspects of family ties – living arrangements, interaction and support and the well-being of family life.

It showed the percentage of married couples aged between 21 and 54 who live with or close to their parents increased from 29.3 per cent in 1998 to 35.5 per cent in 2008, when the survey was carried out.

Another finding was that the frequency of visits between children and parents increased marginally.

The percentage of younger married people who visited their parents at least once a month rose to 90.7 per cent in 2008, from 87.8 per cent in 2008.

Similarly, 90.8 per cent of older people said in 2008 that their married children visited them at least once a month, up from 90.4 per cent in 1998.

Strong family support was also seen in 95 per cent of respondents who said support and care during sickness came from their spouse and married children.

Respondents were also asked whether family life was important to them and whether they were satisfied with it.

Although the response showed a slight dip from 1998, more than 90 per cent of younger married people and older people said family life is important and are satisfied with it.

Overall, the survey indicated that family life among HDB residents is in a healthy state.

The survey is carried out every five years by HDB to obtain feedback from residents and identify trends.

The findings, which are used in HDB policy reviews, help identify which aspects of the HDB environment can be improved.

Source: Business Times, 30 Mar 2010

NATIONAL Development Minister Mah Bow Tan is on a three-day working trip to Hong Kong, starting today.

He will meet senior officials from the Transport and Housing Bureau, the Hong Kong Housing Authority, and the Estate Agents Authority, to learn more about their experiences in regulating real estate agents, said the Ministry of National Development in a statement yesterday.

The ministry had announced plans last October to improve the industry’s professionalism, including setting up a new regulatory authority, an accredited industry body and an independent tribunal for dispute resolution.

Complaints against such agents have risen in the past few years in tandem with Singapore’s property boom.

The ministry said yesterday the details of the new framework will be announced within the next few months.

Mr Mah is being accompanied by ministry officials, and will also take the opportunity to update himself on public housing and other developments in Hong Kong, said the ministry.

Source: Straits Times, 30 Mar 2010

I THANK Mr Thomas Toh for his letter last Tuesday, ‘Restore Clifford Pier to new glory’, in which he reminisced about the bumboats that used to ply Clifford Pier.

Following the construction of the Marina Barrage, bumboats and other commercial vessels now operate from Marina South Pier. There are still small boats, water taxis and cruise boats that will ply Marina Bay to ferry visitors to and from the developments, including The Fullerton Heritage.

We agree with Mr Toh that Clifford Pier has played a significant role in Singapore’s maritime history. Given its historical and architectural value, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) conserved the building in 2007.

As Clifford Pier no longer serves its original function as a pier for commercial vessels, the building had to be adapted for reuse to remain relevant and useful.

In addition to its heritage value, Clifford Pier is strategically located along the Marina Bay waterfront, and forms part of Singapore’s postcard signature skyline. URA’s vision was to transform this stretch of the waterfront at Collyer Quay, comprising Clifford Pier and the former Customs Harbour Branch Building, into a distinctive waterfront development.

To achieve this, in 2006, the Collyer Quay site was sold for a commercial and hotel development. The successful tenderer decided to give Clifford Pier a new lease of life by adapting it as a restaurant.

URA worked closely with the successful tenderer and his architect to retain the intrinsic and beautiful character of Clifford Pier. They were guided to keep part of the site open as a public plaza, allow public access along the decks around the edge of the development, and provide a passageway within the development for the public to directly access the waterfront and enjoy views across the bay.

These developments at Collyer Quay form part of the necklace of attractions along the 3.5km waterfront promenade at Marina Bay. When fully completed later this year, visitors will be able to enjoy a continuous scenic walk along the waterfront from Clifford Pier to the Marina Bay Sands integrated resort, the new bridge and art park, the floating platform and the Esplanade.

Fun Siew Leng (Madam)
Group Director (Urban Planning & Design)
Urban Redevelopment Authority

Source: Straits Times, 30 Mar 2010

MINORITY owners will get to go ahead with their suit over the failed $500 million Horizon Towers en bloc deal.

The High Court yesterday threw out an appeal by two former sales committee members who had applied to block the owners’ action against them.

Three sets of minority owners are suing the pair – ex-committee chairman Arjun Samtani and ex-member Tan Kah Gee – over costs incurred in the course of trying to block the collective sale from the start.

They want to be reimbursed for the more than $800,000 they spent, including the cost of hiring lawyers to advise them and other administrative costs.

The sum is expected to be partially offset when the costs awarded to the owners by the Court of Appeal in a separate action last year, after the deal was quashed, are assessed.

Senior lawyer N. Sreenivasan and Senior Counsel Tan Cheng Han, appearing on behalf of the two appellants, had urged the court to throw out the suit by the minority owners, claiming it was an abuse of the court process.

They pointed out that the matter of costs had already been decided by the Court of Appeal in an earlier judgment and only the quantum remained to be determined.

They argued that the damages sought for alleged breach of fiduciary duties were actually a disguised move for costs and ‘it would have been reasonable for them to raise the costs issues at the (earlier) hearings’.

They added in court submissions that the minority holders would have incurred legal costs even if Mr Samtani had not done any wrong as their goal was to stop the collective sale.

But lawyer Kannan Ramesh, acting for the owners, countered that this suit was aimed at different people than was the case with the costs awarded by the Court of Appeal at the earlier hearing.

He argued that the alleged acts committed by the defendants were of a different category that called for different issues to be considered than the other consenting subsidiary proprietors’ decision to go ahead with the failed deal.

Among other things, both had failed to disclose to the others their potential conflicts of interest arising from their purchase of additional units while spearheading the implementation of the sales process.

Judicial Commissioner Steven Chong, who presided at last week’s closed-door hearing, ruled yesterday in a reserved oral judgment that there was no abuse of process by the minority owners in filing this suit as the subject matter was not covered in the previous court cases.

The appeal was dismissed with costs. A pre-trial conference to move the case will be held next week.

The Horizon Towers collective sale process spanned more than two years and involved two Strata Titles Board hearings and two High Court hearings before being thrown out by the Court of Appeal last year.

Source: Straits Times, 30 Mar 2010

It’s clear skies for the industrial investment market with the influx of foreign investors, say LEE PEI YING and DONALD HAN

THERE has been a change in foreign investors’ perception of the industrial market over the last 10 years. Industrial properties have evolved from being a non-core investment product to a preferred asset class. This became more marked around 2008. Before that, en bloc industrial investment deals were dominated by local players, primarily Ascendas, A-Reit, Cambridge Industrial Trust and Mapletree Logistics Trust.

Post-2008, foreign and institutional investors started paying more attention to this sector once ruled by the local Reits. For instance, prior to 2008, foreign investors accounted for only one per cent of the total value and number of en block industrial transactions.

The change in attitude came about in 2008, when the proportion of the total value and number of en bloc industrial transactions jumped to 52 per cent and 24 per cent in favour of foreign funds. In the first three months of this year, foreign funds were responsible for almost 60 per cent of the en bloc industrial sales value and 67 per cent of the transactions.

Higher yields derived from industrial properties were deemed as one pivotal reason. The lure of an improving economy is likely to see more foreign investors jumping on the bandwagon. This may lead to further yield compression in the medium term.

Let’s analyse the reasons behind the increasing appetite of foreign investors for this asset class.

Chasing higher yields

Traditional asset classes such as residential, office, retail and hospitality properties yield between 3.5 per cent and 5.5 per cent annually. Average cost of funds for foreign investors range between 3.5 per cent and 4.5 per cent for a Sing dollar loan. Investors from the US and Europe need a higher hurdle rate to justify investing abroad. In their respective property markets, they can achieve yields of 6 per cent a year. For investors to venture abroad, they need a buffer of 100-150 basis points above their 6 per cent yield to justify undertaking the risk of a foreign investment risk. Industrial properties here can provide such high returns, and are deemed a safer bet.

Syariah-compliant investments

The buyers’ landscape changed significantly in 2008, when JTC Corp offloaded $1.7 billion of its assets to Mapletree Industrial Reit and the Bahrain-based Arcapita Bank. It was the latter’s first foray into the Singapore property market.

Arcapita and its fund were on the lookout for Syariah- compliant investment opportunities in the region. Together with Mapletree, Arcapita bought into a majority 56.5 per cent stake. This comprised, among others, 39 blocks of flatted factories, six stack-up industrial buildings and three multi-tenanted business parks.

Under Syariah mandate, investors are not allowed to invest in properties where the tenants are involved in the sale or consumption of alcohol and cigarettes or are in the business of banking and finance, since Syariah laws prohibit the collection of interest. This leaves out market sectors such as prime offices (where tenants are mainly financial institutions), shops and hotels. Investments in industrial properties provide the perfect gateway. Another Middle Eastern investment group, Dubai-based Emirates Tarian Capital, recently purchased 29 Tai Seng Avenue for $53 million, with a leaseback to its vendor, Natural Cool, for 10 years. This would generate an annual yield in excess of 8 per cent.

Asset diversification

Core investors such as German funds SEB and Union Investments Real Estate invest in prime office premises in the financial district. SEB bought a 50 per cent stake in 79 Anson Road and 12 floors of Springleaf Tower in 2007. Union Investments Real Estate purchased Vision Crest Commercial, including the adjacent Chicago School of Business, in 2007. In 2008, these investors turned to industrial property as part of an asset diversification strategy. SEB paid $200 million to buy Starhub Green, a 412,000 sq ft high-tech industrial building at Ubi Avenue 1. Union Investment acquired Applied Materials Building, located at Changi Business Park.

Abundant industrial alternatives

There is a lot of money in the market chasing prime office assets. The recently reported sale of Robinson Point and 1 Finlayson Green clearly demonstrates the amount of ready cash, liquidity and available buyers in the market eyeing prime office properties.

Foreign (and local) investors are hungry for core office assets and there isn’t enough investment stock out there for sale. This inadvertently pushes up the sale price despite a softening rental environment, thus suppressing yields to the current sub-5 per cent level. It is estimated that there are no less than 20 foreign investors in Singapore looking for prime office investments (anything in the range of $20 million to $500 million) and they could not engage in serious negotiations over the past six months as sellers raised prices. The dearth of office investment deals has swung investors’ attention to industrial assets such as business parks and high-tech industrial buildings instead.

Long leases

Industrial properties, particularly owner occupied ones, are sold on a leaseback basis, often presenting investors with attractive long secured leases. Sale and leaseback premises offer the security of tenures from five years to as long as the land lease itself (up to 30 years). Such long leases are seldom found in office assets, and even if they exist, are seldom offered for sale.

In 2007, when office rents hit the stratosphere, major office users such as DBS Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Citibank started looking at minimising occupancy cost and decentralising backroom operations to suburban business parks. They would build to suit, lease back (almost) in entirety and monetise the assets by selling them to institutional investors, funds and Reits. Such assets remain one of the favourite investment options of foreign funds. These properties are usually leased back to reputable occupiers, providing financial warranties and a stable income base. These assets present defensive characteristics to investors, minimising risk of short term space vacancies and rental cycles.

Niche asset play

Foreign fund managers are always looking for a growing niche sector to put their investors’ money in. A niche play has benefits. Firstly, it provides the necessary product differentiation that helps separate one fund from another. Secondly, if the right strategy is adopted, one can be a substantial player in a niche sector, enabling some control over market pricing.

Avery Strategic Investment did just that and invested in a niche asset class where there were hardly any competitors. They went in, took control of a niche market and raised standards. Their investment – workers’ dormitories – is classified under industrial use. The venture is controlled by US-based Morgan Stanley and Averic Capital Management, the asset managers with a stake of 97 per cent and 3 per cent respectively.

Together, they bought three foreign workers’ dormitories (Kian Teck Dormitory in Jurong, Woodlands Dormitory and Tampines Dormitory, totalling 13,544 beds) from JTC Corp in 2008 for $153 million. A $100 million ‘upmarket’ dormitory called Avery Lodge housing 8,000 workers was also built and is now the largest dormitory in Singapore. Amenities and features include dining and kitchen areas, bay windows, larger floor-to-ceiling heights and space per worker, gym, video game room, sick bay, Internet cafe, mini-mart, canteen, biometric card access and 24-hour guard patrols. Avery Strategic Investment is now one of the largest developers and owners of workers’ dormitories in Singapore.

Investors with bigger appetites can embark on an Arcapita-style acquisition by buying stakes in a company. Investing via the company route allows the investor to gain control of a larger asset chunk instead of slowly accumulating properties on an organic basis. AMP Capital Investors, headquartered in Australia, recently made headlines by acquiring 16.1 per cent of MacarthurCook Industrial Reit, listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX). The Reit was later renamed Aims AMPCI Reit and its portfolio consists of 25 industrial properties in Singapore and Japan, with an appraised value of $637.4 million (as at Sept 30, 2009).

ARA Asset Management, an affiliate of the Cheung Kong group, recently made its maiden foray into industrial property through a joint venture with listed CWT. The company, known as ARA-CWT Trust Management and 60 per cent owned by ARA, will invest mainly in logistics properties in Singapore and the Asia-Pacific.

This new regional logistics real estate investment trust – to be called Cache Logistics Trust when listed on SGX – will initially have a portfolio of six high-quality logistics properties, injected into the Reit by its operators and owners as part of a sale and leaseback arrangement, with an aggregate gross floor area of 3.86 million sq ft and a value of about $730 million.

As Singapore strengthens its position as a premier logistics and value-add centre in the Asia-Pacific, we can expect more investment dollars to be pumped into this sector. More high value-add manufacturing businesses will be lured to set up operation in Singapore to take advantage of its seamless infrastructure and various tax incentives. Last year, the Economic Development Board brought in some $11.8 billion worth fixed asset investments. This figure is likely to rise in 2010 with the recovering economy.

We expect more foreign investors to start taking notice of the industrial sector here. Local developers too are taking the cue from the active industrial investment market by re-igniting a slew of industrial development projects.

Since July last year, three industrial sites have been successfully triggered and sold to private developers. Two more sites, in Woodlands and Yishun, have just been triggered after receiving minimum bids. Developers are likely to remain confident in the medium to long term with an improving leasing market. They can then offload completed projects to investors such as Reits and funds, ploughing funds back to develop more industrial properties.

Right now, it’s clear skies ahead for the industrial investment market with the influx of foreign investors. What a remarkable transformation this sector has undergone over the decade.

Lee Pei Ying is research analyst and Donald Han, managing director, of Cushman & Wakefield

Source : Business Times – 30 Mar 2010

Much-anticipated index shows private home prices edged up just 0.2% in February

Prices of non-landed private homes held steady in February, a new index set up to track residential property prices here shows.

The Singapore Residential Price Index, or SRPI, showed that private home prices across the island rose just 0.2 per cent month-on-month in February 2010, after climbing 2.2 per cent in January.

But the gains come on the back of a 22.2 per cent rise in 2009 – putting the index’s current value just 0.4 per cent below its peak in November 2007.

The new index, which is compiled by the Institute of Real Estate Studies at the National University of Singapore, was set up last week to serve as a resource for developing property derivatives in Singapore. It tracks month-on-month price movements in the private non-landed residential property market using a basket of 364 completed projects.

By contrast, the official Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) private residential property price index, which is released every quarter, includes transactions at new launches and sub-sales.

According to the URA index, private home prices hit a recent high in the second quarter of 2008 – before falling for the next four quarters. Home prices then recovered somewhat, rising 15.8 per cent in Q3 2009 and 7.4 per cent in Q4. But the URA index is still some 6.6 per cent off its recent Q2 2008 peak.

Analysts said that the SRPI moved up only slightly in February as most of the market activity centred around new launches.

Developers sold 1,196 new homes in February 2010 (slightly less than the 1,480 new homes sold in January). But market watchers said that in the resale market (sales of units in completed projects) there was a larger month-on-month fall in the transaction volume.

‘The new index is for completed properties and most of the price movements and market activity over the last few weeks have been seen for new launches,’ said Colin Tan, director of research and consultancy at Chesterton Suntec International. ‘Prices at completed properties are also more stable as these projects tend to draw a different type of investors as compared to new launches.’

Tay Huey Ying, Colliers’ director for research and advisory, similarly said that the index was flat in February 2010 as only properties completed between October 1998 and September 2009 are included in the basket.

Associate Professor Lum Sau Kim, who leads the group that compiles the new index, said one key feature of the SRPI is that it is not too affected by new launches. It is also designed to not be unduly influenced by low transaction volumes in a quiet market.

She attributed the marginal movement in the index for February to the Chinese New Year season, when buying activity traditionally tapers off.

The SRPI also showed a drop in home prices in the central region (postal districts 1-4 and 9-11) in February. Prices there fell 0.1 per cent last month after climbing 1.6 per cent in January.

For the whole of 2009, prices in the central region rose 27.3 per cent. But prices in the central region are still around 10 per cent off the pre-crisis peak, according to the index.

Elsewhere, prices in the non-central areas rose 0.5 per cent in February after climbing 2.7 per cent in January. Private home prices in the non-central regions have now exceeded the pre-crisis peak.

Analysts predict that when the URA flash estimates are released early next month, it will show that private home prices climbed 5-8 per cent in the first quarter of 2010.

Source: Business Times, 30 Mar 2010

Attractions include sea views and food haunts

WHETHER the property market is up or down, some areas are always popular, according to new analyses from property consultancy Savills Singapore.

Its list of perennial property hot spots includes one surprise locale far from the city centre.

District 15, which includes the Katong, Joo Chiat, Amber Road, Marine Parade and Tanjong Rhu areas, consistently topped all 28 regions in terms of the number of non-landed resale homes sold from 2007 to February this year. Savills Research found 4,289 resale non-landed deals were done in the three-year period.

District 10, consisting of the Ardmore, Bukit Timah, Holland Road and Tanglin areas, was No. 2, with 3,622 transactions.

District 23 came in a surprise third, and registered the highest price growth of the top 10 hot spots, with prices rising 25.5 per cent. It takes in Hillview, Dairy Farm, Bukit Panjang and Choa Chu Kang, and had 2,837 sales.

If transactions in 2007 were excluded, District 23 would have surpassed District 10 in popularity. In other words, District 23 has become the second most popular hot spot for non-landed resale homes since 2008.

Ms Christine Sun, Savills’ senior manager for research and consultancy, said demand in District 23 could be due to attractive pricing, as the average unit price registered from 2007 to last year was still within the $500-$600 per sq ft range. Average prices reached $649 psf in the first two months of this year.

Given its proximity to the Bukit Timah belt and the nature reserves, this district has an edge over other areas in that price range, such as Tampines, Pasir Ris, Serangoon Gardens, Hougang and Punggol, Ms Sun added.

There are also a lot of developments in the area, such as The Warren, The Petals, The Madeira, Cashew Heights, Dairy Farm Estate, Regent Heights, Hillview Regency and Guilin View.

Ms Sun said the popularity of resale homes in District 15 may have been driven by the many launches in the area. Prices have risen in line with the launches, which draw attention to the area, she explained.

New launches since 2007 include Aalto, Parc Seabreeze, Silversea and The Seafront on Meyer. ‘People think the area is becoming hot and they start to see value in the area,’ she said.

Property experts said the area’s appeal lies in its sea views and proximity to well-known food places, the airport and the city. ‘It is an established residential area with ample amenities,’ said DTZ head of South-east Asia research Chua Chor Hoon.

‘There’s also a wide range of prices to suit different budgets, from the bigger, higher-priced condos in Tanjong Rhu to the small developments in Telok Kurau.’

Said Ms Sun: ‘In general, the next best areas to live in outside of Districts 9, 10 and 11 are in District 15, largely because of the sea view and the many good schools there such as Tao Nan School, CHIJ (Katong) Primary, Victoria Junior College and Chung Cheng High School.’

Ngee Ann Polytechnic real estate lecturer Nicholas Mak said: ‘District 15 has quite a big catchment of private homes so that may be why it has a high number of resale deals.

‘It has also been popular with the middle class and the upper middle class for a long time.’

Popular projects in District 15 include Water Place, The Waterside, Neptune Court, Mandarin Gardens and Cote D’Azur, Ms Sun said.

It came as no surprise that District 10, as a prime location, is popular with foreigners. Demand for homes in this area fell significantly in 2008 but has recovered somewhat since, she added.

Still, District 10 resale non-landed homes showed just 2.3 per cent growth in prices since 2007, from $1,386 psf in 2007 to $1,417 psf in the first two months of this year.

District 15 registered 14.8 per cent price growth, from $783 psf in 2007 to $899 psf on average in January and February this year.

Source: Straits Times, 30 Mar 2010