The hot property market has seen yet another residential development going up for en bloc sale.

The public tender for the collective sale of Melrose Court at No.10, Lorong Limau has been launched.

The freehold site is currently occupied by a four-storey residential development comprising 32 units.

It has an area of 23,789 sq ft.

The site is zoned for “residential” use with a gross plot ratio of 2.8 under the 2008 Master Plan.

Property consultant Colliers International says it can be re-developed into a 22-storey residential development with a total gross floor area of 73,271 sq ft.

This includes an additional 10 per cent allowed for balcony space.

The new development can accommodate some 88 units of 830 square feet each.

Colliers International says the indicative price is about S$48 million, which works out to some S$688 per square foot per plot ratio.

This includes a development charge of about S$2.38 million.

Colliers International adds that over than 80 per cent of the owners have agreed to the sale.

Based on the asking price, each owner could reap between S$1.23 million and S$2.46 million from the sale.

The tender will close on August 12.

Source: Channel News Asia, 14 Jul 2010

Fourteen strata shop units on the second storey of Holland Road Shopping Centre have been put up for sale.

The four-storey block shopping centre is located at 211 Holland Avenue.

The units have separate titles but are to be sold jointly.

They occupy a total gross floor area of 5,543 square feet.

All the units are currently tenanted and the tenancy will expire in 2013.

Property consultant Colliers International said the indicative price ranges between S$28 million and S$29 million.

This works out to about S$5,051 to S$5,231 per square foot.

Colliers International Deputy Managing Director of Agency and Business Services, Grace Ng, said Holland Road Shopping Centre enjoys an almost 100 per cent occupancy rate and its retail space has always been highly sought after.

She added that properties located in the Shopping Centre are likely to experience capital and rental appreciation due to the upcoming adjacent Holland Village MRT Station, which is scheduled to be ready in 2011.

The tender will close on August 5.

Source: Channel News Asia, 14 Jul 2010

Changes to the Land Strata Titles Act will be effective from Thursday, 15 July, after the Amendment Act was enacted in Parliament on 18 May.

The amendments seek to provide more clarity to the en bloc sales process and balance the interest of property owners.

Among them, a two-year restriction period will be imposed starting from the date an initial collective sale attempt failed.

The objective is to discourage numerous attempts at en bloc sales when there is insufficient interest from the owners.

The first re-try to convene an Extraordinary General Meeting to reappoint a sale committee will need the backing of at least 50 percent share value or total number of owners.

For second or subsequent re-tries during the 2-year period, 80 percent will be needed.

Currently, the requisition threshold is set at 20 percent by share value or 25 percent of the total number of owners.

Another amendment is that the Strata Titles Board will be empowered to issue a “stop order” to cease mediation once it becomes clear that the affected owners want adjudication to be done in court.

Currently, the Strata Titles Board mediates and adjudicates on objections filed by minority owners in en bloc sales.

The change could help to reduce the costs and time taken to resolve more contentious en bloc applications.

Some of the changes will apply to the en bloc sale committees.

Among them is the requirement for those standing for election to the sale committee to declare the extent of ownership that they or their immediate family have in the development.

To ensure that the sales process is not dragged out, the sale committee will have one year to obtain the first signature for the Collective Sale Agreement, or it will be automatically dissolved.

The one-year time frame will start from the date the sale committee is formed.

These changes will apply to en bloc applications made on or after the date of commencement of the Land Titles (Strata) (Amendment) Act.

Source: Channel News Asia, 14 Jul 2010

Singapore is among the most active regional investors in the Asia Pacific region when it comes to cross border commercial real estate investments.

Property consultant DTZ Research said investors from Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia spent a total of US$1.8 billion in the second quarter.

The money targeted predominantly the markets in China, Singapore and Hong Kong.

But the volume of commercial real estate investments transacted in Asia Pacific fell 49 per cent on-quarter to US$21.5 billion in the second quarter this year.

DTZ said the tighter policy measures in China implemented by the government targeting mainly the residential sector had a knock on effect on commercial property activity.

This led to a sharp fall in land sales for mixed-use developments.

Despite the decline in sales volumes, China remains the most liquid market in Asia Pacific.

But its market share decreased during the quarter from 62 per cent to 47 per cent in favour of Singapore, Australia and Taiwan

Investment transactions in Singapore and Hong Kong in the second quarter also recorded a moderate decline of 15 per cent from the previous three months.

Source: Channel News Asia, 14 Jul 2010

Meng Garden sells for $137m; more prime district sites may come to market

(SINGAPORE) A collective sale is said to have been sealed for Meng Garden Apartments off Killiney Road for $137 million or about $1,380 per square foot per plot ratio, including an estimated development charge of $681,000.

This is the biggest collective sale transacted this year and the first in a prime district.

It also takes the year-to- date tally to 16 deals at about $786 million.

Boutique developer TG Development, the buyer of Meng Garden, will not have to seek the Strata Titles Board’s approval for the transaction as CB Richard Ellis, which brokered the collective sale, had secured 100 per cent consent from the owners prior to the property being put up for tender last month.

The 35,639 sq ft freehold site is zoned for residential use with a 2.8 plot ratio and a 10-storey height control.

The site can potentially accommodate a new development with about 95 apartments averaging 1,000 sq ft each.

The existing eight-storey block comprises 26 apartments and a penthouse, with over half the units owned by an extended Lim family.

The tender for Meng Garden closed on July 7 and is understood to have attracted six bidders, including mid- and large-sized listed developers.

Meng Garden is located on Lloyd Road and was built in the mid-1980s. Prior to its development, the site was the original residence of the Alkaff family.

The 16 collective sales at $786 million so far this year is a marked improvement from last year’s solo deal at $100.8 million and the 2008 showing of eight transactions for a total $346 million.

‘Whereas most of the deals so far this year have involved sums below $100 million and were primarily outside the prime districts, we could see bigger sites and a few more in the prime districts coming to the market in the current half,’ said CB Richard Ellis executive director (investment properties) Jeremy Lake.

He predicts that the full-year tally could cross the $2 billion mark.

Credo Real Estate managing director Karamjit Singh noted that the 13 collective sale deals in the first half of this year averaged $40 million per transaction – a far cry from the peak of the en bloc sale fever during the first half of 2007, when there were 55 transactions averaging $170 million each.

‘For H2 2010, we expect to see 20-40 successful deals, which would mean a doubling from the first-half performance. We also expect the average deal size to somewhat double to $80-100 million in H2 2010.’

However, most market watchers are not expecting the peak volumes seen in 2006 and 2007 – when $7.8 billion and a record $11.6 billion respectively were done (according to Credo figures) – to be re-visited anytime soon.

CB Richard Ellis’ Mr Lake argues that some collective sales are no longer viable due to the high cost of replacement properties. ‘The cost of the replacement property has moved up to an extent that the en bloc premium is no longer attractive to owners,’ he said.

‘As a result, the number of viable collective sales that agents are working on has diminished.’

Mr Lake also observed that back in 2006-2007, land prices appreciated so quickly that almost every collective sale effort worked. ‘However, prime district residential land prices currently are not back to their previous peaks, which mirrors the price trend for new residential units.’

Source: Business Times, 14 Jul 2010

PREMIUM flats at the Housing Board’s (HDB) upcoming Punggol waterfront estate has drawn strong interest, with as many as 18 buyers chasing each flat.

Applications for Waterway Terraces, which features premium flats, closed yesterday with a thumping 13,688 applications for just 1,072 homes.

Property experts said the project’s waterfront location is the biggest draw.

The five-roomers were hugely popular, attracting 5,594 applicants for the 306 flats available, which makes them 18 times oversubscribed.

The 588 four-room flats in the build-to-order (BTO) project were hot as well with 7,084 applications lodged or 12 times oversubscribed.

Almost 50 per cent of the applicants have not applied for any BTO flats in the past 12 months, said HDB.

Indicative prices range from $374,000 to $458,000 for the five-room flats, $300,000 to $376,000 for four-roomers and $186,000 to $237,000 for three-room flats.

Waterway Terraces will be premium flats, which means they come with fittings such as timber strip flooring in the bedrooms.

The project also has roof gardens, a relatively rare feature in HDB projects, and direct lift access from all blocks to the basement carpark.

The HDB expected Waterway Terraces to be well received but the big turnout of buyers could not trump the HDB record holder, Telok Blangah Towers. Launched in October 2007, this drew 7,970 applications for 400 BTO flats – or nearly 20 times oversubscribed.

Buyers flocked to the Punggol flats as they are the first along the Punggol Waterway to be released.

They are also within walking distance of the Punggol MRT station and other amenities and boast an award-winning design with various premium and eco-features, the HDB said.

Waterway Terraces is being offered under HDB’s latest and largest build-to-order flat exercise, which includes two standard BTO projects in Sengkang.

Under the BTO scheme, flats are built only when a certain level of demand for the project is met.

The Sengkang flats were mostly just two to three times oversubscribed but the two-roomers attracted only 200 applications for the 238 units.

The HDB said in a statement yesterday that the absolute number of applicants for the Sengkang projects is comparable with previous BTO launches in the area.

In all, the 2,696 flats in Punggol and Sengkang drew 16,944 applications as of 5pm yesterday. HDB will provide a final update at 2pm today.

‘Waterway Terraces’ main attraction is its waterfront location and its reasonable pricing,’ said real estate firm ERA Asia-Pacific’s associate director Eugene Lim.

Ngee Ann Polytechnic real estate lecturer Nicholas Mak said a key draw is the project’s proximity to the MRT station and the future mall there as not all units will have a waterfront view.

‘People are still expecting HDB prices to rise. They are thinking if I don’t get it now, the future Punggol projects could be priced even higher,’ added Mr Mak.

Indeed, Mr Lim said applicants have a first-mover advantage. ‘It’s the first waterfront project there. Future ones may be priced higher.

‘Some people are thinking that they can resell after eight years for a big profit. It’s also a lifestyle that you cannot find in any other HDB project.’

PropNex chief executive Mohamed Ismail said the response shows that ‘a lot of people now value lifestyle more than just a basic roof over their heads’.

He said buyers are ‘willing to pay a premium for (lifestyle) as they also realise that these projects with special features can appreciate in value far more than other standard HDB projects because of limited supply’.

Buyers can look forward to 7,200 more BTO flats this year, the HDB said.

Source: Straits Times, 14 Jul 2010