WITH Savills Singapore managing director Michael Ng headed for Singapore Land (SingLand) and its parent United Industrial Corporation (UIC) on Oct 1, his current job at Savills will be assumed by the property consultancy group’s Southeast Asia CEO, Chris Marriott

Two directors at the Singapore office have also been promoted to executive director from Sept 1 – Steven Ming, who heads investment and prestige homes, and Phylicia Ang, who is head of residential sales.

They will join Jessie Yeo, head of valuation, and research and consultancy, who is already an executive director. ‘The four of us will together form the senior leadership team at Savills Singapore,’ Mr Marriott said in a recent telephone interview with BT.

‘I’ve inherited a strong team and I have worked with all these people for a number of years. I’m confident there will be no disruption to our existing business,’ he said.

The 45-year-old, who has been with the group for more than 15 years, has been shuttling between Hong Kong and Singapore since 2004 but recently settled here permanently.

Savills’ Southeast Asia hub is run from Singapore. Hong Kong is the headquarters of Savills Asia Pacific, where Mr Marriott is on the board. At the beginning of 2010, he was named CEO of Savills Southeast Asia.

‘We’re taking the region more seriously, with the board sending me down here to expand our Singapore operations and our network coverage – both geographic (in Southeast Asia) and service line across Southeast Asia including Singapore,’ he said.

Currently, Savills has ‘a leading market position in Vietnam and Thailand and strong partnerships in Indonesia and Malaysia’.

Asked what new business the group plans for Singapore and Southeast Asia, Mr Marriott said: ‘We’re looking at expanding our commercial agency, investment brokerage and advisory, and project management businesses. We’re very happy looking at growing both organically and through acquisitions. So I’m in the market to expand our Southeast Asia network that way.’

Savills Singapore has a headcount of about 140.

Mr Marriott is a familiar face in Savills’ Singapore office. ‘I set up the Singapore office back in 1995 and undertook the restructure when we bought Michael Ng’s business in late 2004,’ he said.

In April 2002, Mr Ng acquired the Singapore operations of Hamptons International and renamed the business Hampden Real Estate. In December 2004, Savills bought the business, merging it with its commercial business to create Savills Singapore Pte Ltd and Savills Residential Pte Ltd.

‘Basically, Michael and I have been in partnership running this business since early 2005,’ said Mr Marriott.

Mr Ng retains a small stake in Savills Singapore, which will be sold to Savills when he leaves at the end of this month.

‘It’s with a tinge of sadness that I’m leaving a business I have built up over so many years,’ he said. ‘But there’s no better time to leave than when the company is in good shape. It’s also an opportune time for me to move on to something different and exciting.’

At UIC and SingLand, Mr Ng will be group general manager, overall in charge of property investment and development including overseeing office leasing activities. He will report to Lim Hock San, who is president at CEO of both companies.

Source: Business Times, 2 Sep 2010

Veteran residential property consultant will leave at end of the year

VETERAN residential property consultant Peter Ow is retiring from Knight Frank at the end of this year

The 55-year-old hopes to go on a long break before deciding what to do next, he told BT yesterday. ‘I’d like to take things easier and spend more time holidaying and golfing.

‘I’ve been with Knight Frank for the past 23 years and in the real estate business for a total 30 years . . . This will be the first time I can take a really long holiday. All along because of the job, it’s been very difficult to plan holidays as I have to wait till the very last minute, to make sure there are no property launches, to be very sure.’

While he has not thought through about what he would like to do upon returning from his holiday, Mr Ow reckons that he’s likely to go into ‘semi-retirement’ and may set up his own residential consultancy and work at his own pace.

‘The residential agency business has changed so much in the past 20 years or so. In the old days, you advertised and buyers came to you. Nowadays, it’s a lot harder to sell properties – as you have to go out to find buyers, and persuade them to buy your property. It’s so competitive; firstly, there are a lot of properties and the agents’ population has grown over the years, especially during the boom years.’

Mr Ow welcomes the government’s move to set up the Council of Estate Agencies, a regulatory body tasked to regulate property agents. ‘It will boost professionalism. Opportunists and part-time agents who’re in the trade only during good times will be edged out,’ he said.

Replacing Mr Ow as head of residential at Knight Frank will be Wendy Tang, who is in her early 40s. She rejoined the company at the beginning of this year after a 10-year hiatus. However, Mr Ow’s post as managing director (residential services) will remain vacant for now.

Praising Mr Ow’s achievements, Knight Frank chairman Tan Tiong Cheng said: ‘I recruited Peter in October 1987, when he was 32, as a manager in the residential department. Over the years, he has built up the residential agency business from a small team of five to 33 full-time staff as well as 1,300 associates today.’

Prior to joining Knight Frank, Mr Ow had been with the Urban Redevelopment Authority, CB Richard Ellis and even teamed up with a few friends – including Danny Yeo, who is now group managing director at Knight Frank – to set up a valuation agency.

Mr Ow’s successor, Ms Tang, joined Knight Frank in 1997 as senior manager in the residential department, but left in 2000 for Genome Institute of Singapore, where she was deputy director of corporate services. Four years later, she joined a Malaysian developer before heading back to Singapore in 2007 to work at Alpha Investment Partner, where she was assistant director, portfolio/asset management. She rejoined Knight Frank in January this year as director of residential.

Source: Business Times, 2 Sep 2010

THE latest property policies reported on Tuesday (‘Govt acts to curb speculators’) will see the loan-to-value (LTV) limit adjusted from 80 per cent to 70 per cent for home buyers with existing housing loans.

The report quotes the Government as stating that the new policies are aimed at discouraging speculation in the property market, and genuine home buyers should not be affected.

I am a genuine home buyer and a potential HDB upgrader. I am a Singaporean whose dream is to work hard and improve my family’s living standards.

I dream of upgrading to an executive condominium or private property one day, and I have saved enough for the 20 per cent down payment.

I am willing to sell my HDB flat and live in a new home.

So I counted the days to the launch of the new executive condominiums, which suit the sandwich class I belong to.

I almost realised my dream – until the latest changes to curb speculators.

The new policies do not help home owners like me who have an existing HDB housing loan to service.

For one thing, we must fork out 30 per cent in down payment to qualify for the 70 per cent LTV rate.

We are not speculators but we are being penalised in the Government’s bid to stabilise the booming property market.

I was advised to sell my HDB flat first if I wanted to enjoy an 80 per cent loan rate. But with a one-year-old baby, where can I stay while the executive condominium is being built?

Besides, can selling our home first assure us of a unit at the executive condominium?

Genuine home upgraders like my family are being penalised and inconvenienced. I hope the authorities will consider home buyers in our position.

Tan Tien Li (Ms)

Source: Straits Times, 2 Sep 2010

Owners seeking $48m, down from 2008 level; another site off Balestier sold below asking price

THE collective sale scene is seeing more launches but prices are certainly not going through the roof, as the Melrose Court and Maison Royale cases show.

The Melrose Court sale was signed and sealed last week, but at a level below the asking price, while the Maison Royale condo is again up for offers after coming up short in 2008.

Owners at freehold Maison Royale in Newton are now asking for $48 million for the 20-unit estate – down from the asking price of $50 million two years ago.

The 2008 tender closed without attracting a bid above the reserve price.

The new asking price works out to about $1,220 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr). Owners could reap about $2.2 million to $2.59 million each, depending on unit sizes.

Marketing agent Urban Front Real Estate said the owners have obtained 80 per cent approval. It said the signature-collecting process started last month and the slightly lower asking price is just a marketing strategy to entice developers.

The site can be redeveloped into a project with 40 units averaging 988 sq ft, said Urban Front.

‘This is a small plot and it is freehold, so the risk for developers is small,’ said associate director Victor Tng. He added that interest rates are low and developers are running low on their land banks.

‘The recent measures would have a short-term impact on the market and may not affect developers’ interest in good collective sale sites,’ Mr Tng said.

Meanwhile, freehold Melrose Court was offloaded last week for $44 million – below the $48 million asking price but about 5 per cent to 10 per cent above the reserve, said Colliers International, which brokered the sale.

The land price for the site off Balestier Road works out to about $665 psf ppr, including an approximate development charge of $277,235 based on a gross plot ratio of 2.8.

The buyer is Melrose Land, formed by a group of investors. The sale is subject to the approval of the Strata Titles Board.

If it goes through, each owner will reap gross proceeds from $1.129 million to $2.261 million, depending on unit sizes, said Colliers International.

Its executive director of investment sales, Mr Ho Eng Joo, said the cooling measures announced on Monday will not affect price expectations for en bloc deals as owners cannot revise their reserve price during the sale process, but they could affect the sentiment of some potential buyers.

Nevertheless, ‘buying land is different from buying a completed product because it takes several months to a year or more for a development site to be launched for sale’, said Mr Ho. ‘By then, market conditions might have changed.’

Source: Straits Times, 2 Sep 2010

MAS survey says up to 15.9% economic expansion likely, mainly due to manufacturing

SINGAPORE’S rebounding economy may burst through the 15 per cent growth ceiling projected by the Government earlier this year.

According to 20 economists and analysts surveyed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the economy is most likely set to expand by between

14.9 per cent and 15.9 per cent this year, rather than the 13 per cent to 15 per cent range expected by the Government.

Their median growth forecast of 14.9 per cent – announced in the latest MAS survey of professional forecasters released yesterday – is a significant leap from the median forecast of 9 per cent contained in the previous survey in June.

And, if achieved, it will enter the record books as Singapore’s highest-ever annual growth rate.

The last record was set in 1970, when the economy advanced 13.8 per cent.

Alongside headline growth, the economists have also hiked their forecasts for this year’s exports, inflation and the unemployment rate.

But this year’s bigger output jump could spell slower growth next year, because 2011′s performance will be measured against this year’s higher base. The forecasters are now anticipating 4 per cent to 4.9 per cent expansion for next year, down from their earlier forecast of 5 per cent to 5.9 per cent.

The upgraded projection for this year was driven mainly by the manufacturing sector, which is now thought to have performed better for the full year.

Expectations have also been raised for the financial services and wholesale and retail trade industries.

This should see the economy logging double-digit expansions in the third and fourth quarters, said the economists polled.

They are predicting 11.6 per cent growth for the third quarter, up from a previous forecast of 6 per cent, although it is down on the 18.8 per cent increase in the second quarter.

In the fourth quarter, growth may accelerate to 12.6 per cent, the survey showed.

Most economists believe the economy peaked in the second quarter and will slow as the global economic recovery wavers in the second half of the year.

Mr David Cohen of Action Economics forecasts 15.5 per cent growth this year, even after taking into account a quarter-on-quarter contraction in the third quarter and slight growth in the fourth quarter.

‘I think the sense is that the second quarter got a little ahead of itself, and may have been exaggerated by some special factors in biomedical manufacturing,’ he said.

‘The production schedules tend to bounce around and maybe were a little overstated in the second quarter.’

On top of that, Mr Cohen said ‘there is a sense that the global economy is slipping from the pace of rebound that has been seen this year’.

While the Asian economies generally continued roaring in the second quarter, growth in both Japan and the United States slowed sharply.

‘People are nervous, certainly, that the US can slip into a double-dip. But I think the most likely scenario is for continued positive growth in the US and, as long as they can avoid a double-dip, here in Asia, the continued momentum should support a positive trajectory,’ said Mr Cohen.

A technical recession in the second half is even possible, said JP Morgan economist Matt Hildebrandt, who forecasts 14.8 per cent growth this year.

Morgan Stanley economists, who expect 16 per cent growth this year, have warned that leading indicators such as the US ISM new orders index imply a slowdown in export growth in the coming months.

But ‘the strong first half means that a lot of growth is already in the bag, and that a double-digit (growth) headline for 2010 is likely even in a double-dip scenario’, they said in a recent report.

The MAS survey reported yesterday that the Singapore dollar is projected to rise to $1.363 against the US dollar at the end of this month and to $1.35 by year-end.

Source: Straits Times, 2 Sep 2010

Hundreds of new flats, seamless link for MRT and bus interchange

BEDOK Town Centre will receive a complete facelift in the next four years, with the building of a new integrated public transport hub and private homes.

These new developments will stand on a plot that will also have space for commercial use totalling 35,000 sq m, which is about the size of Junction 8 shopping centre in Bishan.

But the most dramatic change for residents will probably be the seamless linking of Bedok bus interchange to the MRT station and the building of an estimated 475 private apartments beside the interchange.

Residents interviewed welcomed the news that the bus interchange will be air-conditioned while property analysts foresee the apartments being snapped up by young couples and home upgraders.

Housewife Maria Ahmad, who lives in Bedok North, is delighted as the changes will give her more places to shop. ‘I’ve been waiting for Bedok Point to open and now there’s this new development too,’ said the 40-year-old.

Bedok Point, a mall which will open next month, stands close to the new project, which will take up a 2.49ha plot now occupied by a bus interchange.

Senior Minister S. Jayakumar, an MP for East Coast GRC, is convinced that the proximity of the projects will give residents ‘a rejuvenated and more vibrant town centre’.

Together, ‘it will really be a total makeover’, he told The Straits Times.

Minister of State for Manpower and Trade and Industry Lee Yi Shyan, who is MP for East Coast GRC’s Kampong Chai Chee ward, which includes the town centre, added: ‘The new project will inject a lot of life, dynamism and excitement into the lives of people living in East Coast.’

The promise of commercial and residential developments attracted nine bids yesterday when the sale tender closed, said the Housing Board.

The top bid was about $790 million, made jointly by two subsidiaries of property giant CapitaLand.

The successful bidder will be made known in two weeks’ time, said the HDB spokesman yesterday.

Bedok is one of Singapore’s largest HDB estates, with close to 200,000 residents. It is among the early HDB new towns and saw its first high-rises in the 1970s.

Professor Jayakumar recalled that when he became MP for Bedok constituency in 1980, it had very basic facilities: a bus interchange and no community centre.

‘Now, the whole place has transformed,’ he said. Bedok is now part of East Coast GRC, and the constituency has several community centres, food centres and wet markets.

More changes are being planned. One idea MPs have floated is to bring under one roof the ageing sports facilities in Bedok, such as the swimming pool, indoor stadium and Adventure Park, said Prof Jayakumar.

The land freed up can be used to build new HDB flats or private condominiums, and that will bring many new and younger families to Bedok Central, he added.

Ngee Ann Polytechnic real estate lecturer Nicholas Mak hopes the private apartments coming up in Bedok town centre will be two- and three-room homes that are about 1,300 sq ft.

‘These would be of a decent size and, as Bedok is a mature estate, the flats will be much in demand from families with three generations that want to live under one roof,’ he said.

He expects the apartments to be priced around $1,100 to $1,150 per sq ft, with some going for as much as $1,200 per sq ft.

Source: Straits Times, 2 Sep 2010

A PRIME site in Bedok New Town slated for a retail and residential development has drawn a bumper bid from two units of South-east Asia’s biggest developer.

A 50:50 joint venture between CapitaLand Residential Singapore and CapitaMalls Asia lodged an offer of $788.89 million for the land, or nearly $841 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr).

Its offer was well above analyst tips and 21 per cent above the second-highest bid of $650.89 million from a joint venture between Singapore Press Holdings’ Moon Holdings and United Engineers’ UED Capital Venture.

Analysts had expected bids of $500 to $700 psf ppr. The 24,902 sq m site, which attracted nine bids, is next to an MRT station and will be integrated with a new bus interchange.

A CapitaLand spokesman said its development will comprise about 500 apartments above a shopping mall and would have direct access to the Bedok MRT station and the upcoming bus interchange.

Property experts noted that the site is rare and that there is a lack of retail mall space in the mature town of Bedok.

CBRE Research’s executive director, Mr Li Hiaw Ho, said the site allows for a mall with a net lettable area of up to 250,000 sq ft.

Average retail rents for a suburban mall on this land could be $16 to $18 psf a month on a stabilised basis while condo units could possibly sell for above $1,000 psf, he said.

Source: Straits Times, 2 Sep 2010

Change in measuring viability means greater connectivity for island
TWO weeks ago, Parliament approved a profound change to the way rail projects are built and financed here.

The amendment allows new MRT lines to be built as long as the entire network remains commercially viable. This is a stark departure from a longstanding principle that each new line had to be independently viable before it could be built.

The change was necessary. As new lines are added to the network, there is a good chance these will span corridors that yield lower commuter traffic than the mature lines. Under the old rules, these may take longer to build – if at all.

With the change, there is a better prospect of a new line being built to service less populated areas, as long as it enhances the overall connectivity of Singapore. For instance, a line may extend to an area like Seletar. Or you could have one that links two such areas, such as Punggol to Woodlands.

Lest readers get their hopes up, I should add that such lines, while possible, are unlikely to be up in the near future. This is because there is a long pipeline of rail projects scheduled for delivery first.

Over the next 10 years or so, there will be one new MRT line completed almost every year. Just to recap, the planned schedule is as follows:

2011 – Circle Line Stages 4 and 5

2012 – Circle Line Marina Bay Extension

2013 – Downtown Line Stage 1

2014 – North-South Line Marina Bay Extension

2015 – East-West Line Tuas Extension; and Downtown Line Stage 2

2017 – Downtown Line Stage 3

2018 – Thomson Line

2020 – Eastern Region Line

Chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport Lim Wee Kiak noted of the schedule: ‘This should be the fastest rate that Singapore has seen so far… We can’t be compared to giants like China and India, who have the manpower, resources and land to execute huge infrastructure projects at a faster pace.’

Given finite resources, delivering lines at a faster rate would be taxing, chaotic and potentially unsafe. The timeline thus finely balances budgetry considerations with engineering constraints. On a per capita basis, Singapore’s rail investment – a whopping $60 billion over the next 10 years – is indeed unrivalled.

But some readers may recall that previous plans had called for earlier deliveries.

Back in the mid-1990s, then Communications Minister Mah Bow Tan suggested that the Land Transport Authority deliver an average of one rail project a year. His successor Yeo Cheow Tong raised the long-term target for Singapore’s rail coverage – from 160km of lines to 540km – by 2030.

Had Singapore proceeded as planned, the first two stages of the Downtown Line may be near completion today. And the cost of construction might have been substantially lower.

Unfortunately, a few crises derailed plans: the Asian financial crisis in 1998, the dot.com bubble burst of 2000, the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, and the Sars outbreak in 2003.

There was also the collapse of the Circle Line’s Nicoll Highway station site in 2004, which delayed the rail programme.

But now, it looks like plans are getting back on track, following an aggressive development schedule announced by Transport Minister Raymond Lim in 2008.

By 2020, Singapore’s rail network will double in length to 280km. Rail density will rise from 31km per million residents, to 51km per million – comparable to current standards in New York and London, where commuters in town need walk only five minutes to a station.

Building costs have gone up, but the commitment to invest in transport infrastructure remains unwavering. This is crucial, as daily trips by public transport are expected to exceed 10 million by 2020 – up from under six million today.

But what about beyond 2020? Will the rail network expand to 540km by 2030, as announced by former transport minister Yeo in Parliament in 2000?

The figure does not seem very feasible, as it would mean doubling 2020′s system in 10 years. In any case, there may be no point in constantly adding to a vast network, since investing in infrastructure cannot be the end-all solution to ever rising urban transport demand.

If land use policies and travel patterns do not evolve, even the fastest-growing MRT network will not be enough to transport a fast-growing population. People from newer lines would still need to link to the mature lines which reach the traditional residential and commercial hubs – causing a crunch no systemic upgrade can relieve.

In the long run, Singapore may need to ‘unbundle’ its central business district. Some recommendations made by the Economic Strategies Committee – such as moving the Tanjong Pagar port to Tuas – could show the way.

In the meantime, Singapore also needs to keep an eye on emerging transport trends and technologies. After all, the metropolitan rail system, while efficient, has been around for about 140 years. Something superior could come along.

A Shenzhen company showcased a ‘straddling bus’ concept recently. The enormous bus takes up to 1,200 passengers, straddles a two-lane road, and is raised so that faster-moving vehicles can pass under it.

A few European cities are experimenting with Personal Rapid Transit, a system of pod-like carriages linked to a sophisticated computer program that matches vehicle deployment with commuter load.

The former is said to almost rival the subway and is much cheaper to build, while the latter has been described as ‘taxis on tracks’.

But alternatives have to be studied carefully to see what works here, lest we end up with a lacklustre system like the LRT. With operators today beset by low ridership that no one foresaw or could quite explain, it does not look likely that a new LRT line will be built.

Meanwhile, delivering the slew of new lines from now till 2020 will be a titanic task. For the man in the street, there will be traffic diversions, noise and dust for years on end. These are inevitable with construction projects as massive and long-drawn as MRT projects.

But the payoffs when the lines are ready will surely be worth the trouble.

Source: Straits Times, 2 Sep 2010

HOME owners wanting to move and hoping for an 80 per cent loan on a new property will now have to produce evidence that they have sold their existing home.

The proof must come in the form of a signed sale and purchase agreement and a certificate showing that the buyer of their current property has already paid the stamp duty for the deal, said the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) yesterday.

The Government unveiled on Monday a range of measures designed to dampen property speculation, including tighter lending rules for home owners with existing mortgages looking to buy another property.

They will now have to fund a 30 per cent downpayment for the new property, up from 20 per cent previously, and can borrow up to only 70 per cent of the value, down from 80 per cent.

The moves prompted questions from many home owners unsure whether they would qualify for 80 per cent financing if they intended to sell their existing property – or were in the process of doing so – and move into a new one.

The MAS clarified yesterday that borrowers who have sold their existing homes, but are still in the process of completing the sale, will still qualify for an 80 per cent loan provided they have supporting evidence of the sale.

For private property, this includes a signed sale and purchase agreement and a certificate from the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) showing that stamp duty has been paid by the buyer of the existing home.

For HDB flats, the MAS requires an approval letter from the Housing Board to the seller within two weeks from the date of the first sales appointment.

The home owner should also provide additional information, such as a letter from the bank providing the current housing loan, stating that the borrower will discharge his outstanding loan by the time the property sale is completed.

Industry analysts predicted yesterday that the stricter lending rules will mean lengthier negotiations between buyers and sellers.

PropNex chief executive Mohamed Ismail said that while it usually takes about 12 weeks for a sale to be completed, sellers may now negotiate for 14 to 16 weeks.

‘This gives them time to look for a new home, get a loan and move out of their property,’ he said.

HDB home owners are required to move out of their existing home upon completion of its sale, usually eight weeks after the first sales appointment.

But sellers may negotiate mutual agreements with buyers that allow them to stay beyond the sale completion date as a condition for selling the flat, said a 40-year-old property agent who declined to be named.

Banks that The Straits Times spoke to yesterday said they had been sent a new set of home loan rules by the MAS.

A circular issued on Tuesday by the MAS stipulated that banks had to ‘conduct comprehensive checks’ on borrowers with credit bureaus and the HDB.

OCBC Bank head of consumer secured lending Phang Lah Hwa confirmed that the bank could offer 80 per cent financing ‘to genuine home buyers who have sold their existing homes… provided these customers can show evidence of the sale of the existing property at the point of loan application’.

Home owner Ming Fang Goh, 30, who is looking for an investment property, has mixed feelings about the new rules, but thinks they could be a ‘blessing in disguise’.

‘If the cooling measures help to bring prices down by 10 per cent, then even with a 30 per cent downpayment, some investment homes could become more affordable.’

Source: Straits Times, 2 Sep 2010

They must sell overseas home within six months of buying HDB flat
PEOPLE who own a home overseas will still have to comply with the tough new rules on property ownership if they want to buy an HDB resale flat.

The clarification yesterday came amid uncertainty over who might or might not be exempt from the rules announced on Monday.

The new regulations state that if you buy an HDB resale flat you must dispose of any additional private property within six months of the HDB purchase.

That rule also applies to people who own homes offshore, according to the HDB yesterday. This means an overseas property must be sold within six months of buying an HDB resale flat.

And an owner of a non-subsidised HDB flat who has yet to meet his minimum occupation period (MOP) of five years will also not be allowed to buy a private property locally or abroad.

How new financing rules affect owners of homes offshore was also made clearer yesterday.

Under the revised regulations, a buyer with a mortgage on a local property must stump up a downpayment of 30 per cent when buying an additional property. This is up from 20 per cent previously.

And at least 10 per cent of this deposit must be in cash – up from 5 per cent before – with the rest coming from his Central Provident Fund (CPF) accounts.

But the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said that a buyer with a home loan for an overseas property will not be subject to these financing rules if buying an additional property here.

However, the MAS said it ‘expect(s) financial institutions to take into account the borrower’s outstanding loans when making their credit assessment’.

Industry players say that the new rules effectively delineate the HDB resale market as ‘public housing’, reserved for those whose HDB flat will be their only property, whether here or abroad.

They will also put pressure on permanent residents (PRs) who might own a home in their native country to choose where they want to be based permanently.

PRs make up about one in five resale flat buyers, and some Singaporeans have blamed the influx of PRs in recent years for the soaring prices of these homes.

Mr Colin Tan, research and consultancy director of Chesterton Suntec International, said the new rules were similar to an income ceiling. ‘Basically, it seems to be saying: If you can afford to own a private property then you don’t deserve to own an HDB flat,’ he said.

While the new rules are aimed at keeping HDB flats for owner occupiers and not for investment purposes, Mr Tan felt that exceptions should be made for genuine cases such as retirees looking to monetise their overseas assets through renting out an offshore property.

But enforcement and implementing penalties for those who flout the rules would be a challenge, say experts.

Mr Steven Tan, executive director of residential at OrangeTee agency, said enforcement would be difficult when buyers pay for overseas property all in cash.

He added that the new rules could be an extension of an existing one that prevents owners of build-to-order flats and executive condominiums from buying private property during the five-year MOP.

Ms Flora Lam, 32, a PR from Malaysia, said the rules had placed her in a tough spot as she would now have to sell her Malaysian home if she wanted to buy a resale flat. ‘I feel like I have to decide now where I want to be based and it’s a tough call to make. Maybe I’ll continue renting before I make up my mind,’ she said.

Source: Straits Times, 2 Sep 2010