SINGAPORE: The Nautilus@Punggol is the Housing and Development Board’s (HDB) latest Build-To-Order (BTO) project and the first in that area.

Prices for its 4- and 5-room units are about 20 to 30 per cent lower than the resale flats in that vicinity, signalling generous subsidies for these new flats.

The Nautilus@Punggol will have eight blocks comprising some 520 flats. Of these, nearly 80 per cent are 4-room flats and the rest are 5-room apartments. HDB said the prices of the new flats are affordable for first-time buyers.

Giving a comparison of resale flats about seven years old in Punggol, HDB said 4-room resale flats are currently going at between S$306,000 and S$350,000, while 4-room flats at The Nautilus will be sold at between S$228,000 and S$274,000.

Likewise, The Nautilus’ 5-room flats are priced in the range of S$305,000 to S$357,000 against the resale price range of S$368,000 to S$428,888 for units in the Punggol area.

At such prices, analysts expect strong demand for the project.

Adam Tan, marketing manager, Propnex, said: “It will probably be about three times or more oversubscribed because they are releasing a rather small number of units for this project. Punggol is an up-and-coming estate. It’s no longer a backwater estate – it’s coming into its own.”

HDB added that besides enjoying a generous market subsidy, eligible first-time buyers whose average monthly household income is S$5,000 or less can also qualify for an additional CPF Housing Grant of up to S$40,000. This grant can be used to offset the initial downpayment.

HDB also said that based on the income of flat applicants in the fourth quarter of last year, an applicant for The Nautilus@Punggol whose income is at the median level will not need to fork out cash to meet their monthly housing commitments, which would be fully covered by their monthly CPF contributions.

The Nautilus@Punggol is part of HDB’s programme to remake the heartlands. For the whole of this year, HDB is planning about six BTO projects in Punggol, building some 3,000 new flats in that area.

Applications for The Nautilus@Punggol flats close on April 8.

Source: Channel News Asia, 26 Mar 2009

A COMPETITION to design Punggol’s first waterfront homes has attracted a huge response from local and foreign architects.

A technical seminar held yesterday for participating architectural firms drew a turnout of more than 200 people, all keen to have a say in how Singapore’s first waterfront public housing estate will take shape.

Architects have to design a masterplan for a 26.6ha housing district west of Punggol’s town centre by April17.

Five shortlisted firms will go on to design a more detailed 4.9ha site along the Punggol Waterway. This phase of the competition closes on Aug 21.

The top design will be announced and exhibited in November, with the winning team contracted to execute its masterplan. The Housing Board plans to offer the waterfront homes by mid-2010.

The winner will be awarded $300,000, which is part of the consultancy fee for the project. Two merit winners will also be chosen and awarded $100,000 each, said the HDB.

Its deputy chief executive of building, Mr Lau Joo Ming, yesterday urged the architects at the seminar to be ‘bold…and dare to be different’.

He said the competition is open to anyone, from young upstarts to established local and foreign firms.

The HDB has devised a theme for the estate – Green Living By The Waters – and hopes architects will conjure up fresh ideas and concepts around it.

It also hopes that the winning design will succeed in building up the estate’s population to the point where it can support wider recreational and commercial facilities, activating its recreational coastline and enhancing the town’s transport routes and connectivity.

Among the local firms at the seminar were DP Architects, RSP Architects, Woha Architects and Surbana International Consultants.

LAUNCH prices of new HDB flats could be cheaper if market prices start to fall.

Senior Minister of State for National Development Grace Fu said yesterday that the Housing Board is monitoring the market closely and will adjust new-flat prices accordingly.

‘For every project that’s launched, we will take the cue from the market, so for every batch that’s coming up, if the current market has adjusted, we will adjust our selling price accordingly,’ she said.

The Straits Times yesterday reported that resale flat prices have softened for specific types, such as five-roomers in areas like Punggol, to match the price of similar newly-launched flats.

Ms Fu assured home buyers yesterday that HDB will ‘always price [the new flats] with the market price in mind’.

Source : Straits Times – 7 Mar 2009

PRICES of resale HDB flats in Punggol have fallen in recent weeks to the point where they are now around the same level as new ones launched barely two months ago.

Normally new flats are markedly cheaper than resale ones as the Housing Board ‘deeply discounts’ their price to prevailing market values as a form of subsidy to first-time home buyers.

But the worsening recession, fragile job market and weak property sector have closed this ‘discount gap’ to virtually nothing in some cases, making resale homes as attractive as new ones.

This is a reversal of the trend during the pre-crisis property boom which saw first-timers flock to HDB for new flats when they found themselves priced out of the resale market.

Experts also point to weaker demand for premium, five-room flat types, which has led to a drop in prices.

The HDB’s website this week showed that the range of resale prices for such five-roomers in Punggol had dipped, from $375,000 to $462,000 in December to about $350,000 to $440,000 last month.

Out of 36 five-room transactions in February, a majority of 29 were priced below $400,000.

This puts them in a similar price range as new five-roomers launched at Punggol Regalia in December at $342,000 to $428,000, and Punggol Arcadia in November at $356,000 to $416,000.

Even prices at the lower end for Punggol’s premium four-roomers have fallen from around $338,000 in December to $306,000 last month.

First-timers eligible for housing grants that may reach as much as $70,000 could now be paying much less for a resale flat than a new one.

This could prompt some cost-conscious buyers in the queue for new flats in Punggol to drop out and buy resale ones, said ERA Asia-Pacific’s associate director, Mr Eugene Lim.

Analysts say the dip in prices has come as home buyers are less likely to pay a premium, or cash-over-valuation, for a flat amid a deepening recession where every quarter sees fresh layoffs.

When HDB launched the Punggol flats late last year, the prices were also based on earlier, higher-priced transactions so it was ‘inevitable’ for new and resale flat prices to have some overlap.

A similar scenario was seen in the 1998 Asian financial crisis when new flat prices were ‘outdated’ quickly due to a downturn in the property market, said PropNex chief executive Mohamed Ismail.

One such area was Jurong, where some first-time buyers eventually discovered they paid more for a new flat than for some resale flats, he said.

It is difficult to compare that situation to Punggol now as the latest projects launched have a premium price due to their attractive location near Punggol MRT station and proximity to the town centre.

Punggol also has long-term potential due to plans to transform it into Singapore’s first waterfront public housing estate, added Mr Ismail.

Chesterton Suntec International’s head of research and consultancy, Mr Colin Tan, pointed out that, unlike private developers, the HDB does not have the luxury of flexibility to adjust prices according to the market immediately.

‘Once they’ve launched, the price is fixed. So there’ll always be a lag effect,’ he said.

One outcome might be that if the projects do not sell out, the HDB will take back surplus flats and relaunch them at a more attractive price later, he said.

Engineer Tang Zhi Wei,who is in the queue to buy a flat at Punggol Regalia, said the prices of resale flats are starting to look very attractive.

‘I’d be tempted to drop out and get a resale flat if time was important and I couldn’t wait,’ said Mr Tang, 26.

But while it seems he is no longer getting a ‘deep discount’ for a new flat, he will still buy one as it is ‘new and the location is good’.

The HDB has stated previously that it follows the market and adjusts prices accordingly.

In the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis when the property market suffered a severe downturn, new flats in Sengkang, for example, cost up to 30 per cent lower in 2005 than when they were first offered for sale in 1997 to 1998.

Source: Straits Times – 6 Mar 2009

THE grand vision of transforming Punggol into Singapore’s first waterfront public housing town begins in earnest next month when construction gets under way.

A $144.6 million contract for the first part of the Punggol Waterway has been awarded to Koh Brothers Building and Civil Engineering Contractor, said the Housing Board (HDB) yesterday.

The 2.4 km stretch – the entire waterway will be 4.2 km long – is expected to be completed late next year, the HDB said.

Punggol Waterway is part of the ‘Punggol 21-plus’ masterplan unveiled by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his National Day Rally speech in 2007.

The new town will boast features like a freshwater lake and a waterway running through the estate, with homes and a town centre on the banks.

The coastal suburb will also have facilities for water sports, gardens and parks with jogging tracks, and eateries for al-fresco dining, Mr Lee had said.

The Punggol Waterway, which will be connected to Sungei Punggol, will have an average depth of 4m, with its width varying from 10 to 85m.

HDB said yesterday its plans to launch the first sale site at Punggol’s Town Centre for a mixed commercial and private residential development ‘are also on track’.

The board launched more than 4,000 flats in Punggol last year. By end-2011, there will be about 23,000 completed flats in the area.

In the longer term, a further 21,000 public and private homes will be built ‘along the waterway for residents to enjoy waterfront housing’, said the HDB.

Source: Straits Times – 29 Jan 2009