Katong site up for collective sale
By Romesh Navaratnarajah:Katong Park Towers (pictured), a 30-year-old 118-unit condominium in the Mountbatten area is up for collective sale at around S$330 million to S$340 million, according to sole marketing agent DTZ.This works out to between S$1,145 and S$1,178 psf ppr, including 10 percent...
Continue Reading • 11 Oct 2012
Woodlands EC site fetches S$150.18m top bid
By Romesh Navaratnarajah:A residential land parcel at Woodlands Avenue 6/Woodlands Drive 16 received five bids when the tender closed yesterday, according to the Housing and Development Board (HDB).Launched for tender on 23 August, the site is slated for development of approximately 465 executive...
Continue Reading • 10 Oct 2012
New cooling measures dampen stocks
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: Following the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) new home loan restrictions, there are rumblings in the market of possibly more measures by the government to cool off the property sector. This led to a drop in bank and property stocks on Monday, reported The...
Continue Reading • 9 Oct 2012
Strong interest expected for Punggol EC
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: The newly launched Waterbay (pictured), a 383-unit executive condominium (EC) in Punggol, is expected to draw strong buyer interest with its ideal location, according to property consultants. Although many new projects have been launched in Punggol and Sengkang,...
Continue Reading • 8 Oct 2012
Bungalow sales heat up at Sentosa Cove
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: Sales of bungalows at Sentosa Cove have picked up significantly in recent weeks, rebounding from the effects of the additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD), reported The Business Times. Owners of around 12 bungalows issued options to potential buyers in the past two...
Continue Reading • 8 Oct 2012
Showflats still buzzing despite loan restrictions
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: Despite the new housing loan rules from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), home buyers are still flocking to condominium showflats, with strong turn-out seen last weekend at Skies Miltonia in Yishun and Riversails at Upper Serangoon, according to The Business...
Continue Reading • 8 Oct 2012
Punggol waterfront development shaping up
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: Punggol is rapidly developing into a major commercial and residential hub, underlined by strong interest for the new Watertown development. Over at the upcoming retail mall Waterway Point (pictured), supermarket NTUC FairPrice Finest and Shaw Theatres have signed on as...
Continue Reading • 8 Oct 2012
The Hillier units 96% taken up
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: The Hillier (pictured), a 528-unit development in Upper Bukit Timah by Far East SOHO has seen brisk sales, with 96 percent of units already sold.Launched in January, The Hillier comprises two towers of SOHO apartments and an adjoining two-storey retail podium called...
Continue Reading • 8 Oct 2012
Developers finding novel ways to promote new projects
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: Property developers are finding more unique ways to promote their projects. For instance, the developers behind the Heron Bay executive condominium (EC) in Upper Serangoon View (pictured) are offering prospective buyers a brochure that could easily pass for a coffee...
Continue Reading • 5 Oct 2012
Exec condo oversupply looming
By Romesh Navaratnarajah:Following the government’s increased supply of new executive condominium (EC) sites, the market could see an oversupply situation, reported The Business Times.Between the first half of 2010 and second half of 2012, 25 EC sites were released under the confirmed and...
Continue Reading • 5 Oct 2012
Dual-key homes gaining in popularity
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: In a bid to support the growing demand for dual-key homes, property developer Frasers Centrepoint has launched Trio by Frasers, a new brand of dual-key units with three major uses – as a home office, for multi-generational living and leasing out. The units offer...
Continue Reading • 4 Oct 2012
Singapore home prices may shoot up further
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: Singapore’s residential market remains busy, despite a less than rosy economic forecast with GDP growth trimmed to 2.4 percent this year, according to the latest report from Savills. Savills noted that the US government’s fresh round of quantitative easing...
Continue Reading • 4 Oct 2012
Geylang is red hot with property investors
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: Geylang is becoming an attractive haven for property investors looking for high rental yields and capital gain, despite having a seedy reputation for prostitution and sleazy budget hotels. Median prices of newly launched properties soared to S$1,255 psf in Q2 2012 from...
Continue Reading • 3 Oct 2012
More expats buying up homes in Johor
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: A growing number of expatriates from Singapore are snapping up homes in Johor, Malaysia, especially properties in Nusajaya which are generally more spacious and affordably priced, according to recent media reports. Several property agents and developers noted that expats...
Continue Reading • 3 Oct 2012
Villa Des Flores up for en bloc sale again
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: The freehold Villa Des Flores (pictured) has been re-launched for collective sale with a price tag of S$165 million, according to marketing agent DTZ. Located on a 104,370 sq ft site along Whitley Road, the development was first launched for sale in June at the same...
Continue Reading • 2 Oct 2012
Residential deals dominate auctions market
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: The residential market accounted for a healthy 75 percent, or S$12.4 million of the total S$16.7 million for auction sales in Q3 2012, according to Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL). The improvement was mainly attributed to strong market fundamentals, including low interest rate...
Continue Reading • 2 Oct 2012
More cooling measures not likely anytime soon
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: The government is unlikely to impose new cooling measures in the immediate term, taking into consideration the current economic conditions and the effectiveness of the previous policies, according to Png Poh Soon, Head of Research at Knight Frank Singapore.His comments...
Continue Reading • 2 Oct 2012
Private home prices rise in Q3
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: Private home prices in Singapore continue to climb, with the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) flash estimates for the residential price index reflecting a 0.5 percent increase quarter-on-quarter in Q3 2012 to another record high of 208.0. The Core Central...
Continue Reading • 2 Oct 2012
Review current cooling measures before imposing new ones: REDAS
By Romesh Navaratnarajah:Another round of property cooling measures should not be implemented until a thorough review of the existing measures has been conducted, according to Wong Heang Fine (pictured), President of the Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore (REDAS). PropertyGuru...
Continue Reading • 1 Oct 2012
Govt releases 3 sites to yield 1375 homes
By Romesh Navaratnarajah:The government has released three residential sites that could yield around 1,375 homes providing more choices for home buyers, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and Housing and Development Board (HDB). Launched for sale under the confirmed list, two...
Continue Reading • 28 Sept 2012