Recent blog posts - Property Launches & Investments

SE Asia Stocks-Most weaker, Singapore property shares fall after data

Posted by Property Launch Invest on Monday, 15 September 2014 in Property News

Southeast Asian stock markets retreated on Monday as weak data out of China dented sentiment across Asia,with property shares such as CapitaLand Ltd underperforming in Singapore after weak sales data for August.

Buyers shun luxury city apartments despite price falls

Posted by Property Launch Invest on Monday, 15 September 2014 in Property News

Luxury apartment sales in the city centre sank markedly in the first half of 2014, revealed a CBRE report.

According to caveats data for the Core Central Region (CCR), there were 48 transactions of properties costing $5 million and above in the first six months of the year, compared to 78 and 107 deals in H2 2013 and H1 2013 respectively.

Why is it too soon to relax Singapore property measures

Posted by Property Launch Invest on Monday, 15 September 2014 in Property News

Prices have to fall by 10% first.

The sales drought will continue for Singapore’s residential developers, as the country’s stringent property cooling measures aren’t expected to ease anytime soon.

According to Barclays, the relaxation of property cooling measures would be premature, despite the continuous softening in property prices, even though year-to-date developer sales have declined 54% y/y.

HDB owners upgrading to private residential despite property cooling measures

Posted by Property Launch Invest on Thursday, 11 September 2014 in Property News

In the wake of property cooling measures developers have begun to offer higher percentage price discounts in an attempt to offload stock, making upgrading to condominium living a tempting option for HDB owners. Using 5-room HDB owners as a case study, we examine if now is the right time for HDB upgraders to cash out of their flats, and invest in the private condominium market. To measure the ease of upgrading by HDB owners, we looked at the upgrade premium, which is the difference between median HDB resale price per square feet (psf) and median condominium resale price psf of equivalent sizes, i.e. 100 - 120 sq m or 1,076 -1,292sqft for each quarter.

Freehold versus leasehold property in Singapore

Posted by Property Launch Invest on Thursday, 11 September 2014 in Property News

Apart from location, the next most important question on a home buyer’s mind is probably the tenure of the property.

There are generally two types of tenure in Singapore: Ninety-nine-year leasehold and freehold. For all practical purposes, the 999-year leasehold property is considered to be the same as freehold because the difference in their values is negligible and banks will not impose any loan limits.

4 reasons why 2014 could be a turbulent year for stakeholders of the Singapore private property market

Posted by Property Launch Invest on Thursday, 11 September 2014 in Property News

Based on the latest URA private property price index (PPPI) flash estimates, we know that the PPPI, which represents the overall real estate price trend, has dipped in 2013Q4. This is the first dip the market has seen in the last 2 years.

At present, there are numerous views that the real estate market will stay stagnant for some time. I agree and here are 4 reasons why we think 2014, and maybe even 2015, could be a turbulent year for stakeholders of the Singapore property market.

3 indications that show just how bad the Singapore residential property market is

Posted by Property Launch Invest on Thursday, 11 September 2014 in Property News

In Jan 2014, I wrote about why this year could be turbulent for property market stakeholders. In the recent weeks, there were some reports on how quiet the high-end property market in Singapore is. A casual observer may think that this is just limited to the high-end sector; in reality, the market malaise is probably more wide spread than what many people realise.

For those who are wondering just how bad the market is, here are 3 indicators to shed some light on the health of the Singapore residential property sector.

Singapore a global role model in property cooling: Bloomberg

Posted by Property Launch Invest on Wednesday, 10 September 2014 in Property News

Other countries can't handle their housing bubbles.

Singapore has lowered down housing prices by 3.7% over the past 12 months, as other cities like London, Manhattan and Sydney struggle to keep their housing prices from surging.

Bloomberg says that Singapore and Hong Kong did not even break a sweat as it reined in home prices by imposing measures including mortgage caps, taxes on property flippers, and levies on foreign buyers as high as 15%.

Sim Lian tops bids for EC site, beating market expectations

Posted by Property Launch Invest on Wednesday, 10 September 2014 in Property News

The latest state tender for an executive condominium (EC) site in Choa Chu Kang Drive shows that developers would still make a beeline for attractive sites.

Located about 550 metres from Choa Chu Kang MRT Station and Bus Interchange and Lot One Shoppers' Mall, the 1.9-hectare plot drew eight bids, with the highest at S$361.08 psf ppr from Sim Lian Land - slightly above market expectations.

All container port activities to be consolidated at Tuas in future

Posted by Property Launch Invest on Thursday, 04 September 2014 in Property News

Singapore will work towards consolidating all container port activities at Tuas over the long term as recommended by Singapore’s Economic Strategies Committee.

The first set of berths at the new Tuas Port is expected to be operational in about ten years’ time.

The Ambiguity of HDB Shophouses with attached residential quarters

Posted by Property Launch Invest on Tuesday, 02 September 2014 in Property News

In one of our previous articles, :Can I Buy a HDB Shophouse with Attached Residential Quarters?", we look at how the Housing Development Board (HDB) defines this hybrid type of property.

To sum up, HDB considers HDB Shophouse with Attached Residential Quarters as a commercial property; hence private residential property owners are eligible to purchase them. Even current HDB flat owners may do so.

New platform, track for Tanah Merah MRT station in 2024

Posted by Property Launch Invest on Sunday, 31 August 2014 in Property News

The new platform will cater to trains heading to Pasir Ris, which leaves the two middle tracks dedicated for trains travelling to and from Changi Airport.

SINGAPORE: By 2024, commuters can expect faster MRT travel to the Singapore Expo and Changi Airport. That's because a new platform will be added to the Tanah Merah MRT station, giving it three platforms and four tracks in total. Enhancement works will start in 2016. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) revealed these plans in a media briefing on Monday (Aug 25).