April 26, 2008
Bankrupts find lifeline with new HDB loan plan
Scheme makes it easier for them to find new homes while paying off their existing debts
By Arlina Arshad
ABOUT 40 people who have been made bankrupt and face trouble securing home loans from a bank or the Housing Board (HDB) have found a lifeline in the form of a new loan scheme.
Introduced in July last year by the HDB, these loans are designed to make it easier for bankrupts to find new homes and pay off their debts.
But loan applicants must first satisfy the HDB's criteria, which include having the money to service monthly mortgage instalments while still satisfying creditors.
An HDB spokesman told The Straits Times yesterday that proceeds from the sale of an existing flat should be used to finance a smaller home.
'To be realistic in determining what they can afford, buyers should consider their existing financial commitments.
'(These include) allowances to support children and parents, payment towards utilities and transport,' said the spokesman.
There were 25,961 undischarged bankrupts - people who are still paying off their debts - in Singapore as at the end of February this year, according to government statistics.
'Purchasing a flat is a long-term commitment. Buyers need to plan carefully and secure financing before committing to the purchase,' said the HDB spokesman.
Agreeing, housing agents said bankrupts wanting to downgrade must understand that selling and buying flats incur other costs such as conveyancing, agent and stamp fees.
Mr Eric Cheng, executive director of HSR Property Group, said one in every 30 clients he handles is a bankrupt wanting to downgrade his flat.
Their aim, he said, is to reduce their monthly mortgage instalments.
Mr Cheng said: 'I tell them that the selling price must at least cover the loan they are getting from the bank or HDB. Their next move must be very prudent, so it's better to engage a professional to help draw up a good financial plan.'
A bankrupt, who declined to be named, said the loan programme will help him reduce his financial burden.
There was no such provision when the 45-year-old engineering supervisor swopped his executive flat for a five-room flat in 2001.
'I still have a job so I am able to service my loans for a five-room flat,' he said. 'Some people might even have to rent as they have no choice.'
arlina@sph.com.sg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Downgrading? Some tips
Check if the Official Assignee will accept cash proceeds from the sale of your flat
· The flat's sale price must cover outstanding loans owed to the HDB or your bank
· Check if a loan is required from your bank or the HDB to buy a new flat
· Engage a professional agent to come up with a sound financial plan
· Ensure that downgrading your flat will help reduce expenses significantly
Copyright © 2007 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved. Privacy Statement & Condition of Access
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Home prices rise more slowly in quiet market
April 26, 2008
Home prices rise more slowly in quiet market
Lower-than-forecast 3.7% growth could signal start of decline
By Fiona Chan
THE property market may have gone quiet, but home prices continued their steady climb in the first three months of this year, albeit at a much weaker pace.
Private home prices rose 3.7 per cent between January and March, down from the 6.8 per cent growth in the previous three months.
It was also notably lower than the 4.2 per cent rise that had been predicted early this month, based on sales in the first 10 weeks.
This suggests prices may have started declining last month, dragging down the whole quarter.
'Price growth is starting to weaken severely and the volume of transactions has halved,' said Mr Chua Yang Liang, Jones Lang LaSalle's head of South-east Asia research.
'The rate of increase in coming quarters is likely to be even slower and prices may peak in the third or fourth quarter.'
Observers have suggested that private home prices could be holding partly because developers are putting off project launches, thus curbing the supply of new homes.
Developers had 10,239 new units ready for sale in the first quarter that were not launched - that is a three-year high and 3,000 more than in the previous quarter.
The number of units actually launched in the quarter - 1,343 - was the lowest in almost four years.
'There's a lot of supply but it hasn't been released into the market yet, and that could be one reason why prices are still growing,' said Mr Nicholas Mak, director of research and consultancy at property firm Knight Frank.
Almost half of these unlaunched units were in the core central region, comprising the prime districts 9 to 11, the Marina Bay area and Sentosa. The rest were evenly divided between the city-fringe and suburban regions.
Mr Ku Swee Yong of Savills Singapore said developers may not be delaying launches to deliberately prop up prices but, rather, to wait out the weak market sentiment and uncertain global outlook.
Whatever the reason, the lack of launches has forced buyers to turn to the secondary market, where they bought 2,304 homes in the quarter - three times what they bought directly from developers.
This shows there is still an underlying demand for homes, and may also have helped sustain prices at current levels, analysts said.
The slowdown affected private homes in all areas, from prime to suburban regions. Each region saw prices rise only 3 to 4 per cent, from 7 to 8 per cent the previous quarter.
Sub-sales - this is when a person buys an uncompleted home and then sells it again before it is built - made up a tenth of all sales.
In the case of public housing, resale prices rose 3.7 per cent in the first quarter, down from 5.7 per cent previously. But sales dropped 6 per cent to 6,360 transactions.
The median cash-over-valuation amount - the portion of a flat's price that buyers have to pay in cash - dipped slightly to $21,000. This shows that buyers are starting to resist having to fork out too much cash for HDB flats, especially since valuations have climbed recently.
All other types of properties also saw lower growth, with office prices logging the biggest slowdown. They rose only 1.1 per cent in the first quarter, down from 8 per cent in the previous three months.
But office rentals stayed strong, as businesses continued to expand and space remained tight.
fiochan@sph.com.sg
Home prices rise more slowly in quiet market
Lower-than-forecast 3.7% growth could signal start of decline
By Fiona Chan
THE property market may have gone quiet, but home prices continued their steady climb in the first three months of this year, albeit at a much weaker pace.
Private home prices rose 3.7 per cent between January and March, down from the 6.8 per cent growth in the previous three months.
It was also notably lower than the 4.2 per cent rise that had been predicted early this month, based on sales in the first 10 weeks.
This suggests prices may have started declining last month, dragging down the whole quarter.
'Price growth is starting to weaken severely and the volume of transactions has halved,' said Mr Chua Yang Liang, Jones Lang LaSalle's head of South-east Asia research.
'The rate of increase in coming quarters is likely to be even slower and prices may peak in the third or fourth quarter.'
Observers have suggested that private home prices could be holding partly because developers are putting off project launches, thus curbing the supply of new homes.
Developers had 10,239 new units ready for sale in the first quarter that were not launched - that is a three-year high and 3,000 more than in the previous quarter.
The number of units actually launched in the quarter - 1,343 - was the lowest in almost four years.
'There's a lot of supply but it hasn't been released into the market yet, and that could be one reason why prices are still growing,' said Mr Nicholas Mak, director of research and consultancy at property firm Knight Frank.
Almost half of these unlaunched units were in the core central region, comprising the prime districts 9 to 11, the Marina Bay area and Sentosa. The rest were evenly divided between the city-fringe and suburban regions.
Mr Ku Swee Yong of Savills Singapore said developers may not be delaying launches to deliberately prop up prices but, rather, to wait out the weak market sentiment and uncertain global outlook.
Whatever the reason, the lack of launches has forced buyers to turn to the secondary market, where they bought 2,304 homes in the quarter - three times what they bought directly from developers.
This shows there is still an underlying demand for homes, and may also have helped sustain prices at current levels, analysts said.
The slowdown affected private homes in all areas, from prime to suburban regions. Each region saw prices rise only 3 to 4 per cent, from 7 to 8 per cent the previous quarter.
Sub-sales - this is when a person buys an uncompleted home and then sells it again before it is built - made up a tenth of all sales.
In the case of public housing, resale prices rose 3.7 per cent in the first quarter, down from 5.7 per cent previously. But sales dropped 6 per cent to 6,360 transactions.
The median cash-over-valuation amount - the portion of a flat's price that buyers have to pay in cash - dipped slightly to $21,000. This shows that buyers are starting to resist having to fork out too much cash for HDB flats, especially since valuations have climbed recently.
All other types of properties also saw lower growth, with office prices logging the biggest slowdown. They rose only 1.1 per cent in the first quarter, down from 8 per cent in the previous three months.
But office rentals stayed strong, as businesses continued to expand and space remained tight.
fiochan@sph.com.sg
House this for history?
April 26, 2008
House this for history?
This clubhouse's glass panels and timber fittings are from the 1900s, and have been restored to look as good as new
By Sariwati Latif
PROGRESS is inevitable. But when it encompasses the best of the past, it becomes special. That is what has happened at The Sea View condominium, where a bungalow built in the early 1900s has been restored and put into use as the clubhouse of Wheelock Properties' new development.
The building, once owned by brothers Joseph Aaron and Ezra Aaron Elias, now has two games and entertainment rooms on the ground floor and function rooms on the second level.
Coming from a family of property speculators and brokers, Joseph ran a bottled water business and the now-defunct Malaya Tribune newspaper.
Back then, the bungalow was an annexe to their main mansion. It was later used as a storeroom by the Seaview Hotel in the 1990s.
Wheelock spent $1.3 million on the restoration works, which were carried out by RSP Architects Planners & Engineers. These included sprucing up many of the original fittings - the panoramic stained-glass panels above the grand entrance, the timber interior such as the stairs and the intricately designed cast-iron railing on the verandahs.
These elements have been restored in accordance with the Urban Redevelopment Authority's guidelines on conservation areas.
While some parts were not restored as they were not in good condition and could raise safety issues, Wheelock Properties has attempted to recreate some floor designs to resemble the original.
When asked why the bungalow was chosen to be restored, Wheelock Properties director Tan Bee Kim said: 'The architecture of the house epitomises the charming character of the Katong area and we felt strongly that retaining this piece of historical grandeur will heighten residents' enjoyment of The Sea View.'
AS GOOD AS NEW: The panoramic glass panels (far left) at the grand entrance (middle) and the timber flooring (left) at the second- floor's sitting area are among the $1.3-million restoration works done on the bungalow, which is now The Sea View's clubhouse.
House this for history?
This clubhouse's glass panels and timber fittings are from the 1900s, and have been restored to look as good as new
By Sariwati Latif
PROGRESS is inevitable. But when it encompasses the best of the past, it becomes special. That is what has happened at The Sea View condominium, where a bungalow built in the early 1900s has been restored and put into use as the clubhouse of Wheelock Properties' new development.
The building, once owned by brothers Joseph Aaron and Ezra Aaron Elias, now has two games and entertainment rooms on the ground floor and function rooms on the second level.
Coming from a family of property speculators and brokers, Joseph ran a bottled water business and the now-defunct Malaya Tribune newspaper.
Back then, the bungalow was an annexe to their main mansion. It was later used as a storeroom by the Seaview Hotel in the 1990s.
Wheelock spent $1.3 million on the restoration works, which were carried out by RSP Architects Planners & Engineers. These included sprucing up many of the original fittings - the panoramic stained-glass panels above the grand entrance, the timber interior such as the stairs and the intricately designed cast-iron railing on the verandahs.
These elements have been restored in accordance with the Urban Redevelopment Authority's guidelines on conservation areas.
While some parts were not restored as they were not in good condition and could raise safety issues, Wheelock Properties has attempted to recreate some floor designs to resemble the original.
When asked why the bungalow was chosen to be restored, Wheelock Properties director Tan Bee Kim said: 'The architecture of the house epitomises the charming character of the Katong area and we felt strongly that retaining this piece of historical grandeur will heighten residents' enjoyment of The Sea View.'
AS GOOD AS NEW: The panoramic glass panels (far left) at the grand entrance (middle) and the timber flooring (left) at the second- floor's sitting area are among the $1.3-million restoration works done on the bungalow, which is now The Sea View's clubhouse.
Property market sentiment softens
Property market sentiment softens
Supply of homes, vacancy rates up, but buyers discouraged by high prices
Weekend • April 26, 2008
Esther Fung
esther@mediacorp.com.sg
THE lacklustre property market seen in the first quarter of this year is likely to persist, with developers expected to launch more projects in the months ahead, increasing the supply of new homes even as buyers stay away.
The prices of homes in both the private and public sectors rose at a much slower pace in the first quarter while the volume of transactions remained thin.
Private home prices rose 3.7 per cent in the first quarter, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), lower than its earlier estimate of 4.2 per cent and well below the 6.8-per-cent rise in the previous quarter.
Developers sold 762 private residential units in the quarter, the lowest number of transactions since Sars-stricken 2003.
The URA data released on Friday for the full three months were an update from its April 1 estimates, which were based on transactions in the first 10 weeks of the quarter.
"This is quite a marked difference and it shows that in the last two weeks of the quarter, there has been some evidence of price cutting in the market," said Mr Donald Han, managing director of real estate firm Cushman and Wakefield.
The vacancy rate for completed private residential units rose 6.3 per cent, up from 5.6 per cent in the previous quarter, the URA data showed. With more supply in the market, there is added pressure to reduce prices.
"If the vacancies continue rising at this rate, the market will definitely turn this year. Prices will peak for sure," said Mr Colin Tan, head of consultancy and research at Chesterton International.
Among the projects to be launched in the coming months are the Marina Bay Suites and Duchess Royale on Duchess Avenue. They add on to developments such as The Verte at Telok Kurau and Waterfront Waves at Bedok Reservoir Road that were launched in the first quarter.
Foreigners — who have been a key catalyst in the 30-per-cent jump in private home prices last year — are increasingly being discouraged by high asking prices.
This is especially so amid the continued uncertainty over the United States economy and the fallout from the sub-prime mortgage crisis.
Kuwait Finance House, which last December took an option to buy 97 units of the luxurious Goodwood Residence condominium for $818 million from Guocoland, has decided not to go through with the purchase.
The lacklustre real estate market in Singapore and the region has affected the performance of listed property firms.
Keppel Land reported a 7.6-per-cent fall in property sales to $273.1 million in the first three months of the year due to the increasingly cautious sentiment.
Mr Ku Swee Yong, a director at property consultancy Savills, said that until global stock markets show clear signs of a recovery, investors would remain wary of putting their money in real estate. He noted that banks here had not been selling many home loans this year.
"Other parts of consumer expenditure are still going strong, it's just that property is taking the brunt of it," said Mr Ku.
For the office sector, rentals increased at a slower rate of 7.3 per cent, down from 10.9 per cent in the previous quarter.
The URA said there was a total supply of 16 million sq ft in gross floor area of office space at the end of the first quarter.
Since last July, the Government has made available land on short-term leases for transitional office sites to meet the high demand for such space.
Mr Han said that the pace of office rental increase would continue to moderate for the rest of the year.
Mr Nicholas Mak, a director from Knight Frank, said that despite this moderation in pace, rentals will still rise by 15 to 20 per cent this year as "demand for office space is still healthy".
Copyright MediaCorp Press Ltd. All rights reserved.
Supply of homes, vacancy rates up, but buyers discouraged by high prices
Weekend • April 26, 2008
Esther Fung
esther@mediacorp.com.sg
THE lacklustre property market seen in the first quarter of this year is likely to persist, with developers expected to launch more projects in the months ahead, increasing the supply of new homes even as buyers stay away.
The prices of homes in both the private and public sectors rose at a much slower pace in the first quarter while the volume of transactions remained thin.
Private home prices rose 3.7 per cent in the first quarter, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), lower than its earlier estimate of 4.2 per cent and well below the 6.8-per-cent rise in the previous quarter.
Developers sold 762 private residential units in the quarter, the lowest number of transactions since Sars-stricken 2003.
The URA data released on Friday for the full three months were an update from its April 1 estimates, which were based on transactions in the first 10 weeks of the quarter.
"This is quite a marked difference and it shows that in the last two weeks of the quarter, there has been some evidence of price cutting in the market," said Mr Donald Han, managing director of real estate firm Cushman and Wakefield.
The vacancy rate for completed private residential units rose 6.3 per cent, up from 5.6 per cent in the previous quarter, the URA data showed. With more supply in the market, there is added pressure to reduce prices.
"If the vacancies continue rising at this rate, the market will definitely turn this year. Prices will peak for sure," said Mr Colin Tan, head of consultancy and research at Chesterton International.
Among the projects to be launched in the coming months are the Marina Bay Suites and Duchess Royale on Duchess Avenue. They add on to developments such as The Verte at Telok Kurau and Waterfront Waves at Bedok Reservoir Road that were launched in the first quarter.
Foreigners — who have been a key catalyst in the 30-per-cent jump in private home prices last year — are increasingly being discouraged by high asking prices.
This is especially so amid the continued uncertainty over the United States economy and the fallout from the sub-prime mortgage crisis.
Kuwait Finance House, which last December took an option to buy 97 units of the luxurious Goodwood Residence condominium for $818 million from Guocoland, has decided not to go through with the purchase.
The lacklustre real estate market in Singapore and the region has affected the performance of listed property firms.
Keppel Land reported a 7.6-per-cent fall in property sales to $273.1 million in the first three months of the year due to the increasingly cautious sentiment.
Mr Ku Swee Yong, a director at property consultancy Savills, said that until global stock markets show clear signs of a recovery, investors would remain wary of putting their money in real estate. He noted that banks here had not been selling many home loans this year.
"Other parts of consumer expenditure are still going strong, it's just that property is taking the brunt of it," said Mr Ku.
For the office sector, rentals increased at a slower rate of 7.3 per cent, down from 10.9 per cent in the previous quarter.
The URA said there was a total supply of 16 million sq ft in gross floor area of office space at the end of the first quarter.
Since last July, the Government has made available land on short-term leases for transitional office sites to meet the high demand for such space.
Mr Han said that the pace of office rental increase would continue to moderate for the rest of the year.
Mr Nicholas Mak, a director from Knight Frank, said that despite this moderation in pace, rentals will still rise by 15 to 20 per cent this year as "demand for office space is still healthy".
Copyright MediaCorp Press Ltd. All rights reserved.
Owning real estate in Singapore..
Provides detailed guidelines about owning an investment property in Singapore. Also, good tips for expats relocating to the country and need links to resources like banks, schools, embassies etc.. Has some good photos of properties too.
read more | digg story
read more | digg story
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