24th December, Monday
Residential
Luxury homes seen getting foreign boost Source: Business Times The return of foreign investors to the private residential market, coupled with the low interest rate environment and surplus liquidity, may help the luxury market to recover next year. "We believe that the overall percentage of overseas buyers in 2013 may go up to 25-27 per cent, from the present 22-23 per cent," one analyst said. Added another analyst: "The recent cooling measures are unlikely to dampen demand for luxury homes as cash-rich investors can afford higher upfront payment despite shorter loan tenures. Additionally, the rising unsold supply of prime residential properties could result in more competitively priced luxury homes to clear unsold inventory." Buyers are also turning their attention towards city-fringe locations, or rest of central region (RCR), noted consultants. "The narrowing price gap between the upper-end suburban and lower-end prime markets has led investors to rethink their options as the latter appear as better value for money. This could lead to a shift in demand towards more affordable prime district properties," suggested another analyst. Citing data from the Singapore Real Estate Exchange (SRX), Lee Sze Teck, senior manager, training, research and consultancy at DWG, said: "According to SRX, the premium RCR commanded over OCR has been above 30 per cent in 2010 and reached a peak of 32.3 per cent in 1Q 2011. But the faster pace of price increase in the OCR led to the narrowing in the price gap and this gap fell to a low of 25.4 per cent in 2Q 2012. "There could be more buying interest in the RCR in 2013. Already some projects in the RCR in 2Q 2012 and 3Q 2012 like Katong Regency, One Dusun Residences and Sky Green have seen strong take-up of their units during the launch period." Consultants concur that sales volumes are likely to dip next year, citing buyer fatigue. One analyst said that she expected prices to stay flat, and at most, correct marginally by some 5 per cent in 2013. "Prices are already at record levels and there is mounting resistance to further upside," she said. An analyst said that he expected total developers' sales volume to soften in 2013 to 15,000-18,000 units, but remain at healthy levels. "We foresee a stabilisation of overall home prices for 2013 as homebuyers re-assess their budgets and monitor price trends of newly launched and resale properties. We expect a marginal price increase of 1-1.5 per cent for non-landed private homes in 2013. The ample liquidity in the financial system leading to low interest rates and stable income growth of homebuyers would provide support to the residential prices at least for the near to medium term." Another analyst however said that he expected overall private residential prices to increase by up to 10 per cent next year, with mass-market, non-landed property prices rising 10-15 per cent and luxury properties going up by 3-5 per cent. "Sharply rising land costs, strong developer balance sheets and low interest rates should all conspire to make 2013 another halcyon year for the industry," he said.
Link to the story: http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/archive/monday/print/378319
653-unit executive condominium development receives 800 applications Source: Today Forestville, the latest executive condominium (EC) project at Woodlands, has seen strong demand from eligible home buyers since electronic applications opened on 21 December. Close to 800 e-applications have been received over the weekend for the 653-unit Forestville EC project. The e-applications will be open until 10pm on 26 December. Balloting will be carried out on 28 December. Located in Woodlands, the project will comprise mainly three- to five-bedroom apartments. Out of the 653 units in the project, 201 units are dual-key apartments with three to five bedrooms. There will also be 29 penthouses. In an emailed statement, MCC Land said the selling price is about S$700 per sq ft.
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