30th June, Saturday
Residential
LIVING LARGE: Bigger homes making a comeback after shoebox craze Source: The Straits Times Larger-sized homes seem to be making a comeback, with upgraders leading the charge, amid tentative signs that the craze for shoebox units may be subsiding. New figures from a property consultancy show the median size of all new non-landed homes sold rose to 79 sq m in the second quarter, well up from 65 sq m in the three months before. The market share of tiny shoebox units of 50 sq m or less sold also fell from a peak of 28 per cent to 23 per cent in the same period. Still, this second-quarter figure remains higher than the 20 per cent for the whole of last year. While it is too early to say interest in smaller homes is definitely fizzling out, experts say cooling measures such as the additional buyers' stamp duty and sellers' stamp duty of up to 16 per cent might have put a dampener on investor demand for shoebox units. '(But) the interest in small units will always be there, especially if the current trend of reducing average family size persists and home owners continue to look for affordable smaller apartments,' the report added.
Link to the story: http://www.straitstimes.com/print/Money/Story/STIStory_816777.html
Commercial
Raffles Place office rents fall to Orchard levels Source: Business Times Continued rent decline in Raffles Place has put Grade A office rents in Orchard on a par with the former for the first time since 2004. Grade A office rents in Orchard are now at $9 per sq ft (psf) per month versus $9.20 psf per month in Raffles Place, following a 3 per cent quarter-on-quarter fall in Raffles Place rents. This puts rates in Raffles Place 15 to 20 per cent below their cyclical high, which was achieved in Q3 2011. A rebound in CBD rents will lag behind those of non-CBD markets, noted the property consultancy. "The majority of office vacancy still remains within Marina Bay, Raffles Place, and Shenton Way submarkets. More new supply is coming on stream in the CBD in 2013, hence some of this availability will need to be taken up before rents can start to rise meaningfully." Within the main CBD area, vacancy rates dropped 1.5 percentage points to 10 per cent. In addition, known shadow space (all grades) currently available and in subsequent quarters increased to about 474,000 sq ft in 2Q, from 439,000 sq ft in 1Q. About half of this is available immediately. According to the consultancy, rents could dip a conservative 5-6 per cent year on year for the full year, with islandwide Grade A rents bottoming out at $9-10.
Links to the story: http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/archive/saturday/print/107689 http://www.straitstimes.com/print/Money/Story/STIStory_816815.html http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/print/1210733/1/.html
Industrial
5 industrial plots launched for sale Source: Business Times JTC Corporation has launched five plots of land for sale by public tender under the Industrial Government Land Sales (IGLS) programme. The first, a 2.2-ha site at Mandai Link, has a lease of 30 years and maximum permissible gross plot ratio (GPR) of 2.5. It is zoned Business-2 for clean and light development. According to an analyst, the top bid for the site could range between $105 and $135 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr). The second, a 3.88-ha site at Plot 3 Tampines Industrial Crescent, has a lease of 30 years, with a maximum permissible gross plot ratio of 1.7, and is zoned B2. The remaining three sites, which are zoned B2, are located at Tuas South Street 7 and 8, and range from 0.30 ha to 0.46 ha. They have a lease of 23 years each and maximum permissible gross plot ratio of 1. Tenders for Mandai Link and Tuas South sites will close on 10 Aug; the tender for Plot 3 Tampines Industrial Crescent site will close on 24 Aug.
Links to the story: http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/archive/saturday/print/107690 http://www.straitstimes.com/print/Money/Story/STIStory_816822.html http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/print/1210708/1/.html
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