reporter2
22-03-12, 23:59
http://business.asiaone.com/Business/My%2BMoney/Property/Story/A1Story20120314-333452.html
Friday, Mar 16, 2012
The New Paper
Toa Payoh flat sold after just 3 years
By Lediati Tan
THE sale of a three-year-old five-room flat in Toa Payoh last month raised some eyebrows and caused a buzz online.
Netizens wanted to know why the owner was able to sell the flat just three years after its completion.
They were also excited by the price it was sold for.
The flat, located between the 36th and 40th storeys of Block 79C in Toa Payoh Central, had fetched $894,000 - a record for the Toa Payoh area.
It meant that the flat's seller sold the flat for more than twice the amount he paid for it - which would have cost him less than $400,000.
An HDB spokesman said the block of flats was built as a replacement block to rehouse residents under the Selective En Bloc Redevelopment Scheme(Sers). The minimum occupation period (MOP) for Sers replacement flats is seven years from the selection date of the flat, or five years from the flat's effective date of purchase, whichever is earlier.
The spokesman added: "For Sers replacement flats that have met the requisite period, the flat owners may sell them in the open market.
"For the case you cited, the seller had already met the seven-year MOP, and hence was eligible to sell his flat in the open market...
"We also wish to emphasise that such transactions do not represent the bulk of resale cases."
Mr Lee Sze Teck, senior manager for research and consultancy at DWG Group, told The New Paper that it is not common for people to want to sell their Sers replacement flat soon after meeting the MOP.
Said Mr Lee: "It's not very often that you get Sers that is very near the MRT. It's quite unlikely that I would want to sell at once (after the MOP is met)..."
Chief executive of PropNex Realty, Mr Mohamed Ismail, estimated that only about one in five flat owners under Sers would consider selling their property once the MOP is fulfilled.
The high price fetched by the flat is also unique.
Seller was 'lucky'
Said Mr Ismail: "The seller was lucky for a number of reasons.
"He has fulfilled the seven years under Sers. He may also have bought it at a slight discount under the Sers subsidy. And the flat has a central location in Toa Payoh."
Adding to the uniqueness is the fact that the flat is only three years old and there were likely no such units up for sale in that block at that time.
The HDB's website states that the median resale price for a five-room flat in Toa Payoh in the fourth quarter of last year was $645,000 and the median cash-over-valuation (COV) for such a flat in the same period was $56,500.
The HDB spokesman said that interested flat buyers have a wide range of choices in terms of location, design and prices in the HDB resale market.
She said: "They may also buy a build-to-order (BTO) flat from HDB if they meet the eligibility conditions. Flat buyers are advised to consider their options carefully."
ERA Realty agent Shawn Guan, 31, who represented the seller of the Toa Payoh flat, told TNP that he sold it because he was considering upgrading to another property or migrating to another country.
Mr Guan, who has three years' experience in the industry, added that the owner had expected to sell the flat at more than $900,000, but eventually settled for $894,000 with a COV of more than $100,000.
He said that the buyers are a Singaporean couple in their mid-20s who wanted to buy a flat in Toa Payoh as their family also lived there.
But Mr Ismail questioned whether it was a good move for the buyer to pay almost $900,000 for a five-room flat.
At that price, he said, there are many other options available, including executive condominiums (ECs) in the outlying areas which are going at roughly the same price of $750 per sq ft, and comes with full facilities and better potential in time to come.
Also, with more BTO flats expected in the market in the next few years, there is no guarantee that the buyer can sell the flat at a profit in five years' time, he said.
The flat is now a novelty because it's the only one on the market, said Mr Ismail, but this would no longer be the case in five years, when its neighbours meet the MOP.
"If this flat is sold for anything less than $1 million, the buyer is unlikely to make any profit, taking into account the stamp duty and the accrued interest on CPFor bank loans for the flat," said Mr Ismail.
Ms Lee Bee Wah, chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for National Development and Environment, said that the sale of the Toa Payoh flat should not be a cause for concern as it is likely to be a one-off transaction.
She said that with the addition of 25,000 BTO units this year and more ECs in the pipeline, prices are expected to stabilise and have a cooling effect on the resale market.
High-end homes still hot
THE record $39 million fetched by a seafronting bungalow on Cove Drive at Sentosa Cove set tongues wagging earlier this month.
But even that is a far cry, in terms of absolute price, from the $68-million asking price for a five-bedroom good-class bungalow in Ridout Road.
This is despite the slew of cooling measures that the Government introduced last year.
my paper reported on Monday that if the Ridout Road property owner gets his wish, his property would fetch more than last year's top transaction of $59.5 million for a bungalow on Yarwood Avenue in Bukit Timah.
Mr Png Poh Soon - head of consultancy and research at Knight Frank - said that the cooling measures introduced on the high-end landed property market in January and December last year had only marginal impact.
The measures included extending the seller's stamp duty from three years to four years with rates ranging from 4 to 16 per cent, and an additional buyer's stamp duty (ABSD), where citizens buying their third home and permanent residents buying their second home have to pay a 3 per cent ABSD.
Foreigners buying any residential property pay an additional 10 per cent on top of the existing rates.
But noting that landed properties are mostly bought by locals, Mr Png said that the ABSD is not expected to have a significant impact on the landed housing market as foreigners - who are largely affected by the new measures - make up a low percentage of landed home buyers.
Friday, Mar 16, 2012
The New Paper
Toa Payoh flat sold after just 3 years
By Lediati Tan
THE sale of a three-year-old five-room flat in Toa Payoh last month raised some eyebrows and caused a buzz online.
Netizens wanted to know why the owner was able to sell the flat just three years after its completion.
They were also excited by the price it was sold for.
The flat, located between the 36th and 40th storeys of Block 79C in Toa Payoh Central, had fetched $894,000 - a record for the Toa Payoh area.
It meant that the flat's seller sold the flat for more than twice the amount he paid for it - which would have cost him less than $400,000.
An HDB spokesman said the block of flats was built as a replacement block to rehouse residents under the Selective En Bloc Redevelopment Scheme(Sers). The minimum occupation period (MOP) for Sers replacement flats is seven years from the selection date of the flat, or five years from the flat's effective date of purchase, whichever is earlier.
The spokesman added: "For Sers replacement flats that have met the requisite period, the flat owners may sell them in the open market.
"For the case you cited, the seller had already met the seven-year MOP, and hence was eligible to sell his flat in the open market...
"We also wish to emphasise that such transactions do not represent the bulk of resale cases."
Mr Lee Sze Teck, senior manager for research and consultancy at DWG Group, told The New Paper that it is not common for people to want to sell their Sers replacement flat soon after meeting the MOP.
Said Mr Lee: "It's not very often that you get Sers that is very near the MRT. It's quite unlikely that I would want to sell at once (after the MOP is met)..."
Chief executive of PropNex Realty, Mr Mohamed Ismail, estimated that only about one in five flat owners under Sers would consider selling their property once the MOP is fulfilled.
The high price fetched by the flat is also unique.
Seller was 'lucky'
Said Mr Ismail: "The seller was lucky for a number of reasons.
"He has fulfilled the seven years under Sers. He may also have bought it at a slight discount under the Sers subsidy. And the flat has a central location in Toa Payoh."
Adding to the uniqueness is the fact that the flat is only three years old and there were likely no such units up for sale in that block at that time.
The HDB's website states that the median resale price for a five-room flat in Toa Payoh in the fourth quarter of last year was $645,000 and the median cash-over-valuation (COV) for such a flat in the same period was $56,500.
The HDB spokesman said that interested flat buyers have a wide range of choices in terms of location, design and prices in the HDB resale market.
She said: "They may also buy a build-to-order (BTO) flat from HDB if they meet the eligibility conditions. Flat buyers are advised to consider their options carefully."
ERA Realty agent Shawn Guan, 31, who represented the seller of the Toa Payoh flat, told TNP that he sold it because he was considering upgrading to another property or migrating to another country.
Mr Guan, who has three years' experience in the industry, added that the owner had expected to sell the flat at more than $900,000, but eventually settled for $894,000 with a COV of more than $100,000.
He said that the buyers are a Singaporean couple in their mid-20s who wanted to buy a flat in Toa Payoh as their family also lived there.
But Mr Ismail questioned whether it was a good move for the buyer to pay almost $900,000 for a five-room flat.
At that price, he said, there are many other options available, including executive condominiums (ECs) in the outlying areas which are going at roughly the same price of $750 per sq ft, and comes with full facilities and better potential in time to come.
Also, with more BTO flats expected in the market in the next few years, there is no guarantee that the buyer can sell the flat at a profit in five years' time, he said.
The flat is now a novelty because it's the only one on the market, said Mr Ismail, but this would no longer be the case in five years, when its neighbours meet the MOP.
"If this flat is sold for anything less than $1 million, the buyer is unlikely to make any profit, taking into account the stamp duty and the accrued interest on CPFor bank loans for the flat," said Mr Ismail.
Ms Lee Bee Wah, chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for National Development and Environment, said that the sale of the Toa Payoh flat should not be a cause for concern as it is likely to be a one-off transaction.
She said that with the addition of 25,000 BTO units this year and more ECs in the pipeline, prices are expected to stabilise and have a cooling effect on the resale market.
High-end homes still hot
THE record $39 million fetched by a seafronting bungalow on Cove Drive at Sentosa Cove set tongues wagging earlier this month.
But even that is a far cry, in terms of absolute price, from the $68-million asking price for a five-bedroom good-class bungalow in Ridout Road.
This is despite the slew of cooling measures that the Government introduced last year.
my paper reported on Monday that if the Ridout Road property owner gets his wish, his property would fetch more than last year's top transaction of $59.5 million for a bungalow on Yarwood Avenue in Bukit Timah.
Mr Png Poh Soon - head of consultancy and research at Knight Frank - said that the cooling measures introduced on the high-end landed property market in January and December last year had only marginal impact.
The measures included extending the seller's stamp duty from three years to four years with rates ranging from 4 to 16 per cent, and an additional buyer's stamp duty (ABSD), where citizens buying their third home and permanent residents buying their second home have to pay a 3 per cent ABSD.
Foreigners buying any residential property pay an additional 10 per cent on top of the existing rates.
But noting that landed properties are mostly bought by locals, Mr Png said that the ABSD is not expected to have a significant impact on the landed housing market as foreigners - who are largely affected by the new measures - make up a low percentage of landed home buyers.