New Reporter
24-01-24, 09:44
A closely watched state land sale and Johor in the spotlight
Jan 23, 2024
THE government’s first land sale of the year set tongues wagging, after a large site in Marina South drew just one bid that was way below expectations, Kalpana Rashiwala reports. A GuocoLand-Hong Leong group consortium put in the only offer for the downtown plot, at 30 per cent under what Kingsford paid for a neighbouring parcel sold last year.
Developers are continuing to price risk into their land bids, in a climate where higher ABSD has cut off demand at the top while current home prices still pose a high bar for many buyers.
Market players are watching closely to see if the government will award the Marina Gardens Crescent site. The GuocoLand-Hong Leong group stands to make a tidy profit from the project if awarded the site at their bid price. Their breakeven cost would be lower than that of the nearby project, while pricing would take the cue from the higher cost development.
The GuocoLand-Hong Leong bid, at S$984 per square foot per plot ratio, was also lower than bids for the other state land parcel on offer on the same day. A Qingjian Realty joint venture topped bids for the Media Circle residential site close to the one-North cluster of offices. Its S$1,191 psf ppr offer was slightly lower than the prices of two sites sold in the area in 2021.
Buyer psychology has turned from the FOMO of 2022 to wait-and-see. The year’s first two condo launches met with slow but “encouraging” sales. The Arcady at Boon Keng booked 51 units at launch - a 30 per cent take-up rate, while the larger Hillhaven project moved 59 units - about 17 per cent of the Hillview condo’s total units.
Watch for our reports on the URA’s fourth-quarter data across all sectors, to be released at the end of the week.
The Johor Bahru-Singapore high-speed rail link will bring much relief to commuters - workers, businesspeople, and day trippers - bogged in hours-long congestion on either side of the Causeway. Could the ease of travel hurt Singapore’s property markets, if more people choose to live, work, and play in JB rather than Singapore?
Leslie Yee does not believe demand for real estate will shift much. In The Level Ground, he lays out reasons why Singapore, and Singaporeans, could benefit greatly from the better connections, and why the JB-Singapore RTS Link will not be value-destructive for Singapore property.
Despite increasing competition for the shopper’s shrinking dollar, Singapore’s prime retail rents are on the rise from their pandemic troughs, Jessie Lim reports. Revenge spending and a recovery in tourism boosted tenant sales in 2023, and landlords are also looking to increase rents as their operating costs swell. Frasers Centrepoint Trust, for one, recently reported improved retail occupancy at its malls as well as better tenant sales in its first-quarter business update.
Home-grown Metro is optimistic about seizing opportunities as tourists return, even as the post-pandemic bounce in the retail sector has subsided, CEO Yip Hoong Mun tells Samuel Oh. The business faces escalating operational costs and persistent challenges in meeting labour needs. While remaining committed to retail, Metro is stretching its balance sheet with bite-sized commercial property deals.
Change is in store for the Orchard Road belt - walk with us and see the shifts in Singapore’s prime retail real estate, tracked in one interactive graphic.
Close to Orchard Road, the super-prime Ritz-Carlton Residences at Cairnhill saw two units sold to a Chinese businessman and his wife - both Singapore permanent residents - for S$16.5 million each in January. The deals for the two adjacent units, at S$5,397 psf, mark a new high for the project and the first time transactions in the prime market have crossed S$5,000 psf in about six months. It’s too soon to say if Chinese wealth is returning to these shores, say agents, as the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty hurdle for foreigners is high.
In retail elsewhere, fashion giant Kering’s US$963 million purchase of a Manhattan building marked the latest massive New York City real estate deal done by a global luxury company. Kering, which owns Gucci and Balenciaga, joins others snapping up buildings in New York instead of leasing space. Last month, Prada expanded its presence in Manhattan with a US$835 million deal that included two acquisitions on Fifth Avenue.
Back on home ground, misrepresentation claims surfaced in Singapore courts recently, with two cases of buyers taking legal action against real estate agents. But while agencies condemn misrepresentation, lawyers acknowledge that there are many grey areas when it comes to distinguishing between sales talk and false representations of fact. Jessie Lim talks to those in the trade.
China watch
China’s slumping commercial property market is attracting bargain hunters, and deals are in the works. Blackrock is seeking to offload an office complex in Shanghai at about a 30 per cent discount to its purchase price to speed up the sale. The US asset management giant had bought two towers at Waterfront Place from PGIM Real Estate for a reported 1.2 billion yuan (S$224 million) in 2018.
A Chinese billionaire snapped up a luxury property on Hong Kong’s Victoria Peak for a discount of more than 30 per cent. The mansion was sold for US$107 million, down from an asking price of US$166.2 million. The sale is linked to Shenzhen billionaire Xu Hang, the co-founder of Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/property/closely-watched-state-land-sale-and-johor-spotlight
Jan 23, 2024
THE government’s first land sale of the year set tongues wagging, after a large site in Marina South drew just one bid that was way below expectations, Kalpana Rashiwala reports. A GuocoLand-Hong Leong group consortium put in the only offer for the downtown plot, at 30 per cent under what Kingsford paid for a neighbouring parcel sold last year.
Developers are continuing to price risk into their land bids, in a climate where higher ABSD has cut off demand at the top while current home prices still pose a high bar for many buyers.
Market players are watching closely to see if the government will award the Marina Gardens Crescent site. The GuocoLand-Hong Leong group stands to make a tidy profit from the project if awarded the site at their bid price. Their breakeven cost would be lower than that of the nearby project, while pricing would take the cue from the higher cost development.
The GuocoLand-Hong Leong bid, at S$984 per square foot per plot ratio, was also lower than bids for the other state land parcel on offer on the same day. A Qingjian Realty joint venture topped bids for the Media Circle residential site close to the one-North cluster of offices. Its S$1,191 psf ppr offer was slightly lower than the prices of two sites sold in the area in 2021.
Buyer psychology has turned from the FOMO of 2022 to wait-and-see. The year’s first two condo launches met with slow but “encouraging” sales. The Arcady at Boon Keng booked 51 units at launch - a 30 per cent take-up rate, while the larger Hillhaven project moved 59 units - about 17 per cent of the Hillview condo’s total units.
Watch for our reports on the URA’s fourth-quarter data across all sectors, to be released at the end of the week.
The Johor Bahru-Singapore high-speed rail link will bring much relief to commuters - workers, businesspeople, and day trippers - bogged in hours-long congestion on either side of the Causeway. Could the ease of travel hurt Singapore’s property markets, if more people choose to live, work, and play in JB rather than Singapore?
Leslie Yee does not believe demand for real estate will shift much. In The Level Ground, he lays out reasons why Singapore, and Singaporeans, could benefit greatly from the better connections, and why the JB-Singapore RTS Link will not be value-destructive for Singapore property.
Despite increasing competition for the shopper’s shrinking dollar, Singapore’s prime retail rents are on the rise from their pandemic troughs, Jessie Lim reports. Revenge spending and a recovery in tourism boosted tenant sales in 2023, and landlords are also looking to increase rents as their operating costs swell. Frasers Centrepoint Trust, for one, recently reported improved retail occupancy at its malls as well as better tenant sales in its first-quarter business update.
Home-grown Metro is optimistic about seizing opportunities as tourists return, even as the post-pandemic bounce in the retail sector has subsided, CEO Yip Hoong Mun tells Samuel Oh. The business faces escalating operational costs and persistent challenges in meeting labour needs. While remaining committed to retail, Metro is stretching its balance sheet with bite-sized commercial property deals.
Change is in store for the Orchard Road belt - walk with us and see the shifts in Singapore’s prime retail real estate, tracked in one interactive graphic.
Close to Orchard Road, the super-prime Ritz-Carlton Residences at Cairnhill saw two units sold to a Chinese businessman and his wife - both Singapore permanent residents - for S$16.5 million each in January. The deals for the two adjacent units, at S$5,397 psf, mark a new high for the project and the first time transactions in the prime market have crossed S$5,000 psf in about six months. It’s too soon to say if Chinese wealth is returning to these shores, say agents, as the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty hurdle for foreigners is high.
In retail elsewhere, fashion giant Kering’s US$963 million purchase of a Manhattan building marked the latest massive New York City real estate deal done by a global luxury company. Kering, which owns Gucci and Balenciaga, joins others snapping up buildings in New York instead of leasing space. Last month, Prada expanded its presence in Manhattan with a US$835 million deal that included two acquisitions on Fifth Avenue.
Back on home ground, misrepresentation claims surfaced in Singapore courts recently, with two cases of buyers taking legal action against real estate agents. But while agencies condemn misrepresentation, lawyers acknowledge that there are many grey areas when it comes to distinguishing between sales talk and false representations of fact. Jessie Lim talks to those in the trade.
China watch
China’s slumping commercial property market is attracting bargain hunters, and deals are in the works. Blackrock is seeking to offload an office complex in Shanghai at about a 30 per cent discount to its purchase price to speed up the sale. The US asset management giant had bought two towers at Waterfront Place from PGIM Real Estate for a reported 1.2 billion yuan (S$224 million) in 2018.
A Chinese billionaire snapped up a luxury property on Hong Kong’s Victoria Peak for a discount of more than 30 per cent. The mansion was sold for US$107 million, down from an asking price of US$166.2 million. The sale is linked to Shenzhen billionaire Xu Hang, the co-founder of Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/property/closely-watched-state-land-sale-and-johor-spotlight