A Letter to Fiona Chan

(got this off another forum.... it is pretty hilarious)

Subject: A VERY BIASED PROPERTY REPORT

IT IS CLEAR FROM YOUR REPORT HOMES SALES UP BUT PACE SLOWING (STRAITS TIMES AUG 16) THAT YOU ARE ONCE AGAIN TRYING TO TALK DOWN THE PROPERTY MARKET. YOU HAVE EMPLOYED VERY CRAFTY JOURNALISTIC TACTICS TO HIGHLIGHT THE NEGATIVE FACTS AND FIGURES WHILE DOWNPLAYING OR OMITTING THE POSITIVE ASPECTS. YOUR REPORT IS BIASED AND SKEWED TOWARDS THE NEGATIVE AND IS FILLED WITH UNFAIR COMPARISONS. YOU CLAIM THAT: Prices slip in July prices of sold homes slipped The lowest transacted price in the suburban region fell 23 per cent last month from June, while the lowest price in the central region fell 7 per cent HOWEVER THERE IS NO CONCRETE EVIDENCE TO SUGGEST THAT PRICES IN JULY WERE LOWER THAN IN PREVIOUS MONTHS. COMPARING THE LOWEST TRANSACTED PRICE IS MEANINGLESS BECAUSE IT DOES NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE ATTRIBUTES OF THE PARTICULAR UNIT SOLD. IT COULD WELL BE THAT THE PRICE WAS LOW BECAUSE IT INVOLVED SALES OF LEFTOVER UNITS IN A PROJECT WHICH HAVE UNDESIRABLE ATTRIBUTES (EG. LOW FLOOR OR FACING BBQ PITS). YOUR ANALYSIS IS HIGHLY ARBITRARY AND USING THE PRICE OF ONE UNIT AND CONCLUDING THAT PRICES ARE STARTING TO DIP IS RIDICULOUS! ALSO ANY PRICE COMPARISONS MUST BE DONE BASED ON PROJECTS IN THE SAME AREA IE. BISHAN VS BISHAN, PASIR RIS VS PASIR RIS. high-end hard hit Close to nine out of every 10 homes sold last month were suburban units that cost $1,000 per sq ft (psf) or lessSales were dismal in the high-end segment, with only eight units - less than 1 per cent of total sales - transacted above $3,000 psf. At the height of the property fever in July last year, 217 units fetched more than $3,000 psf, accounting for more than 15 per cent of the total units sold then.

Displayed a table showing cheaper home transactions outnumbering highend homes.

IT IS UNFAIR TO COMPARE THE CURRENT SITUATION TO THE HEIGHT OF THE PROPERTY FEVER AND HIGHLIGHT 1% VS 15% DIFFERENCE. A FAIRER COMPARISOM WOULD HAVE BEEN TO THE PREVIOUS MONTHS OF APRIL (2 UNITS), MAY (19 UNITS) AND JUNE (8 UNITS). FROM THAT PERSPECTIVE THERE IS NO CLEAR TREND OF HIGH END SALES VOLUME DROPPING..

YOU ARE ALSO FORGETTING A VERY CRUCIAL FACT - THE CURRENT OPERATING ENVIRONMENT IS VERY CHALLENGING SO ACHIEVING SUCH SALES NUMBERS IS ALREADY VERY ENCOURAGING. WHY DO YOU ONLY HAVE WORDS OF DOOM BUT NO WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT? WHY ARE YOUR COMPARISONS SO UNFAIR? HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF SOMEONE COMPARES YOUR RUNNING SPEED WHEN YOU ARE FEELING WELL TO THAT WHEN YOU ARE HAVING A FLU AND CONCLUDES THAT YOU ARE A VERY LOUSY RUNNER?

SALES VOLUME IS ALSO CLOSELY LINKED TO SUPPLY. IN THE LAST TWO MONTHS DEVELOPERS HAVE BEEN LAUNCHING LOTS OF MASS MARKET PROJECTS AND VERY FEW HIGH END ONES. SO NATURALLY THE VOLUME OF HIGH END SALES WILL BE MUCH LESS. IT'S LIKE IF YOU CHOOSE TO SELL LOTS OF JADE BUT VERY FEW DIAMONDS, IS IT FAIR TO CONCLUDE THAT PRICES AND DEMAND OF HIGH END JEWELLERY ARE PLUNGING?

ALSO WHY DIDN'T YOU MENTION THAT SEVEN UNITS AT NASSIM PARK RESIDENCES WERE SOLD BETWEEN THE $2500 TO $4000 PSF RANGE? CONVENIENTLY LEFT OUT THIS INFO BECAUSE IT GOES AGAINST YOUR ARGUMENT THAT HIGH END HOMES ARE NOT SELLING WELL RIGHT?

pace of growth braked sharply

last month's sales growth was a far cry from the 77 per cent jump in sales between May and June

SALES FROM MAY TO JUNE INCREASED BY 77% BECAUSE DEVELOPERS LAUNCHED MANY MASS MARKET PROJECTS. 12% INCREASE FROM JUNE TO JULY SHOWS THAT SALES VOLUME IS HOLDING UP. BUT YOU CHOOSE INSTEAD TO HIGHLIGHT THAT SALES GROWTH HAS PLUNGED. IT'S LIKE A CHILD'S EXAM RESULTS IMPROVES FROM 40 TO 70 MARKS. THEN IN THE NEXT EXAM THE CHILD SCORES 80 MARKS AND THE PARENTS ARE UNHAPPY BECAUSE HE IMPROVED BY ONLY 10 MARKS INSTEAD OF THE PREVIOUS 30 MARKS!! COME ON MAN! DO YOU HAVE A CONSCIENCE? WHY ARE YOU SO STINGY AND WICKED THAT YOU CAN'T GIVE CREDIT WHERE IT IS DUE? SHAME ON YOU!

Livia in Pasir Ris saw 301 apartments taken up, at a median price of $671 psf. Of these, four crossed the $750 psf mark, but the rest were well within the $500 to $750 psf range.

Clover by the Park in Bishan sold 100 units at a median price of $753 psf, down slightly from the median $765 psf it had fetched in June.

And Kovan Residences in Kovan Road sold 87 units at a median price of $882 psf - just below its $887 psf in June

IN A CALCULATED MOVE YOU CHOSE TO HIGHLIGHT THAT ONLY FOUR UNITS OF LIVIA CROSSED $750 PSF WHEREAS FOR CLOVER BY THE PARK AND KOVAN RESIDENCES YOU ONLY MENTIONED THE MEDIAN PRICES. WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO OMIT THE FACT THAT FOR CLOVER BY THE PARK 55 UNITS WERE SOLD BETWEEN THE $750 TO $1000 PSF RANGE AND THAT FOR KOVAN RESIDENCES 87 UNITS WERE SOLD IN THAT PRICE RANGE TOO. YOU ARE CLEARLY PRACTICING SELECTIVE REPORTING. YOU CHOOSE TO HIGHLIGHT NEGATIVE FIGURES AND OMIT POSITIVE ONES.

YOU ARE SO DESPERATE TO PROVE TO THE WORLD THAT PRICES ARE FALLING THAT YOU EVEN GO TO THE EXTENT OF COMPARING INSIGNIFICANT FIGURES. MEDIAN PRICES FOR CLOVER FALLING FROM $765 TO $753 PSF AND KOVAN FROM $887 TO $882 PSF! WHY DO YOU EVEN BOTHER TO MAKE SUCH COMPARISONS?

developers continued to launch more units across the board than they were able to sell last month

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS? LET'S FACE IT. HOW OFTEN DO YOU GET A SITUATION WHERE NUMBER OF UNITS SOLD OUTNUMBER THOSE LAUNCHED? IF THAT SITUATION PERSISTS THEN THE MARKET IS CLEARLY OVERHEATING AND A BUBBLE IS FORMING. IT IS NORMAL FOR THE NOT SO GOOD UNITS TO BE LEFT UNSOLD FOR SOME TIME. A MORE RELEVANT FACTOR WOULD BE THE TAKE UP RATE WHICH IS STILL RELATIVELY HEALTHY. YOU MUST REMEMBER THAT THE DAYS WHEN PROJECTS WERE 100% SOLD OUT WITHIN ONE OR TWO DAYS WAS ACTUALLY AN ABNORMAL AND UNHEALTHY SITUATION. DON'T MAKE A MOUNTAIN OUT OF A MOLE HILL!.

WE ARE NOT CLAIMING THAT THE PROPERTY MARKET IS AS HOT AS IT WAS ONE YEAR AGO. NEITHER DO WE WANT YOU TO COVER UP THE NEGATIVE ASPECTS. ALL WE ARE ASKING FOR IS FAIR, OBJECTIVE AND BALANCED REPORTING. GIVE ENCOURAGEMENT AND CREDIT WHEN IT IS DUE AND MAKE COMPARISONS THAT ARE RELEVANT TO THE CURRENT CONTEXT.

REPORTERS ALSO HAVE THE DUTY AND RESPONSIBILITY NOT TO QUOTE INTERVIEWEES OUT OF CONTEXT. MANY INTERVIEWEES WILL BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY WITH A SITUATION WHERE "BAD" BECAME "TERRIBLE" AND "GOOD" BECAME "FANTASTIC". REPORTERS JUST LOVE TO SPICE THINGS UP.

ON THE OTHER HAND INTERVIEWEES SHOULD REFRAIN FROM GIVING ONLY A ONE SIDED VIEW OF THE MARKET - BE IT POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE.

MS FIONA CHAN ONCE SAID DURING AN INTERVIEW THAT SHE REALISED THAT SHE WANTED TO DO BUSINESS JOURNALISM BECAUSE SHE COULD SEE HOW A STORY HAD AN IMPACT. HER SUPERIOR WAS ALSO QUOTED AS SAYING SHE IS A JOURNALIST WHO WANTS TO WIN AND WIN BIG. BUT DOES SHE REALISE THAT SHE SHOULD NOT STRIVE TO MAKE AN IMPACT JUST FOR THE SAKE OF DOING SO? IF THE IMPACT IS BIASED AND BASED ON SKEWED FACTS THEN THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT READERS WILL BE MISLED. SURELY THAT IS NOT WHAT YOU WANT?

ALSO JOURNALISM IS NOT ABOUT WINNING. IT IS ABOUT WRITING ACCURATE AND SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE ARTICLES.

NEVER FORGET THAT FREEDOM OF THE PRESS COMES WITH RESPONSIBILITY. CROSS THE LINE AND THE AUTHORITIES WILL SURELY STEP IN.
PLEASE TAKE THIS FEEDBACK SERIOUSLY. THE REPUTATION AND CREDIBILITY OF YOUR PUBLICATION IS AT STAKE!! THIS REPORT IS CC TO ALL THE STAKEHOLDERS IN THE INDUSTRY BECAUSE YOU HAVE A PART TO PLAY TOO. IT IS A COLLECTIVE EFFORT. WE ARE ALL IN THE SAME BOAT. WE HAVE TO SPEAK OUT WHEN THINGS ARE NOT RIGHT. BLOW THE WHISTLE WHEN NECESSARY, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!