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Thread: 'Location, location, location' to 'decisions, decisions, decisions'

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    Default 'Location, location, location' to 'decisions, decisions, decisions'

    http://www.todayonline.com/Business/...ons,-decisions

    'Location, location, location' to 'decisions, decisions, decisions'

    Updated 12:51 PM Mar 18, 2011


    Gone are the days when location fundamentally mattered in most private residential purchases.

    While the recent aggressive bids in Government land tenders for centrally- located suburban sites showed the importance of location and how location still underpins a property's value, home buyers are now increasingly open to properties in more diverse places.

    There are also many people who have ventured to buying homes in new locations, including some at the extreme corners of Singapore that had traditionally received limited buying interest.

    If the location of a property has waned as an overriding factor, what prevails in the home buyers' decision?

    Several factors have now become more clearly noticeable than before in a home buyer's decision - the product's concept, the scarcity of the property and the opportunity to benefit from owning the property.

    With so many factors to consider compared to only "location", the overall home buying process is now more complicated. Home buyers are expected to critically evaluate properties based on various factors which they feel will justify their worth.

    The criteria can rank differently between home buyers, resulting in some properties favoured even if they apparently have weaker underpinnings, for example, a less accessible location.

    Why has the importance of location diminished?



    Improved connectivity

    With new MRT stations in more locations, the connectivity of many areas has been improved, especially those which were once considered remote.

    Properties which have benefited from improved connectivity include those near North-East Line MRT stations which were completed less than a decade ago, those in the completed phases of the Circle Line and some new locations where the further phases of the Circle Line and Downtown Line will be completed.

    With the improved transport infrastructure, residents will find it easier to travel across Singapore.

    Revitalisation plans

    The common question asked by home buyers is no longer how expensive a property will be, for prices of suburban private residential properties are already at record highs. It is, instead, what opportunities there are that can lead to a property's growth potential.

    The easiest way is to look for properties that can benefit from neighbourhood or regional rejuvenation plans.

    The more comprehensive and longer the plans are, the more the opportunities that may be realised from purchasing the property.

    These include properties in the western corridor of Singapore, which may benefit from the Jurong Lake and Jurong Gateway master plans; those in the Seletar area, which may become more vibrant after the completion of the Seletar Aerospace Park; and the north-eastern corridor of Singapore, which is continually developing with more lifestyle choices and a variety of housing options.

    Home buyers who are advanced in their assessment of future investment returns are seen to be higher risk-takers who buy into these "unpolished gems".



    Dwindling new choices in built-up areas

    Home buyers are now looking beyond properties in well established towns. They are seeking potential, instead of favouring homes in central locations, which are in any case priced higher since the investment returns are seemingly absolute.

    Additionally, a number of mature housing areas are fairly densely built, offering wider choices of resale properties than new properties. While new housing estates do not have as many amenities as mature ones, they have space to accommodate more exciting new amenities to cater to residents.



    Product sophistication and innovation

    With non-landed residential properties in the same locality often considered homogenous products, developers are now increasingly focused on product design to differentiate their offerings.

    To stand out from the competition and ensure that newer products justify a price premium over existing products, the quality and design must be exclusive and significantly superior. Previously, exclusive lifestyle concepts were mainly seen in properties at higher price echelons but unique product design is becoming important for suburban private residential properties, partially to offset some developments' weaker locations or to complement the project to achieve the best home buyers response.



    Critical Decisions

    Buying a private residential property is a major affair, involving a huge amount of capital and often requiring a lifetime to finance the purchase. It is especially so now, with the record prices of suburban condominiums. The decision also hinges on one's objective in buying the property - for owner occupation, for resale in the longer horizon, or for medium-term investment.

    The buying of properties in less popular districts probably calls for tougher decision-making, for it requires more confidence that the purchase will appreciate in view of opportunities such as new transit stations and upcoming malls and amenities.

    Purchasers of private homes in estates with rejuvenation plans are buying into the success of such plans, as well as the benefits of such transformation for property values. Nevertheless, a buyer for owner occupation may be less affected should the rejuvenation not yield the desired result, as it may not necessarily cause a dent in his property venture and profit expectations.

    Against the backdrop of the latest government property cooling measures, the home buyer has to consider many more factors in the decision process.

    In addition to ascertaining the potential of a property, the home buyer will now have to determine an optimal time to purchase. He will also have to recognise possibilities which will affect his financing capability as he is unlikely to sell his property within the first few years of purchase if he wishes to avoid paying sellers' stamp duty.

    Recognising one's financial capability is fundamental to one's home buying decision and this has been underrated by prospective buyers before the recent cooling measures. While the typical home buyer will now have to go through a tougher decision process, the private home purchase is expected to be more sustainable.



    Ong Kah Seng is senior manager, Research, Asia Pacific at Cushman & Wakefield.

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    all so true...

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    Location Location Location is passe. It's never about location location location, its about whether a property is over or undervalued based on its attributes AND timing.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Wild Falcon
    Location Location Location is passe. It's never about location location location, its about whether a property is over or undervalued based on its attributes AND timing.
    What u mean by attributes, issnt convenience an attribute most valued?

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    Valuation is the most important. Good location can be overvalued and bad location can be undervalued and vice versa. It's like stock investment - it's never about investing in the most profitable company. It's about investing in an undervalued stock. So the valuation relative to its attrbitues. A Glyndebourne at $2300psf may be a worse investment than Lakefront Residence at $1000psf. Some Geylang properties (extreme bad location) probably gives the best return last year, simply because it was undervalued then.

    Read the above article. Maybe it will shed some light.

    Quote Originally Posted by DaytonaSS
    What u mean by attributes, issnt convenience an attribute most valued?

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    its still about location X3

    whether near MRT? near mall? near schools? easy access to expressways.... any resistance like temple/mosque/expressway/cemetry etc etc

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    Quote Originally Posted by Wild Falcon
    Valuation is the most important. Good location can be overvalued and bad location can be undervalued and vice versa. It's like stock investment - it's never about investing in the most profitable company. It's about investing in an undervalued stock. So the valuation relative to its attrbitues. A Glyndebourne at $2300psf may be a worse investment than Lakefront Residence at $1000psf. Some Geylang properties (extreme bad location) probably gives the best return last year, simply because it was undervalued then.

    Read the above article. Maybe it will shed some light.
    i know what u meant le, appreciation opportunites! Geylang properties is best location to XXX ma. Location-convenience is still important lah. What u meant is probably price tag on "sharply appreciated" properties is not a great buy.

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    for a property with psf value of $3000, its easy to come down to $2000 but not so easy to chiong to $4000....

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    Quote Originally Posted by rattydrama
    for a property with psf value of $3000, its easy to come down to $2000 but not so easy to chiong to $4000....
    yes...u got it....CCR appreciated too fast and furious in 05-07.....can easily flip for 10-15% within few mths time during tat crazy period....prime orchard road more den doubled within the span of 2yr+....3kpsf plus 1500sqft combi is oredi out of reach by many....and we only haf tat limited UHNW ppl here....and so, they got plenty of choices so to speak

    if i ever made it to UHNW status, i wud probably go for prized collection like penthouses with fantastic view or GCBs

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    Quote Originally Posted by devilplate
    yes...u got it....CCR appreciated too fast and furious in 05-07.....can easily flip for 10-15% within few mths time during tat crazy period....prime orchard road more den doubled within the span of 2yr+....3kpsf plus 1500sqft combi is oredi out of reach by many....and we only haf tat limited UHNW ppl here....and so, they got plenty of choices so to speak

    if i ever made it to UHNW status, i wud probably go for prized collection like penthouses with fantastic view or GCBs

    what is UHNW huh? I guess I cannot even see that... poor me. this year and next year is crucial base on historical trend. I would think not so wise to buy now.

    silver chiong good good. make me happy. how soon the oil price will come down?

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    Quote Originally Posted by rattydrama
    what is UHNW huh? I guess I cannot even see that... poor me. this year and next year is crucial base on historical trend. I would think not so wise to buy now.

    silver chiong good good. make me happy. how soon the oil price will come down?
    silver....i will dump once int rates shows sign of rising....

    oil price....unlikely to drop wor....just hope it dun cross 130 can liao....haiz....i dun hf any hedge on oil px anymore....goto drive lesser liao(cutdown on showflats visits..)....lol

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    can still visit just plan your trips

    heard mas going to strengthen S$ to curb inflation. our interest rate pledged to SIBOR so unlikely that it will move high this year.

    inflation high + interest rate high will bring problem to goverment. Property price will not move and most likely will drop.

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    Where to find hidden unpolished gems now?

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    Quote Originally Posted by rattydrama
    can still visit just plan your trips

    heard mas going to strengthen S$ to curb inflation. our interest rate pledged to SIBOR so unlikely that it will move high this year.

    inflation high + interest rate high will bring problem to goverment. Property price will not move and most likely will drop.
    Think it may not drop across the island. Maybe CCR. OCR should still hold well coz mass market still appeals. Just look at the recent mass market launches, whether its condo or exec condo... Quite scary. In my conversation w friends, they still saying they are waiting to buy condo. Govt intro many many HDB BTO but these do not appeal to investors coz got 5yr MOP. Cannot rent out.

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    Quote Originally Posted by ysyap
    Think it may not drop across the island. Maybe CCR. OCR should still hold well coz mass market still appeals. Just look at the recent mass market launches, whether its condo or exec condo... Quite scary. In my conversation w friends, they still saying they are waiting to buy condo. Govt intro many many HDB BTO but these do not appeal to investors coz got 5yr MOP. Cannot rent out.
    i think the present economic conditions coupled with strong inflation and lowest interest environment will only push property prices or provide strong support. 1 more observation, with all economics printing $$$ once some shit hits the fence, asset inflation rate will only get worst.

    The cooling measure not only cool buyers, also cool seller.If they sell, what to do with the $$$$? buy another unit will tio new measure. As rental yield is still good, there is no motivation to sell low. Buyers wait at the side waiting to pounce at price drops. But as inflation erode their $$$$, its clear who has the slight upper hand. Holding huge amount of cash may not be the best situation at the present situation.

    Any more LTV kind of adjustment will only fuel demand for smaller units.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Komo
    Where to find hidden unpolished gems now?
    Cannot afford to be lazy if wanna strike 'gold' or 'gem' - plough the online classifieds, search special agent database and browse newspapers DAILY. Have ever witnessed missing out on a hot good deal when advertised and sold within hours...

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    Quote Originally Posted by Wild Falcon
    Location Location Location is passe. It's never about location location location, its about whether a property is over or undervalued based on its attributes AND timing.
    I think it is still somewhat about location - just that Location doesn't necessarily mean CBD or CITY nowadays with business areas sprouting up outside CBD area. Most would still like to be close to home for daily commute.

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    Quote Originally Posted by mcmlxxvi
    I think it is still somewhat about location - just that Location doesn't necessarily mean CBD or CITY nowadays with business areas sprouting up outside CBD area. Most would still like to be close to home for daily commute.
    Yup. The singapore style of concentric urban planning is so idiotic.

    Why must the central area be the focal point of the entire city? That is so third world. By doing that, you are actually setting yourself up for heavy traffic gridlock and limiting the development of the entire city. That is why the urban planners of singapore find themselves stuck when further-flung places like CCK and Punggol don't get much demand from commercial and residential buyers.

    Look at metropolitan areas like Los Angeles, London, Tokyo, Shanghai and Guangzhou. In those cities, there are several happening central areas throughout. There is no one single downtown, albeit in some places like LA which is actually named "downtown". But there are actually a lot of commercial and residential activities going on in the rest of the city as well. In fact LA downtown is not one of the high demand areas for housing, people prefer to live, work and shop far from downtown, in sub-cities like Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Marina Del Rey, Burbank, Hollywood, Glendale, Long Beach, etc....

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    Quote Originally Posted by orange
    Yup. The singapore style of concentric urban planning is so idiotic.

    Why must the central area be the focal point of the entire city? That is so third world. By doing that, you are actually setting yourself up for heavy traffic gridlock and limiting the development of the entire city. That is why the urban planners of singapore find themselves stuck when further-flung places like CCK and Punggol don't get much demand from commercial and residential buyers.

    Look at metropolitan areas like Los Angeles, London, Tokyo, Shanghai and Guangzhou. In those cities, there are several happening central areas throughout. There is no one single downtown, albeit in some places like LA which is actually named "downtown". But there are actually a lot of commercial and residential activities going on in the rest of the city as well. In fact LA downtown is not one of the high demand areas for housing, people prefer to live, work and shop far from downtown, in sub-cities like Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Marina Del Rey, Burbank, Hollywood, Glendale, Long Beach, etc....
    Sg is too small to have so many 'downtown'........

    in fact, we hf Changi BP, JE bz park, tuas..woodlands got semi con industries...

    however, financial districts whr the most $$ is will always be D1 and 2

    anyway there r strong demand for OCR housing wat....OCR rental yield is probably the best rite compared to downtown....

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    U know bt timah is being marketed to fresh Americans as "the beverly hills of Singapore"

    Not familliar with urban planning. Is downtown every where a good model ?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Wild Falcon
    Location Location Location is passe. It's never about location location location, its about whether a property is over or undervalued based on its attributes AND timing.
    Well said;-)

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    Quote Originally Posted by amk
    U know bt timah is being marketed to fresh Americans as "the beverly hills of Singapore"

    Not familliar with urban planning. Is downtown every where a good model ?
    Look at it simplistically, everywhere with the word Bukit has Hills potential what. Lol

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    Quote Originally Posted by amk
    U know bt timah is being marketed to fresh Americans as "the beverly hills of Singapore"

    Not familliar with urban planning. Is downtown every where a good model ?
    Jokes aside, not sure about being good model or not, but I guess Jurong Point aint the highest traffic (and highest grossing I think) mall for its owner for nothing. The right formula, right target group at right time can work wonders even without the so called central location. Waiting to see how Paya Lebar and Jurong Gateway plays out. Changi Business Park guess to a certain extent is rather successful given major banks backoffice also there plus some high profile companies too...

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    Quote Originally Posted by mcmlxxvi
    Look at it simplistically, everywhere with the word Bukit has Hills potential what. Lol
    Ha ha good one!

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    Quote Originally Posted by mcmlxxvi
    I think it is still somewhat about location - just that Location doesn't necessarily mean CBD or CITY nowadays with business areas sprouting up outside CBD area. Most would still like to be close to home for daily commute.
    Agree. It's always about location. For every new launch or any property that you buy, the first question that you ask is: "where is it?".

    Location means different things to different people. For some, it's CCR, for others, it's next to MRT, near good schools, near international schools, near malls, near markets, near workplace, near in-laws, next to reservoir, near the sea etc. It may not necessarily be all of these combined.

    So you see, location is always a major factor (although not the only one) in deciding where you want to live or invest.

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    Quote Originally Posted by devilplate
    Sg is too small to have so many 'downtown'........

    in fact, we hf Changi BP, JE bz park, tuas..woodlands got semi con industries...

    however, financial districts whr the most $$ is will always be D1 and 2

    anyway there r strong demand for OCR housing wat....OCR rental yield is probably the best rite compared to downtown....
    you sounds like OCR is more appealing to you. yr tone changed as compared to the first time I read your post ....a year ago.

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    Quote Originally Posted by fclim
    Agree. It's always about location. For every new launch or any property that you buy, the first question that you ask is: "where is it?".

    Location means different things to different people. For some, it's CCR, for others, it's next to MRT, near good schools, near international schools, near malls, near markets, near workplace, near in-laws, next to reservoir, near the sea etc. It may not necessarily be all of these combined.

    So you see, location is always a major factor (although not the only one) in deciding where you want to live or invest.
    I believe that it is the location within a location that can have the best rental yield the most appealing to me. I am not too keen on ocr/rcr/ccr since SG is small.

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    Quote Originally Posted by rattydrama
    you sounds like OCR is more appealing to you. yr tone changed as compared to the first time I read your post ....a year ago.
    changed ar? i tink ocr bubble started brewing liao wor.....i prefer rcr now actually

    i noe i change from super bullish to mild bullish to neutral now...

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    Quote Originally Posted by devilplate
    changed ar? i tink ocr bubble started brewing liao wor.....i prefer rcr now actually

    i noe i change from super bullish to mild bullish to neutral now...
    rcr where? I prefer not to do anything now.

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