Landed housing plot draws top bid of just $77.80 psf

[mr funny]

Boon Keng Development puts in top bid for Westwood Ave site

By Timothy Ouyang, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 11 March 2008 2255 hrs


SINGAPORE: Developer Boon Keng Development has put in the top bid of S$11.8 million for a landed housing site at Westwood Avenue.

The price for the 150,700 sq ft site, which is being sold on a 99-year lease, works out to be S$78 per sq ft.

Only two bids were received by the Housing and Development Board (HDB) for the plot. Sunway Concrete Products put in the lower offer of S$10.3 million.

Property consultants CB Richard Ellis said the bid amounts were conservative, reflecting the current cautious sentiment in the property market.

But it said the terrace houses to be built on the site can still fetch between S$900,000 and S$1 million each.

These prices are slightly higher than the current prices being transacted for nearby developments like Westwood Park and Westville.


- CNA/so

[mr funny]

Published March 12, 2008

Landed housing plot draws top bid of just $77.80 psf

Only one other offer made; poor show seen as sign of uncertain market

By UMA SHANKARI


IN what is seen as a sign of an uncertain property market, a landed housing parcel in Jurong West drew only two bids, and a low top bid of $11.8 million - or just $77.80 per square foot (psf) - at the close of a government land tender yesterday.

The higher bid, put in by Boon Keng Development, was significantly below what analysts had said the site could fetch. Cushman & Wakefield managing director Donald Han, for example, reckoned that the plot would fetch $200-$250 psf of land area.

'The price is really below expectation,' said Mr Han yesterday. 'But with the market sentiment being so weak, you can expect wild swings in prices. Developers will be sitting on the sidelines or might not want to bid their best prices.'

The other bid was put in by Sunway Concrete Products, a unit of Malaysian- listed Sunway Holdings. It offered $10.3 million, or $68.1 psf of land area.

Li Hiaw Ho, executive director for research at CB Richard Ellis, said that both bids were 'relatively conservative' and reflected the current cautious sentiment in the market.

The 99-year leasehold site on Westwood Avenue has a land area of 151,759 sq ft. Property analysts estimate that some 50-60 landed homes can be built on the site.

'Nevertheless, based on the highest bid of $78 psf, terrace houses on this site could still be sold for $900,000 to $1 million each,' Mr Li said. This is slightly higher than recent transactions of intermediate terrace houses in nearby Westwood Park and Westville, which were between $820,000 and $990,000 each.

Potential buyers, Mr Li added, could comprise locals working in the manufacturing firms in Jurong and Tuas, as well as academics at nearby Nanyang Technological University.

Market watchers, however, said that it is possible that the government might not award the site because of the low price.

The price looks especially low when considering other recent government sales of landed housing plots, Mr Han pointed out.

In October, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) auctioned off 12 sub-divided landed housing plots near Sembawang Beach which can be developed into a total of 57 landed homes. The auction fetched a total of $37.09 million, which worked out to about $285 psf of land area on average.

And in January, the government decided not to sell a short-term office site in Aljunied because the sole bid offered too low a price. The decision followed a recent string of lower-than-expected offers for state land.

[mr funny]

March 12, 2008

99-YEAR LANDED PLOT

Lower than expected bids for Jurong site


A LANDED plot in Jurong West that was tipped by one consultant to fetch bids of over $30 million failed to even get to half of that.

Just two offers were placed for the 99-year leasehold Westwood Avenue plot, a stark reflection of the fast-deteriorating sentiment in the property market.

The top bid of just $11.8 million, or $78 per sq ft (psf), of land area came from Boon Keng Development, with Sunway Concrete Products offering $10.33 million, or just $68.1 psf.

Cushman & Wakefield managing director Donald Han, who had tipped that the site could fetch more than $30 million, or $200 to $250 psf, said the offers were 'defensive bids' that would allow the developer to withstand a fallout from the global credit crunch.

CBRE Research executive director Li Hiaw Ho said the 'relatively conservative bids' for the Jurong site, which is in an established residential area, reflects the market's cautious sentiment.

Assuming the tender is awarded, terrace houses on the 14,098.9 sq m site, within a 10-minute drive of the Boon Lay MRT station, could sell for $900,000 to $1.1 million each, property consultants said.

These levels are just slightly above current prices being transacted in Westwood Park and Westville, said Mr Li. Recent deals of intermediate terrace houses in Westwood Park and Westville ranged between $820,000 and $990,000, he said.

JOYCE TEO

[Unregistered]

Published March 12, 2008

Landed housing plot draws top bid of just $77.80 psf

Only one other offer made; poor show seen as sign of uncertain market

By UMA SHANKARI


IN what is seen as a sign of an uncertain property market, a landed housing parcel in Jurong West drew only two bids, and a low top bid of $11.8 million - or just $77.80 per square foot (psf) - at the close of a government land tender yesterday.

The higher bid, put in by Boon Keng Development, was significantly below what analysts had said the site could fetch. Cushman & Wakefield managing director Donald Han, for example, reckoned that the plot would fetch $200-$250 psf of land area.

'The price is really below expectation,' said Mr Han yesterday. 'But with the market sentiment being so weak, you can expect wild swings in prices. Developers will be sitting on the sidelines or might not want to bid their best prices.'

......
'Nevertheless, based on the highest bid of $78 psf, terrace houses on this site could still be sold for $900,000 to $1 million each,' Mr Li said. This is slightly higher than recent transactions of intermediate terrace houses in nearby Westwood Park and Westville, which were between $820,000 and $990,000 each.


.....

And in January, the government decided not to sell a short-term office site in Aljunied because the sole bid offered too low a price. The decision followed a recent string of lower-than-expected offers for state land.

I wonder how in the world did he become an analyst, and worst an MD. Anyhow pluck some figures from the air and then give a load of crap reasons to explain his mistake after its been proven wrong. Totally unreliable. Its as good as looking into the crystal ball.

And to think that the Dir of Research even dare to estimate the px at 900-1000psf must be nuts when the px of the land is almost `free' if u ask me at 78psf. If Boon Keng dares to px it at 1000psf, they would be making huge profits or may suffer the fate of the neighbours Ter Hse when launched, costs 1mio per px but later px dropped to 650k at the lowest in 2003.

These so called researchers and analyst must be speculators themselves and thus need to talk up the mkt. But too bad people are not stupid, except for speculators who believe in these analysis.

[Unregistered]

I will be surprised if the tender is awarded, the price is simply too cheap, almost a giveaway....