Only one collective sale done so far this year

[mr funny]

March 18, 2008

Only one collective sale done so far this year

This is a marked fall from about 25 done in the same period last year

By Joyce Teo, Property Correspondent


GOING EN BLOC: Pastoral View got 80 per cent owner approval before last October's rule change but had waited for One Akyab to join the sale so as to offer a bigger site. -- PHOTO: NEWMAN & GOH

SOME residential estates are still pushing for a collective sale but they face a tough market in which such transactions have almost completely dried up.

Just one small deal has been sealed so far this year, dramatically down from about 25 in the same period last year, property consultants said.

The sole deal was Link (THM) Holdings buying freehold Ban Guan Park in Holland Road for $31.1 million earlier this year, with plans to build landed homes.

The escalating United States sub-prime mortgage crisis and a jittery stock market have caused many property players to scurry to the sidelines.

In the months ahead, there will be very few, if any, collective sale launches and deals, said property consultants.

They are in no hurry to launch, given that developers have built up ample land banks for now and sales are slow.

CB Richard Ellis' (CBRE's) executive director of investment properties, Mr Jeremy Lake, said the firm is working on two to three projects but has nothing planned for the collective sale market in the first half.

After that, it will 'play it by ear', he said. 'To a large extent, the market has ground to a halt.' He added that the firm has declined to take on some very large collective sale sites.

Credo Real Estate managing director Karamjit Singh said the firm has plans to relaunch one or two collective sale sites at lower prices in the second quarter. If owners are not prepared to lower their prices, the firm is advising them to wait for the market to recover.

Some estates continue to work towards a sale, with the intention of going to market towards the end of the year, property consultants said.

Chiltern Park's sale committee is asking owners to each contribute $200 towards a fund to facilitate a collective sale.

Some others just want to go to market when they are ready.

'A lot of owners fail to understand the market has turned severely,' said an industry source. 'When your estate is not in the price range developers are excited about, it defeats the purpose of marketing it.'

Yesterday, Pastoral View near Novena MRT Station was put up for collective sale at a guide price of $95 million - slightly under $1,000 per sq ft.

The 52-unit freehold development obtained the minimum 80 per cent approval from owners before rules were amended last October. They had waited, unsuccessfully, for the 18-unit One Akyab next door to join the sale, so that they could offer a bigger site.

'The market is slow but two overseas developers have expressed interest in the site,' said the head of investment sales at marketing agent Newman & Goh, Mr Jeffrey Goh.

In a report yesterday, CBRE said Singapore's investment property sales market was 'surprisingly active' so far this year, with $5.91 billion deals registered, despite the uncertain global economy. Public land sales, such as the $1.25 billion sale of a hospital site in Novena, made up the bulk of investment sales to date.

Investment activity in the residential sector slowed considerably in the first quarter this year, contributing $2.23 billion to date in transacted value. This includes good-class bungalow sales and forms 38 per cent of total investment sales.

'Developers are no longer as keen to acquire more sites compared to last year, as most of them have built a relatively strong inventory of freehold residential sites from the robust collective sales market in 2007,' said the CBRE report.

The release of more affordable 99-year leasehold sites by the Government may sway some buying interest away from private prime freehold residential sites, it added. 'The investment sales market is likely to see a challenging year in 2008.'

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Slowing down

QUIET OUTLOOK

THE escalating United States sub-prime mortgage crisis and a jittery stock market have caused many property players to scurry to the sidelines.

In the months ahead, there will be very few, if any, collective sale launches and deals, say property consultants.

They are in no hurry to launch, given that developers have built up ample land banks for now and sales are slow.

SOLE DEAL

Just one deal has been sealed so far this year: Link (THM) Holdings bought freehold Ban Guan Park in Holland Road for $31.1 million earlier this year, with plans to build landed homes.

UP FOR GRABS

Yesterday, the 52-unit freehold Pastoral View near Novena MRT Station was put up for collective sale at a guide price of $95 million - slightly less than $1,000 per sq ft.

[CANCER!]

SAFE FOR NOW? - Homes do not have to endure the 'cancer' check-up every few months. One day your home is OK and the next it may only have a year to live. As to whether your home may respond well to chemotherapy treatment, is a frightening prognosis?


SMILE- There is a prestigious cancer treatment centre- THE STB?

[Unregistered]

heard the buyer of Leedon Heights is in negotiating with owners who want to rent because they only want to demolish when market picks up.

[Unregistered]

heard the buyer of Leedon Heights is in negotiating with owners who want to rent because they only want to demolish when market picks up.

So sensible buyer and so lucky sellers! The subprime is a bloody mess and the contagion will blanket all countries. Sorry the world is inter-linked, all countries will not decouple for years to come

As long as there is trade,no country is independent of all other countries

[Unregistered]

heard the buyer of Leedon Heights is in negotiating with owners who want to rent because they only want to demolish when market picks up.

Suits us too. Sellers are asking dream price. We are not suckers, even though we need replacement homes. Its a stand-off between sellers and buyers.

[Unregistered]

Suits us too. Sellers are asking dream price. We are not suckers, even though we need replacement homes. Its a stand-off between sellers and buyers.

450 psf good price for condo in east

[Unregistered]

Now and then someone still willing to pay the inflated price created by

speculators who bought high during the enbloc boom. There will always be the

odd one who is not that price sensitive.

[Unregistered]

Now and then someone still willing to pay the inflated price created by

speculators who bought high during the enbloc boom. There will always be the

odd one who is not that price sensitive.

Ok will go ahead and buy this now .its on ,market for three months 600 --550 and now available for 450

[Unregistered]

Suits us too. Sellers are asking dream price. We are not suckers, even though we need replacement homes. Its a stand-off between sellers and buyers.

Some housing agents are not in a MEXICAN STANDOFF! They are still advertising those same old units for months now!

[Unregistered]

More Singaporeans facing bankruptcy, cash-flow woes
By Loh Chee Kong and Tan Hui Leng, TODAY | Posted: 20 March 2008 0644 hrs


SINGAPORE: The good times might still be here, but some Singaporeans are biting off more than they can chew.

After falling from a high four years ago, the downward trend of bankruptcy petitions and orders is showing signs of reversing, while the delinquency rate for credit cardholders is creeping up. Another sign that Singaporeans could be facing cash-flow woes: Pawnshops are enjoying brisk business.

ValueMax Group operations manager Yeah Lee Ching said some people run out of cash before the next payday. "They pawn their items to tide over the last week of the month and redeem their items after they get next month's pay."

Noting that nine in 10 customers redeem their items, she added: "These are not poor people. They own gold, diamonds and expensive watches."

In January, there were 292 petitions for bankruptcy and 215 bankruptcy orders were passed, according to the Insolvency and Public Trustee's Office. Last year, 268 bankruptcy petitions were filed and 230 orders were passed on average each month.

According to data from Credit Bureau (Singapore), the number of delinquent credit card holders has risen steadily. Last December, 14,379 defaulted on their bills — a 1.42-per-cent delinquency rate — as compared to 11,346 and 1.16 per cent in July.

Most owe less than $5,000 each. The majority are between 21 and 44 years old, and men make up almost 70 per cent.

About 80 per cent of the delinquents have credit cards with at least two banks.

Still, the bad debts, while apparently widespread, appear fairly contained for now.

The responses from banks to TODAY's queries on property foreclosures seem to bear this out.

The three local banks said there was no discernable spike in the number of flats getting repossessed. A DBS spokesperson added that neither were there any increases in the number of foreclosures for commercial and industrial properties.

Still, property market sentiments remain tentative. ERA Realty Network assistant vice-president Eugene Lim said: "There is more bargain hunting now. You don't see many people jumping in and buying straightaway, unlike last year."

And it's not just the big-ticket purchases with which Singaporeans are more discerning. NTUC FairPrice managing director Seah Kian Peng said sales of its housebrand products in the last few months have been "very encouraging".

[Unregistered]

Now and then someone still willing to pay the inflated price created by

speculators who bought high during the enbloc boom. There will always be the

odd one who is not that price sensitive.

The speculators sneaked in the condo and try to ignite the enbloc sale. The enbloc phase timing went bad. Now they get the agents to sell it at a 20% profit for what they paid for the units.

[Unregistered]

More Singaporeans facing bankruptcy, cash-flow woes
By Loh Chee Kong and Tan Hui Leng, TODAY | Posted: 20 March 2008 0644 hrs


SINGAPORE: The good times might still be here, but some Singaporeans are biting off more than they can chew.

After falling from a high four years ago, the downward trend of bankruptcy petitions and orders is showing signs of reversing, while the delinquency rate for credit cardholders is creeping up. Another sign that Singaporeans could be facing cash-flow woes: Pawnshops are enjoying brisk business.

ValueMax Group operations manager Yeah Lee Ching said some people run out of cash before the next payday. "They pawn their items to tide over the last week of the month and redeem their items after they get next month's pay."

Noting that nine in 10 customers redeem their items, she added: "These are not poor people. They own gold, diamonds and expensive watches."

In January, there were 292 petitions for bankruptcy and 215 bankruptcy orders were passed, according to the Insolvency and Public Trustee's Office. Last year, 268 bankruptcy petitions were filed and 230 orders were passed on average each month.

According to data from Credit Bureau (Singapore), the number of delinquent credit card holders has risen steadily. Last December, 14,379 defaulted on their bills — a 1.42-per-cent delinquency rate — as compared to 11,346 and 1.16 per cent in July.

Most owe less than $5,000 each. The majority are between 21 and 44 years old, and men make up almost 70 per cent.

About 80 per cent of the delinquents have credit cards with at least two banks.

Still, the bad debts, while apparently widespread, appear fairly contained for now.

The responses from banks to TODAY's queries on property foreclosures seem to bear this out.

The three local banks said there was no discernable spike in the number of flats getting repossessed. A DBS spokesperson added that neither were there any increases in the number of foreclosures for commercial and industrial properties.

Still, property market sentiments remain tentative. ERA Realty Network assistant vice-president Eugene Lim said: "There is more bargain hunting now. You don't see many people jumping in and buying straightaway, unlike last year."

And it's not just the big-ticket purchases with which Singaporeans are more discerning. NTUC FairPrice managing director Seah Kian Peng said sales of its housebrand products in the last few months have been "very encouraging".

Agreed by most, some are still in denial.

[Unregistered]

for goodness sake, don't make a big deal of 200+ bankrupts. This is not a leading indicator for real estate transaction. Look at what the chief valuer will price for government land sites + construction cost + vacancy of rental units, etc.

[Unregistered]

heard the buyer of Leedon Heights is in negotiating with owners who want to rent because they only want to demolish when market picks up.

Went house-hunting. Heard from 5 different agents from different companies on different properties. (The owner is selling because they just bought a 6 bedroom bungalow!) We had to pretend to act stupid!

[Unregistered]

enbloc is waning and life should return to normal, cannot continue forever.

[Unregistered]

enbloc is waning and life should return to normal, cannot continue forever.

It is not waning. it have stopped. no buyer going to pay their price. owner still dreaming of their price. buyer can only say 1 thing.................cheap

[Unregistered]

Wat happened to Pacific Mansion Enbloc....... no news?????

[Unregistered]

Wat happened to Pacific Mansion Enbloc....... no news?????

END - BLOCK

[Unregistered]

END - BLOCK

CHEERS!!!!!!!

[Unregistered]

Dead and Buried

[Unregistered]

Dead and Buried

Now that food has replaced enbloc in our lives, I can't even get into my own pants! I sign up for an exercise class and was told to wear loose-fitting clothings. If I had any loose-fitting clothing, I would'nt sign up in the first place. Enbloc makes funny people?