http://business.asiaone.com/Business...26-182515.html
Sat, Nov 28, 2009
The New Paper
Bukit Timah is still hot property
By Elysa Chen
IT SEEMS that even Mother Nature can't do anything to temper the property craze in Singapore.
Property agent Judy Ong was hoping that the headline-grabbing floods that turned one Bukit Timah condominium's basement carpark into a giant swimming pool would lead to lower prices there.
Ms Ong, 45, who is marketing a unit at the Tessarina, said: "If I find a keen buyer, I will use the flash floods to persuade the owner to lower the price."
Home owners at the 443-unit Tessarina, it seems, are still asking for "ridiculously high" prices, she added.
Ms Ong said the market price of units of around 1,400 sq ft is $1.2 million to $1.3 million each.
Some owners, however, are asking for "sky-high" prices of $1.7 million. Checks with other property agents confirmed this.
She said: "At those prices, most people would rather get a new condominium unit."
Property experts feel that the flash floods will not put a damper on prices.
Last Thursday, more than 100 cars in the Tessarina's underground carpark were submerged in rain water after an unusually heavy downpour caused a flash flood. Four cars in the basement carpark of the Sixth Avenue Centre, along Bukit Timah Road, also suffered the same fate.
Recounting the flood problem in Bukit Timah, a low-lying area with a history of flooding that stretches back to the 1930s, property investor Marlene Chong said prices of houses there skyrocketed after works were carried out to solve the problem.
Madam Chong, who is in her 70s, has been investing in property for 40 years.
She said: "Foreigners like buying property there. There are good schools, so that is prime area. If I could, I would also capitalise on this opportunity to buy a piece of property there. "But I doubt prices will fall as the flooding is a small problem."
PropNex CEO Mohamed Ismail, said interest in the area remains strong as it is an enclave for the wealthy.
He said: "Property owners in Bukit Timah enjoy a certain status, so the flash floods, which are a short-term problem, would have little impact on property prices."
He noted that prices of landed property there would range from $1,100 to $1,200 per square foot, while condominium apartments could fetch as much as $1,500 per square foot.
Ms Ivy Lee, CEO of Ivy Lee Realty, said the flash floods had not caused any panic-selling among her clients, and that sales at her project, The Linear, in Upper Bukit Timah, are good.
Re/Max Empire Property Group CEO David Cheang said it was too early to tell if the flash floods had any effect on property prices as it had only been a week since they occurred.
He added that there were factors bigger than the occasional flash flood driving up property prices, such as people with money to spare in search of investment opportunities.
"Financial instruments are no longer as attractive as they used to be, so people are turning to investing in property. With the integrated resorts coming up, more high-net-worth individuals will be attracted to Singapore, pushing the market forward."
The head of special projects at HSR Property Group, Mr Dennis Yong, said prices would hold stable as the flooding situation is a problem that can be fixed.
He said: "It's not as if the property is haunted - that's the one problem that property agents are scared of."
As Singapore does not experience heavy rain every day, he said, home owners in the area are not panic-selling.
But he added cheekily: "If there's any seller who wants to sell his property in the Bukit Timah area because of the flash floods, I wouldn't mind buying it. It might be a good buy."
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Originally Posted by mr funny
