Northern part of Singapore
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The collective sale fever in Singapore is gathering steam as the news of record enbloc deals and potential sites looms. Among the latest that are joining the fever are:
1. Pine Grove ($1.65B)
Owners of the 660-unit former HUDC estate are aiming to achieve the largest collective sale deal in Singapore. The price tag of $1.65B is much higher than the last record of $1.34B deal made in Farrer Court in 2007.
An extraordinary general meeting will be held on Oct 29 to get at least 80 per cent of owners to back the en-bloc sale. Based on the minimum reserve price, each owner is looking at receiving $2.08 million to $2.64 million per unit.
It will be the estate’s 3rd attempt for a collective sale after a no-bid attempt in 2011 following the owners raising the reserve price from $1.33 billion to $1.7 billion. Its first try was in 2008. The 99-year leasehold project has 66 years left on its tenure
2. Braddell View ($2B)
Braddell View, the largest of Singapore’s 18 HUDC estates and the last to be privatised in March this year, is planning to jump on the en bloc bandwagon.
The 918-unit estate is holding an extraordinary general meeting on Oct 10 to form a collective sales committee to kick-start the process.
The reserve price for the 1.124 million sq ft development is S$2 billion. If successful, this would easily eclipse Pine Grove’s S$1.65 billion en bloc attempt. The 99-year lease Braddell View development has 63years left on its lease.
3. Spring Grove ($1B)
Owners in the 325-unit estate are targeting at least $1 billion sales price. They had asked for $1.39 billion in 2014. A $1 billion price works out to about $1,807 per sq ft (psf), based on a maximum gross floor area of 553,377 sq ft. This is above the $1,285 psf to $1,438 psf that units in the estate have fetched so far this year.
There are quite a lot of sales en bloc going on now, but not that many are in the prime district, so that’s something going for this development.
4. Normanton Park ($0.8B) — updated: sold at $830.1M
It will be second-time lucky in its collective-sale bid at an $800 million reserve price for the hopeful owners at Normanton Park.
The Normanton Park owners are among those capitalising on the collective-sale fever. It failed in its previous bid in 2015. The tender will close today on Oct 5 at 3pm.
Based on the reserve price, each Normanton Park unit owner could get between $1.6 million and $1.8 million. This translates to a land rate of about $898 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr), which includes a differential premium for intensification of the site of about $225.3 million, and a top-up premium of $220.6 million for a fresh 99-year lease.
Update: Normanton Park has been sold to Kingsford Huray Development for S$830.1 million — translating to a land price of approximately S$969 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr), is the highest land rate for a 99-year leasehold collective sale site this year.
Each home owner will stand to receive about S$1.68 million to S$1.86 million. Kingsford will have to fork out a premium of about S$231.1 million top up the lease to another 99 years, and top up about S$283.4 million to redevelop the site to a gross plot ratio of 2.1.
5. ICB Shopping Centre ($65m)
This is the first en bloc attempt by ICB Shopping Centre, a mixed-use development in Yio Chu Kang Roadwhich is more than 30 years old. It comprises six apartment units (of between 1,324 sq ft and 1,550 sq ft) and 13 retail units. The site about 1 km from Nex shopping mall and Serangoon MRT station, and is also near eateries and other small retail shopping areas.
The development’s residential and commercial owners are looking for a price of S$65 million to S$70 million. Based on its maximum potential gross floor area (GFA), the asking price range translates to a unit price of about S$1,390 per sq ft (psf) to S$1,500 psf.
The development sits on a freehold plot with a land area of 15,548 sq ft. It has a current GFA of 25,123 sq ft, but with a plot ratio of 3.0, it can be built to a maximum permissible GFA of 46,643 sq ft.
Concerns about current enbloc fever
Though the enbloc fever looks to getting even hotter, the concerns among the industry players are about the sustainability of the momentum over the long run. The market can only absorb one or two big sites. Some of the record-aiming enbloc sites have such huge sizes that the interested developers will need to factor in expected costs if they cannot finish selling the completed units.
Selling all the units within five years of buying the land to avoid additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD) will pose a challenge. This could affect the price developers are prepared to pay for the site.
Projects such as The Interlace and d’Leedon, which were built on large sites sold during the 2007 en-bloc boom, are still left with unsold units, together with the existing launches which have unsold inventory. New launches will face some fierce competition among the existing unsold units as well as among themselves.
To top it off, the property rental market has yet shown signs of shaking off its lull as well amidst the economic/employment uncertainty. Unless the authorities loose up the policy of workforce, and new jobs emerge from the current lacklustre market, it remains to be seen if new launches can provide good returns to prospective buyers.
A unit of Chip Eng Seng Corp and Unique Real Estate has put in the top bid for a plum site in Woodleigh Lane. Unique Real Estate is a joint venture of Heeton Holdings and KSH Holdings units.
The 99-year leasehold site launched on May 30 under the confirmed list for the first half of this year drew a top bid of $700.7 million from CEL Unique Development, which is 60 per cent owned by Chip Eng Seng Corp, and 40 per cent by Unique Real Estate.
The Government land sales site tender attracted 15 bidders. The land is next to Woodleigh MRT station, adjacent to Bidadari New Town and near amenities such as Nex shopping mall. The 19,547 sq m site has a maximum gross floor area of 58,641 sq m.
The selling price of the proposed development to expected to range from $1,720 psf to $1,800 psf and could face some competition from the mixed-use site in Bidadari estate linked to Singapore Press Holdings and Kajima Development.
The quarter-on-quarter drop of 0.3 % in URA’s overall private home price index, based on its Q2 flash estimate released on Monday, follows a 0.4 % decline in the index in Q1. The 0.3 % fall in the second quarter is the smallest of the 15 quarters since the peak in Q3 2013. The general sentiment among the property circles is that the private housing market is close to its trough given the statistics.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority’s overall private home price index is expected to start increasing next year, as projects on sites bought at high land prices come to the market.
The market is bottoming out with the cooling measures expected to stay put. While private home sales volumes are expected to remain healthy, the price index is expected to flatline, while the affordability in terms of absolute price quantum is expected to remain the key driver for sales volume – given the current muted market sentiment amid soft economic growth, and policy conditions.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore’s comments last week that the “calibrated adjustments” in March to the seller’s stamp duty and TDSR do not signal the start of an unwinding of the property cooling measures.
Based on its Q2 flash estimate, URA’s overall private home price index has slipped 11.8 % from the recent peak in Q3 2013.
URA’s data also showed that prices of non-landed private residential properties in the Core Central Region (CCR) or prime areas fell by 0.9 % in Q2, after easing 0.4 % in Q1. In the city fringe or Rest of Central Region (RCR), prices rose 0.5 %, after registering an increase of 0.3 % in the previous quarter. Prices in the suburbs or Outside Central Region (OCR) retreated 0.4 %, after inching up 0.1 % in Q1.
A landed housing site in Hougang attracted keen interest by the close of tender in June, with the top bid coming from a group led by a Chinese developer amounting to S$75.8 million, Urban Redevelopment Authority data showed.
The 99-year leasehold site, released from the Confirmed List of the 1st half 2017 Government Land Sales (GLS) programme, sits on about 144,221 sqf that can be developed into about 50 homes. These can be conventional landed housing or strata landed housing, with a maximum building height of three storeys.
The highest out of 11 bids, coming from a group comprising Fantasia Investment (Singapore) — a unit of Hong Kong-listed Chinese developer Fantasia Holdings, and individuals Sun Renwang and Yang Xinping, translated to S$525.58 per sqf of site area — 22.2 per cent higher than the second-best bid of S$62 million from a local group comprising SingHaiyi Investments and Haiyi Wealth.
The site’s positive attributes, such as its location within a landed enclave and its proximity to the Hougang MRT Station, attracted much interest from developers.
Chinese developers have been making headlines in Singapore’s housing market lately by sending in the top bids and set records in both GLS tenders and the collective sale market. Last month, Nanshan Group and Logan Property submitted the winning bid above S$1 billion for a land parcel in Stirling Road, the first time that a purely residential site on the GLS programme has exceeded that price quantum.
The Downtown Line 3 (DTL3) will open on 21 October 2017, making it the longest underground and driverless MRT line in Singapore, surpassing the 35.7km Circle Line (CCL). The DTL3 Extension from Expo to Sungei Bedok, an additional 2.2km, will open in 2024.
Downtown Line
Downtown Line Alignment
DTL3
The 21-kilometre long DTL3 comprises 16 stations and is the longest stretch of the Downtown Line to be opened. DTL3 includes three interchange stations at MacPherson (link to CCL) , Tampines (EWL), and Expo (EWL).
1. Fort Canning Station
Fort Canning station is located at the intersection of River Valley Road and Clemenceau Avenue. The station has two entrances and will serve developments in the area including Fort Canning Park, Liang Court, U.E Square, Park Hotel Clarke Quay and Robertson Quay Hotel, which were previously not connected to the rail network.
2. Bencoolen Station
Bencoolen station is located at Bencoolen Street, near the junction with Bras Basah Road. It has three entrances and comprises six levels – concourse, upper mezzanine, lower mezzanine, platform and two service levels. To provide greater connectivity to the existing rail network, the station has an underground unpaid linkway connected to CCL Bras Basah station through the existing SMU basement. The NAFA Campus extension is integrated above one of the station’s entrances.
The station will serve students, office workers, businesses and tourists, with its close proximity to the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), Singapore Management University (SMU), Manulife Centre, Sunshine Plaza, National Museum and hotels along Bencoolen Street. There are also several places of worship around the station such as the Kwan Im Temple, Sri Krishnan Temple, Maghain Aboth Synagogue and Masjid Bencoolen.
3. Jalan Besar Station
Jalan Besar station is located at the junction of Jalan Besar and Weld Road. It has two entrances and comprises two levels – concourse and platform. The station will serve Sim Lim Tower, Stamford Primary School, residences and shophouses in the vicinity. The station is within five minutes’ walk of Rochor station (on the DTL) and Bugis station (on the EWL, DTL) allowing commuters to easily transfer between rail lines.
4. Bendemeer Station
Bendemeer station is located at Kallang Bahru, near the junction with Kallang Avenue. The station has two entrances, one on each side of the road. The station will serve the commercial buildings, residences and shophouses in the vicinity. The station is within ten minutes’ walk of Lavender station (on the EWL) and Boon Keng station (on the NEL) allowing commuters to easily transfer between rail lines.
5. Geylang Bahru Station
Geylang Bahru station is located along Kallang Bahru, at the junction with Geylang Bahru. The station has two entrances and comprises two levels – concourse and platform. The station will serve Kallang Basin ActiveSG Swimming Complex, Kallang Basin Industrial Estate and HDB estates in Geylang Bahru, providing greater connectivity for workers and residents.
6. Mattar Station
Mattar station is located near the junction of Merpati Road and Mattar Road. The station has two entrances. One of the entrances leads to Merpati Road and will primarily serve Canossa Convent School, Macpherson Primary School, Masjid Sallim Mattar Mosque and those working in Kallang Pudding area. The other entrance leads to Mattar Road near the Circuit Road hawker centre (Blk 79 and 79A Circuit Road) and the Macpherson Community Club.
7. MacPherson Station
MacPherson station is located along Circuit Link, near the junction with Circuit Road. It has two entrances and comprises three levels – concourse, mezzanine and platform. It will serve Geylang Neighbourhood Police Centre, industrial buildings and residences in the vicinity.
The new station will allow commuters to conveniently transfer to the CCL as the DTL platforms are connected directly to the CCL platform though a short escalator ride. This could be done as the bottom-most level of the DTL station was constructed along with the CCL station, allowing the two lines to be built in close proximity.
8. Ubi Station
Ubi station is located near the junction of Ubi Avenue 1 and Ubi Avenue 2. The station has two entrances, one of which is located close to the residential estate. The station aims to serve the nearby high-rise light industrial buildings and also supports a dense HDB estate with schools in its vicinity such as Maha Bodhi School and Manjusri Secondary School. The station exterior is bronze in colour to depict the colour of Ubi (Malay for “tapioca”).
9. Kaki Bukit Station
Kaki Bukit station is located along Kaki Bukit Avenue 1, near the junction with Jalan Damai. The station has two entrances and comprises three levels – intermediate, concourse and platform. Utilities found within the station footprint posed challenges during the construction of the station, and they had to be relocated during different phases of excavation. The station will serve Bedok North Secondary School, Kaki Bukit Tech Park, Kaki Bukit Tech View, as well as residences along Bedok Reservoir Road, Jalan Damai and Jalan Tenaga.
10. Bedok North Station
Bedok North station is located at Bedok North Road, near the Pan-Island Expressway flyover. The station has three entrances and comprises three levels – concourse, mezzanine and platform.
The station will serve Damai Primary School, Bedok Town Park, HDB estates and industrial buildings nearby.
11. Bedok Reservoir Station
Bedok Reservoir station is located at Bedok Town Park, beside Bedok North Avenue 3. The station has two entrances leading to the residential blocks in the vicinity and the Bedok Town Park.
The station will serve many schools, residences and parks such as Bedok Town Park, Bedok Reservoir Park, Damai Secondary School, Bedok Green Secondary School, Red Swastika School, Yu Neng Primary School and residences along Bedok Reservoir Road.
12. Tampines West Station
Tampines West station is located at Tampines Avenue 4, near the junction with Tampines Avenue 1. It has two entrances leading to HDB blocks nearby. Both entrances are connected directly to taxi stands, drop-off points and bicycle parks. The last tunnel boring machine (TBM) on DTL3 broke through into the Tampines West station in June 2015, marking the completion of tunnelling works along the DTL3. The station will serve Temasek Polytechnic, Junyuan Primary School, East View Primary School, Tampines Polyview and Tampines Palmspring HDB estates.
13. Tampines Station
Tampines station is located along Tampines Central 1. The station has three entrances and comprises three levels – subway (retail level), concourse and platform. The station is connected to the Tampines Bus Interchange and the EWL and will service commuters travelling to offices and shopping areas around the Tampines town centre. The station will also serve commercial buildings such as OCBC Tampines Centre One, AIA, Telepark, Our Tampines Hub and residences in Tampines.
14. Tampines East Station
Tampines East station is located along Tampines Avenue 7, near the junction with Tampines Avenue 2. It has four entrances leading to the current site of Tampines Junior College and HDB blocks in the vicinity. The station will serve Tampines Junior College, Ngee Ann Secondary School, Tampines North Park and residences nearby.
15. Upper Changi Station
Upper Changi station is located at Upper Changi Road East. At 205m, the station is the longest on the DTL3. It has four entrances and comprises three levels – concourse, intermediate, and platform. Two of the entrances are connected directly to bus stops, taxi stands, drop – off points and the bicycle park. The station will serve the Singapore University of Technology and Design and residential estates in the vicinity. For the convenience of movement between the station and SUTD, there will be an underground linkway between them.
16. Expo Station
Expo station is located along Changi South Avenue 1, 25 metres below ground level. It has four entrances and comprises three levels. The station will primarily serve Singapore Expo and a major business hub, the Changi Business Park. As Expo connects to Changi Airport on the EWL, commuters will have an additional travel option when going to the airport.
https://www.lta.gov.sg/apps/news/page.aspx?c=2&id=5c4e424c-1a46-44cb-92d0-212e37a2b6df
According to consultancy JLL in a new report, property investment sales are set for a bull run after a spectacular start to the year. The positive outlook is being driven by the office, and possibly the retail and residential sectors.
The overall value of real estate investment deals soared 67 % in the first quarter to $4.99 B – of which $4.47 B was from the private sector.
Private investment sales of office property accounted for $2.12 B – the sector’s strongest first-quarter showing for the past 9 years. The $2.12 B figure was a 60.6 % rise from the fourth quarter, and more than treble that of a year ago. Last year’s private-sector investment sales stood at $19.06 B.
The top two office deals in the first quarter were entity sales. One was the sale of the entire interest in the holding company of PwC Building in Cross Street to an indirect unit of Manulife Financial Corporation for $760.6 M. The other was the divestment of the entire interest in Plaza Ventures – the owner and developer of GSH Plaza in Cecil Street – to Hong Kong-listed Fullshare Holdings for $725.21 M.
JLL noted the potential for the full-year sales of private office assets to surpass the $6.49 B recorded last year, considering the recent deal for One George Street and sizeable assets available in the market, including Asia Square Tower 2 in Marina Bay.
The residential segment, registered $1.69 B in private investment sales for properties valued at $5 M and above in the first quarter.
For retail and industrial sectors, private investment sales more than doubled that from the previous year in the first quarter: $280 M for retail and $390 M for industrial.
JLL predicts a bright investment sale outlook for the year, driven by the recent sale of the $2.2 B Jurong Point mall and upbeat sentiment in the private residential market. A growing appetite for collective sale sites by developers facing depleting land banks and limited supply of sites from the Government could also lend support to investment sales.
Two deals with a combined value of $676.5 million were announced in May in yet another sign of the continued resurgence in the collective sale market. One involved the sale of Rio Casa, a privatised HUDC estate in Hougang, while mixed-use development Goh & Goh Building, near Beauty World MRT station, was also snapped up. These follow the sale of One Tree Hill Gardens for $65 million to Lum Chang Group this month. The number of deals has now matched the three done in all of last year: Shunfu Ville, Raintree Gardens and Harbour View Gardens.
A.Rio Casa
Rio Casa in Hougang Avenue 7 was sold for $575 million to the joint venture firm Oxley-Lian Beng Venture comprising KSH Development, Oxley Holdings, Lian Beng Group and Apricot Capital. A further $208 million in estimated differential premiums is required for topping up the lease and to develop the site to a gross plot ratio of 2.8. The combined sale price and differential payment translates to a land price of about $706 per sq ft per plot ratio based on the maximum permissible gross floor area of about 1.1 million sq ft. Rio Casa comprises seven blocks of 286 apartment and maisonette units. Each owner stands to pocket about $2 million from the deal.
The gross development value for this project is estimated at $1.4 billion and can potentially be redeveloped to build about 1,400 residential units, assuming an average size of 70 sq m per unit.
B. Goh & Goh Building
Alika Properties of BBR Holdings bought the Goh & Goh Building for $101.5 million. Built in the late 1980s, the freehold property at 110 to 122 Upper Bukit Timah Road comprises seven apartments and seven shops. Each shop owner will reap about $9 million while apartment owners will get $5.4 million each. Subject to Alika’s payment of a development charge, the site can potentially yield about 100 residential units and a level of retail shops on the ground floor.
The Land Transport Authority is in the final stages of engineering and design studies for the 2km-long North East Line (NEL) Extension, which will serve the developing Punggol North. The line will be built in tandem with the developments there so that future residents in Punggol North will have train access to the city centre as well as other parts of Singapore.
The extension, which is likely to have two stops, is expected to be completed by 2030. Punggol North will be a mixed-used area. It is slated to be an “enterprise district” housing digital and cyber- security industries.
It will be the first of such districts where new planning concepts will be applied. These include appointing a master developer to take charge of the entire district, of which JTC Corporation will be appointed here. The district will include the new Singapore Institute of Technology campus, located next to JTC’s business parks.
The 50km Cross Island Line, slated to be completed in 2030, is also expected to pass through Punggol.
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