{"id":52447,"date":"2017-04-21T07:30:45","date_gmt":"2017-04-21T00:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/news-roundup-april-2017\/"},"modified":"2017-04-21T07:50:43","modified_gmt":"2017-04-21T00:50:43","slug":"news-roundup-april-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/news-roundup-april-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"News Roundup (April 2017)"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n\u00a0
\nOur top Singapore property stories.
\nIs Singapore\u2019s housing market on the road to recovery?
\nThe recovery in Singapore\u2019s residential property market appears to be gathering pace following a protracted downtrend, revealed a CNBC report.
\nThe inflection point in prices is expected to come \u201cvery soon\u201d, said Cushman & Wakefield\u2019s Managing Director for Asia Pacific Research, Sigrid Zialcita, in CNBC\u2019s \u201cThe Rundown\u201d recently.
\nThis reversal was brought about by the government\u2019s relaxation of some of its property cooling measures, which improved market sentiment. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen an increase in foot traffic and it\u2019s incentivising a lot of buyers,\u201d she noted.
\nOther experts also believe that the reduction on the seller\u2019s stamp duty and the lower minimum holding period may be helping to stimulate market activity.
\nFor instance, PropertyGuru\u2019s CEO Hari Krishnan revealed that the number of property listings on its website increased two percent in Q1 2017 on an annual basis, followed by a 2.4 percent gain in March.
\n\u201cThese increases could be indicative of an uplift in seller sentiment,\u201d he said.
\nCitigroup analysts, in a recent note, also underscored the sudden \u201csentiment uplift\u201d after the government relaxed some of its property curbs. However, they feel the \u201cexuberance\u201d might be exaggerated.
\nThey explained that it would be more logical for would-be buyers to wait for more significant policy easing, or for larger discounts from developers racing against the deadline to sell their residential units.<\/p>\n

\u00a0
\nWong: URA grants exemptions on GFA
\nThe Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) permits developers to exclude some spaces from the computation of the gross floor area (GFA) to achieve certain planning objectives, revealed National Development Minister Lawrence Wong recently.
\n\u201cFor example, air-conditioner ledges below one metre in width are exempted from GFA in order to encourage developers to house air-conditioner condensers neatly in residential developments.\u201d
\nOn the other hand, balconies are not excluded from the GFA, and developers must pay a development charge for them.
\nWhen pricing units in their developments, he explained that developers factor in the strata area, which encompasses floor space sold to the buyer on the basis that it is for the buyer\u2019s exclusive enjoyment. As balconies and air-con ledges solely serve individual units, they are considered part of the strata area, and are therefore chargeable to the buyer.
\nWong was responding to a parliamentary query from Jurong GRC MP Ang Wei Neng on whether the URA is reviewing the rule of allowing developers to build big air-con ledges and balconies for non-landed homes without them being counted as part of the GFA, and yet buyers are being charged for such space.
\nAng also asked whether developers are required to disclose the floor areas dedicated for balconies, air-con ledges and other outdoor space in the floor plans of housing developments during their launch.
\nIn response, Wong said that developers are already obliged to provide potential buyers with a drawn-to-scale floor plan of the unit they are intending to purchase, including a detailed breakdown of various types of spaces, such as bedrooms, bathrooms, air-con ledges and balconies.
\n\u201cThis information must be given to prospective buyers before they pay the booking fee for an Option to Purchase the unit,\u201d he noted.
\nFurthermore, the floor area of such spaces must be accurately depicted in the showflats. The URA will not hesitate to act against developers who misrepresent such information to buyers, Wong added.<\/p>\n

Landed home prices drop 2.8% in Q1
\nPrivate home prices across Singapore fell 0.5 percent in the first quarter of 2017, the same rate of decline as in the previous quarter, according to recent flash estimates from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).
\nIn Q1 2017, prices of landed properties fell 2.8 percent, while those of non-landed properties remained unchanges. Specifically, prices of non-landed properties in the Outside Central Region (OCR) increased 0.1 percent in Q1 2017. The Core Central Region (CCR) saw prices of non-landed properties dip 0.2 percent, while prices in the Rest of Central Region (RCR) held firm.
\nDesmond Sim, Head of CBRE Research for Singapore and South East Asia, said the latest URA figures \u201cprovide another piece of evidence that Singapore\u2019s residential market is reaching its trough\u201d.
\nHe noted that the fall in index for landed homes was a \u201cfunction of the price of the projects transacted.\u201d
\n\u201cKey projects may skew indices occasionally and with a wide geographic spread, it is more important to look at the trends over a longer period. The market should prepare itself for a landing very soon, going by the latest figures.\u201d
\nLooking ahead, Sim expects home prices to \u201ccome in at between 0 and -2 percent for the whole of 2017\u2033.<\/p>\n

\u00a0
\nProperty investment company under fire for failure to provide payouts.
\nFollowing an injection of over S$1 million from 2011 to 2014, five investors have filed police reports against A2A Capital Management, after they failed to receive returns for their investments in the company\u2019s land-banking schemes, reported the\u00a0Straits Times.
\nThe property development and investment company\u2019s land-banking schemes offered generous returns for cash investments in real estate in Canada and the US. In fact, a brochure for one of the schemes in which property manager Veronica Chen invested showed that a total investment of US$91 million (S$127.6 million) has an estimated target return of US$122 million (S$171 million). This works out to an overall return of 134 percent for the project.
\nChen, however, has not received any payout for the US$30,000 (S$42,063) she invested in the 10-year project in Texas. Retiree Madam Mohamed received only one payment amounting to S$1,500 last year for her S$500,000 investment made between 2011 and 2014.
\n\u201cI am very sad I may die before I get my money back. I\u2019m 78. I had told my two grandchildren I can help pay for their studies but now I can\u2019t help them,\u201d she said. Investor Vijay N, on the other hand, said the S$700 payout he received in the middle of 2016 was much lower than he had expected. The businessman invested S$50,000 in two projects in 2012 and 2013.
\n\u201cI thought it was a good investment\u2026 I expected my first payment of the returns to be in 2014. When I didn\u2019t receive anything, they told me the winter was bad,\u201d said Mr N, who claimed to be impressed by A2A\u2019s marketing presentation and well-decorated office in Raffles Place. The company has since vacated its Raffles Place office and moved to the Philippines.
\nWhen contacted in February, A2A\u2019s client services department explained to Mr N that the relocation of its office was the result of the Singapore authorities \u201cputting regulatory impositions\u201d on land-banking products. It added that the management is working on the project\u2019s payout timelines and would update the investors as these are ironed out.
\nMeanwhile, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in March placed A2A on its investor alert list as it \u201cprovides a listing of unregulated persons who, based on information received by MAS, may have been wrongly perceived as being licensed or authorised by MAS\u201d.
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n

This article was first published in the print version PropertyGuru News & Views. Download PDFs of full print issues or read more stories now!<\/p>\n


\n
\nSource : proppertyguru.com.sg\/Property Market
\nRead more…News Roundup (April 2017)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 Our top Singapore property stories. Is Singapore\u2019s housing market on the road to recovery?...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52448,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-property-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Landed-homes-in-Singapore.jpg?fit=840%2C420&ssl=1","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p75ss1-dDV","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":57934,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/singapores-residential-property-market-is-sending-mixed-signals-this-is-what-they-mean\/","url_meta":{"origin":52447,"position":0},"title":"Singapore's residential property market is sending mixed signals. This is what they mean","date":"June 15, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Singapore's residential market is sending mixed signals, but analysts point to some encouraging signs of a recovery.\r \r Source : cnbc.com\r Read more...Singapore's residential property market is sending mixed signals. This is what they mean","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":73059,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/singapores-property-debt-drops-amid-rise-in-real-rates\/","url_meta":{"origin":52447,"position":1},"title":"Singapore\u2019s property debt drops amid rise in real rates","date":"November 28, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Morgan Stanley believes the accumulation of debt due to property acquisitions in Singapore has eased thanks to higher real rates, reported Singapore Business Review. The firm noted that the trend in Singapore\u2019s debt-to-GDP largely mirrored that of China, in which negative real rates served as the primary driver in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":119025,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/singapores-unique-collective-sales-lose-appeal-to-investors-even-as-housing-market-shows-signs-of-early-recovery\/","url_meta":{"origin":52447,"position":2},"title":"Singapore\u2019s unique \u2018collective sales\u2019 lose appeal to investors even as housing market shows signs of early recovery","date":"October 27, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"\r The Covid-19 pandemic has dulled investors\u2019 appetite for choice pieces of property in Singapore even as the property market of the Southeast Asian financial hub is likely to be one of the first to recover from the global downturn.So far this year, there has been only one residential \u201ccollective\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":118578,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/construction-work-on-tuas-nexus-facility-singapores-first-integrated-water-and-solid-waste-treatment-facility\/","url_meta":{"origin":52447,"position":3},"title":"Construction Work on Tuas Nexus Facility, Singapore\u2019s First Integrated Water and Solid Waste Treatment Facility","date":"September 9, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Tuas Nexus will integrate the Tuas Water Reclamation Plant (Tuas WRP) and Integrated Waste Management Facility (IWMF) to \u201chelp forge a more sustainable Singapore by optimising land use, and maximising energy and resource recovery. Photo: NEA Construction works on the first phase of Tuas Nexus, Singapore\u2019s first integrated waste\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/tuas-nexus-iwmf-twrp.jpg?fit=650%2C459&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":51476,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/is-singapores-housing-market-on-the-road-to-recovery\/","url_meta":{"origin":52447,"position":4},"title":"Is Singapore\u2019s housing market on the road to recovery?","date":"April 10, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Recent tweaks to the property cooling measures may be helping to stimulate market activity, say analysts.\u00a0 The recovery in Singapore\u2019s residential property market appears to be gathering pace following a protracted downtrend, according to a CNBC report. The inflection point in prices is expected to come \u201cvery soon\u201d, said\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":112512,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/economists-give-positive-adjustments-to-singapores-gdp-predictions\/","url_meta":{"origin":52447,"position":5},"title":"Economists give positive adjustments to Singapore\u2019s GDP predictions","date":"November 21, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"\r This comes as a poll conducted by Reuters showed that the final gross domestic product in Singapore is expected to be higher than the government\u2019s advance estimates. 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