Singapore Property Watch - July 2008
July 20, 2008
A Singapore Real Estate Digest by Justin Ng Properties
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SINGAPORE: Office rents in Singapore are starting to show signs of peaking, said property analysts.
They noted that prime rental costs have generally increased at a far slower pace in the first half of this year, compared to 2007.
Looking ahead, they expect office rents to soften even more towards the end of 2009 and early 2010 as demand for prime space eases……………..
Singapore home sales in June up 80% from May
SINGAPORE: June was the best performing month in terms of home sales since the property market tumbled last September, according to numbers released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Tuesday.
Altogether, 801 private homes were sold, a jump of 80 per cent from May.
But there were also more units launched. The number of units launched in June leapt 125 per cent from May to 1,069 units, meaning that there were more unsold properties in the market……..
June’s Property Transactions
| Flat Type | Units Sold |
| 4 Room | 854 units |
| 3 Room | 628 units |
| 5 Room | 584 units |
| Condominium | 428 units |
| Apartment | 307 units |
| Executive | 192 units |
| Terrace House | 80 units |
| Semi-Detached House | 40 units |
| Executive Condominium | 39 units |
| 2 Room | 25 units |
| Detached House | 12 units |
| HUDC | 9 units |
| 1 Room | 5 units |
| Multi-generation | 2 units |
Property Trend (Based on Past 6 months Transactions)
Latest Featured Properties
| HDB 5 Rooms @ Toh Guan Road | HDB 5 Rooms @ Marine Drive |
| D11 - Novena Ville for Sale | D19 - Chuan Park for Sale |
| D12 - The Elysia for Sale/Rent | D09 - Mackenzie 88 For Sale |
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Office rents in Singapore showing signs of peaking
July 20, 2008
SINGAPORE: Office rents in Singapore are starting to show signs of peaking, said property analysts.
They noted that prime rental costs have generally increased at a far slower pace in the first half of this year, compared to 2007.
Looking ahead, they expect office rents to soften even more towards the end of 2009 and early 2010 as demand for prime space eases.
Donald Han, managing director of Cushman & Wakefield, said: “The market is quite close to the peak, by virtue that we have seen the bulk of the expansion process by users, multinationals.”
Chua Chor Hoon, senior director of research, DTZ, said: “Rentals went up quite a lot last year – almost doubled. So there is a lot of resistance to that high level of rental, plus there is more cautiousness in the market now because of what’s happening in US and its impact on Singapore.”
Last year, Grade A office rents rose 96.5 per cent, compared to just 9.6 per cent in the first half this year.
Consultants said they expect to see more softness as some one million square feet of space may be released once major occupants complete their plans to move out.
“For banks like Standard Chartered, DBS and Citibank, you’ll probably see completion of these three portfolios in Changi Business Park in end 2009 and early 2010,” said Mr Han.
In addition, about 6.7 million square feet of space will come on-stream by 2011 and more than 60 per cent of it will be Grade A space.
While rentals for prime office space may be peaking, those for fringe locations have been increasing at a faster pace.
Ms Chua said: “The interesting thing we noticed is that for office outside the CBD, like the Harbourfront, Novena, Alexandra or Tampines, we see strong demand over there. Rental growth is slightly higher than in CBD.”
In the second quarter, rental growth for these decentralised areas was about 3 to 5 per cent.
Source: Channelnewsasia
Singapore home sales in June up 80% from May
July 20, 2008
SINGAPORE: June was the best performing month in terms of home sales since the property market tumbled last September, according to numbers released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Tuesday.
Altogether, 801 private homes were sold, a jump of 80 per cent from May.
But there were also more units launched. The number of units launched in June leapt 125 per cent from May to 1,069 units, meaning that there were more unsold properties in the market.
However, analysts said this would not deter developers from launching even more units in July to capitalize on the momentum, before the arrival of the Hungry Ghost month.
Colliers International expects around 1,300 units to be launched in July, as developers pre-empt the traditionally slow-moving 7th lunar month in August.
In June, most transactions occurred in the suburban regions, while prime locations saw some weakness in sales. No units valued at S$4,000 per square foot or more changed hands last month.
Nicholas Mak, director of Knight Frank, said: “The pick-up is predominantly in mid-tier mass market, because the buyers are owner occupiers. Residents in HDB estates around private condos for sale are forming the backbone of the demand.”
Tay Huey Ying, director for research and advisory at Colliers International, said: “In the current uncertain economic climate, developers are going to continue to delay launches of higher-end projects and likely to focus on mass-market tiers.”
With the suburban market being a price-sensitive one, analysts see developers continuing to employ pricing strategies.
Knight Frank’s Nicholas Mak said: “Developers must price their products quite attractively to generate sales. Any increase in prices, especially a sharp increase, will chase away buyers.”
Prices may be seen softening, but analysts say there will not be a free-fall as underlying demand will put a cap on how far prices may dip.
Source: Channelnewsasia