Singapore Property Weekly Issue 233

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CONTENTS

p2 4 Tips to Help You Pick the Best Unit in

Any Property Project

p7 Singapore Property News This Week

p10 Resale Property Transactions

(October 21 - October 27 )

Welcome to the 233th edition of the Singapore Property Weekly.

Hope you like it!

Mr. Propwise

FROM THE

EDITOR

mailto:[email protected]

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 233

Page | 2Back to Contents

By Property Soul (guest contributor) Do you like visiting showflats of new launch

projects? Was that once your favorite

weekend activity before you bought your

present home? Me too. Except that I didn't

stop doing so even after I bought five

properties.

Have you chosen a good unit?

In fact, I have visited well over a hundred

showflats since year 2000. Now I can step

into any sales gallery, flip the sales brochure

for five minutes, and point out from the

project model which blocks and units are the

best ones. The marketing agents serving me

are often surprised how I manage to do so in

such a short time.

4 Tips to Help You Pick the Best Unit in Any Property Project

http://propertysoul.com/





And let me share with you a little-known fact:

Units that are priced higher, or blocks that

are selling fast, are not necessarily the

best blocks or units in a development.

Why? Because most buyers decide on their

choice based on the recommendations of

their property agents. Many are excited first-

time buyers or upgraders who are

inexperienced. Most are amateurs who can’t

tell the difference between a good and a bad

unit.

This post is for the other type of buyer who

cares about buying a good condo or HDB unit

for his or her own stay, or who is serious

about investing in a good quality private

property.

Why you can’t rely on your property agent

Property buyers often spend their hard-

earned money to buy a property without

knowing the problems of the unit they bought.

Unfortunately, it is not in the interest of the

developers, marketing agents or property

agents to share tips with buyers on how to

pick a good unit. Their job is to move as many

unsold units in the project as they can.

That is the reason why property agents will

tell you that west sun is good for drying

clothes, and expatriate tenants from western

countries enjoy watching the sunset. That

having no laundry area to dry clothes is a new

trend because modern families tend to use a

washer-dryer or go for laundry service. That

having a living room that is too cramped to

place a dining table is fine because couples

prefer to have dinner on two bar stools in

front of a bar top table or on the sofa to eat

and watch TV at the same time…

Here are four tips to help you pick the best

unit in any project you are interested in.



Tip #1: Visit the actual site, not the sales

gallery

In the past, showflats were open houses in a

completed project and sales galleries were

built on the actual site. Nowadays it is

common to see the actual site and the sales

gallery at different locations.

Misunderstandings arise because:

1. The location of the sales gallery is

accessible, but the actual site may not be.

2. The advertisement says it is just next to or

a few minutes away from the MRT station.

But it doesn’t specify whether it is a few

minutes’ walk, run or drive.

3. It highlights the proximity to two or three

train stations. But the actual site may not be

near any one of them.

4. The sales gallery is surrounded by lush

greenery, open space and a nice view. But

blocks in the actual site may see HDB blocks,

another development or a place of worship.

Tip #2: Ask what they don’t tell, not what

they want you to know

If you have done your homework before

stepping into a sales gallery, the things that

the property agent tells you in the first ten to

fifteen minutes you should already know.

A property investor once shared with me two

principles to stick to in a sales gallery:

1. Pay a deaf ear to whatever the

salesperson is telling you, like the skill you

mastered after years of living with a nagging

spouse.

2. Focus on things the salesperson doesn’t

tell you. Show your utmost curiosity by asking

questions like a three-year-old.



If you are an experienced property buyer, you

should immediately tell what they forgot to

show in the showflat, like a bad view from the

window, or that obstructing pillar in the unit.

Tip #3: Study the sitemap, not the project

model

The project model, just like the showflats, are

often not built to scale. It is an artist’s

impression for your reference only: buildings

blocking the panoramic view are not found

there. The open sea view can only be seen

from super high floors. Two blocks too near to

each other are removed to make the

development look more spacious.

Learn how to read directions and where the

sunlight and wind come from. Know the

impact of all condo facilities that are built near

to your block, including swimming pool, water

features, the barbeque area, tennis court,

carpark entrance and rubbish collection area.

Tip #4: Spend time on the floor plans, not

the showflat units

Wonder why a bare unit or your new unit is

always smaller than what you see in the

showflat and from the floor plan?

Learn how developers calculate floor areas.

Know the difference between strata area and

GFA (Gross Floor Area), construction floor

area versus sellable floor area, and built-in

area versus open-air area.

Understand the pros and cons of different

developments, including walk-up apartments,

mansionette units, shoebox units,

penthouses, cluster housing or townhouses.

Learn how to draw a rectangular block of a

unit and locate the centre which is the heart

of the property.



Identify all the layout problems in the living

room, dining area, kitchen, toilets and

bedrooms.

Learning how to pick the best unit is more an

art than science.

By guest contributor Property Soul, a

successful property investor, blogger, and

author of the No B.S. Guide to Property

Investment.


http://aktive.com.sg/store/no-b-s-guide-to-property-investment/














http://propertymarketinsights.com/


Singapore Property This Week


Residential

Oct HDB resale volume highest this year

According to SRX Property, flash estimates

showed that the number of resale HDB flats

in October increased by 6% to 1,745 units

from 1,504 units in the previous month. This

is the highest recorded volume since the start

of the year. Not only so, resale volumes had

increased by 12.4% year-on-year in 2015.

Eugene Lim from ERA Realty believes that

the Proximity Housing Grant (PHG) and the

increase in income ceiling had contributed to

the spike in transaction volume. Under PHG,

Singaporeans who buy resale flats near their

parents or married children will receive

$20,000. Ong Kah Seng from R’ST Research

added that the increase in resale volume

could have also been because more sellers

and buyers want to conclude their deals

before the year-end, when sales volume

typically decrease.

(Source: Business Times)

Serangoon residential site attracted 11

bids

Despite the property glut, developers’ interest

in residential sites has been strong as 11 bids

were placed in a tender for a 99-year private

residential site at Serangoon. The site

attracted a top bid of $710 psf ppr, outdoing a

nearby site at Bartley which had been sold for

$648 psf ppr in January last year.



Ong Teck Hui from JLL said that the superior

location of the site and its configuration had

led to higher bids. Nicholas Mak from SLP

added that the site had attracted high bids as

developers may wish to replenish their land

banks given the more subdued markets. The

Serangoon site is expected to be developed

into a 12 to 13 storey condo project with more

than 500 units.


Brisk sales at Principal Garden and

Thomson Impressions

Sales have been brisk at the recently

launched Principal Garden and Thomson

Impressions, as about 60% of the units

launched at both sites have been sold.

Principal Garden was marketed at an average

price of above $1,600 psf, while units at

Thomson Impressions were sold at an

average of $1,400 psf. The former

development, which is located next to

Alexandra Park Connector, consists of one to

three-bedroom apartments that range from

484 sq ft to 1,195 sq ft. Three to five-bedroom

apartments with private lifts were also on sale

and those ranged in size from 1,238 sq ft to

2,357 sq ft. Anthony Wong from UOL believe

that the site’s superior location justified its

pricing strategy. On the other hand, Thomson

Impressions, which is a 288- unit condo

development along Lorong Puntong, had

received strong support from buyers looking

for larger units, said the Business Times.




Commercial

Pair of shophouses at Telok Ayer sold for

$18.2 million

Two adjoining shophouses near Telok Ayer

MRT Station have been sold for $18.2 million

or $2,600 psf base on built-up area of about

7,000 sq ft. The shophouses are 3 storeys

high and with an attic. One shophouse sits on

a site with a 199-year leasehold tenure and

the other on a 999-year leasehold site. Since

the introduction of the total debt servicing

ratio, the level of shophouse transactions in

most quarters have hovered at around 20

transactions totalling below $200 million, said

the Business Times. Sammi Lim from CBRE

believes that shophouse prices will continue

to hold steady due to limited stock and strong

investor demand.


http://www.moneymatters.sg/



Non-Landed Residential Resale Property Transactions for the Week of Oct 21 – Oct 27

Postal

DistrictProject Name

Area

(sqft)

Transacted

Price ($)

Price

($ psf)Tenure

1 MARINA BAY RESIDENCES 1,055 3,550,000 3,365 99

3 ALEXIS 398 700,000 1,758 FH

3 RIVER PLACE 1,216 1,690,000 1,389 99

3 THE METROPOLITAN CONDOMINIUM 1,399 1,870,000 1,336 99

3 QUEENS 1,195 1,490,000 1,247 99

3 ENG HOON MANSIONS 1,238 1,330,000 1,074 FH

4 CARIBBEAN AT KEPPEL BAY 1,356 2,170,000 1,600 99



4 THE INTERLACE 1,765 2,280,000 1,292 99

4 MOUNT FABER LODGE 2,454 3,100,000 1,263 FH

7 THE BENCOOLEN 1,001 1,250,000 1,249 99

8 TYRWHITT 139 538 812,000 1,509 FH

8 LOFT @ RANGOON 495 705,000 1,424 FH

9 CAIRNHILL CREST 2,013 3,800,000 1,888 FH

9 VISIONCREST 926 1,730,000 1,869 FH

9 CAIRNHILL CREST 1,733 3,000,000 1,731 FH

9 ELIZABETH TOWER 2,002 3,380,000 1,688 FH

9 WATERFORD RESIDENCE 1,195 1,890,000 1,582 999

9 ONE OXLEY RISE 1,302 2,000,000 1,536 FH

9 RIVIERA POINT 1,345 1,600,000 1,189 FH

10 AVALON 4,542 6,000,000 1,321 FH

10 RIDGEWOOD 1,744 2,120,000 1,216 999

10 MELROSE PARK 3,800 3,800,000 1,000 999

Postal


Area

(sqft)

Transacted

Price ($)

Price

($ psf)Tenure

11 368 THOMSON 689 1,120,000 1,626 FH

11 AMARYLLIS VILLE 1,259 1,830,000 1,453 99

11 PAVILION 11 1,485 2,030,000 1,367 FH

11 THOMSON 800 1,625 1,930,000 1,187 FH

12 RIVERBAY 947 1,250,450 1,320 999

12 TREVISTA 1,281 1,660,000 1,296 99

12 BALESTIER PLAZA 1,367 1,250,000 914 FH

14 MELOSA 431 585,000 1,359 FH

14 VACANZA @ EAST 840 1,048,000 1,248 FH

14 WINDY HEIGHTS 2,476 1,600,000 646 FH

15 THE ESTA 1,410 2,100,000 1,489 FH

15 THE SEAFRONT ON MEYER 1,066 1,560,000 1,464 FH

15 AMBER RESIDENCES 1,163 1,650,000 1,419 FH

15 TANJONG RIA CONDOMINIUM 1,206 1,260,000 1,045 99

15 FERNWOOD TOWERS 2,777 2,700,000 972 FH

15 THE GLACIER 1,410 1,360,000 964 FH

15 VILLA MARINA 2,024 1,600,000 791 99

15 NEPTUNE COURT 1,270 900,000 709 99

16 RIVIERA RESIDENCES 1,216 1,350,000 1,110 FH

18 WATERVIEW 1,184 1,250,000 1,056 99

18 LIVIA 883 838,000 949 99

18 EASTPOINT GREEN 1,173 915,000 780 99

18 MELVILLE PARK 980 715,000 730 99

18 MELVILLE PARK 1,345 950,000 706 99



NOTE: This data only covers non-landed residential resale property

transactions with caveats lodged with the Singapore Land Authority.

Typically, caveats are lodged at least 2-3 weeks after a purchaser

signs an OTP, hence the lagged nature of the data.

Postal


Area

(sqft)

Transacted

Price ($)

Price

($ psf)Tenure

18 TAMPINES COURT 1,701 868,000 510 101

19 A TREASURE TROVE 1,206 1,250,000 1,037 99

19 RIO VISTA 1,249 980,000 785 99

19 THE QUARTZ 1,539 1,088,000 707 99

20 LAKEVIEW ESTATE 1,615 1,300,000 805 99

21 THE NEXUS 947 1,310,000 1,383 FH

21 ENG KONG GREEN 840 880,000 1,048 FH

21 HUME PARK I 1,270 1,160,000 913 FH

22 THE LAKEFRONT RESIDENCES 1,216 1,510,000 1,241 99

22 LAKEPOINT CONDOMINIUM 2,217 1,188,000 536 99

23 PARK NATURA 2,034 2,198,000 1,080 FH

23 DAIRY FARM ESTATE 1,518 1,430,000 942 FH

25 ROSEWOOD 1,023 815,000 797 99

25 ROSEWOOD 1,184 930,000 785 99

26 MEADOWS @ PEIRCE 1,851 2,015,000 1,088 FH

27 CANBERRA RESIDENCES 614 660,000 1,076 99

27 SELETARIS 1,615 1,180,000 731 FH

Singapore Property Weekly Issue 233

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