The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has launched a residential site at Tampines Avenue 1/Avenue 10 for sale by public tender.

The land parcel is the fourth residential site to be launched for sale under the confirmed list of the Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme for the first half of this year.

With a site area of about 3.2 hectares, the site will have a maximum permissible gross floor area of more than 66,000 square metres, and can potentially yield about 600 housing units.

In line with the announced GLS Programme for the first half of 2010, the government will continue to release residential sites for sale on the confirmed list every month, over the next three months till April.

The government also said that it will continue to monitor the property market closely.

If necessary, more land supply can be injected through the GLS Programme for the second half of 2010 to ensure that property prices are in line with economic fundamentals.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 2 Feb 2010

The government will release five residential sites for sale by public tender between this month and April under the Government Land Sales (GLS) programme for the first half of the year.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said that apart from the five confirmed residential sites, another 18 residential sites are on the reserve list.

It added that the land from the confirmed and reserve lists are expected to supply a total of 10,550 housing units, the highest in the history of the programme.

URA said the government has more sites in the pipeline to cater for any surge in demand for private housing and to keep private property prices in line.

The latest to be put up for tender is a 3.2-hectare residential site at the junction of Tampines Avenue 1 and Avenue 10.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 2 Feb 2010

SINGAPORE: Singapore billionaire property tycoon Ng Teng Fong has died.

Family friends have confirmed that the 81-year-old tycoon died on Tuesday.

Mr Ng and his family owns Singapore property developer Far East Organization and Hong Kong’s Sino Group.

He was ranked Singapore’s richest man in 2009 by Forbes magazine. His family net worth was estimated at US$8 billion in 2009, according to Forbes.

Mr Ng was said to have made his fortune on the property market, and owned at least a quarter of Singapore’s housing market.

Far East Organisation developed more than 700 hotels, malls and condominiums in Singapore and Hong Kong, and owns Singapore’s Fullerton Hotel.

Mr Ng was also one of Hong Kong’s largest real estate developers. He was known for his frugal lifestyle, and till his death, still lived in his home of 30 years, off Dunearn Road.

Mr Ng had six children. His older son, Robert, and younger son, Philip, are in charge of the Hong Kong and Singapore businesses, respectively.

- CNA/sc

Dear Bro/Sis,

URGENT APPEAL: HAITI EARTHQUAKE RELIEF DONATION

My HSR is organizing an URGENT donation drive to support humanitarian relief efforts for the dying victims in Haiti.

Please pass your donations to Mr Lau Hoong Yip, Manager, Corporate Social Mission, HP: 9071 7887, Email:lau.hoongyip@hsr.com.sg. A receipt will be given to you. All proceeds (100%) will be donated to World Vision.

World Vision is a non-profit humanitarian organization. It has an office in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. It has been in Haiti for 30 years, with more than 800 staff on the ground.

Your cash donation will help to meet the immediate urgent needs of the earthquake victims.

Background Information. On January 12, 2010, an earthquake with magnitude 7.0 hit Haiti, one of the poorest nations in the world. It has caused tragic deaths, suffering and losses. There are more than 100,000 deaths with thousands injured, sick and dying.

To make matters worst, communication and transportation systems have almost shut down. Even the airport has been severely damaged, making relief effort ever harder.

Appeal. I am calling all my brothers and sisters in My HSR Warm, Dynamic and Caring Family to donate whatever money possible to support the relief effort. Haiti needs our help and the poor victims need our help now.

Please call Hoong Yip @ 9071 7887 NOW and make a generous donation. Our Creator will bless your good heart and return to you much more than you can imagine.

Together With You,

Crying For Haiti

patrick liew

Your HSR Chief Servant

P/S: Please do not delay. Call Hoong Yip @ 9071 7887 NOW. Donate your cash by today! Go4It!

Regards,

Lau Hoong Yip

Manager, Corporate Social Mission

HSR Property Group

3 Lorong 6 Toa Payoh HSR Building

Singapore 319378

Tel : 6559 8884

Fax: 6559 8889

Hp : 91596471

HSR is the most awarded real estate company. It won ‘The #1 Real Estate Company’ Award (MLMIA) and ‘The Largest Real Estate Agency’ Award (SBOR). HSR is the 1st and only mega real estate company to win the Asia Brand Leadership Award, National Infocomm Award, Infocomm Singapore Award, ISO 9001:2000 and Professional Enterprise Certifications, and Golden Brand Award. HSR also won the Enterprise 50 Award and the Superbrand Award. It is the fastest growing real estate company (FG 50 Award) and ranked as Number 1 in Productivity (in terms of ROE, Singapore 1000/SME 500). HSR also won the Entrepreneur of The Year Award for social contribution and the Asia Responsible Entrepreneurship Award.

February 1, 2010

Love Note From Your HSR Chief Servant

Dear Bro/Sis,

The Best Way For Me To Live My Life Is To Live My Life For Others

Guess where I spent the first hour of my birthday this year? The Accident & Emergency Unit of a hospital.

The day before I had slammed a door on my finger. When I could not withstand the pain any longer, my neighborhood doctor had recommended me to go to the hospital.

In the wee hour of the morning, I listened to the siren (more like wailing) of the ambulance and watched nurses running around me. There were many sickly patients, some of whom seemed to have given up on life.

It was a depressing scene.

As I sat alone, I started to receive birthday greetings through SMSes.

It was very uplifting to read the kind messages. They brought me joy and excitement despite the gloomy environment.

I also spent a lot of time to think over my birthday wish.

When I was younger, I had wished for many things for ‘I, me and myself.’ I wished for a better life and a brighter future.

Currently, my wishes are only for my friends, especially members of My HSR Family.

I wish for you to have a better life and that you will continue to teach me. Together, we will enjoy a happy, meaningful and fulfilling journey in life.

I always quote these words when I need to make a toast, “May my friends live as long as they want and may I live one day shorter. What’s life without friends.”

Together With You

Being Friends Forever

patrick liew

Your HSR Chief Servant

His agent www.marktan.com

LISTED office trust K-Reit Asia has made its first overseas purchase with the acquisition of a 50 per cent stake in a building in Brisbane.

K-Reit Asia paid A$166 million (S$210.4 million) for the stake in the Grade A commercial development, located in the city’s Central Business District at 275 George Street. The price paid was the same as the appraised value.

The co-owner of the property is the Charter Hall’s Core Plus Office Fund (CPOF). The Charter Hall Group is a property fund management and development company listed on the ASX, with A$3.2 billion of funds under management. It was recently included in the S&P/ASX 200 Index.

The building comprises 40,317 square metres of Grade A commercial office space over 30 levels and 1,431 sq m of quality retail space. Overall, the building is 99.4 per cent leased.

The office tower is 100 per cent leased, with 10-year lease commitments by Australian firms Telstra Corporation and Queensland Gas Company.

Chairman of K-Reit Asia’s manager, Professor Tsui Kai Chong, said: ‘We are pleased to have made our maiden commercial investment outside Singapore… This acquisition marks our first step towards becoming a pan-Asian real estate investment trust (Reit).’

Ms Ng Hsueh Ling, chief executive of K-Reit Asia Management, added: ‘The acquisition of this yield accretive asset will augment K-Riet Asia’s asset size by about 10 per cent, from $2.1 billion to $2.3 billion.’

Source : Straits Times – 1 Feb 2010

The Government has no restrictions on permanent residents when it comes to buying, selling and sub-letting condominium units. But there are rules for landed property and HDB flats.

To buy landed property – bungalow, semi-detached house, terrace house and town house, whether freehold or leasehold – PRs need to apply for a permit from the Singapore Land Authority (SLA). They will be assessed on their economic contributions – qualifications, expertise and investments here.

PRs cannot sell their landed property within three years of buying it. After three years, they may sell it to a Singaporean or another PR, who has to seek SLA’s permission for the purchase. PR owners of landed properties are also not allowed to rent them out under the Residential Property Act. Offenders are liable to a maximum fine of $5,000 or a jail term capped at three years, or both.

PRs are allowed to buy resale HDB flats – but not new flats – without housing and mortgage subsidies.

Resale HDB flats bought without a CPF housing grant and with a bank loan can be sold one year from the date of purchase. To sub-let the whole flat, the PR must have lived in it for three years.

Owners of HDB flats are allowed to sub-let rooms if they own a three-room or bigger flat. There is no minimum occupation period for renting out rooms. Owners have to adhere to the number of tenants allowed by the HDB.

No prior approval from HDB is required for the sub-letting of rooms. But with effect from tomorrow, flat owners who sub-let rooms have to register with the HDB within seven days of doing so.

This applies to all, not just PRs. Those who illegally sub-let entire flats may have their units taken back by the HDB or may have to pay a fine of $1,000 to $21,000.

Source : Sunday Times – 31 Jan 2010

The businesswoman already owned a semi-detached house. Two years ago, she spent $400,000 to buy another property.

Her choice? A four-room HDB resale flat in Sunset Way, for which she paid about $80,000 above valuation.

The 50-year-old, who declined to be named, said it was for her two grown-up children to live in, for them to ‘gain some independence’.

But then, last November, she sold it at a $100,000 profit, which she used to fund another purchase – an executive maisonette.

She claimed she is not speculating in HDB properties.

But there is growing concern that private home owners like her are snapping up such homes – either to flip them for gains or for rental income – driving up prices in the process.

Resale flat prices rose 3.9 per cent in the final three months of last year to hit a new record, taking the full-year jump to 8.2 per cent.

An HDB spokesman said it is unlikely that rising resale prices can be caused by any single factor, such as purchases by private home owners or permanent residents.

Prices are ‘influenced by a myriad of factors such as pace of economic growth and market sentiments’, the spokesman said.

Real estate agents said there is growing interest among private home owners in acquiring an HDB flat.

However, they note that the size of this group may be too small to influence prices greatly.

Private home owners, who can buy only resale flats and without subsidies, can sell the flat if they have lived in it for at least one year.

Those who buy three-room or bigger flats can rent out rooms. But they must live in the flat during the period of the sub-letting, and comply with other rules.

If they have lived in the flat for at least three years, they can rent out the entire unit.

Latest figures show that the median rental for a three-room flat in Ang Mo Kio is $1,450. Units in good locations can fetch yields of up to 8 per cent, said housing agents.

Last Wednesday, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said the HDB would conduct a review to check if any rules are ‘encouraging or allowing’ people to speculate in HDB flats.

It would also step up efforts to ensure people do not get away with abusing the system.

Mr Andrew Tan, a senior division director from Dennis Wee Group, said private home owners eyeing HDB flats include those in their 40s and 50s, and with savings of up to $200,000.

Since other types of private homes are beyond their reach, they look to three-room flats – which may be easier to rent out .

‘As an investment, a flat will not give super-high returns, but it’s a safe bet,’ he said, noting the volatile stock market and low returns from fixed deposits.

ERA agent Richard Sim received more than 10 queries from private home owners in the past year.

‘Most want to buy the flats for investment as they can make money in terms of rental or profit if they sell them. Some do buy them to retire in as well.’

The HDB has warned that those who rent out entire flats without approval and before fulfilling the minimum occupancy period can be punished.

From January 2008 to December last year, 56 owners were fined $1,000 to $21,000. Some even lost their flats.

Whatever their buying motives, Mr Syed Abdullah Alhamid, a senior division director with ERA, said private home owners can push up prices as they are cash-rich.

He said: ‘Some have two private homes and let go of one. With the money, they can pay a high price for the location of the flat they want. They will take you on.’

Source : Sunday Times – 31 Jan 2010

The average waiting time for an HDB rental flat has fallen from 21 months early last year to 13 months today. The number of applicants in the queue for a rental flat, meanwhile, has fallen from 4,550 in February last year to 3,465.

This is largely a result of the stricter eligibility criteria for rental flats which came into force last February, HDB’s deputy director for rental housing Mike Chan told The Sunday Times.

Under the tightened rules, those who previously owned private property, or whose children own private property, are not allowed to apply for a rental flat.

An applicant is also rejected if he has a child who owns an HDB flat with a spare room.

HDB has 42,000 flats under the public rental scheme. Another 7,500 flats will be added over the next three years.

The stricter criteria have helped ’sieve out those who have alternative housing options’ and ensure that these flats go to those who need them most, said Mr Chan.

Other safeguards to prevent abuse of rental flats include a rule that bars those who have sold their HDB flats in the open market from applying for a rental flat from HDB for 30 months after the date of sale. Some sellers, said Mr Chan, make profits from the sale of the flats.

But those facing ‘genuine financial hardship’ and with nowhere to live after selling their flats are given the flexibility they deserve, he said. On average, HDB waives the 30-month debarment requirement ‘for a few cases every month’.
The average waiting time for an HDB rental flat has fallen from 21 months early last year to 13 months today. The number of applicants in the queue for a rental flat, meanwhile, has fallen from 4,550 in February last year to 3,465.

This is largely a result of the stricter eligibility criteria for rental flats which came into force last February, HDB’s deputy director for rental housing Mike Chan told The Sunday Times.

Under the tightened rules, those who previously owned private property, or whose children own private property, are not allowed to apply for a rental flat.

An applicant is also rejected if he has a child who owns an HDB flat with a spare room.

HDB has 42,000 flats under the public rental scheme. Another 7,500 flats will be added over the next three years.

The stricter criteria have helped ’sieve out those who have alternative housing options’ and ensure that these flats go to those who need them most, said Mr Chan.

Other safeguards to prevent abuse of rental flats include a rule that bars those who have sold their HDB flats in the open market from applying for a rental flat from HDB for 30 months after the date of sale. Some sellers, said Mr Chan, make profits from the sale of the flats.

But those facing ‘genuine financial hardship’ and with nowhere to live after selling their flats are given the flexibility they deserve, he said. On average, HDB waives the 30-month debarment requirement ‘for a few cases every month’.

But those in the rental queue who do not have the option of staying temporarily with their relatives or friends may be given ‘interim rental housing’ on a case-by-case basis. Under the scheme, they can rent a room at below market rates.

Various help schemes are also available for HDB lessees who run into financial difficulties. Short-term measures such as a reduced repayment scheme are in place.

If these are not enough, lessees are advised to seek longer-term and more sustainable solutions.

Source : Sunday Times – 31 Jan 2010
But those in the rental queue who do not have the option of staying temporarily with their relatives or friends may be given ‘interim rental housing’ on a case-by-case basis. Under the scheme, they can rent a room at below market rates.

Various help schemes are also available for HDB lessees who run into financial difficulties. Short-term measures such as a reduced repayment scheme are in place.

If these are not enough, lessees are advised to seek longer-term and more sustainable solutions.

Source : Sunday Times – 31 Jan 2010

When Mr Peter Breitkreutz decided to buy a Housing Board resale flat in July last year, living close to other Australians was hardly uppermost in his mind.

A permanent resident since 2008, all the Brisbane native wanted was a five-room unit on a mid to high floor, lift access on each floor and a flat that was not too old.

‘We were very open to many areas, except the west because we weren’t too familiar with places like Jurong,’ said the 43-year-old who works in the financial industry.

He and his wife, who is from China, viewed properties in Woodlands, Ang Mo Kio and Pasir Ris before settling for one in Sengkang.

The flat was close to a pre-school in Yio Chu Kang that they could enrol their two-year-old son in.

It was also a five-minute drive to his office in Ang Mo Kio, until he took up a new job in the city recently.

The flat’s valuation was $400,000 but, after negotiations with the seller, the couple knocked back the price to $375,000.

The factors influencing their purchasing decision are not unique, said property agents.

They, as well as other PRs from countries like India, China and Indonesia, confirm that similar considerations are at play behind their resale-flat transactions.

The issue of PRs and resale flats was in the spotlight last week. Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said at a dialogue that the Government did not want to see new citizens congregate and would disperse them across HDB estates.

The HDB also disclosed that it was considering introducing a separate ethnic quota for PRs to prevent enclaves from forming in housing estates.

The latest statistics show there are 533,200 PRs. They own around 5 per cent of the nearly 900,000 HDB flats islandwide.

According to property agents, PRs pick a resale flat primarily based on what they can afford.

They also hope for the flat to be close to their workplace, transport options like an MRT station or bus interchange, and facilities such as schools and supermarkets.

Being near others of the same nationality is not a major pull factor, said agents, though certain locations may see a higher concentration of PRs from a specific country, compared with other districts.

PRs from Myanmar, for example, like Jurong West because they work in shipyards, offices and factories in the area.

PropNex agent Abdul Hamid has seen many Indian PRs going for flats near Lorong Ah Soo ‘as there’s an international school for Indians there’.

Proximity to places of worship sometimes matters, with some Indian PRs plumping for units in Race Course Road or Farrer Park, to access temples in Little India.

Filipinos choose areas such as Jurong West, Simei and Bukit Panjang for the relatively cheaper prices.

But PRs from Malaysia and China are scattered islandwide.

ERA agent Joyce Lim said her PR clients ‘don’t really say they want to stay near friends’. It is mainly pricing that influences where they buy, she added.

Deals involving PRs – usually young couples or those with kids – make up 20 to 30 per cent of property agents’ monthly transactions.

They note that PRs with higher incomes pick newer estates like Punggol or Sengkang and those closer to town like Queenstown.

In such areas, they may pay up to $350,000 for a three-room flat and $500,000 for a four-room one.

The less well-off opt for more mature neighbourhoods such as Bukit Batok where a three-room flat may cost $300,000, and a four-room type up to $430,000.

But while certain areas may be preferred, agents said they do not know any specific block that has a high concentration of PRs in general, or those from a specific country.

The fact is that PRs and Singaporeans are subject to the same quotas under the Ethnic Integration Policy, introduced in 1989.

Proportions for the main ethnic groups – Chinese, Malays, and Indians/Others – in each block, and each precinct of around 10 to 12 blocks, are subject to quotas.

Sale of a flat to a buyer from an ethnic group that has reached the block or precinct limit is not allowed.

The aim is to maintain a healthy racial mix in estates.

Dennis Wee Group agent Ivy Eyu said a Chinese customer of hers was unable to buy a five-room flat in Queenstown because the quota had been reached.

PRs from Japan, Myanmar, Europe and Africa fall under the Indians/Others category.

And given the influx of immigrants in recent years, agents like ERA’s Ms Angeline Lim said they have run into a roadblock when representing Indians.

They have been unable to close deals if the quota for a block or precinct has been reached.

Which is why ERA’s senior division director Syed Abdullah Alhamid said: ‘Looking into the policy now is a plus point, but I think it’s also time to up the quota for the Indians/Others group.’

His firm’s marketing director Tan Yam Seng agreed, saying: ‘If the Government wants to do anything about it, they should adjust it to reflect the current ratio of the market population.’

Source : Sunday Times – 31 Jan 2010