Market watchers have welcomed proposed changes to the en bloc sale regulations tabled in Parliament on Monday. They said the move is timely and could help stabilise property prices.

Farrer Court was among 111 estates sold at the peak of the en bloc market in 2007.

This year, there are only four deals so far and analysts expect the market to pick up as developers replenish their land bank.

The four en bloc sales this year are Changi Complex, Diamond Tower, Culford Garden and an industrial plot at Jalan Ampas.

And developers may well benefit from proposed new rules that will speed up the collective sale process, such as reducing the number of Extraordinary General Meetings required.

Christina Sim, director, Investment, Capital Markets, Cushman & Wakefield, said: “The truth is that the gestation for en bloc sales is just far too long usually when you get an en bloc ready for marketing. The market may have moved down to ease up and to shorten the gestation period is a good thing for the developers.”

Smaller developers, currently priced out of the state land market, may also benefit.

Observers also support rules to make it harder to restart an en bloc process after a failed attempt, including a two-year restriction period.

Tan Hong Boon, deputy managing director, Credo Real Estate, said: “This is a safeguard to the owners to minimise interference into their lives for certain projects or owners are too eager to re-initiate the en bloc process right after the failure. With that higher requirement for requisition, I think that ensures that there is sufficient interest from the owners to move ahead within the two-year period.”

The first re-try to convene an Extraordinary General Meeting to reappoint a sale committee will need the backing of at least 50 per cent share value or total number of owners.

For second or subsequent re-tries during the two-year period, 80 per cent will be needed.

Currently, the requisition threshold is set at 20 per cent by share vale or 25 per cent of the total number of owners.

Analysts said the changes may push up potential land supply and curb runaway property prices.

Some market watchers said about 50 developments are currently in the process of preparing for collective sale and they expect about 20 sites, mostly small and medium ones to hit the market by the end of the year.

Some of the potential en bloc sales this year include Neptune Court, Mandarin Gardens and Meyer Place.

The 528-unit Laguna Park at Marine Parade is also expected to convene an EOGM to elect a sale committee on May 2nd.

The deal fell through last year when they could not find a buyer for the property at S$967 million.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 26 Apr 2010

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has launched the first sale site from the upcoming Jurong Lake District.

It launched the sale by public tender after a developer committed to bid at least S$350 million for the land parcel.

The site located at Jurong Gateway Road was made available for sale via the government’s reserve list system since November 2008.

The 99-year-leasehold site has a maximum permissible gross floor area of some 107,000 square metres.

Of that space, at least 30 per cent must be set aside for office use.

The remainder can be utilised as commercial, hotel and or residential space.

The development has a maximum building height of 160 metres above mean sea level and must be completed within eight and a half years.

URA said the land parcel is part of the Jurong Lake District that’s set to be the biggest commercial hub outside the city centre.

It is strategically located next to the Jurong East MRT station in the heart of the Jurong Gateway commercial precinct.

URA added that the site will be an attractive business location outside the Central Business District.

Several government agencies, including the National Development Ministry and its statutory boards, will also relocate their offices to the Jurong Lake District in the near future.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 26 Apr 2010

ONE easy way to make Cash Over Valuation (COV) more transparent for all resale flat buyers and sellers is for the Housing and Development Board (HDB) to provide better statistics. Currently, the only statistic given by HDB is the median COV.

However, any student of statistics would tell you that a median value without a reported range is almost useless.

Perhaps HDB can learn from the three public universities. The universities report their entry Grade Point Average cut-off median score, the 10th percentile, and the 90th percentile. If HDB were to give these statistics as well, the public would be able to make a better decision.

For example, it makes a big difference if the median was $50,000 with a 10th percentile of $0 and a 90th percentile of $100,000 versus the same median with the 10th percentile at $40,000 and the 90th percentile at $60,000.

This data would paint a more complete picture of the COV.

Source : Today – 26 Apr 2010