Strata Titles Board rules in favour of minority owners | |
| Move taken because the correct sale procedures were not followed, says STB | |
| By Fiona Chan & K.C. Vijayan | |
| THE Strata Titles Board (STB) axed the contentious collective sale of Horizon Towers yesterday after months of bitter wrangling between neighbours and lawyers. The surprise move - it is the first such decision in seven years - cheered the condominium's unhappy sellers, who have been complaining about a neighbouring estate fetching a higher price due to the property boom. But it was technicalities, not money or the validity of the minority owners' claim, that finally decided the case. The STB told a room packed with residents, lawyers and onlookers that the sale was stopped because correct procedures were not followed. The decision, after a week-long hearing, was the latest step in a battle watched closely by collective sale parties and property owners elsewhere amid the escalating en-bloc frenzy and rising unhappiness among minority owners forced to sell. Horizon Towers was pledged to be sold to developer Hotel Properties (HPL) and a Middle Eastern fund in January for $500 million. At the time, it was the biggest collective sale in dollar terms. But The Grangeford next door went en bloc a few months later at a far higher asking price per square foot (psf). It was eventually sold on Thursday, just two days ago - for double the Horizon Towers' psf price. The Grangeford asking price prompted unhappy Horizon Towers residents to band together to reverse their sale, in the process inspiring a growing group of minority owners in other condos disgruntled with the record wave of collective sales. Even those who signed the original Horizon sales deal ended up backing the minority owners in their bid to unwind the sale. Some residents cheered the decision. One who declined to be named but had signed the sale deal said: 'It's good we've brought things back to square one. This time around, hopefully, we can get a fairer deal relative to what's going on in the market.' But this may not be the end of the road yet. HPL said in a statement yesterday that it is now 'considering the STB's decision and reserves all its rights', including against the sales committee and the owners who signed the sale agreement. Property watchers called the STB's decision 'significant'. 'On the basis of price, I felt the sale would go through,' said Mr Jeremy Lake, executive director of investment properties at CB Richard Ellis. 'Clearly, people will now look carefully at STB's reasons to ensure that other projects don't repeat them.' Horizon Towers is not the first condo to have its collective sale bid turned down. In 2000, Mandalay Court and Grenville Condominium faced similar rejections, also on technicalities. But in both cases, the majority owners ironed out the glitches and succeeded on the second try. But Horizon Towers may not be so lucky. The deadline for owners to obtain the sale order is next Saturday, and without the order or an extension of the deadline, the deal will be off. While the STB said the rejection was based on technicalities, it did not specify which ones. But sources told The Straits Times that cases of irregularities were presented by the objecting lawyers. These included a notice put up on July 11 last year saying that owners with 80.81 per cent of share values in Horizon Towers had signed the sale agreement. A sale needs 80 per cent consensus. But only 79 per cent had agreed to the sale at that time, lawyers said. |
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Monday, August 6, 2007
No go for Horizon Towers en bloc sale
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Property charge hike not meant to cool collective sale fever: Mah
| Minister says overall impact of higher DC is likely to be minimal | |||
| By Maria Almenoar | |||
Rather, the move is because the 'property market is now booming' and it is 'timely to return' to the position before 1985 when the market went down and a recession ensued, said the minister. Though the move could affect some collective sale developments, Mr Mah said the overall impact is likely to be minimal. In a surprise move last Wednesday, the Government raised the tax it levies on property redevelopment - from 50 per cent to 70 per cent of the rise in land value - similar to what it was in 1985. This DC is payable only if the developer is building a bigger project on the land. Some market observers have said the move has abruptly cooled a sizzling market, especially for collective sales, and shifted market sentiment - although the government agency in charge has said that this was not the intention.
Market watchers spoke of expecting 'a second whammy' on Sept 1 when the Government is expected to announce higher DC rates under its regular six-monthly review of the charges. Analysts said last Wednesday's DC hike had already made some developments more attractive and others less so - depending on how high their DC component was. Most of those affected would be 99-year leasehold properties outside prime areas such as the slew of privatised HUDC estates trying for a collective sale. For these sites, the DC hike could add 6 per cent or more to the land cost, so developers would be inclined to offer less in a collective sale after taking into account the increased expenditure. Mr Mah yesterday described the new DC rates as a 'a sharing of the gains and of the increase in value of the land as a result of the Government's planning approval'. Some of the increase in revenue will be used to provide infrastructure such as roads, rail and power. 'When you increase the plot ratio, when you build more flats, when you build to a higher level, you need to provide the infrastructure,' he said. Mr Mah was speaking to reporters after an event for at-risk youth organised by the north-east mosque cluster in Tampines. He also assured the public that the Government was closely monitoring the property market and the balance between supply and demand. If supply falls short, it will step up its land sales programme. He said: 'My assessment is, over the next two to three years, there will be ample supply coming into the market in various categories...But in the short term, within the one year or so, there may be an imbalance in supply-demand and some pressure on prices.' On rising rental rates, Mr Mah said there had been reports of reasonable prices still being asked in good areas. The high prices, he said, were generally due to people focusing on particular properties. He emphasised there were enough flats available for purchase or rental. Of the roughly 800,000 Housing Board flats, about 600,000 are eligible for rental under HDB rules. Mr Mah said all parties - developers, analysts and the Government alike - need to make information about the market available to the general public. | |||
Horizon Towers minority owners bid to delay hearing fails
The minority owners, who object to the sale, wanted a judicial review of the Board's decision not to postpone a hearing.
They will now have to present their case next week instead of in September as they wanted.
The $500 million deal for the two blocks at Leonie Hill, which was struck on Feb 12, has to be finalised by Aug 11. If the High Court had ruled in favour of the minority owners, the deal would have been effectively scuttled.
The 99-year leasehold property has been pledged to be sold enbloc to HPL, Morgan Stanley Real Estate and the Qatar Investment Authority, the investment arm of the Gulf Arab state of Qatar.
The deal was backed by 84 per cent of the owners. This is above the 80 per cent requirement, but it still needs the approval of the Strata Titles Board. Previously, the Board set the hearing for September, but later moved it forward.
Through lawyers from Tan Kok Quan Partnership and Harry Elias Partnership, the minority owners argued that they needed more time to prepare their objections to the deal.
They therefore sought leave from the High Court for a judicial review of the Board's decision to bring the hearing forward.
But according to court documents filed by the purchasers, the the deal would have been scuttled if the objectors request had been granted.
The purchasers, who were represented by Senior Counsel K Shanmugam, argued that if this happened,the majority owners who consented to the sale would be unwilling to extend the deadline for the en-bloc dealWednesday, July 18, 2007
Woodsville condo site draws 8 bids; top offer at $50.7m
| By Grace Ng | |
| GOOD news for home buyers: More suburban condo units should be coming on stream in Woodsville Close, now that a residential site up for tender there has attracted eight bids. The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) yesterday announced that it had closed the public tender for the 3,870.5 sq m site near Potong Pasir MRT station. If sold, Woodsville Close, which has a 99-year lease and a maximum permissible gross floor area of 116,648 sq ft, will be the first suburban residential site sold by the URA this year. The URA launched the tender for Woodsville on June 19, following the Government's move to release more office and residential sites in order to give developers more options and ease a tightening supply situation. The eight bids from developers for the site ranged from $32.6 million to the top offer of $50.68 million submitted by developer Frasers Centrepoint. Frasers' bid, at $434 per sq foot (psf) per plot ratio, is about 69 per cent above the reserve price of $30 million, which works out to $257 psf per plot ratio. 'This price will translate into a break-even price of about $750 psf to $800 psf for the future apartment project to be built on this site,' said Mr Leonard Tay, director of CBRE Research. The second highest bid of $46.8 million was submitted by Eastpoint Development. Other developers that put in bids include EL Development and Meadows Property. Property consultants pointed to the Woodsville site's convenient location near Potong Pasir MRT station, expressways and schools such as St Andrew's Junior College as a draw for developers looking to target the suburban market. Knight Frank director of research Nicholas Mak estimated that about 90 three-bedroom units may be built on the Woodsville site. He expects the units to be 'sought after by HDB upgraders' from areas such as Sengkang, Upper Serangoon, Potong Pasir and Bishan. Mr Tay noted that recent HDB data showing the average cash over-valuation for resale flats in central areas such as Bishan and Toa Payoh range among the highest islandwide, from $13,900 to $33,600 for the various flat types. 'This would provide greater incentive for HDB households in these nearby estates to make the transition to private property,' he said. URA said in a statement that it will announce the award of the tender 'at a later date'. |
Latest property data: What does it mean for home buyers? | ||
| Big price ranges likely due to exceptional units; median price is the best guide | ||
| By Fiona Chan, Property Reporter | ||
In response to endless reports about soaring prices, the Government has been steadily releasing new data about the property market to inject some transparency and calm. Its biggest move came on Monday when it unveiled a comprehensive record of brand-new homes sold last month - direct from the mouths of property developers. This details the lowest and median prices in every project, in a bid to counter the potentially distorted picture that may result from developers trumpeting only headline-grabbing prices. But what is a potential buyer to do with this deluge of data? How can he use it to figure out how much to pay? The new data reveals, for the first time, the range of prices and the median price fetched by each of 329 projects for last month. It will be updated monthly. What jumps out at first glance is the very broad range of prices at certain developments, such as The Orchard Residences. Here, the cheapest unit last month went for $2,620 per sq ft (psf) - almost half the level of the priciest one, sold at $5,000 psf. Some cynics put this down to heavily discounted units at the lower end. But property experts, noting that these wide price ranges are only in the highest-end projects, offer another view. For most developments, it is common to pay a higher price psf for a higher floor with a better view. Each successive level commands a premium, such that the top-most units are often the most expensive. At high-end developments, the premiums that buyers are willing to pay for higher floors shoot up, because these are usually the choicest units in the development. In certain luxury projects, the price range is widened even further by one or two outlying, special units that go for top dollar. There, the difference in the highest and lowest prices could translate into the difference between an average-sized unit on the 7th floor that faces a dumpster, and a spacious penthouse on the top floor with 360-degree city views and customised fittings. Indeed, for The Orchard Residences, the unit that fetched $5,000 psf was the penthouse on the 54th floor, said developer CapitaLand. 'At the very high end of the market, the buyers want the best units in the best developments,' said Mr Lui Seng Fatt, regional director and head of investments at Jones Lang LaSalle. 'There are only so many penthouses in prime districts, so the premium they command for their space and their height can be quite significant.' So how can an average buyer tell if a project's price range is being widened by just one or two exceptional sales? This is where the median price comes in. By definition, half the units in a project are sold above this level and the other half below it. For most projects, the median price is almost perfectly in between the lowest and highest sale prices. This implies that prices are quite evenly spread within the project. At Ferraria Park in Changi, for instance, 47 units were sold last month at between $546 and $744 psf. The median price was smack in the middle, $650 psf. But at some luxury projects, the median price is actually much closer to the lower end of the range. In other words, many are far more affordable than their headline prices imply. At The Marq on Paterson Hill, the median price was $4,044 psf - much nearer the $3,604 psf lowest price it fetched than the $5,100 psf on the other end. Similarly, the median price for The Orchard Residences was $3,392 psf, a far cry from the top $5,000 psf price. For most buyers, the median price is by far the best measure of a development's pricing structure. It is, roughly, the cost of a unit that 'is halfway up the block in terms of which storey it's on, has a glimpse of the pool instead of a full pool view, and has a bit of afternoon sun', said Mr Nicholas Mak, director of research and consultancy at Knight Frank. 'If the development comes with a range of units, the median price will probably be for a three-bedroom unit.' So a buyer looking for a unit on a higher floor or with a better view should expect to pay more, Mr Mak added. But buyers should also be aware of the limitations of this new data, especially as the market is moving so fast. 'If the data for June comes out in mid-July, but developers raised prices at the beginning of July, then the data will already be outdated when it comes out,' noted Mr Ku Swee Yong, director of marketing and business development at Savills Singapore. | ||
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Watten Estate condo up for collective sale
| By Erica Tay | |
| WATTEN Estate Condominium along Shelford Road is up for collective sale by tender with a price tag of $480 million. If this price - it works out to a ratio of $1,550 per sq ft per plot - is achieved, the deal will become the most valuable done in the Watten area. The freehold Bukit Timah estate is a development of 104 units made up of a block of apartments and four blocks of townhouses. Watten Estate sits on a large piece of elevated prime land of more than 20,400 sq m. It is in a quiet enclave off busy Dunearn Road and less than 1 km from a handful of top schools. The estate is also near the upcoming Botanic Gardens MRT Station. 'Assuming a building efficiency of 90 per cent, the site can be redeveloped into a residential development of about 210 units with an average unit size of 1,300 sq ft,' said DTZ Debenham Tie Leung, which is handling the sale. Mr Shaun Poh, DTZ's director of investment advisory services, said: 'Watten Estate is probably the only large and elevated residential site available for sale in the Shelford Road and Watten Road area.' The tender closes on July 31. |
Friday, July 13, 2007
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Blocks 2 to 11 at Teban Gardens earmarked for SERS
By S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 12 July 
2007 1340 
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SINGAPORE: The government has identified Blocks 2 to 11 at Teban Gardens Road for the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS), bringing the total number of sites identified for SERS to 71.
The blocks at Teban Gardens Road comprise 917 sold flats that are between 30 and 31 years old.
HDB will now build 1,100 units of new 2-, 3-, 4- and 5-room replacement flats to re-house flat owners.
The replacement flats are located near HDB commercial facilities at Block 61 Teban Place.
There is also a market and food centre at Block 37A.
HDB says residents will continue to enjoy the current wide range of shopping, eating and market facilities available in the estate.
Eligible SERS flat owners will be invited to register for their replacement flats in mid-2008.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
$128m en-bloc sale windfall for Hakka clan
| By Lee Chee Keng | |
| WHILE the recent en-bloc property boom is making a million or two each for home owners, one of Singapore's major Hakka clan associations has really hit the jackpot. The Char Yong (Dabu) Association will pocket a cool $128 million from the sale of the 93,300 sq ft Char Yong Gardens condominium in the Cairnhill area. The association - which owned 36 of the 106 units in the condominium sold to CapitaLand recently for $420 million - is now looking at how to best use the windfall. Discussions have started on enriching clan activities, developing its youth wing, providing better care for old or needy members, as well as expanding its charity work. The need for these talks nearly did not arise as some clan members had opposed the sale, despite the support of the 41-strong management council, said association president Lang Chin Ngau, 59. If the dissenters had prevailed, the sale would have failed as the clan's 36 units gave it more than the 20 per cent of votes needed to scrap the deal. The opponents had noted that the flats sat on ancestral land and wanted it to stay that way. They also said a tree planted on the grounds in 1963 by Mr Lee Kuan Yew, now the Minister Mentor, should not be disturbed. The issue was put to a vote in a special general meeting on Aug 27 last year. Of the 209 members who showed up, 168 voted for the sale and 23 opposed it. The other votes were declared void. The Char Yong (Dabu) Association, founded in 1857, now has more than 2,000 members. It bought the land in 1947 to house its office and the Khee Fatt School founded in 1906. But pupil numbers kept dropping and the school was handed over to the Ministry of Education in 1985. The same year, the clan struck a deal with DBS Land and Char Yong Gardens was built in 1991. The clan's 36 units were managed by The Ascott Group as service apartments, earning $4,000 a month each in 1995 - but rents slid to $1,500 in 2005. Talks to sell the property began the next year. Although the deal has now been sealed, the clan's link to the land will not be completely lost Said Mr Lang: 'CapitaLand will give us priority to buy a few units in the development before it is open to the public.' The tree planted by MM Lee will stay at the site or be relocated. The focus now is on how to best use the $128 million, which the clan will get in 11/2 years' time. Its constitution dictates that one-third will go to the association for its operations, activities and charity work. The rest will go to the Char Yong (Dabu) Foundation for educational and cultural work. Every year, the association hands out $250,000 in scholarships to pupils from Qifa Primary and Da Qiao Primary schools, and to members' children. It also donates to charitable and cultural groups. It recently gave $300,000 to the Confucius Institute Fund, making it the largest donor to the fund set up this year to establish a World Chinese Literature Award, and to fund the institute's research projects and other events. Mr Lang said plans to use and invest the money from the sale will be discussed thoroughly at management council and general meetings. The association has three other properties which it rents out. |
Monday, June 18, 2007
Government Keeps Eye On Home Prices
Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan said the housing sector was being closely monitored to ensure there was sufficient supply and if demand went up, new housing sites would be released.
Asking Singaporeans not to panic, he said there was sufficient supply of housing in the next two to four years.
'Don't feel that you have missed the boat because there are quite a lot of boats coming along,' he said.
Home prices shot up by 10 per cent last year and are expected to rise by another 12 per cent this year.
Analysts see the Government's release of 15 new sites for development last Thursday as a move to cool down the market.
The release brings the total number of residential sites on sale in the second half of this year to 41. This is the largest number since 1997.
Asked about the land release, Mr Mah said that since the take-up rate for new buildings had been 'very strong' in the past year, the Government decided to release more development land.
But he also said that it was important that the Government struck a balance, as an oversupply or shortage was undesirable.
'It is very important for us to make sure that the prices do not overshoot or race ahead of the real growth in the economy.
'I think it is not sustainable in the long run and, of course, it is also not good for our competitiveness if prices and rentals go up too fast.'
The minister said there was also no danger that the heat from the private property market would filter down to HDB public housing.
Referring to the record sale prices fetched by two five-room HDB units last week, he said they were exceptional cases because of their good locations and views.
'The broader market is really quite steady. There is an increase but this increase is in line with the increase in the strength of the economy. I'm quite comfortable with the pricing in the broader market at the moment.'
He added that the sheer number and variety of HDB flats up for sale also helped to keep prices stable and there was no need for buyers to feel that they were being priced out of the market.
'If you can't buy an executive flat, buy a five-room. If you can't afford central area, go to the suburbs. If you can't afford Tampines, go to Woodlands or Yishun,' he said.
Asked why most of the residential sites released on Thursday are mostly in the suburbs, such as Bishan and Sembawang, Mr Mah said the central areas were not a worry as collective sales will release new developments in these areas.
While 'it's not the Government's job to add more supply in these areas', he said it was important for the Government to ensure there was sufficient supply of housing in the suburbs.
'I'm not talking about the multimillion-dollar apartments in the central area. I think those people can take care of themselves.'
Ardmore Park condo sold en bloc fetches record price
| By Fiona Chan, Property Reporter | ||
The Ardmore, a 24-unit freehold property off Orchard Road, was bought by high-end developer SC Global for $262 million, some $40 million above the initial asking price. This works out to an eyebrow-raising $2,338 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr), including a $16.6 million development charge. It far surpasses the last record of $1,788 psf ppr set by Char Yong Gardens in Cairnhill last Tuesday. The Ardmore has also become the first condo here to cross the $2,000 psf ppr mark in a collective sale. Other nearby estates making similar attempts include Grangeford Apartments at Leonie Hill and Elizabeth Heights and Trendale Tower in the Cairnhill area. With this sale, each owner of The Ardmore - which has mainly three-bedroom units of 1,991 sq ft in size - stands to get about $11 million on average. No units have been transacted in the past two years, and the single unit that changed hands in 2005 went for $904 psf. The coveted condo was said to have attracted five other bids from big-name property developers in a public tender that closed last Tuesday. All the bids were close, a sign that developers remain bullish on the highest end of the property market despite the recent sharp run up in prices. Home prices rose 4.8 per cent in the first quarter, after rising 10.2 per cent last year. In the same periods, prices in prime districts shot up 7.3 per cent and 25.4 per cent, respectively. The Ardmore sits on the last site with redevelopment potential in Ardmore Park, one of Singapore's choicest residential districts. Most of the nearby condos are either fairly new or already sold for redevelopment. SC Global's winning offer for The Ardmore means it will have to sell units in the new project at more than $3,300 psf, and likely closer to $4,000 psf, said property experts. Mr Lui Seng Fatt, regional and head of investments at Jones Lang LaSalle, believes these prices are 'doable'. 'Ardmore is among the best addresses in Singapore,' he said. 'The price that SC Global is paying for this site is certainly no surprise.' Mr Nicholas Mak, director of research and consultancy at Knight Frank, estimated that the breakeven price for the project could go up to $3,200 psf ppr. He said 45 to 50 new units of about 2,000 sq ft each could be built. The 42,565 sq ft plot can host a new 36-storey development with a total floor area of 119,181 sq ft, SC Global said yesterday. Chairman and chief executive officer Simon Cheong said the group intends to build a high-end luxury condo. 'The Ardmore Park address is well-established in the international community as an upmarket residential enclave,' he said in a statement. This purchase brings SC Global's total bill for collective sales since last year to about $1 billion. Last year, it spent $648 million on Paterson Tower, Hilltops Apartments and some terrace houses in Cairnhill. The Ardmore sale is the latest in a string of record-breaking collective sales and comes a day after the Government said it is keeping an eye on fast-rising home prices. Although Minister of National Development Mah Bow Tan said buyers of 'multimillion-dollar' homes in the central regions 'can take care of themselves', he added that it was important to ensure that 'prices do not overshoot'. Last week, the Government released a slew of new residential sites, mainly in suburban areas, in what is being seen as a move to steady the market. | ||
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Enbloc Blues
| June 16, 2007 |  | |||
| En bloc blues | ||||
| En bloc blues are not a new phenomenon, property players say. But they are being sung louder now simply because they are being played on more channels. | ||||
| By Fiona Chan and Joyce Teo | ||||
But while most of their neighbours are celebrating their windfalls, some 30 owners of the 341-unit estate in Farrer Road are pocketing their bumper payouts with mixed feelings. Among the discontented is Mrs Margaret Ng, a former teacher in her fifties, who bought her apartment more than 20 years ago. 'When you look at it, we made a lot of money,' she said. 'But it's a roof over your head. You can't just look at it in terms of profit.' Her words are being echoed by a small but growing group of home owners whose estates have gone en bloc against their wishes. And even as Singapore goes through the strongest wave of collective sales in history, an unprecedented groundswell of dissatisfaction is rising up around these deals.
This number has nearly doubled for this year even though it is only June. It has already jumped to 122 for only 47 approved sales so far this year. For many of these unhappy en bloc sellers, property experts say, it is all about the money. Even a million-dollar payout may not be enough at the rate property prices are rising in some areas. A comparable replacement home costs more. And $1.5 million doesn't seem right when the guy next door is getting $2 million just a couple of months later. Then there are the cases where sellers do not even recover their original investment on the home, much less become instant millionaires. Mr Bobby Ng and his parents, for instance, reaped $685,000 from their unit at Hong Leong Garden when the estate was sold in March. But the 35-year-old sales manager says the unit cost them $690,000 to begin with. 'If I can get at least $900,000 for my place, then it can be called en bloc,' he said. 'Now, it's not en bloc at all.' Mr Ng also worries that by the time he actually gets the cash in hand - a process that could take up to a year - home prices in this quickly rising market would have soared beyond his reach. Overshadowing all this is his unhappiness about the way in which his parents were badgered into signing up for the collective sale. 'Both my parents are hawkers and don't have much education. The sales committee came down to talk to them when they were working at the busiest time and chased them to sign,' he said. 'We were not even given the full details until after we signed.'
Money no enough ONLY 80 per cent of owners need to agree to an estate's sale if it is aged 10 years or older - down from unanimous consent before 1999, when new rules were put in place to make it easier to go en bloc. This means that, just in terms of numbers, more owners who do not want to sell their homes find they have no choice in the matter. But why don't they want to sell in the first place? Property experts say that in the past, almost all owners were happy to go along with a collective sale. But now, the main reason why they are objecting is because the property market is rising like there is no tomorrow - for the first time in a decade. 'This time round, the market is taking a really steep uptrend, something that's unprecedented in the history of the local property market,' said Mr Steven Ming, director of investment sales at Savills Singapore. Ironically, it is this very same property boom that is driving the current en bloc frenzy in the first place. Since January, developers riding on the property upswing have forked out $7.59 billion for 57 estates, according to the latest figures by CB Richard Ellis. This is only 5 per cent shy of the record $8 billion done in the whole of last year. There are two key reasons why fast-rising prices are becoming a problem for sellers. First, as more estates are snapped up at ever-rising prices, selling your home too early may mean a lower payout, as the owners of Horizon Tower discovered to their chagrin. When they sold their development in January for $500 million, it was the biggest en bloc deal ever, netting most owners $2.3 million each. But barely three months later, Grangeford Apartments next door - with mainly smaller units - went on the market at a price that would yield each unit owner at least $3 million. Feeling shortchanged, a group of Horizon Towers owners tried to back out of their sale agreement, making headlines in the process. 'Deep down, we...believe many owners may now be regretting this en bloc,' they said in a letter to fellow residents. 'We strongly feel that if we sell our units individually, we would achieve prices far better than what this en bloc has fetched us.' The second problem with the property price hikes is that they have made it almost impossible for en bloc sellers to get a replacement home of the same size, in the same location, at the same price. In fact, by the time a new development has replaced their old estate, almost none of the original sellers can afford to buy a unit in it. Owners of Paterson Tower, for instance, received a cool $3.7 million each when the estate was sold last March. But the new project that will replace it, The Marq, is likely to be priced so high that the smallest unit will reportedly cost at least $8.4 million. And recent launches in the Paterson area, such as Paterson Residences, cost at least $3.2 million for apartments that are smaller. This has forced some Paterson Tower owners to move to 'more affordable' areas like Thomson and the East Coast, said Dr Phang Sin Kat of law firm Phang & Co, which brokered the estate's sale. Home owners most likely to be affected by this problem live in developments that are fairly new, say under 15 years old, or with large units that are increasingly harder to find as old projects get torn down, added Mr Karamjit Singh, managing director of Credo Real Estate.
Sense of urgency IN THIS type of market, speed is everything and at a year to completion, the typical en bloc sale seems to plod along at snail's pace. At the ex-HUDC estate Gillman Heights in Alexandra Road, a reserve price for the project was fixed last February. But it took a whole year for the estate to be sold, at some 3 per cent above the reserve price. In that time, home prices in the area had risen by up to 13 per cent for some properties, according to a group of unhappy minority owners who are now objecting to the sale. Even after an estate is sold, it takes eight to 12 months before owners receive the payouts, said Mr Ming. In this time, the market 'can leap by 15 to 20 per cent'. 'The extra dollars they are getting are looking smaller and smaller by the day,' he said. 'That's the main stinging reason owners are unhappy.' Worsening the situation is a sense of urgency among home owners who suspect that the en bloc fever could be cooling. This means that more estates are putting themselves up for sale ad being torn down. With hundreds of units being pulled from the market each month, homes are in short supply in prime areas. This leads to even higher rentals and home prices and further desperation among home owners to sell, sending the market into a upward spiral of sorts. 'It's a double whammy,' said Credo's Mr Singh. 'New projects are not coming onstream as fast as needed to replace the supply.' On the ground, the rush to go en bloc has led to more aggression in bringing about a sale, said Mr Phang. 'In some cases, it has got to the point of harassment,' he said. 'Owners are getting a few calls a day and knocks on their doors even during Chinese New Year, asking them to sell. Of course this makes them unhappy.' With two segments potentially objecting - those finding it hard to find replacement homes and greedy investors holding out for an even higher price - property experts say that more owners are likely to resist the entire collective sale proposition over the next one to two years. 'In view of the increasing sale prices in the primary and secondary market, the number of dissenters would invariably increase,' said Mr Ho Eng Joo, director of investment sales at property firm Colliers International.
More awareness EN BLOC blues are not a new phenomenon, property players say. But they are being sung louder now simply because they are being played on more channels. The discontented, more savvy than ever before, are taking their protests online, to the media, to property experts and even to their MPs. Mr Jeremy Lake, executive director of investment properties at CB Richard Ellis, said: 'The dissenters are just more vocal now and they are getting more media coverage which makes it seem like there are more of them.' More minority owners are also hiring lawyers to protect their interests - despite the sometimes steep legal fees. Dr Phang said he now receives 'twice, three times more inquiries' from owners objecting to an en bloc sale. 'People are more aware of their rights now,' he said. 'They look up the procedures and statutes. Some even create blogs about en blocs.' An extreme example is that of Mr Yeo Loo Keng and his wife, whose $660,000 proceeds from the sale of their Waterfront View home was not enough to top up their CPF accounts. Although developer Frasers Centrepoint offered them a $200,000 settlement, they took their case to the High Court to 'test the legal system' and how it treated minority owners, said Mr Yeo's brother Loo San. They lost the case and now have to foot the legal costs, which could come up to $100,000, he added. But he said there are 'no regrets about the decision' because they learnt valuable lessons. Another way in which the public is making its unhappiness felt is through feedback to the Government. More than 100 people responded to a public consultation on changes to en bloc legislation held by the Ministry of Law in April and last month. A ministry spokesman said: 'The vast majority of the suggestions concerned matters on making the process more fair and transparent.' The proposed changes include the addition of a second requirement for getting majority consent. This means that approval has to come from owners controlling at least 80 per cent of the share values as well as the number of units in their estates. Another change requires the collective sale committee to be formed only at an extraordinary general meeting arranged by the estate's management corporation. Now, such a committee can be formed ad hoc, something that unwilling sellers have complained about. Some of them also want other issues addressed such as the conflict of interests between the management council and the sales committee. Often, the members in both groupings are the same. When that happens, the possibility of intentionally allowing an estate to rot is very high as the sales committee's priority is to sell it rather than to maintain it, said some home owners. It is not known if this issue will be addressed, though the the ministry spokesman said: 'We expect that many useful points will be incorporated into the final amendment Bill. We hope to finalise the changes by August or September.' But what is clear is that the public debate over en bloc issues will continue to rage for a while. And the time it takes the controversy to settle is starting to frustrate once-happy en bloc sellers. Mr Ajay Kumar, 40, got a $2.3 million payout from the sale of his Horizon Towers home. Even though he is not happy that residents of the Grangeford Apartments next door got more for their collective sale, he is hoping the objecting home owners in his estate will come to an agreement soon. 'There's nothing more they can do at this point since the majority of owners have signed the sale agreement,' he said. 'Property prices are rising drastically, and we should just expedite the payments so at least residents don't lose any further.'
Fast winding down HOW, and when, will this madness all end? Property experts say that en bloc fever may actually take a breather soon, within the next year. 'I don't see it as a continuous buying spree,' said Mr Ming of Savills. He explained that developers have already filled up their land banks and may want to launch some of these new projects first before acquiring more sites. This means they may become more choosy about which sites to buy. Another factor that may kick off the cooling-off process are the upcoming changes in en bloc legislation, which will tighten some of the rules in a sale. Marketing agents also say it has become harder to push through a collective sale because owners' expectations have gone up. Mr Ming said: 'The fact that we're on the longest run in history means we may be already close to the end.' | ||||
Monday, March 19, 2007
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Horizon Towers - River Valley
| Zone | : | River Valley |
| District | : | 23 |
| Total Number of Blocks | : | 1 |
| Developer | : | Horizon Towers Pte Ltd |
| Owner | : | N/A |
| Date of Legal Completion | : | N/A |
| Date of TOP | : | 31 Dec 1984 |
| Property Age from TOP | : | 23 Years |
| Tenure | : | 99 Years |
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Mangis Park Enbloc
"Three Joo Chiat plots sold for $14.8m in en bloc deal"
Developer plans five-storey condo on 41,500 sq ft freehold site
THREE plots of land off Joo Chiat Place, at Mangis Road, including Mangis Park, have successfully gone en bloc.
Broker Teakhwa Real Estate announced that Fragrance Land has bought the freehold plots, with a total size of 41,497 square feet, for $14.85 million.
Mangis Park is a four-storey apartment, while the other two plots of land are two blocks of three-storey apartments ...
Neptune Court - Marine Parade Road
Faber Garden - Upp Thomson Angklong Lane
| Zone | : | Bishan |
| District | : | 57 |
| Total Number of Blocks | : | 73 |
| Developer | : | United Overseas Land Ltd |
| Owner | : | N/A |
| Date of Legal Completion | : | N/A |
| Date of TOP | : | 31 Dec 1981 |
| Property Age from TOP | : | 26 Years |
| Tenure | : | Freehold |