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In late 2022, URA announced a new policy: Harmonisation of Floor Area Definition. Why I am bringing this up now is because the first condo launches under this policy has arrived in the market and we can see how the size and pricing matched up. What is this policy about?
Impact of GFA Harmonisation
You can refer to the official URA announcement here - www.ura.gov.sg/Corporate/Guidelines/Circulars/dc22-09
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What is the most precious thing in Singapore, besides fresh tap water, is certainly the very land we stand on, due to the country’s tiny size. Owning a unit of landed property is equivalent to owning a piece of this precious land. Although there are landed housing in many areas, there are areas with higher density of landed homes namely districts 19, 15, 16, 10, 11 and 21. In terms of pricing, an average budget of $3.5mil is necessary for a terrace, this average price can go up to $5mil for a terrace in a premium area of District 10 and 11 (Holland/Bukit Timah/Watten). Another level up will be the semi-detached houses, with average pricing starting from $5mil in District 19 and 20 to the range of $8 to 9 mil in the premium areas of District 10 and 11. At this pricing, you can buy a detached house in District 19 and 20. The bungalows or detached houses in district 10 and 11 starts from $15mil. Here are the approximate average prices in some higher landed density areas. Depending on the specific condition of the houses, the prices can be much higher.
Data derived from the Huttons Landed Division research and transacted data. It is possible to get a lower price house from $3.5mil in further areas such as district 13, 16, 23, 26 and 28. As for detached houses, the minimum budget required is about $8mil in the affordable zones and at least $12mil up for more premium areas. Generally, the per square feet price in popular districts have cross $2000psf with many at the $3000psf range. However, because each and every landed house is unique in its location, facing and design; pricing determination is really one of the most challenging aspects for buyers and sellers. This is where a proficient landed sales team comes in to evaluate and advise together with valuers and bankers. I cannot write about houses in Singapore without mentioning the “Kings” of landed housing --- the glorious Good Class Bungalows (GCBs) which must have a land size of 1400 sqm (15070sqft) and a built-up bungalow of 400sq m (4306 sqft), they must also have a certain width and depth. Most important of all, there are only 29 gazetted areas in Singapore that have such Bungalows. In Mar 2024, Business Times reported that 23 GCBs were sold in 2023, and the average psf is $2417. GCBs are in a league of their own, with a minimum entry price around $24mil, and the highest price GCB sold to date is No. 33 Nassim Road for $230mil, a yet to be beaten record set in 2019. The high quantum was due to its massive 84000+ sqft size. Exclusivity is the key word here, with the total number of GCBs said to be only around 2700 units. Due to privacy issues, the actual address of houses for sale are not displayed in listings, this is highly inconvenient to many buyers looking for a landed home. Sometimes, it takes only a drive around the specific street and a look at the exterior of the house to know if you like to explore the house further. Do feel free to contact me for an availability search in our Huttons Landed Division database for your ideal home. Our Huttons Landed Division have a deep focus on landed housing, and we will be able to provide valuable insights to ease your navigation in buying or selling your landed property. For landed house sellers, we offer a full range of marketing services to ensure your house is marketed properly to reach the right buyers. Whether you prefer a full fledge marketing effort or a discreet sale process, feel free to contact me for a discussion on a suitable plan. Another round of side-by-side comparison is available with the launch of The Atelier at the district 9 Newton area. Kopar, the 99-year leasehold development launched in late 2020 has been selling well being near the Newton MRT and within 1km to popular schools in the neighbourhood. Now, The Atelier which is a freehold development by Bukit Sembawang Estates will now open its door for preview and accepting booking in mid-March 2021. Here is a quick comparison table between the two projects.  Update in Apr 2022: One year on, Kopar has since sold 76% of its 378 units while Atelier only sold 11% of its 120 units. Although not everything could be price driven, the pricing gap between the two projects is a key factor in the take-up rates. Currently a one bedroom in Kopar is only priced at $1.359mil while Atelier's one bedroom is priced at $1.45mil+. Although one can argue that Atelier's one bedroom is slightly bigger at 549sqft vs Kopar's 517sqft, the difference is not that great. The affordability issue becomes greater when the 2 bedrooms are compared. Atelier's two bedroom of 872sqft starts from about $2.27 mil while Kopar's smaller two bedroom 614sqft starts from $1.663mil. Should a buyer choose size over price quantum? That is for the individual to decide. However the sales figure of the projects perhaps already point to a certain market preference. The conclusion I am trying to make here is that it is not always true that freehold projects will do better in terms of capital appreciation. Most buyers that come to me have a definite idea of what they prefer, especially those with parents or older relatives that have experience purchasing private properties. However for those who are genuinely torn between the two tenures, let's look at some real life comparison and statistics. Firstly, in land-scarce Singapore, freehold properties are less commonly found and tend to be found only in certain districts. The government as the ultimate land owner, simply does not release new land on a freehold basis anymore. Any new freehold residential development has to come about from an enbloc sale of an existing building. Does this scarcity leads to a freehold property being of higher value? Clearly not, because in most cases the location of a property weigh heavily in the price determination. For e.g a leasehold condominium such as the Marina One Residences in district 1 CBD area is currently transacting at between $2200 to $2600 psf versus a freehold property such as Pavilion 11 at Balestier area, currently transacting at between $1400 to $1600 psf. The question should then be rephrased as whether a leasehold or freehold property is better in sustaining value should two properties of different tenure fall into close proximity of each other. One example that I like to give is Southhaven 1 versus Southhaven 2 in the Upper Bukit Timah area. Southhaven 1 which is a 99-year leasehold was completed earlier in 1997 before Southhaven 2, a 999-year tenure sibling which came about two years later. Although a 999-year tenure is technically not freehold, but the length of the tenure is long enough to differentiate it from a 99-year leasehold project, and because both properties are just right next to each other, it served well for a comparison whether the land tenure affects resale prices and rent values.  From the table, it shows that the 999-year Southhaven 2's minimum rent and maximum rent are all lower then the 99-year leasehold Southhaven 1 which is shocking considering the fact that the buyers of the newer Southhaven 2 would have paid more for their unit versus Southhaven 1's buyers. One possible cause could be that Southhaven 2's larger size of 293 units has more competition for tenants, over Southhaven 1's 157 units. Another reason could be due to Southhaven 2's facing of the main road, making it less attractive for tenants who prefer a quiet environment. Here, it is very clear that the tenure of the property has no bearing on rental rates because whether a property has longer tenure or not does not matter to tenants. Next, let's look at the sale prices over the years between the two developments. The blue line is the 99-year leasehold Southhaven 1 and the orange line is the 999-year Southhaven 2.  Two points can be observed from the chart:
1) Both price lines moved in similar patterns, trending upwards and downwards at similar points in response to market conditions. 2) Since the longer tenure Southhaven 2 started off with a higher price, its price line trend higher consistently, however in certain years, it had dipped to the leasehold Southhaven 1's level. In this case, we can see that the tenure of a property does not necessary seems to make much difference to the capital gain, otherwise one of the price line would have been upwardly steeper. Thanks for reading.  The Bukit Timah collection made up of Juniper Hill, RoyalGreen and Fourth Avenue Residences is a carefully curated collection representing the best of District 10 living in the heart of Bukit Timah. Juniper Hill located at 39 Ewe Boon Road, this exclusive 115 units development is nestled on higher ground within the lower Bukit-Timah enclave. Within this freehold development, beautiful landscaped gardens across various levels create an elegant living experience immersed in nature. It is within 1 km distance to the popular Singapore Chinese Girls' School, Raffles Girls's School, Anglo-Chinese Primary (Barker Road) and St. Joseph's Institution. Just a short distance away is the Stevens Road and Newton MRT stations. These two stations will offer quick access to the CBD areas. Orchard road is a quick 5 minutes drive away. In partnership with Shangri-la Hotel, there will be concierge services to take care of the resident's everyday needs. Daily fresh bakes from the 5-star Hotel will be delivered to the condominium. Juniper Hill is the place to live in to enjoy the exclusive luxury of all that it offers.
Contact me at 9117 8727 for more information or to view the show galleries of this collection.
In the most recent national day rally, prime minister Lee has once again mentioned the development of Singapore's greater southern waterfront.
Spanning a large area from Pasir Panjang, Labrador all the way to Marina South, this large coastal area represents an opportunity to create a waterfront city that integrates the downtown with housing and businesses together cementing Singapore's reputation as a world class city for people to live, work and play. Having personally lived in this area, I can testified that it is already a pleasantly quiet yet convenient district. With a large green natural corridor starting from Kent Ridge park, towards Telok Blangah and Mount Faber, there is more then ample space to exercise, relax and enjoy nature. A mere short drive of 10 minutes will take you to Vivocity, the largest mall in Singapore which connects to the leisure island of Sentosa. Driving slightly further will bring you to the Cantonment and Tanjong Pagar area, the central business district (CBD) of Singapore. By moving the existing port operations to Tuas, the area will be further transform beautifully beyond our imagination. Take advantage of the current properties available now while the greater southern waterfront area is taking shape. Here, I will like to introduce to you Kent Ridge Residences, which is a low rise development with 1 to 4 bedrooms and strata landed houses launched just a while ago nestled at the foot of Kent Ridge Hill. Click here for more information or contact me at 9117 8727 directly. In Jan 2019, the Straits Times reported that a total of 71 flats were sold for $1 million or more for the year of 2018. The majority of these flats were non-standard types such as The Peak in Toa Payoh, Pinnacle@Duxton or the rare terrace houses at Jalan Bahagia or Stirling Road.
A record was also made in May 2019, when a standard 5 room flat at Boon Tiong Road (Tiong Bahru) was sold for $1.2 million. Another area at the city fringe - City View@BoonKeng has also flats transacted above the $1 million mark. To understand the amount of potential profit some of these owners are making, we have to understand a brand new 5 room flat can be purchased from the government at about $300k and for older resale flats, the average price is about $600 to $700k. The conclusion that one must gather from these transactions is that a property at a prime location will garner good value eventually. Note the additional stamp duty is payable on top of the regular stamp duty.
The additional stamp duty is dependent on the number of property a buyer is holding. In a joint purchase scenario, the duty payable is always based on the higher level among all the buyers example Joint buyer A does not owns any property at the time of purchase but Joint buyer B owns one property. Hence the new property that they are buying jointly together will be tax on the second property level. Here are the rates: For Singapore Citizens - first property purchase: no additional stamp duty - second property purchase: 12% additional stamp duty - third property or more purchase: 15% additional stamp duty For Singapore PR holders - first property purchase: 5% additional stamp duty - second property purchase: 15% additional stamp duty - third property purchase: 15% additional stamp duty For Foreigners/Entities: - all property purchase: 20% additional stamp duty (exceptions apply to the citizens and PR holders of iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and U.S.A. More questions on buyer's stamp duty? Contact me at 9117 8727 District 3
District 5
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 14
District 15
District 18
District 19
District 21
District 23
District 26
Disclaimer: Although I have strived to present accurate data here, the number of units and names of the projects are tentative and may change. These projects are slated for launch in 2019 with unspecified dates and maybe delayed at the decision of the respective developers. That is the question I get a lot as a real estate agent. And the straight, clear answer is - buy that property when you really like it, when it fits your criteria and is so unbelievably within your budget. Now, within the budget can mean a little on the plus side, because you really dont want to miss that ideal property that is just slightly above what you have budgeted for. A property is not a shirt, a bag or even a car. There is only one of each kind, even within the same block, the levels are different and the condition of the place is different. I think you should know what I mean. However, if you are reading this and you are saying, "No that's not what I mean, I mean is this a good economic environment to buy into?", then I will understand that you are not an urgent buyer, you can take your time which is good. Do extensive homework on all the locations you are keen on, speak to a banker and get all in-principle loan approval done and view as many places as you can, so that when you see THE one, you know that is the one you got to buy. I think most people knows that Singapore is a small country, land is scarce, good property are limited too. Sometimes the prices will seems high because demand outstrips supply for that quarter or year. However the fact is, the Singapore government keeps an eye on the property market closely, and adjust the supply by way of land sales or roll out new policy to regulate demand. What I am saying is, if you keep a long term view of the real estate market in Singapore, the outlook is positive because of the unique conditions of this country. In any case, there should always be a long term view of real estate, a minimum of 5 to 10 years or even longer. Afterall, it is not a shirt, a bag or a car, it doesnt goes out of fashion in blink of an eye. |
