Significant Property News & Discussions

[teddybear]

Business Times - 03 Apr 2012 LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Time to introduce capital gains tax on property
ALTHOUGH the government has introduced an array of property cooling measures, it should consider a capital gains tax and complement the stamp duty to rein in the property market fever while providing a good source of government revenue.
Stamp duty on property transactions or inheritance tax can be avoided or minimised through setting up a corporate vehicle to buy and hold the property.
Creative tax arbitrage opportunities may exist for individuals to buy and hold properties through special-purpose vehicles (SPVs) to avoid or minimise stamp duties, if the stamp duty rate on residential property transactions is higher than on share transfer transaction of the company holding the properties.
In addition, the SPVs can be set up in an offshore tax haven to further exploit tax advantage between Singapore and these jurisdictions.
Further, tax loopholes can be potentially exploited through avoidance of inheritance tax or estate duty when the property is passed on.
The government should consider implementing a capital gains tax on all property transactions unless they are held for, say, more than 10 years.
It should also impose such a tax on, say, second non-owner-occupied homes, regardless of the holding period.
This would protect genuine long-term investors seeking wealth protection instead of pursuing short-term trading profits at the expense of a healthy property development industry in Singapore, foreigners and locals included.
In addition, the current additional buyer's stamp duty should be revised upwards for high-end property transactions worth more than, say, $5 million.
The UK government recently introduced a slew of changes, including hiking stamp duty on residential property transactions worth more than £pounds;2 million (S$4 million) and imposing a 15 per cent stamp duty on purchases made through companies in its 2012 Budget.
This has been done amid rising property prices driven by foreign purchases, and acts as a stabiliser against declining corporate income tax revenue after legislated reductions in income tax rates.
We can take a leaf out of the UK government's book to simultaneously rein in the property bubble and add to the state's coffers. Hopefully, this would provide sustainable fiscal support to enable the government to hold back GST increases beyond the five years promised.

Ee Teck Siew

Copyright © 2010 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

[teddybear]

Ai yo, another one!
To provide good source of govt revenue, since he likes to compare to UK so much, govt should take a leave out of UK's book and do the following:
1) Increase corporate tax to 40% (just like UK)
2) Increase income tax to 40% (just like UK)
3) Increase GST to 17.5% (just like UK)
4) Impose headcount tax, $1000 per person per year (now still have in UK?) (with 5.5m population means govt can collect $5,500m or $5.5b!)

In Singapore context, to rein in property fever, govt should:
1) Ban all CASH-BACK!
2) Regulate minimum size required for bedrooms! Regulate min size for properties with 1,2,3 bedrooms! Don't let developers build MM units and milk super high $PSFs!
3) 4-years SSD countdown should start from date when buyer pay up 100% (just like resale, you see, resale dead and prices going down, while new launch still going up, means must look at what works to make resale down and sure will be effective on new launch!)
4) Enforce 40% LTV! No 20% deferred payment for 3 years! (just like resale, you see, resale dead and prices going down, while new launch still going up, means must look at what works to make resale down and sure will be effective on new launch!)
5) Time to check why banks can match valuation of new launch and can't match valuation of resale nearby that is >20% cheaper? Banks and developers drink-coffee together is it?

Why he not happy with foreigners? Like that might as well ask govt to send all foreigners and PRs home then he will be happy?

Business Times - 03 Apr 2012 LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Time to introduce capital gains tax on property
ALTHOUGH the government has introduced an array of property cooling measures, it should consider a capital gains tax and complement the stamp duty to rein in the property market fever while providing a good source of government revenue.
Stamp duty on property transactions or inheritance tax can be avoided or minimised through setting up a corporate vehicle to buy and hold the property.
Creative tax arbitrage opportunities may exist for individuals to buy and hold properties through special-purpose vehicles (SPVs) to avoid or minimise stamp duties, if the stamp duty rate on residential property transactions is higher than on share transfer transaction of the company holding the properties.
In addition, the SPVs can be set up in an offshore tax haven to further exploit tax advantage between Singapore and these jurisdictions.
Further, tax loopholes can be potentially exploited through avoidance of inheritance tax or estate duty when the property is passed on.
The government should consider implementing a capital gains tax on all property transactions unless they are held for, say, more than 10 years.
It should also impose such a tax on, say, second non-owner-occupied homes, regardless of the holding period.
This would protect genuine long-term investors seeking wealth protection instead of pursuing short-term trading profits at the expense of a healthy property development industry in Singapore, foreigners and locals included.
In addition, the current additional buyer's stamp duty should be revised upwards for high-end property transactions worth more than, say, $5 million.
The UK government recently introduced a slew of changes, including hiking stamp duty on residential property transactions worth more than £pounds;2 million (S$4 million) and imposing a 15 per cent stamp duty on purchases made through companies in its 2012 Budget.
This has been done amid rising property prices driven by foreign purchases, and acts as a stabiliser against declining corporate income tax revenue after legislated reductions in income tax rates.
We can take a leaf out of the UK government's book to simultaneously rein in the property bubble and add to the state's coffers. Hopefully, this would provide sustainable fiscal support to enable the government to hold back GST increases beyond the five years promised.

Ee Teck Siew

Copyright © 2010 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

[sh]

[teddybear]

Repost below here for my reference:
********************************

Don't even need to use chicken rice, we use real property data:
1) Bedok Residences - $1500 psf! Ops!
2) Valley Park - $14xx psf! Ops!

CCR cheaper than OCR! Ops! Why people not buying CCR? No, it has nothing to do with price in terms of $PSF!
Why? Because BR absolute price cheaper? May be.
Because buyers got no CASH to renovate? May be.
Because buyers got no 40% CASH upfront and buy new launch to get 20% deferred payment and 5% CASH-BACK? May be.
Because the OCR Bedok Residences is new? Nah! This must be one of the most stupid reason! 5 years later become old! and left 94 years lease! Meanwhile, Valley Park is freehold, lease never expire, land price never depreciate!

Part 2

The prices at hawker centre continues to rise, from 4.50 to $8, while restaurant price drops to $18. In the meanwhile, the quantity of chicken rice at the hawker centre gets smaller and smaller while the plate gets larger and larger. And have to queue in the heat for the hawker centre stall some more...

At what point do people realise that there's better value in the restaurant chicken rice?

[price]

Repost below here for my reference:
********************************

Don't even need to use chicken rice, we use real property data:
1) Bedok Residences - $1500 psf! Ops!
2) Valley Park - $14xx psf! Ops!

CCR cheaper than OCR! Ops! Why people not buying CCR? No, it has nothing to do with price in terms of $PSF!
Why? Because BR absolute price cheaper? May be.
Because buyers got no CASH to renovate? May be.
Because buyers got no 40% CASH upfront and buy new launch to get 20% deferred payment and 5% CASH-BACK? May be.
Because the OCR Bedok Residences is new? Nah! This must be one of the most stupid reason! 5 years later become old! and left 94 years lease! Meanwhile, Valley Park is freehold, lease never expire, land price never depreciate!

Haha why u bother analysing people's matter? Everyone got their own reason for paying that sort of PSF for new launches. let them be if you dont wanna join them.

But if you can't beat them, join them!

[teddybear]

Must analyze to see whether they see gold that I didn't or they mis-interpret shit as gold mah.....

Haha why u bother analysing people's matter? Everyone got their own reason for paying that sort of PSF for new launches. let them be if you dont wanna join them.

But if you can't beat them, join them!

[teddybear]

I don't join people blindly! I have to make sure it is gold before I chiong

Must analyze to see whether they see gold that I didn't or they mis-interpret shit as gold mah.....

[august]

bedok residence sold at average price of $1350 psf lah, not all are $1500.

[teddybear]

Below is 1 of the main reason why I would never buy new launch! You never know whether what you get upon TOP is what you think!

either pay up tomorrow or take back!

http://info.sgx.com/webcoranncatth.n...DF?openelement

Further to the announcement dated 27 March 2012, with regards to the Writ of Summons issued by Pearl Properties Pte Ltd, Pearl Properties II Pte Ltd and Pearl Properties V Pte Ltd (collectively “

Pearl Properties”) against Grange Properties Pte Ltd (“Grange Properties”), an associated company of Chip Eng Seng Corporation Ltd in Suit No. 498 of 2011/S commenced in the High Court of Singapore (“the Suit”) in relation to the Development known as Grange Infinite (“Grange Infinite”), the Board of Directors of Chip Eng Seng Corporation Ltd. wishes to make further announcements on this matter.


As announced on 16 March 2012, Grange Properties issued notices pursuant to clause 5.4(a) of the Sale and Purchase Agreements (“SPAs”) on 23 February 2012 for Units #20-03 and #36-01 for Pearl Properties to make payments of S$1,373,872.50 and S$1,934,699.00 respectively inclusive of interest thereon pursuant to Clause 6 of the SPAs, within 21 days, failing which, the SPAs will be treated as annulled and Grange Properties will be entitled to regain possession of the two units and exercise their rights under clause 7.4 of the SPAs. On 1 March 2012, Pearl Properties made an application for an injunction in Summons No. 1008 of 2012/N against Grange Properties.

On 3 April 2012, the application in Summons No. 1008 of 2012/N was heard before the Honourable Justice Lee Seiu Kin. The Honourable Judge dismissed Pearl Properties’ application with costs payable to Grange Properties. Grange Properties is represented by Rodyk & Davidson LLP and the application was argued by Senior Counsel Philip Jeyaretnam, assisted by his team.

Following the Court’s decision, the SPAs for Units #20-03 and #36-01 will be treated as annulled on 6 April 2012, unless the outstanding payments of S$1,373,872.50 and S$1,934,699.00 respectively, inclusive of late payment interest, are paid to Grange Properties or their solicitors by 5 April 2012.

Grange Properties is considering its position in relation to the outstanding amounts for the other units purchased by Pearl Properties in the total sum of S$34,327,494.50. Further announcement(s) will be made by Chip Eng Seng Corporation Ltd in relation to the Suit.

Submitted by Chia Lee Meng Raymond, Group Chief Executive Officer on 4 April 2012 to the SGX.

[teddybear]

Below repost here, thanks to Basic....

曾渊沧博士：郊区与小型公寓价已太高
（2012-04-09）


　　香港城大商学院工商管理硕士课程主任曾渊沧博士提醒新加坡投资者，若买私宅投资，仍以第9、10和11 区为佳，选择郊区或是小型的公寓要三思。这些公寓的价格已经上涨不少，并被开发商包装成“豪宅”。不过，他 认为这些都只能算“假”豪宅。

[ay123]

Below repost here, thanks to Basic....

曾渊沧博士：郊区与小型公寓价已太高
（2012-04-09）


　　香港城大商学院工商管理硕士课程主任曾渊沧博士提醒新加坡投资者，若买私宅投资，仍以第9、10和11 区为佳，选择郊区或是小型的公寓要三思。这些公寓的价格已经上涨不少，并被开发商包装成“豪宅”。不过，他 认为这些都只能算“假”豪宅。

he is the clown who told people to sell all shares on hand in 2008/2009 as he predict DOW will plunge to below 8000pts. think less than 3 mths stock mkt recovered and he disappear. those who listen to him would have jump..........now he's back to talk nonsense again

[teddybear]

Really? Didn't know about that.
I reposted this article here as it is from Prof Cheng, a seemingly knowledgeable person, although I can't say for sure whether he is accurate in his prediction or not.

he is the clown who told people to sell all shares on hand in 2008/2009 as he predict DOW will plunge to below 8000pts. think less than 3 mths stock mkt recovered and he disappear. those who listen to him would have jump..........now he's back to talk nonsense again

[phantom_opera]

I think Prof Cheng vested in D9, D10, D11 ... While he made a point of warning against overzealous SOHO crazy buyers in OCR, a blind recommendation of D9-11 seems too narrow minded too ... Thomson Grand also quite "luxurious" mah ...

[teddybear]

He said:
"选择郊区或是小型的公寓要三思。这些公寓的价格已经上涨不少，并被开发商包装成“豪宅”。不过，他 认为这些都只能算“假”豪宅".

I think Prof Cheng vested in D9, D10, D11 ... While he made a point of warning against overzealous SOHO crazy buyers in OCR, a blind recommendation of D9-11 seems too narrow minded too ... Thomson Grand also quite "luxurious" mah ...

[lufu]

He said:
"选择郊区或是小型的公寓要三思。这些公寓的价格已经上涨不少，并被开发商包装成“豪宅”。不过，他 认为这些都只能算“假”豪宅".

fake as they're building 'luxury' outside prime area. The only appeal to me for this project is 74m pool, the view, private lift/lobby and maybe the clubhouse. Not Prime CCR but selling at very high price. Plus West sun and various others already discussed in Thomson Grand thread

The Luxurie in Seng Kang is another one. Selling Luxury in Seng Kang
this is worse, the finishing is not even luxury to start with. Luxury in an entirely Mass Market HDB estate.. hello!

[teddybear]

30 S'pore buildings in tremor-affected areas inspected

By Fann Sim | Yahoo! Newsroom – 3 hours ago

• Tremors were felt at the CBD, Beach Road, Temasek Boulevard, Selegie, Toa Payoh, Ang Mo Kio, Serangoon North, Punggol, Woodlands, Geylang Bahru, Geylang and Siglap, the Police said. (Yahoo! file photo)

Did I say not to buy properties siting on reclaimed land (from seas (e.g. Marina Bay area, part of CBD), swampy areas (e.g. Loyang) etc)? When Indonesia has earth quake or tsunami, these areas will be felt tremendously!

[hopeful]

30 S'pore buildings in tremor-affected areas inspected

By Fann Sim | Yahoo! Newsroom – 3 hours ago

• Tremors were felt at the CBD, Beach Road, Temasek Boulevard, Selegie, Toa Payoh, Ang Mo Kio, Serangoon North, Punggol, Woodlands, Geylang Bahru, Geylang and Siglap, the Police said. (Yahoo! file photo)

why is the police involved and not some agency like BCA? is it a crime scene?

[price]

why is the police involved and not some agency like BCA? is it a crime scene?

police involved in everything 1 ma. Cat missing also call police

[phantom_opera]

=> Opposite Elias Mall !!! Confirmed selling above 1000psf, perfect reason for Ripple Bay to up price by another 5% ...

A plot of land in Pasir Ris for private homes had attracted nine bidders by the time the tender closed on Wednesday. With the top bid at the higher end of analysts' expectations, there was no sign that developers' enthusiasm for the suburban residential market has waned.

Elitist Development put in the top bid of $165.9 million, or $472 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr).

The next highest bid was 16 per cent lower at $139 million, or $396 psf ppr. Santarli Corporation, an investment holding company with the same shareholders as Santarli Construction, put in the lowest bid of $109 million, or $310 psf ppr, about 34 per cent lower.


Analysts had earlier estimated that prices for the 99-year leasehold plot would be pitched between $360 psf ppr and $470 psf ppr.

[masterkey]

30 S'pore buildings in tremor-affected areas inspected

By Fann Sim | Yahoo! Newsroom – 3 hours ago

• Tremors were felt at the CBD, Beach Road, Temasek Boulevard, Selegie, Toa Payoh, Ang Mo Kio, Serangoon North, Punggol, Woodlands, Geylang Bahru, Geylang and Siglap, the Police said. (Yahoo! file photo)

Did I say not to buy properties siting on reclaimed land (from seas (e.g. Marina Bay area, part of CBD), swampy areas (e.g. Loyang) etc)? When Indonesia has earth quake or tsunami, these areas will be felt tremendously!

The top soil layer, or whatever that is called, may not be significant for the structural soundness of the building as the piles should be driven down into the solid rocky layer. Then again, the good rocky layers are supposed to be found in central and western Singapore. That's why the underground caverns are located in these areas?

[teddybear]

So, can SMRT & SBS release the nationality of the bus drivers who knock down pedestrians, don't know the way etc blunders? I bet these blunders are made by their bus drivers who are basically all non Singapore citizens? If they only employ citizens, such problems won't happen!

Just reflect, 10 years ago, do we ever hear so many blunders made by bus drivers within 1 single month? The answer is obvious!



------------------------------------------Recent public transport-related accidents ‘unacceptable’: NSP

By Kai Fong | Yahoo! Newsroom – 10 hours ago




The National Solidarity Party (NSP) has called the public transport-related accidents in recent weeks “unacceptable”.

In a letter e-mailed to Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew on Friday evening, NSP’s secretary general Hazel Poa requested for accountability from the Ministry of Transport (MOT).

“The recent spate of events involving fatal casualties as a consequence of bus-related accidents concerns us all,” she wrote. “The safety of commuters and passengers has been compromised.”

Two accidents have occurred in the last two weeks – a 9-year-old boy sustained injuries after being hit by an SMRT bus in Woodlands, four days after an SBS bus hit and killed an elderly woman in Sengkang. The 66-year-old was walking across a pedestrian crossing when a bus made a right turn at the junction and knocked her down.

Last December, over 10 passengers on an SBS bus were stranded for about two hours after its driver took a detour to avoid a traffic jam but ended up losing his way.

Said Poa, “Although the public has received a response from both SBS and SMRT following questions about hiring practices and employment quotas, NSP feels that the information that has been made public does not address the root cause of this disturbing trend, nor does it offer solutions that can eliminate it and ensure the safety of commuters.”

NSP also asked for MOT to provide “statistics on on the incidence of public bus-related casualties over the past decade” to confirm if there has been an “unprecedented rise in the occurrence of such accidents”.

“If such a trend has indeed been identified, has the Ministry recognised it and what is the Ministry doing to pinpoint and eliminate the cause of this trend?” Poa questioned.

Poa also raised the party’s doubts on the ministry’s decision to set aside S$1.1 billion to fund a significant expansion of bus capacity under Budget 2012.

“This sudden and drastic increase in the demand for bus drivers will likely result in the engagement of more non-Singaporean bus drivers unaccustomed to our road system and safety practices… (and) could result in our road users’ safety being further compromised.”

“It is irresponsible to continue treating the recruitment of bus drivers as a strictly private matter to be decided by the bus companies,” Poa said.

“Will the Ministry be reviewing the criteria for qualifying bus drivers and raising the bar in the interest of safety?”

Earlier this week in parliament, the issue of driver training was raised by Members of Parliament for Aljunied and Chua Chu Kang, Low Thia Kiang and Zaqy Mohamad respectively during parliament on Monday afternoon.

Minister Lui Tuck Yew replied that regardless of the nationality of the bus driver, he or she would have to be adequately trained and qualified.

"Part of the training programme is to make sure that we infuse them with the responsibility that they carry when they drive a vehicle like a bus and to make sure that they pay stringent attention to road conditions," said Lui.

He added that the foreign worker intake for the entire workforce of the two public transport operators, SMRT and SBS, was capped at 10 per cent.

On bus drivers specifically, that number was significantly higher.

61 per cent are Singaporeans or permanent residents while 26 per cent are Malaysians.

Another 12 to 13 per cent are Chinese nationals.

[hyenergix]

Nothing to do with nationality. It is the (lack of) training and safety culture in the company, which aims to maximise profit only.

[Komo]

if they employ people from places which don't generally respect safety and life what can we expect from them when they are here? train them and change their mentality?

[hyenergix]

if they employ people from places which don't generally respect safety and life what can we expect from them when they are here? train them and change their mentality?

If e company employs them the comapny has e responsibility to train them. I have seen worse local drivers such as taxi drivers.

[Komo]

suggest mot should empower citizens to report errant drivers. personally I have seen so many buses driving without due care such as making sharp sudden turning and relatively high speed, race through traffic light when it's red, drive across traffic light when it is red as no one crossing, turn out from bus stop without signaling, ..... ..... ..... all these due to insufficient training?

[teddybear]

Sometimes, we have to take all these awards with a pitch of salt. Cascadian scores so well, but basement carpark can get flooded. What say you about these so called "construction awards" and "CONQUAS scores"?



More residential projects receive construction awards


Apr 26, 2012 - PropertyGuru.com.sg
Share | | Comment | E-mail to friend | Bookmark & Share
By Romesh Navaratnarajah:
More residential projects will receive the Construction Excellence Award by the Building & Construction Authority (BCA) this year, which recognises developments with the highest standard of construction excellence in Singapore.

A total of 10 awards and seven certificates of merit will be given to residential buildings this year compared with just five awards and five certificates of merit awarded in 2011.

“The increase is largely attributed to more high quality condominiums, fuelled by improvements to construction quality and workmanship standards as well as higher expectations for building quality,” said Lai Huen Poh, Chairman of the Construction Excellence Award Assessment Committee.

For the second straight year, Singapore-based developer Woh Hup (Private) Limited secured the highest number of Construction Excellence Awards for The Seafront on Meyer, Marina Bay Residences (pictured) and The Cascadia.

“This year, condominiums like The Arte, The Orchard Residences, The Cascadia, Wilkie Studio and Marina Bay Residences emerged top performers in the residential building category for construction excellence, with Conquas scores above 94,” noted Lai.

“Besides achieving high quality, these projects also meet other criteria such as safety, sustainability, buildability, and innovativeness.”

With a Conquas score of 95.6, The Cascadia development features an alternative design of basement columns and walls which provide for easier movement and more carpark lots. In addition, pilecaps were combined and rotated to optimise the building’s foundation.

Meanwhile, The Orchard Residences was recognised for its installation of unitised curtain walls and precast construction methods.

Other notable developments to receive the BCA award include Shuqun Secondary School with a Conquas score of 93.0, the highest in the institutional building category to date. Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, with a Conquas score of 91.0 and Ion Orchard (89.7) topped the institutional building and commercial/mixed development categories respectively.

[teddybear]

The reason for why properties $PSF are still super high and still increasing in OCR? See that in red. MMs are the reason! (including MM-3BRs, i.e. those 3BRs <900 sqft size)! If they want to have any effective cooling measure, they just have to target these!


Private house prices fall a little: URA


Apr 27, 2012

Latest data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) shows that private home prices declined marginally by 0.1 percent in Q1 2012 compared to the 0.2 percent rise seen in the last three months of 2011.

This marks the first quarterly decline since Q2 2009 when prices fell continuously for nine consecutive quarters.

In the Core Central Region (CCR) and Rest of Central Region (RCR), non-landed home prices slipped by 0.6 percent, a notable contrast to the 0.5 and 0.1 percent rise seen in the previous quarter.

But the Outside Central Region (OCR) saw prices climb 1.1 percent, a little higher than the 0.6 percent hike in Q4 2011.

In terms of rentals, private residential properties recorded a weaker 0.3 percent growth compared to the previous quarter’s 0.4 percent rise.

Meanwhile, developers launched a total of 6,903 uncompleted private residential units in Q1 2012, up from the 4,105 last quarter, while units sold totalled 6,458 compared to the 3,525 homes sold in the previous quarter.

In addition, the URA noted that “take-up of shoe-box units (i.e. smaller than 50 sq m) accounted for 27 percent (or 1,764 units) of new sales in the quarter. Lower-priced units less than S$750,000 accounted for 42 percent (or 2,766 units) of new sales in Q1 2012, much higher than the 25 percent (or 911 units) seen last quarter.”

“Overall, many of these units are located in the suburbs, as 82 percent of the new units sold by developers were from OCR,” it added.

At the same time, resale transaction volumes declined to 1,906 units in Q1 2012, the lowest since Q1 2009 and shared just 21.8 percent of overall sales – a historic low since 1999 when such data was first collected.

[radha08]

if they employ people from places which don't generally respect safety and life what can we expect from them when they are here? train them and change their mentality?

well said...

[august]

if they employ people from places which don't generally respect safety and life what can we expect from them when they are here? train them and change their mentality?

you can take them out of the gutters, but you cannot take the gutters out of them.

[teddybear]

Wah, super like below suggestion!



Give citizens priority in COE bidding


Letter from Ong Tiong Meng
04:45 AM May 02, 2012
I refer to the report "COE prices drive inflation higher" (April 24).

Perhaps the Land Transport Authority (LTA) could check whether non-citizens were awarded more than 30 per cent of the Certificates of Entitlement (COEs) in recent months.

If they were, I suggest the LTA take similar action as the Education Ministry did to give citizens priority in Primary 1 registration.

I propose that Categories A and B be restricted to citizens and the Open category be open to everyone.

This could cure our COE inflation, just as the additional buyer's stamp duty did to retard inflation in private home prices.