Top 10 stories of 2017

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Real estate experts revealed in March that the expected interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve this year will push up the interest rates of housing loans here. In particular, analysts had forecasted that the three-month Singapore Interbank Offered Rate (SIBOR) will reach between 1.45 percent and 1.85 percent by end-2017. Read More

UOB Kay Hian said in September that prices of residential properties in Singapore will hit rock-bottom this year and rise by five to 10 percent in 2018 due to growing home purchases by foreigners and the ongoing en bloc frenzy. Earlier that month, Morgan Stanley also forecasted that home prices will increase by two percent in 2017 and another 10 percent by end-2018. Read More

Australia’s Lendlease sold 215 units out of the 429 available units at Park Place Residences in Paya Lebar Quarter (PLQ) during the first day of launch on 25 March. This made it one of the most successful private condominium launches in Singapore over the last few years. Originally, the developer intended to release only 40 percent of the units, but raised the number due to overwhelming response from buyers who queued from early morning. Read More

Last month, the recently launched PropertyGuru Property Index showed that prices of real estate listings on the website rose by 3.2 percent in Q3 2017, following consecutive declines since Q3 2015. The highest gain of four percent was recorded by properties in the city centre and the surrounding areas. This is followed by suburban areas in western and northern Singapore, where asking prices increased by 2.2 and 2.5 percent respectively. Read More

Reuters reported in July that a three-storey penthouse on the 64th floor of GuocoLand’s Wallich Residence, which is part of Tanjong Pagar Centre, has been launched for sale for $100 million. If sold at that price, the said ‘bungalow in the sky’ is expected to the most expensive apartment in Singapore. Read More

Royalville, a freehold development in Bukit Timah Road comprising 93 apartments and 11 shops, was put up for en bloc sale in October, according to marketing agent Edmund Tie & Co. The property had an initial price of about $368 million, which translates to $1,509 psf per plot ratio based on its large site spanning 174,176 sq ft. Read More

In May, marketing agent Knight Frank announced that the 286-unit Rio Casa in Hougang Avenue 7 has been purchased via collective sale by a joint venture between Oxley Holdings and Lian Beng Group for S$575 million. Not only will each owner get about S$2 million in gross proceeds, the developers also intend to pay an additional differential premium of around S$208 million to the state. Read More

Redbrick Mortgage Advisory Founder and Director Eugene Huang explained in June that properties follow a cycle. Typically, prices increase during launch and peaks when a projects obtains its Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP). Its prices typically depreciate thereafter, but rebounds if it can be redeveloped to achieve a higher gross plot ratio. This is the key reason over the fervour for properties with en bloc potential. Read More

In a bid to update legislation and enhance tax administration, the Finance Ministry announced in September that it plans to make two proposed changes to the Property Tax (Amendment) Bill 2017. These include allowing payers to opt out of digital property tax notices, and improving the information-gathering powers of the Chief Assessor, Property Tax Comptroller and their authorised officers. Read More

In October, property agents revealed that CapitaLand halted the sale of the remaining units in Sky Habitat and Marine Blue, in anticipation of the private housing market’s recovery. GuocoLand also intended to taper the release of units in Martin Modern. This came after Lendlease stopped sales at Park Place Residences, likewise for Qingjian Realty’s Le Quest. Read More

This article was edited by Keshia Faculin.
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SINGAPORE REAL ESTATE: 2017 IN REVIEW

The year of 2017 has presented itself as an interesting year for the Singapore real estate market; full of developments that have shaped a rather rapid recovery across various sectors. One of the most prominent developments can be said to be changes in the cooling measures in March 2017 that has seemingly been relaxed.

2017 in review: Easing of cooling measures, agency mergers and en bloc fever

Singapore’s Latest Population Statistics and Outlook for the Property Market

Home prices could rise 3-7% in 2018: RHB

5 foreign nationalities snapping up Singapore property in 2017

Foreigners are making a comeback in Singapore’s residential property market after pulling back from it in 2012, following the implementation of the additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD).
Based on the number of caveats lodged, statistics by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) show that purchases by foreigners increased by 48% to 794 units in 1H2017 compared to 535 units in 1H2016, while those by permanent residents (PRs) rose by 32% to 1,876 units in 1H2017 from 1,416 units in 1H2016.
To provide a comparison, private property purchases made by Singaporeans rose by 69% to 8,950 units in 1H2017 from 5,297 units in 1H2016.
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