Resale Prices of Private Property Fall Further in June 2014

A tentative report by the Singapore Property Exchange showed that resale prices of private property dropped another 1.4% in June. Prices are at the lowest over the last 1 1/2 years since Dec 2012. Starting at the Core Central Region (CCR) and moving outwards through the Rest of Central Region (RCR) and Outside of Central Region (OCR), the prices fell 1.7, 3.2 and 0.3% respectively. The OCR prices dropped the least because the properties here have lower prices. The CCR and RCR properties have to deal with unsold units and curbs on resale such as ABSD. Encouragingly, the number of resale units that exchanged hands has increased 7.9% to about 452 units. 

Sales of New Launch Private Homes Fell in June 2014

Sales of new launch private homes which almost doubled from April to May 2014 has decline 68% in June. Only 482 units were sold compared to the 1488 units in May 2014.  This partly due to the fewer units (418 units) launched compared to the previous month (1819 units).

* Year to date sales 4445 units, Jan to Jun 2014.

Interestingly, units at developments such as Thomson Three have been quietly moving.

What's Going to Happen to Singapore Property Prices in 2014?

In recent weeks, there has been a constant stream of news about property prices and housing supply in 2014. By and large, most of it has been pessimistic for property prices. Propertyguru.com has come up with a 70 page ebook on its predictions for 2014 and is worth a read. It's free and downloadable from this link: http://www.propertyguru.com.sg/property-management-news/2014/1/37248/market-outlook-hdb-resales-what-goes-up-. You have to fill in a form so they really want your email in exchange but I think the report is worth looking at. Feel free to comment about the contents after you have read the report.

Cheap Prices Equals Good Investment?

On Jan 17, 2014, all 281 units of the first retirement resort in Singapore were sold out. This was reported in the media including this article in the Today paper, titled "All 281 units of The Hillford sold out on the first day." The question is whether investing in this particular property made sense. This was covered in an interesting article in the same paper on Jan 17 with the headline, "Are 60-year leasehold residences here to stay?" This article had the following points to make.

The first one applies to all properties bought for rental. How much can the buyer realistically charge for rental? The investor needs to do his/her homework on what similar size units and larger units nearby command in terms of rental and factor this into their financial equations. The second point applies to leasehold properties and that is as properties age, the maximum loan term drops and it will be less attractive for the next buyer because it limits how much he can borrow. This is exerbated by the shorter 60 year lease of The Hilford. The third point has to do with how the psf for 60-year property translates to a higher equivalent psf for a 99-year lease. For The Hillford, the psf of 1,100 translates to a 99-year equivalent of $1320 which is significantly higher. He argued that if banks do not lend if there are less than 30years of remaining lease left, the equivalent psf is even higher at that point. The article ended with the author stating that more properties may be released for such developments if The Hillford scores well in terms of meeting its original objectives as a retirement village.

One critique of this development has been the lack of an age limit placed on investors. Afterall, this was meant to be a retirement resort. The lack of such a limit has led to much younger buyers coming into the fray because the prices are deemed more affordable. But as mentioned above, low price does not necessarily mean good investment!