Singapore Real Estate Market Review - April 2008

The global situation is far from certain. As I was preparing this Quarter Review for publication, the Straits Times Index (STI)  – the barometer of Singapore’s stock market performance – dropped 80-over points in a day in what appeared to be the beginning of another massive correction phase.  Unless and until the US economy stops the blood-letting,  energy prices goes back to sanity level, and prices of foodstuff come off from the shelf and back to floor level again, property investors will continue to adopt the ‘safety first’ strategy with compulsion..

In this Quarter Review, I have identified the following topics for some detailed analysis and they include:

• The dismal showing of new launch/showroom sales – my advice to agents is to stay away from there unless you have five novels to finish from now to end of the year or you are bored with your marriage life. [Click here for Statistics]
  
  
• Landed property performance in the first quarter where Districts 10 and 15 were examined in detail in the following categories – house types [from bungalow to terrace house], transaction figures of each house type, price range and median prices. Landed property is definitely an area of potential and steady growth, even though superficially it appears to be dragged down by the same horror stories in the larger market. However, whether or not a landed property is sellable or not still depends on the same fundamental factors such as location, frontage, orientation etc. Agents are advised to stay close to basics real estate investment 101. [Click here for Statistics]
  
  
• Collective sale performance is analysed with the perspective to forecast the supply side situation. As collective sale involves huge funds, the availability of war chest or sudden withdrawal of resources may serve as a telltale sign of things to come. [Click here for Analysis on the Kuwaiti episode]
  
  
• Foreign interest in Singapore property market remains comparatively strong though the absolute number of transactions had declined. [Click here for Statistics]
  
  
• Government land sale (GLS) programme appears to be on the wane as the number of bidders has significantly reduced for land parcels in outlaying areas and the bid prices tend to be more conservative in general in the first three months.
  
  
  
• The HDB market remains upbeat with sellers asking for ‘future prices’ that reflect optimism of the larger economy and Singapore’s success story. It appears that the heartlanders are the jolly lot and they are generally expecting greater things to endow Singapore. Interest on larger flats remains strong and it shows that confidence level is high among HDB upgraders.
  
  
• Last but not least, this Quarter Review contains a case study to ascertain the ‘Most Sellable Projects’ in the Central Core Region (CCR). It uncovers that many District 9 projects attracted only single digit transactions over the past six months. The surprised outcome of the case study is that the lists of statistics can now act as a ‘Sellability Checklist’ for agents who have listings in CCR. As such, more projects will be included in the next report. So, stay tuned.
  

Other things that may occupy real estate agents for some months would be the introduction of a new HDB Resale Checklist, purportedly to ensure the professional standards of real estate agents. The details are in Annex A. Another new initiative by HDB was the introduction of a higher-tier Single Housing Grant to reward filial piety. See details in Annex B. With HDB resale transactions gaining on, real estate agents specialising in HDB resale will have more busy days ahead.




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