BUY AND SELL A SINGAPORE PROPERTY FROM THE COMFORT OF YOUR HOUSE

The largest collective sale for this year goes to Peace Centre and Peace Mansion which was sold at S$650m. A consortium of public listed companies acquired this Property by way of private treaty.  Chip Eng Seng, SingHaiyi and Ultra Infinity (KSH, SLB Development and Ho Lee Group) form a joint venture to acquire this large site with a land size of 7,118 square metres.   Peace Centre and Peace Mansion is a mixed development at District 9 comprising 319 strata units.  It has a 99-year tenure starting from 2 June 1970. The Joint Offerors will seek in-principle approval from the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) to issue a fresh 99 years lease. They plan to redevelop the Property into a mixed-use commercial and residential development whereby the commercial component will take up 60% of the total gross floor area (“GFA”). Primary schools such as St. Margaret’s Primary School, St. Joseph’s Institution Junior and Anglo-Chinese School (Junior) are within a two-kilometre radius of the Property. Singapore Management University (SMU), School of the Arts, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and LASALLE College of the Arts are within ten minutes walk from Peace Centre. Its prime location allows easy accessibility to other parts of Singapore via major roads and expressways such as the Central Expressway (CTE) and East Coast Parkway (ECP), with Raffles Place and Marina Bay being within 10 minutes’ drive away and the Plaza Singapura within walking distance. Route to en bloc for Peace Centre In 2007, the owners were unable to get the 80 per cent approval needed for the potential collective sale as the indicative price of S$470 million was deemed to be too low. In 2011, although the approval required was achieved, the higher asking price of S$700 million was unrealistic. In 2014, the marketing agent tried to sell at S$680 million but without success. In 2018, they targeted a reserve price of S$650 million, still no takers.  Peace Centre engaged Savills Singapore and Colliers in separate en bloc exercises to market the property in the past but it was unsuccessful. According to JLL who is the sole marketing agent for Peace Centre, based on the sale price of S$650 million, the unit land rate for the deal is S$1,426 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr), after including an estimated lease top-up premium. If we take into consideration an additional 7 per cent bonus gross floor area (GFA) for the residential component, the land rate is S$1,388 psf ppr.  The chairman of Peace Centre’s collective sale committee, Mohamed Rafig Maideen, said that perseverance is key to success and they are delighted to secure a buyer on their fifth attempt. Windfall in Peace Centre En Bloc In May 2021, there was a sale transaction for a 2604 sqft unit on a high floor which was sold for $1.74 million. Although this owner is liable to pay IRAS a seller stamp duty (SSD) of 12% for selling the property within a year of purchase, this owner will still make a handsome profit of approximately $1.6 million. Check the past private property transactions of Peace Centre / Peace Mansion.

The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) announced that it will raise the annual values of HDB flats by 4% to 6%, due to the strong rental markets. The revision in annual properties values to compute the property tax payable will take effect on 1 Jan 2022. This is the first time since 2017 that the annual values of HDB flats have increased.  The annual value is the estimated rent that could be collected annually if the housing property were to be rented out, and it is determined based on the market rate of comparable residential properties. The property tax payable is derived by multiplying the property tax rate with the annual value of the house. All one-room and two-room owner-occupiers as well as 35% of three-room owner-occupiers will not need to pay property tax. However about 65% of owners staying in 3-room flats will each pay between S$8 and S$14 more in property tax annually, according to IRAS. Owner-occupiers of 4-room, 5-room and executive flats will each pay between S$21 and S$26 more each year.  The increase in property tax is manageable as it is not more than $2.50 a month. Some Singaporeans who are savvy property investors will opt to stay in private residential condos while renting out their entire HDB flat for steady rental income with a rental yield as high as 14%.  Owner-occupiers enjoy concessionary property tax rates ranging from 0% to 16%, while the property tax rates for those who rent out their flats range between 10% and 20%.  You will receive your property tax bills by the end of December. IRAS will send SMS reminder to inform you to pay your 2022 property tax by 31 Jan 2022.  Apart from one-time full payment, you may choose the 12 months interest-free instalments with GIRO.  Question: I own two residential properties in Singapore and it is not leased out. Can I enjoy owner-occupier tax rates for both houses? Answer: No. The owner-occupier tax rate is only granted to one residential property owned and occupied by you. For subsequent properties, you will be taxed at non-owner-occupier residential tax rates even if you are occupying it as your second home.

HDB has launched the Prime BTO Flats at River Peaks I and II in Rochor for sale. This is the first prime location public housing (PLH) model project.  River Peaks consist of 960 units of 3-room and 4-room flats across six 47-storey blocks. Whereas, another 40 units of 2-room rental flats will be integrated in one of these blocks. BTO prices start from S$409,000 for a 3-room flat without housing grant and S$582,000 for a 4-room flat. This is the most expensive launch in a mature estate of Singapore. Home buyers will realise that River Peaks BTO prices are slightly higher than Queenstown BTO project, Queen's Arc, in which a 3-room flat starts from S$382,000. Under the PLH model, owners of these Rochor BTO flats must pay 6 per cent of the resale price or valuation, whichever is higher, to HDB when they sell their house on the open market for the first time. Because HDB has to provide additional subsidies on top of those provided for all BTO flats in order to launch these prime areas flats at affordable prices. The subsidy clawback shall applies to the first resale transaction only. So it does not penalised the 2nd or subsequent owners of Prime BTO flats. The owners of Prime BTO flats in the PLH model will adhere to a requirement of 10 years minimum occupation period (MOP). This is in addition to the 5 to 6 years of waiting time for these flats to be constructed. River Peaks at Rochor is estimated to be completed in the second quarter of 2028.

Sales of new private residential properties rose by 9 per cent in October according to Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) statistics. The property developers sold 909 new private homes excluding Executive Condominiums (EC).  Home purchases by foreigners also increased by nearly 7 per cent last month. CanningHill Piers, The Commodore and Cairnhill 16 are new projects that will be launched for sale in November. Perfect Ten, Mori and Zyanya will follow suit in December. Singapore new private home sales in the first 10 months of 2021 have reached 10,918. This figure surpassed the full-year sales in 2018, 2019 and 2020 respectively. The previous record high was 14,948 units transacted in 2013. The Outside of Central Region (OCR) segment sold 347 units or 38.2 per cent of the month’s sales. The Core Central Region (CCR) of District 9, 10 and 11 sold 281 homes or 30.9 per cent of the month’s total. The best-selling new launch project in October was Jervois Mansion. Last month, a penthouse at Les Maisons Nassim was sold for S$75 million or $6,210 psf. This is a record per square foot for a penthouse unit in Singapore. Andy Chia Jin Tai, Associate Division Director at ERA Realty Network, added that Singapore is a safe haven and our residential properties will generally appreciate in the long term. Chia said: "Singapore have not established vaccinated travel lanes (VTL) with China, Malaysia and Indonesia who were among the top foreign buyers of Singapore residential properties." “Stronger home sales are expected in November and December as our Government open up the economy to these countries and allow more buyers into the showflat.”

Cairnhill 16 is a freehold luxury residential property in District 9 Singapore. The address is 16 Cairnhill Rise and Newton MRT is the nearest subway station. It is scheduled to be launched for sale on 27 November, with indicative prices starting from S$2,789 PSF. The freehold land was previously occupied by the former Cairnhill Heights, which was sold via collective sale for S$72.6 million in 2018. The plot ratio is 2.8 and site area is 1,431.40 sqm.  The developer of Cairnhill 16 is TSky Development, which is a joint-venture between Tiong Seng Holdings and Ocean Sky International. There are a total of 39 units in a 15-storey tower of Cairnhill 16. The residential units comprise 13 two-bedroom units, 13 three-bedroom units, 9 three-bedroom-plus-study units and 4 four-bedroom units. Unit sizes range from 775 sqft to 1,744 sqft. Indicative prices for a two-bedroom unit start at $2.2 million whereas a three-bedroom unit starts at S$2.9 million. The selling price for a three-bedroom-plus-study (3+1) unit starts at $3.6 million, and a four-bedroom unit, at $5.7 million. Buyers will be delighted to know that every unit will be served by a private lift and features a spacious living and dining area in addition to a wide balcony.  The condo facilities of Cairnhill 16 include a 20-metre lap pool, gym, roof terrace and concierge service. There will be two levels of basement carpark.  Anglo-Chinese School (Junior) and St Margaret's Primary School are notable schools within a 1 km radius. The project is slated for completion in the first quarter of 2023. Cairnhill 16 show flat will be located along Peck Hay Road.