Property Market Updates (15 Nov 2010)

Northern connector links towns to nature
Cycling enthusiasts at park connectors usually make their way round winding trails through nature reserves and forested areas, but the Northern Explorer Park Connector Network (PCN) will have them pedalling through urban landscapes as well. The 25km loop links not only 11 nature sites and parks such as Admiralty Park, Yishun Park and Lower Seletar Reservoir Park, but also heartland towns in the northern part of Singapore. At the launch of the northern network, Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam noted that besides recreational uses, park connectors also helped facilitate inter-town commuting. The $19 million Northern Explorer PCN passes alongside six MRT stations and about half of the stretch runs along train viaducts. The connector also showcases Singapore's biodiversity. A wide variety of birds such as woodpeckers and kingfishers as well as different species of butterflies and dragonflies can be spotted along the way. The Northern Explorer is the third loop of park connectors developed by the National Parks Board (NParks) - coming after the Eastern Coastal PCN, which opened in 2007, and the Western Adventure PCN, which opened last year. Together, they make up 150km of cycling paths. NParks aims to complete 300km of an islandwide grid linking major parks, nature sites and housing estates by 2015. A fourth loop in the north-eastern part of Singapore is expected to be unveiled next year.
- The Straits Times, B4

80% of Lakefront Residences sold
Some 70 units of The Lakefront Residences were sold over the weekend, bringing its total sales since Friday's preview to 320 units. The 320 units were sold at an average price of $1,020 psf. The 99-year leasehold condo is next to Lakeside MRT station and near Jurong Lake, with unit sizes ranging from 484 sq ft for a one-bedder to about 3,000 sq ft for a penthouse. The project includes 69 one-bedders, 158 two-bedders, 255 three-bedders, and 98 three-bedroom- plus-study units. There were also 32 four-bedroom apartments and 17 penthouses up for sale.
- The Business Times, P11

Getting burnt over high-end homes
However, 90% of sub-sale transactions still turned a profit. A Savills analysis of caveats captured by the URA’s Realis as at Oct 19 showed that 9 units bought in 2007 were sold in 2010 at a loss in the sub-sale market. But the bulk of homes bought from 2006 to 2009 - 78 out of 87 - were sold for a profit, the analysis found. The fact that all 9 losses were on units bought in 2007, and it may be due to the high prices the owners paid when the residential market reached its peak in 2007. In contrast, units bought in 2006, 2008 and 2009 were re-sold at a profit in 2010. As of now, the number of loss-making transactions remains very low. 90% of sub-sale transactions this year still made profits, ranging from $3,620 to $1.92 million. At the low point of the market in Q1 2009, only 67.5% of sub-sales of private apartments and condos yielded a profit. That proportion grew to 95.1% in Q1 2010.
- The Business Times, P1

Asia-Pacific free trade area set to expand
Asia-Pacific economies have taken a major step towards turning the entire region into a free trade area, with five more members seeking to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Now made up of Singapore, Brunei, Chile and New Zealand, the TPP is a multilateral free trade agreement that aims to eventually integrate economies in the Asia-Pacific region, scrapping tariffs and other trade barriers between members. Over the weekend, the leaders of the United States, Peru, Australia, Vietnam and Malaysia showed their keenness in joining the pact, as a summit gathering of the 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) in Yokohama. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong hailed this interest in TPP membership as the 'most significant' outcome of the two-day annual summit.
- The Straits Times, P1
- Also quoted in The Business Time, P2, “Apec leaders agree to work on regional free trade pact”.

CHINA - 4 China state banks halt new credit to developers
China's four biggest state banks have used up their full-year credit quotas for property developers and will stop extending new loans to them for the rest of the year, an official newspaper reported yesterday. China Real Estate Business, run under the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, said the four banks had halted approval of new loans since the end of last month. It quoted several unnamed executives from the lenders. Chinese banks typically frontload a large part of their loan quotas in the first quarters of the year to reap more gains from interest. Beijing has taken steps to tame the property market since April, including raising down payments and mortgage rates and tightening control in financing and lending to developers. China's four biggest state banks are the ICBC, China Construction Bank, Bank of China and Agricultural Bank of China.
- The Straits Times, B24

Exchange Rates (extracted from xe.com)

1.00 SGD = 0.77 USD
1.00 SGD = 5.11 CNY
1.00 SGD = 2.39 MYR
1.00 SGD = 0.47 GBP
1.00 SGD = 868.05 KRW
1.00 SGD = 34.40 INR
1.00 SGD = 6,873.83 IDR


ST Index change: 3,253.75 (+1.75) *As at Mon 15 Nov 2010 09:09 AM
SIBOR (3 mths): 0.43751 (S$)
SWAP (3 mths): 0.26769 (S$)