MPs seek steps to prevent 'magic dollars' flat scam
Greater flexibility in HDB loan rules for downgraders may help, say some
By Jessica Cheam
THE emergence of a new scam by HDB flat sellers has prompted calls by some MPs for a review of loan rules for flat downgrading.
Housing agents say sellers who resort to the so-called 'magic dollars' scam often face financial difficulties and may be having a hard time in downgrading to cheaper flats.
Some MPs noted that greater flexibility in downgrading rules could help these people.
Property agents have recently seen an increase in deals where the seller and buyer collude to under-declare the sale price to the Housing Board.
The buyer pays the difference between this and the real price to the seller in cash, often in return for a discount.
These sellers are likely to have bought their homes at the previous market peak, leaving the flat in negative equity, where the mortgage is more than the property's value.
This means that any sales proceeds will go towards repaying the seller's loan and the money taken from the Central Provident Fund (CPF).
This would leave him with no cash in hand.
The scam provides vital extra cash - indirectly from the seller's CPF monies - in a buoyant HDB market with high resale prices.
Some families struggle to fork out the cash amount over and above a flat's valuation.
Singapore Property - Buy, Sell, Rent, Invest
Jerry Hansin (+65)9027 5537
email: jerry@assetomgt.com
website: www.assetomgt.com
Monday, March 10, 2008
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Budget surplus, yes, but saving for future is crucial
Budget surplus, yes, but saving for future is crucial
PM: Focus on instant handouts over long-term growth 'dangerous'
By Zakir Hussain
PRIME Minister Lee Hsien Loong has described as 'dangerous' the view that Singapore is now rich enough for the Government to dish out hongbao freely.
In his first comments on this year's Budget, he warned that if the country stopped saving and investing for the future, economic growth would also grind to a halt and 'we would be in serious trouble'.
Mr Lee said he had noticed that when people discussed the Budget, passed by Parliament last Thursday, the emphasis was on its immediate handouts.
There was much less focus on its longer-term investments to help Singapore grow and prepare for future challenges.
Many seemed interested mainly in 'what more should the Government give? Who else to give to? Who should get more?' he said.
He warned against such an attitude:
'The assumption which some people have is - we are now rich, we can afford to spend more. This is a very dangerous way of thinking and worries me a lot.'
Singapore is where it is today, he said, 'because we have saved, we have been frugal, because we haven't just thrown money away'.
'If now we change our mindset, and say we used to save, now that we have money we don't need to save anymore, then the growth will stop. Singapore will go down, and we will all be in serious trouble,' he added.
This year's Budget included a $1.8 billion surplus sharing package of income tax rebates, growth dividends and top ups to Medisave to help people cope with the rising cost of living.
But some members of the public and their elected representatives in Parliament called for yet more relief to help individuals and businesses cope with rising costs, in light of the bumper $6.45 billion surplus for the last financial year.
On Friday, at the launch of a new Anchorvale community club in Sengkang, Mr Lee assured Singaporeans that as the economy grows and the resources at the Government's disposal increase, it will strengthen the social safety nets and set aside more to support needy and low-income families.
Singapore Property - Buy, Sell, Rent, Invest
Jerry Hansin (+65)9027 5537
email: jerry@assetomgt.com
website: www.assetomgt.com
PM: Focus on instant handouts over long-term growth 'dangerous'
By Zakir Hussain
PRIME Minister Lee Hsien Loong has described as 'dangerous' the view that Singapore is now rich enough for the Government to dish out hongbao freely.
In his first comments on this year's Budget, he warned that if the country stopped saving and investing for the future, economic growth would also grind to a halt and 'we would be in serious trouble'.
Mr Lee said he had noticed that when people discussed the Budget, passed by Parliament last Thursday, the emphasis was on its immediate handouts.
There was much less focus on its longer-term investments to help Singapore grow and prepare for future challenges.
Many seemed interested mainly in 'what more should the Government give? Who else to give to? Who should get more?' he said.
He warned against such an attitude:
'The assumption which some people have is - we are now rich, we can afford to spend more. This is a very dangerous way of thinking and worries me a lot.'
Singapore is where it is today, he said, 'because we have saved, we have been frugal, because we haven't just thrown money away'.
'If now we change our mindset, and say we used to save, now that we have money we don't need to save anymore, then the growth will stop. Singapore will go down, and we will all be in serious trouble,' he added.
This year's Budget included a $1.8 billion surplus sharing package of income tax rebates, growth dividends and top ups to Medisave to help people cope with the rising cost of living.
But some members of the public and their elected representatives in Parliament called for yet more relief to help individuals and businesses cope with rising costs, in light of the bumper $6.45 billion surplus for the last financial year.
On Friday, at the launch of a new Anchorvale community club in Sengkang, Mr Lee assured Singaporeans that as the economy grows and the resources at the Government's disposal increase, it will strengthen the social safety nets and set aside more to support needy and low-income families.
Singapore Property - Buy, Sell, Rent, Invest
Jerry Hansin (+65)9027 5537
email: jerry@assetomgt.com
website: www.assetomgt.com
Carpark charges for malls along Orchard Rd up between 10-36%
Carpark charges for malls along Orchard Rd up between 10-36%
By Judith Tan
Parking charges at most carparks rose with the upping of the Goods & Services Tax by two percentage points last year.
THAT trip to shop or run errands in Orchard Road is setting back motorists more in parking charges nowadays.
A Straits Times check of 20 malls on the shopping strip revealed that parking fees have gone up at 18 of them.
Just over a third of the 18 carparks are levying charges that are between 10 and 20 per cent more.
While the jump is bigger at some, there are also places where weekday, off-peak fees have stayed about the same.
The most expensive places to park are Tang Plaza or Wheelock Place, where leaving your car for three hours will cost $9 before 5pm on weekdays.
Prices are not uniformly high along Orchard Road. It is four times cheaper to park in Plaza Singapura, for instance. Three hours there costs just $2.25.
Tang Plaza is the only mall on the strip that charges by the minute, so motorists pay for the exact amount of usage.
At other carparks, the rates are calculated in blocks of between 15 minutes to an hour.
It can make a difference.
Housewife Ong Lee Lee, 55, for example, has found that she will be charged $3.50 for an hour and five minutes at Tang Plaza; if she parks at Ngee Ann City down the road for that length of time, she would be paying $3.84 for a block lasting an hour and a half.
Parking charges at most carparks rose with the upping of the Goods & Services Tax by two percentage points last year, say carpark operators.
But the jump has been by more than two percentage points - by a whopping 36 per cent in one instance.
Cairnhill Place takes the dubious honour as that carpark. Leaving your car there for three hours before 5pm on a weekday now costs $8, up from $5.90 just two years ago.
Back in 2002, the nondescript-looking carpark was the best-kept secret among motorists looking for lots in the heart of Orchard Road: It cost just $3 for three hours then.
Its operator, Wilson Parking, which runs 50 carparks islandwide, declined comment on the price increase.
Singapore Property - Buy, Sell, Rent, Invest
Jerry Hansin (+65)9027 5537
email: jerry@assetomgt.com
website: www.assetomgt.com
By Judith Tan
Parking charges at most carparks rose with the upping of the Goods & Services Tax by two percentage points last year.
THAT trip to shop or run errands in Orchard Road is setting back motorists more in parking charges nowadays.
A Straits Times check of 20 malls on the shopping strip revealed that parking fees have gone up at 18 of them.
Just over a third of the 18 carparks are levying charges that are between 10 and 20 per cent more.
While the jump is bigger at some, there are also places where weekday, off-peak fees have stayed about the same.
The most expensive places to park are Tang Plaza or Wheelock Place, where leaving your car for three hours will cost $9 before 5pm on weekdays.
Prices are not uniformly high along Orchard Road. It is four times cheaper to park in Plaza Singapura, for instance. Three hours there costs just $2.25.
Tang Plaza is the only mall on the strip that charges by the minute, so motorists pay for the exact amount of usage.
At other carparks, the rates are calculated in blocks of between 15 minutes to an hour.
It can make a difference.
Housewife Ong Lee Lee, 55, for example, has found that she will be charged $3.50 for an hour and five minutes at Tang Plaza; if she parks at Ngee Ann City down the road for that length of time, she would be paying $3.84 for a block lasting an hour and a half.
Parking charges at most carparks rose with the upping of the Goods & Services Tax by two percentage points last year, say carpark operators.
But the jump has been by more than two percentage points - by a whopping 36 per cent in one instance.
Cairnhill Place takes the dubious honour as that carpark. Leaving your car there for three hours before 5pm on a weekday now costs $8, up from $5.90 just two years ago.
Back in 2002, the nondescript-looking carpark was the best-kept secret among motorists looking for lots in the heart of Orchard Road: It cost just $3 for three hours then.
Its operator, Wilson Parking, which runs 50 carparks islandwide, declined comment on the price increase.
Singapore Property - Buy, Sell, Rent, Invest
Jerry Hansin (+65)9027 5537
email: jerry@assetomgt.com
website: www.assetomgt.com
Transformation of Punggol River begins
Transformation of Punggol River begins
$7.13 million project to create reservoir park with man-made island will be ready by 2010
By Tania Tan
WORK to transform the Punggol River into a scenic reservoir park, complete with a man-made island, got off the ground on Sunday.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who was at the official opening of the adjoining Anchorvale Community Club in Sengkang, symbolically released the first piece of the floating island - a clump of soil and grass - into the water.
For its design, the $7.13 million project will draw inspiration from a nearby fruit park being developed by the National Parks Board. Its pavilions will be shaped like mangosteens and its benches, like limes.
Work will be completed by 2010.
Punggol River is the first of five sites to be improved this year under the Active Beautiful, Clean (ABC) Waters Programme.
Launched by national water agency PUB in 2006, the $200 million programme is an ambitious island-wide revamp of 28 waterways.
The aim is to rejuvenate Singapore's drainage and water-supply infrastructure, including the canals and reservoirs, and turn it into a scenic network of streams, rivers and lakes where people can enjoy water activities and even commute.
Giving a preview of the projects during the Budget debate last month, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim said, for example, that the Lower Seletar Reservoir would sport a heritage bridge, featuring story panels which will tell of the area's kampung history.
Work on the pilot projects of Kolam Ayer and the Bedok and MacRitchie reservoirs is in its final phases and will be unveiled this year.
'With these projects, we hope to bring waterfront living to the heartland, improve the quality of our living environment and enhance property values,' said Dr Yaacob.
Singapore Property - Buy, Sell, Rent, Invest
Jerry Hansin (+65)9027 5537
email: jerry@assetomgt.com
website: www.assetomgt.com
$7.13 million project to create reservoir park with man-made island will be ready by 2010
By Tania Tan
WORK to transform the Punggol River into a scenic reservoir park, complete with a man-made island, got off the ground on Sunday.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who was at the official opening of the adjoining Anchorvale Community Club in Sengkang, symbolically released the first piece of the floating island - a clump of soil and grass - into the water.
For its design, the $7.13 million project will draw inspiration from a nearby fruit park being developed by the National Parks Board. Its pavilions will be shaped like mangosteens and its benches, like limes.
Work will be completed by 2010.
Punggol River is the first of five sites to be improved this year under the Active Beautiful, Clean (ABC) Waters Programme.
Launched by national water agency PUB in 2006, the $200 million programme is an ambitious island-wide revamp of 28 waterways.
The aim is to rejuvenate Singapore's drainage and water-supply infrastructure, including the canals and reservoirs, and turn it into a scenic network of streams, rivers and lakes where people can enjoy water activities and even commute.
Giving a preview of the projects during the Budget debate last month, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim said, for example, that the Lower Seletar Reservoir would sport a heritage bridge, featuring story panels which will tell of the area's kampung history.
Work on the pilot projects of Kolam Ayer and the Bedok and MacRitchie reservoirs is in its final phases and will be unveiled this year.
'With these projects, we hope to bring waterfront living to the heartland, improve the quality of our living environment and enhance property values,' said Dr Yaacob.
Singapore Property - Buy, Sell, Rent, Invest
Jerry Hansin (+65)9027 5537
email: jerry@assetomgt.com
website: www.assetomgt.com
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Local universities throwing open houses to attract students
Local universities throwing open houses to attract students
By Alex Liam
EVERY university in town wants to be a class act.
And to attract the cream of the students who just received their A level results two days ago, the four universities - NUS, SMU, NTU and UniSIM - have been holding open houses since this weekend.
Although their websites already give out plenty of information, including recent fee increases, open houses allow students to get a better feel of campus life.
Brochures and invitation letters were sent out to students weeks in advance to trumpet the events and activities in the open houses.
The Singapore Management University (SMU), for instance, trotted out unconventional co-curricular activities like Muay Thai (Thai-style kickboxing) and a Latin salsa music band.
'We want to let students be informed while having an enriching and fun experience,' said SMU's admissions director Alan Goh.
On Saturday, salsa band Samba Masala wooed the freshmen-to-be at SMU's open house. The two-day event ends today.
Formed in 2002, the all-student band is now 35-strong and it has performed at events like the Chingay and the Youth Olympics party at the Padang two weeks ago.
SMU, located at Bras Basah, is expecting up to 8,000 visitors this weekend. Last year, it hosted 6,500 visitors.
Over at the National University of Singapore (NUS) in Kent Ridge, those feeling peckish after all the talks on academia can head for its Food Bazaar.
Its two-day open house takes place next weekend.
Singapore Property - Buy, Sell, Rent, Invest
Jerry Hansin (+65)9027 5537
email: jerry@assetomgt.com
website: www.assetomgt.com
By Alex Liam
EVERY university in town wants to be a class act.
And to attract the cream of the students who just received their A level results two days ago, the four universities - NUS, SMU, NTU and UniSIM - have been holding open houses since this weekend.
Although their websites already give out plenty of information, including recent fee increases, open houses allow students to get a better feel of campus life.
Brochures and invitation letters were sent out to students weeks in advance to trumpet the events and activities in the open houses.
The Singapore Management University (SMU), for instance, trotted out unconventional co-curricular activities like Muay Thai (Thai-style kickboxing) and a Latin salsa music band.
'We want to let students be informed while having an enriching and fun experience,' said SMU's admissions director Alan Goh.
On Saturday, salsa band Samba Masala wooed the freshmen-to-be at SMU's open house. The two-day event ends today.
Formed in 2002, the all-student band is now 35-strong and it has performed at events like the Chingay and the Youth Olympics party at the Padang two weeks ago.
SMU, located at Bras Basah, is expecting up to 8,000 visitors this weekend. Last year, it hosted 6,500 visitors.
Over at the National University of Singapore (NUS) in Kent Ridge, those feeling peckish after all the talks on academia can head for its Food Bazaar.
Its two-day open house takes place next weekend.
Singapore Property - Buy, Sell, Rent, Invest
Jerry Hansin (+65)9027 5537
email: jerry@assetomgt.com
website: www.assetomgt.com
Former HDB Centre is bustling once more
Former HDB Centre is bustling once more
It is boom time again in Bukit Merah after the former HDB hub, which went a-begging for tenants, is now fully occupied.
BUKIT Merah Town Centre is no longer a ghost town.
Ask Ms Florence Chan who used to park her car at the third level of the multi-storey carpark there.
These days, she can find a vacant lot only at level nine.
The administrator of Covenant Evangelical Free Church, which has its offices in Connection ONE, says it is just one indication that good times have returned to the area.
Come lunchtime, hordes of office workers pour out from the five buildings of Connection ONE, formerly known as the HDB Centre, and head for the eateries nearby.
It is a far cry from the situation two years ago when one third of the 764,000-sq-ft office space sat empty.
It was even worse in 2002. That was when the HDB relocated its headquarters to its current premises in Toa Payoh.
This relocation was a big blow to the food eateries and other retail businesses in Bukit Merah which had profited from the big number of people who visited the HDB Centre daily.
The HDB initially could not find enough tenants to fill up all the space it vacated. Its spun-off building consultancy Surbana Corporation, previously called HDB Corporation, moved back in 2003.
Fast-forward to 2008 and it's a different story.
HDB said the complex was fully let out from September last year. The tenants include hospital groups, private schools, a church group and a betting centre.
The HDB believes the competitive rental rate is one of the factors. 'In fact, we still receive many enquiries for office space,' said a spokesman.
Singapore Property - Buy, Sell, Rent, Invest
Jerry Hansin (+65)9027 5537
email: jerry@assetomgt.com
website: www.assetomgt.com
It is boom time again in Bukit Merah after the former HDB hub, which went a-begging for tenants, is now fully occupied.
BUKIT Merah Town Centre is no longer a ghost town.
Ask Ms Florence Chan who used to park her car at the third level of the multi-storey carpark there.
These days, she can find a vacant lot only at level nine.
The administrator of Covenant Evangelical Free Church, which has its offices in Connection ONE, says it is just one indication that good times have returned to the area.
Come lunchtime, hordes of office workers pour out from the five buildings of Connection ONE, formerly known as the HDB Centre, and head for the eateries nearby.
It is a far cry from the situation two years ago when one third of the 764,000-sq-ft office space sat empty.
It was even worse in 2002. That was when the HDB relocated its headquarters to its current premises in Toa Payoh.
This relocation was a big blow to the food eateries and other retail businesses in Bukit Merah which had profited from the big number of people who visited the HDB Centre daily.
The HDB initially could not find enough tenants to fill up all the space it vacated. Its spun-off building consultancy Surbana Corporation, previously called HDB Corporation, moved back in 2003.
Fast-forward to 2008 and it's a different story.
HDB said the complex was fully let out from September last year. The tenants include hospital groups, private schools, a church group and a betting centre.
The HDB believes the competitive rental rate is one of the factors. 'In fact, we still receive many enquiries for office space,' said a spokesman.
Singapore Property - Buy, Sell, Rent, Invest
Jerry Hansin (+65)9027 5537
email: jerry@assetomgt.com
website: www.assetomgt.com
$12.6m more to help SMEs improve business practices
$12.6m more to help SMEs improve business practices
By Lynn Lee
FROM a shop in Changi Village tailoring suits for British military officers, Ms Kavita Thulasidas' family business has bloomed into a high-end East-meets-West clothing store for fashionistas.
Eight months ago, the managing director of Stylemart in Selegie Road launched her first overseas venture - a spa in Bangalore, India.
Ms Thulasidas, 33, says the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry's talks on doing business in India, and its network of lawyers and consultants came in useful when she was putting together her plan.
And it looks like the chamber will be able to do more for companies like Stylemart, as it now has a new facility to provide business and consultancy advice to small and medium enterprises(SMEs).
On Saturday, an Enterprise Development Centre - the fifth in Singapore - at the chamber's Stanley Street headquarters was officially opened by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Mr Lee also announced a $12.6 million injection of funds by the Government, to fund the five centres' work over the next three years. The five are run by two trade associations and three chambers of commerce.
To date, the centres have helped around 14,000 of the 145,000 SMEs to improve business practices, in areas like human resources, finance and technological devlopment.
In his speech, Mr Lee also drew attention to how the SICCI could help both Singapore and Indian firms leverage on the countries' free-trade agreement .
Singapore Property - Buy, Sell, Rent, Invest
Jerry Hansin (+65)9027 5537
email: jerry@assetomgt.com
website: www.assetomgt.com
By Lynn Lee
FROM a shop in Changi Village tailoring suits for British military officers, Ms Kavita Thulasidas' family business has bloomed into a high-end East-meets-West clothing store for fashionistas.
Eight months ago, the managing director of Stylemart in Selegie Road launched her first overseas venture - a spa in Bangalore, India.
Ms Thulasidas, 33, says the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry's talks on doing business in India, and its network of lawyers and consultants came in useful when she was putting together her plan.
And it looks like the chamber will be able to do more for companies like Stylemart, as it now has a new facility to provide business and consultancy advice to small and medium enterprises(SMEs).
On Saturday, an Enterprise Development Centre - the fifth in Singapore - at the chamber's Stanley Street headquarters was officially opened by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Mr Lee also announced a $12.6 million injection of funds by the Government, to fund the five centres' work over the next three years. The five are run by two trade associations and three chambers of commerce.
To date, the centres have helped around 14,000 of the 145,000 SMEs to improve business practices, in areas like human resources, finance and technological devlopment.
In his speech, Mr Lee also drew attention to how the SICCI could help both Singapore and Indian firms leverage on the countries' free-trade agreement .
Singapore Property - Buy, Sell, Rent, Invest
Jerry Hansin (+65)9027 5537
email: jerry@assetomgt.com
website: www.assetomgt.com
Demand for single office units still going strong in quiet market
Demand for single office units still going strong in quiet market
Investors turn more cautious, but small firms still interested in strata-titled offices
By Fiona Chan, Property Reporter
ALL has turned quiet on the housing front, but some other segments of the property market appear to have escaped that fate.
Still going strong in particular are sales of single office units in larger commercial buildings. Known as strata-titled offices, these properties recorded active demand in the fourth quarter last year, even as home sales were taking a breather.
A healthy 13 transactions of strata offices occurred between October and December, up from only five in the previous quarter, according to data from CB Richard Ellis (CBRE).
Most of the properties were in the city area - Suntec City, Tong Building in Orchard Road, Springleaf Tower in Anson Road - and changed hands at well above $2,000 per sq ft (psf), CBRE said.
Altogether, $750.8 million worth of strata offices were sold in the fourth quarter, bringing the total for last year to $1.7 billion - more than four times the figure for 2006.
Prices also rose solidly throughout the year. At Suntec City Tower 1, a favourite strata-office location, unit prices climbed about 50 per cent from just above $1,500 psf in January to almost $2,400 psf in December - the highest level in two years.
The steady take-up of single units is due largely to the wider boom in Singapore's office market. A shortage of offices, even as expanding businesses push up demand for space, has boosted prices and rents across the board, drawing much interest from investors, said CBRE's executive director of investment properties, Mr Jeremy Lake.
Singapore Property - Buy, Sell, Rent, Invest
Jerry Hansin (+65)9027 5537
email: jerry@assetomgt.com
website: www.assetomgt.com
Investors turn more cautious, but small firms still interested in strata-titled offices
By Fiona Chan, Property Reporter
ALL has turned quiet on the housing front, but some other segments of the property market appear to have escaped that fate.
Still going strong in particular are sales of single office units in larger commercial buildings. Known as strata-titled offices, these properties recorded active demand in the fourth quarter last year, even as home sales were taking a breather.
A healthy 13 transactions of strata offices occurred between October and December, up from only five in the previous quarter, according to data from CB Richard Ellis (CBRE).
Most of the properties were in the city area - Suntec City, Tong Building in Orchard Road, Springleaf Tower in Anson Road - and changed hands at well above $2,000 per sq ft (psf), CBRE said.
Altogether, $750.8 million worth of strata offices were sold in the fourth quarter, bringing the total for last year to $1.7 billion - more than four times the figure for 2006.
Prices also rose solidly throughout the year. At Suntec City Tower 1, a favourite strata-office location, unit prices climbed about 50 per cent from just above $1,500 psf in January to almost $2,400 psf in December - the highest level in two years.
The steady take-up of single units is due largely to the wider boom in Singapore's office market. A shortage of offices, even as expanding businesses push up demand for space, has boosted prices and rents across the board, drawing much interest from investors, said CBRE's executive director of investment properties, Mr Jeremy Lake.
Singapore Property - Buy, Sell, Rent, Invest
Jerry Hansin (+65)9027 5537
email: jerry@assetomgt.com
website: www.assetomgt.com
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