Ang Mo Kio attracting many suitors, high prices

District now a top draw for its accessibility, amenities and job opportunities nearby

A RECENT battle over a condominium site should silence those who still doubt whether Ang Mo Kio is becoming a property hot spot.

The land attracted 14 suitors and eventually went for more than $200 million – probably a record bid for a suburban district plot.

Such is the growing appeal of the district. Homes in Ang Mo Kio, well positioned just north of central Singapore, command a premium compared to those further out.

Four-room resale flats sold at a median price of $260,000 in the April-June period, 30 per cent higher than those in Yishun.

ERA Singapore’s assistant vice-president, Mr Eugene Lim, estimates that prices of resale Housing Board (HDB) flats in Ang Mo Kio have grown 10 to 20 per cent so far this year.

Private housing is thriving as well.

Consultancy Knight Frank said prices at Castle Green condo along Yio Chu Kang Road grew 39 per cent this year to hit $584 per sq ft (psf) in the July-

September period, while Grandeur 8 in Ang Mo Kio Central 3 rose 26.8 per cent to $606 psf.

It is a sign of things to come, given the advantages Ang Mo Kio has to offer.

Key among these advantages is Ang Mo Kio Hub, a mall in the heart of town that is integrated with an airconditioned bus interchange. It was completed last year and sits just across the road from the Ang Mo Kio MRT station.

Knight Frank’s director of research and consultancy, Mr Nicholas Mak, puts that development on par with major regional retail centres like Causeway Point, Tampines Mall and Jurong Point.

Ang Mo Kio Hub even has an edge over them, as it is far closer to the central business district – about 15 minutes by train from Orchard Road.

This means good demand from tenants wanting to be in flats close to the action. Four-room flats rented for a median $1,000 from April to June, while five-room units went for $1,300.

Upcoming developments may add more vibrancy to the area. The HDB last month put up for sale a plum 1.7ha plot along Ang Mo Kio Street 52, which private developers can use to build about 550 homes.

Private companies are being involved in designing, building and selling public housing in two other projects elsewhere in Singapore – and the idea looks a winner.

The first consisted of condominium-like flats in Tampines that sold like hot cakes last year, while the second, in Boon Keng, is expected to be equally well-received.

The Ang Mo Kio plot is expected to get just as enthusiastic a response.

Add to this the dogfight over a 0.6ha private condominium plot near Ang Mo Kio Hub along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8.

Far East Organization trumped 13 rivals with a record bid of $202.9 million, or $601 psf per plot ratio.

Far East’s break-even cost is estimated to be around $900 to $1,000 psf, which means apartments will likely be priced at a record $1,100 to $1,200 psf.

Savills Singapore director of marketing and business development Ku Swee Yong believes this could lead to higher prices in the area if sellers use future condo units there as a pricing benchmark.

All in, Ang Mo Kio is ‘one of the few housing estates in Singapore’ that is accessible, has well-developed amenities and job opportunities in clean and well-organised industrial estates nearby, says Mr Mak.

PropNex senior associate manager Lester Tan and ERA’s Mr Lim expect HDB prices in the area to rise by 10 to 20 per cent by the end of next year.

Mr Mak, meanwhile, expects condo prices to grow by 25 to 30 per cent this year and by 15 to 20 per cent next year.

 

Source: The Sunday Times 7 Oct 07

Mad dash before new en bloc rules took effect

With just one day’s notice of the start of new rules, agents scrambled to secure last few owners’ signatures to seal collective sales

IT WAS real estate’s version of The Amazing Race: In just five frantic hours on Wednesday, Mr Jeffrey Goh had to convince eight people at three different properties to back a collective sale.

Fall short and months of hard slog by the head of investment sales at Newman & Goh would have been for nothing.

With the clock ticking down to midnight – when new collective-sale rules would be enforced requiring uncompleted sales to be restarted – Mr Goh and his team scrambled like fighter pilots.

Mr Goh worked the phones from the office, concentrating mainly on a conference call with an owner based in Shanghai, while his colleagues fanned out to the other locations on a charm offensive.

At 10.45pm, the last owner from a River Valley estate gave his consent.

At 11.30pm, the Newton Lodge owner in Shanghai faxed the collective-sale agreement with his signature on the dotted line.

There was still a hold-out at an Orchard Road estate but, finally, the word came through – it was a ‘yes’!

Said Mr Goh: ‘You won’t believe it, we got that signature at 11.35pm.’

By midnight, they had secured the required 80 per cent owners’ consent for all three properties.

The mad dash was triggered by the surprise announcement last Wednesday that new collective-sale rules, which were passed by Parliament two weeks ago, would take effect the next day.

The new rules make the collective-sale process more transparent. For example, members of a sale committee have to be elected at a general meeting, and the sale agreement must be signed by owners in the presence of a lawyer.

But it also meant that those who had not gathered consent from the required number of owners – 80 per cent of owners by share value, or 90 per cent for estates less than 10 years old – would have to restart the entire process.

The lack of much notice about the start date for the new rules caught out many in the industry.

‘It came as a total surprise,’ said Mr Goh, who found out only at 5pm on Wednesday about the new laws kicking in. ‘We thought it was going to be in mid- or late October.’

Marketing agents were knocking on doors, cajoling owners right up to the last minute.

‘We had to go over matters of apportionment again and slowly explain to owners why things were done in a certain way,’ said Mr Goh.

Credo managing director Karamjit Singh said: ‘For the last few signatures, it’s about going and reaching out on a personalised basis.’

His company was hoping to close six deals in the last few months. Four made the deadline.

Among them was Chestnut Ville in Upper Bukit Timah where the last signature was secured at 10pm on Wednesday.

Sale committee chairman Tan Bak Choon, 59, was relieved that they made it.

With the new rules, he said, ‘lawyers and agents are definitely going to charge more’.

Some estates, such as Robin Court in Bukit Timah, did not take any chances. Mr Ivan Chua, 36, chairman of its sale committee, said the last signature was secured on Sept 20, when the amendment Bill was being pushed through Parliament.

He had been working for two years to get the sale of the 15-unit estate through and reckons it was the impending change that finally tipped the scales.

The Sunday Times has learnt that at least five properties made the midnight deadline – but others fell short.

Mr Steven Ming, director of investment sales at Savills Singapore, said his team missed out on a couple of signatures for one development despite working up to midnight.

‘We were one or two units shy. It was very disappointing,’ he said. He declined to name the development.

But for Mr Goh, the adrenalin rush in the hour leading to midnight was one to savour: ‘It was nerve-wracking and exciting. Just like the last 50m dash in a race.’

That personal touch

‘For the last few signatures, it’s about going and reaching out on a personalised basis.’

MR KARAMJIT SINGH, managing director of Credo, which was hoping to close six deals in the last few months. Four made the deadline. The last signature was secured at 10pm on Wednesday Narrow miss

‘We were one or two units shy. It was very disappointing.’

MR STEVEN MING, director of investment sales at Savills Singapore, whose team missed out on a couple of signatures for one development despite working up to midnight

Source: The Sunday Times 7 Oct 07