Remembering Lee Kuan Yew - Thank you - The nation with you in your final journey - See u in heaven

Remembering Lee Kuan Yew - Thank you - The nation with you in your final journey - See u in heaven
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Sunday, 26 July 2015

S'pore's private home vacancy rate soars to 7.9% in Q2, highest in nearly 10 years

S'pore's private home vacancy rate soars to 7.9% in Q2, highest in nearly 10 years
S'pore's private home vacancy rate soars to 7.9% in Q2, highest in nearly 10 years



SINGAPORE - The vacancy rate for private residential units rose 0.7 percentage points to 7.9 per cent for the second quarter of this year, according to Urban Redevelopment Authority data released on Friday.
It is the highest vacancy rate recorded since 8.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2005.
The high vacancy rate may be read as an indication of supply coming on stream faster than demand.
It could go up further as demand remains lacklustre.
As at the end of the second quarter, there was a total supply of 61,237 uncompleted private residential units in the pipeline, excluding executive condominiums (ECs).
Of this number, 24,435 units remained unsold.
On the EC front, a supply of 14,701 EC units are in the pipeline.
The EC vacancy rate fell by 1 percentage point to 14.1 per cent in the second quarter.
The Straits Times / Business                                                                     Published on Friday, 24 July 2015                               By Rennie Whang                                                                                                                                                                 S'pore's private home vacancy rate soars to 7.9% in Q2, highest in nearly 10 years 

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Rents down, vacancy rate up for retail space in Q2 : URA

Rents down, vacancy rate up for retail space in Q2 : URA 
Rents down, vacancy rate up for retail space in Q2 : URA 
SINGAPORE - Prices and rentals of retail space both dipped by 0.5 per cent in the second quarter of this year, according to data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority on Friday.
It was the second straight quarter of rental decline and comparable to the level seen early last year. Prices had stayed stable in the first quarter.
Vacancy rate of retail space rose 0.4 percentage points to 7.2 per cent for the second quarter, the highest in over four years.
SINGAPORE - Prices and rentals of retail space both dipped by 0.5 per cent in the second quarter of this year, according to data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority on Friday.
It was the second straight quarter of rental decline and comparable to the level seen early last year. Prices had stayed stable in the first quarter.
Vacancy rate of retail space rose 0.4 percentage points to 7.2 per cent for the second quarter, the highest in over four years.
Office prices rose 0.3 per cent in the quarter, after falling 0.1 per cent in the first quarter.
Vacancy rate of office space dipped by 0.4 percentage points to 9.8 per cent for the second quarter.
The Straits Times / Business                                                       Published on Friday, 24 July 2015     By Rennie Whang                              Rents down, vacancy rate up for retail space in Q2 : URA   
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Public housing market showing clean signs of stabilisation

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Parliament: Ramp up in building of BTO flats has not compromised quality, says Desmond Lee

         
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Strata Titles Board acts to clarify law in two condo spats

Strata Titles Board acts to clarify law in two condo spats
Strata Titles Board acts to clarify law in two condo spats

 Board will only intervene if management corp decision is 'improper', 'unreasonable'

The Strata Titles Board has moved to further clarify the law in disputes involving unit owners and condo management in two recent test cases.
Earlier this month, the board overruled a move by the management of Watermark Robertson Quay, which had refused to allow a unit owner to upgrade the electrical supply to her two shop units.
Ms Lee Lay Ting said she had struggled to find quality tenants because her electrical supply was 63 amps, one phase. She sought management corporation (MC) approval to upgrade the supply to 100 amps, three phase.
However, the MC of the development - which comprises 206 residential units and eight shop units - refused, saying "it had to reserve the spare power supply for future common areas' upgrading and improvement works".
Its lawyer, Mr Justin Chia, argued that electricity supply was part of common property and giving in to the request grants exclusive use of common property to Ms Lee, which would require approval of a resolution at a general meeting.
The board - consisting of Mr Alfonso Ang, Dr Tang Hang Wu and Mr Lee Coo - held that although unused electrical supply is not common property, the electrical switchboards and cables through which electricity is fed is common property. This meant that the board had powers under the Act to intervene to settle the spat if the MC was unreasonable.
Professional electrical engineers had testified there was sufficient spare capacity for Ms Lee's request to be allowed.
The board also heard that the management council was concerned that if the request was allowed, the shop units would operate 24-hour businesses, such as pizza delivery, which would affect residential units directly above the shops and also raise security issues with people loitering around.
The board found this concern "irrelevant" and suggested the MC could pass appropriate by-laws to address the 24-hour issue.
In judgment grounds released this month, it said the MC's refusal of Ms Lee' s request was improper as it had failed to take into account a relevant consideration - that there was spare capacity in the engineers' opinion. The MC was ordered to pay $18,000 in costs to Ms Lee and allow her to upgrade her electrical supply
The board made clear that it will intervene under the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act (BMSMA) only in cases where an MC's decision is "clearly improper and /or unreasonable".
Ms Lee's lawyers, Mr Toh Kok Seng and Mr Daniel Chen, in a
case update on law firm Lee & Lee's website, said: "This is the first case in which management corporation's duties have been considered in depth in relation to a request for electrical upgrading."
Meanwhile, in the second test case involving the Pandan Valley condo in Holland Village, the board ruled that a defective drainage pipe serving an upper-floor unit but which protruded through the ceiling to a lower-floor unit would have to be fixed by the upper unit's owner.
It overruled the Building and Construction Authority's (BCA) advice that the lower-unit owner should pay the bill.
Ms Ong Siew Seo had sought to be reimbursed by lower-floor unit owner Sebastian Ong for the $1,500 she paid in repair and painting and repair works.
She argued that although the leaking pipe served her unit exclusively, the affected section was the responsibility of Mr Ong.
Ms Ong took her case to her Member of Parliament and produced a letter from the BCA supporting her view.
But the board, comprising Messrs Seng Kwang Boon, Lai Huen Poh and Tan Kian Hoon, disagreed, pointing out that there is nothing in the BMSMA to "imply the change of responsibility for the owners of the defective pipes to another person".
The Straits Times / S'pore                                                   Published on Monday, 27 July 2015           By K.C Vijayan-Snr Law Correspondent                                                                                           Strata Titles Board acts to clarify law in two condo spats

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Two Cecil Street buildings being considered for sale

Two Cecil Street buildings being considered for sale
Two Cecil Street buildings being considered for sale

Move by owners likely prompted by stalling strata office market

The struggling strata office market may have prompted the owners of two adjacent buildings in Cecil Street to consider putting their properties up for sale.
Mr Cheong Sim Lam, whose family developed International Plaza, is understood to be asking $220 million for ICS Building, which is the former Aviva Building.
The 12-storey office building with two basements has a net lettable area of about 6,525 sq m and sits on a 920 sq m freehold site.
Mr Cheong bought 137 Cecil Street from Yi Kai Group and Fission Group shortly after the firms had paid $65 million for the property in July 2009. It is not known how much he paid as the transaction was through a sale of shares.
The owners of neighbouring Cecil House at 139 Cecil Street are also said to be considering selling at an asking price of $150 million.
Vibrant Group and DB2 Group bought the 11-storey office building from Mr Cheong in June last year for $110 million. Cecil House sits on a 737 sq m site with about 65 years left on its lease.
A Vibrant Group spokesman said it is waiting for building plans to be approved before it starts alteration work. The plan is to strata-subdivide and sell the property, he said.
Vibrant and DB2 are also part-owners of GSH Plaza, which has sold about 60 out of a total of 259 strata office units since launching in April. The owners are said to have reserved about 40 of these units, while caveats for 17 have been lodged at an average of $3,125 per square foot (psf).
Crown@Robinson, where caveats for eight units have been lodged at an average of $3,513 psf since its launch in April, also reflects the stalling strata office market.
Strata office sales were booming between 2011 and 2013 when many projects were launched. But the implementation of the total debt servicing ratio framework from June 2013 and the completion of some of these projects have constrained the market, said Savills Singapore research head Alan Cheong.
Developers have scaled down unit sizes to keep lump sum prices affordable, he noted. Units at GSH Plaza are priced from sizes of 480 sq ft to 1,700 sq ft, while those at Crown@Robinson are from 592 sq ft to 1,152 sq ft.
Added Mr Cheong: "End users find it challenging to fit into such unit sizes. Some recent completions have caused potential buyers to question if they will be able to find tenants."
For instance, Paya Lebar Square, where close to 57 per cent of the 556 strata office units are under 550 sq ft, has an occupancy of about 15 per cent. The development was completed in the fourth quarter of last year.
The Straits Times/ Business                        Published on Thursday, 23 July 2015                            By Rennie Whang                                         Two Cecil Street buildings being considered for sale
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Strata Titles Board acts to clarify law in two condo spats
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First hawker centre in Pasir Ris breaks ground, to open in 2017

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Parliament: Ramp up in building of BTO flats has not compromised quality, says Desmond Lee


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