All 338 units sold at Far East's The Tennery

 

ALL units of The Tennery, a home office or so-called Soho-style project in Bukit Panjang, have been sold, developer Far East Organization said yesterday.

It said all 338 of the 'small office, home office' (Soho) apartments were sold over the span of a year, at prices averaging $1,200 per sq ft. More than 80 per cent of the buyers were Singaporeans and permanent residents.

As of Dec 1, all but one of the units had been sold.

'Soho' is a marketing term used by developers and their property agents, and does not refer to a specific development type granted approval by the Urban Redevelopment Authority.

The units typically come with space that can be customised as offices, as well as connectivity technology.

The Soho apartments at The Tennery are one- and two-bedroom units with a floor-to-ceiling height of 3.4m. The one-bedroom flats range from 619 sq ft to 640 sq ft, while the two-bedroom flats range from 860 sq ft to 950 sq ft.

The 99-year leasehold development is estimated to be completed in 2014.

'The Soho lifestyle is a growing trend, and buyers are increasingly attracted to integrated developments that give them the flexibility to live, work and play within the same location,' said Mr Chia Boon Kuah, Far East's chief operating officer of property sales and executive director.

The Tennery is above the LRT-connected 121,000 sq ft Junction 10 mall, which recently got its temporary occupation permit and is 90 per cent occupied.

Junction 10 tenants 'are in the process of fitting out their units', Far East said, with the first tenants due to start operations next week.

Tenants include Giant, Watsons, Guardian, BreadTalk, ToastBox, BBQ Chicken and Kumon.

With the resumption of the Bukit Panjang LRT service to Junction 10 today, commuters will have access to the LRT station on the third storey of the mall, Far East said.

Mr Chia added that Far East was also getting 'strong interest' from buyers in its latest Soho project, The Hillier, located in Hillview Avenue.

Like The Tennery, The Hillier is also integrated with a mall, the hillV2, which will include stores like New York gourmet grocers Dean & Deluca.

Source: The Straits Times – 30 December 2011

New property rules may go if economy worsens: Analysts

Analysts say the latest round of property cooling measures is unlikely to be a permanent feature in Singapore if the property market grinds to a standstill amid the upcoming economic downturn.

But if home prices continue surging despite the new rules, buyers can expect that the measures will stay.

Developers have been sounding the alarm bell since the new rules were announced, saying that they could drive down home values, turn away foreign investment, and thus potentially damage an already fragile economy.

At Tuesday's Real Estate Developers Association of Singapore's 52nd anniversary dinner, president Wong Heang Fine warned of a knock-on effect on mortgages resulting in a possible decline in home equity values and, consequently, shrinking wealth, he said.

The Government has argued that the measures, which include an additional buyer's stamp duty of 10 per cent on foreigners buying homes, are necessary to maintain a sustainable property market.

At the dinner, Minister of State for National Development Tan Chuan-Jin said he did not expect developers to welcome the measures, but that given the volatile equity markets and a worsening economic situation, 'our small property market is attractive to foreign funds'. The moves are meant 'to moderate such investment demand in order to avoid the need for a major correction down the road.'

The outspoken views from the property developers have raised questions if the measures are here to stay.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch economist Chua Hak Bin has said that the new stamp duty could be permanent, as it is a political step in line with the Government's aim to differentiate the privileges and rights of Singaporeans, permanent residents and foreigners.

But property consultants reckon that if the property market turns south too rapidly, the Government will look to remove the new rules.

While the recent measures may seem to be more political rather than economic, I believe the Government... will relax the measures if the economic situation worsens significantly.

After all, it would not be politically acceptable if the property market comes down and people start blaming the Government for all the cooling measures which may have triggered or further exacerbated the downturn.

Typically, property cooling measures last for an average of two to 2-1/2 years. Most of the time, such measures are removed due to a sharp slowdown in Singapore's economic performance.

Associate Professor Sing Tien Foo of the National University of Singapore's department of real estate agreed that the measures will likely be removed if the property market slows down too much.

However, if prices continue to rise in the face of these tightening measures, the new rules will likely remain in place, he added, as measures targeting the private market are likely to have a trickle-down effect on the public market.

'I think the Government's main concern is more on public housing. It has to make sure that public housing remains affordable, but the private and public markets are quite integrated in Singapore,' he said.

Source: The Straits Times – 29 December 2011

Public Housing Policy Undergoes Rebuilding

PUBLIC housing underwent a sea change this year, with cornerstone policies up- ended in response to fresh challenges and the demands of an increasingly vocal population.

Red-hot demand and the resulting record high prices for homes made the affordability of public housing one of the hottest topics in May's general election.

When the dust settled, the Ministry of National Development (MND), which oversees the Housing Board (HDB), found itself being led by a new pair of hands.

Out went Mr Mah Bow Tan after 11 years at the helm, and in came Mr Khaw Boon Wan, who had volunteered for the ministerial hot seat.

Mr Khaw, who had kept a blog in his previous job as health minister, transplanted this practice to his new ministry. His 'Housing Matters' blog became the first to explain housing issues; he also used his Facebook page to respond personally to questions.

On his watch, the HDB saw a slew of policy shifts that slaughtered some sacred cows in public housing policy.

The most surprising one came in August, with the raising of the monthly income ceiling from $8,000 to $10,000 for build-to-order flats, and from $10,000 to $12,000 for executive condominiums.

The Government had defended the 17-year-old income ceilings as relevant as recently as five months before this.

A second policy change was in making the 'build-to-order' policy one of 'just build': Where the HDB used to launch a construction tender for such flats only when at least 70 per cent of the units had been sold, it now calls for tenders as soon as architectural drawings and tender documents are ready. This has enabled a record 25,200 build-to-order flats to be launched this year.

Third, the HDB signalled it will look into building more flats in mature estates, a departure from its previous policy of offering new flats only in new towns.

Fourth, the ministry announced a review of the formerly popular Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS), following public outrage over a Centrale 8 DBSS unit in Tampines bearing an original price tag of $880,000.

DBSS projects were HDB's experiment in farming out the development of public housing to private developers.

Land sales for such projects have since been suspended, and the future of the scheme has yet to be decided.

Along with the policy changes, an unprecedented amount of information was made public, mostly through Mr Khaw's blog. He unveiled the profile of home buyers, application rates for first- and second-time buyers, and analysed supply numbers.

However, the HDB stopped issuing the quarterly median cash-over-valuation (COV) figure - which is the cash paid by buyers above a flat's valuation - saying it may not be representative of the market.

The changes prompted industry observers to dub 2011 an unprecedented year in public housing.

Source: The Straits Times – 28 December 2011

Merry Christmas To Everyone!!!

As the snowflakes fall and the cries from children for their present from Santa, 2011 will soon come to a close.

It had been adventurous this year, with many challenges to overcome and we had made it through with your continual support.

We would like to say a big “Thank You” and:

“A Merry Christmas & A Prosperous New Year”

May this season brings along many more joyful and happy events and moments to everyone.

- Jason Synn Tan :)

Chinese New Year Cards 2011 Launched!

 

Prior to last friday's preview session for the Chinese New Year Cards, I am pleased to launch our chinese new year cards with some style this week! Kindly look out for our CNY cards posters in our outlets and this time we are pushing out 23 front designs for you to choose from.

Here is the deal, you may make the cards with A5 Size, A6 Size Postcards or if you prefer the folded style, we have the ones from A5 Folds to A6! IDEAS has been listening, and this time, we are giving away Pink envelopes together with our folded cards!

For a bigger view you are free to visit the gallery at

https://www.dropbox.com/gallery/17933551/1/CNYCards?h=fe406c

So what are you waiting for? Get your own Personalised Chinese New Year Greeting Cards Today!

- Jason Synn Tan

Chinese New Year Cards - Preview

Enough Said...

CNY is around the corner and before 2011 ends, we had pushed out the CNY cards from our colleagues and the progress has been tremendous, we are currently preparing for the lunch of this wonderful item for everyone. Kindly be patient and we will roll out this as soon as possible.

One of the news that I am able to share with everyone is that, we will be giving away pink envelopes this time round with every folded cards. That is there will be no extra charge!

Kindly let me know if there is anything that you wish to clarify...Call me!

Adios!

- Jason (Synn) Tan

RPI With Charity - HSR

  

Bangkok was nearly destroyed by a serious flood of the century. Mr Patrick Liew had actually started a event in Kallang Theatre to attract people with the cause to raise money to help the refugees back onto their feet. They had raised about $136,000 in this exercise. While he was planning the event. IDEAS has been part of the plan all along, while sponsoring decorative items like Banner and Certificates as part of the strength that we can contribute.

We hope that such actions will make the world a much better place. Thus here on my workblog I thank Patrick and company for the opportunity that we can help.

- Jason

Sticker Labels - Preview

Ever wanted to have your something which you can stick to a generic card to also include your photograph and details in FULL COLOR?

Introducing the Sticker labels. They are measured about 6cm x 2cm across and this is the newest item that we are currently pushing out into the market this December. The advertising brochures will be out soon but alas for my viewers...this come to you well in advance!

Price?

$30 for 1Kpcs, $100 for 5Kpcs.

Sound too good to be true? I mean the quantity as in the small stickers quantity, not 5Kpcs of A3 size as shown in the photo.

Oh yeah one more thing before I forget, this stickers are printed on matte paper so there won't be easily peeled of or easily scratched off like on mirror-coated stickers. This makes sure that the photo and anything that is printed on it retains it's color no matter in any angle. (The reflection on this photo is actually the plastic cover it comes with...YES! It comes with a plastic sheet to protect your stickers). So what else you want to know? Call me today!!!

-Jason (Synn) Tan.