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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 376
“Are these people really so health conscious, very achievable. So I immediately signed up
or are they just going after the vouchers?” for the challenge and downloaded the Healthy
365 app.
“Mommy, they have vouchers from my
favorite milk tea franchise too. If you don’t When week one began, I even added a 1-
need them, you can give them to me,” said hour badminton game on top of my exercise
my daughter. routine, thinking that I could redeem the $5
milk tea voucher for my daughter in no time.
The next day I chanced upon The Greater
Singapore Workout! video by comedian Chua Everything went well until Thursday. I went for
Enlai. I found his four dance moves very an evening stroll along the canal after a
funny and visited the National Steps heavy downpour. It was a bit chilly with an
Challenge website. occasional drizzle. The next day I started
feeling unwell and subsequently came down
Getting the healthpoints sounds like a piece
with a flu.
of cake to me: Going for my morning jog is
3,000 steps. Walking to the market clocks up As I lay on the bed to check my healthpoints,
2,000. Heading for a walk after dinner is to my horror, the data in my Samsung Health
another 5,000. Climbing up and down the was not synchronized with Healthy 365.
stairs at home is easily 500 steps per day. Nothing had been captured!
Together with my weekly yoga and pilates When the target set is not reached, the effort
classes, the target of 10,000 steps a day is made must be recognized.
So I told my daughter how hard I had been Why buyers are backing off
exercising for days just to get her a cup of
This week I browsed the website of
tasty milk tea. Now all my efforts were in vain.
Squarefoot to check the number of sold units
“Can I have your handphone? … see, you versus returned units for the newly-launched
just have to keep shaking your phone like this condo projects.
until it clocks up a few thousand steps.”
I was surprised to see the extraordinarily high
Can the app tell the difference between points percentage of sold units being returned to
gained by exercising versus shaking? How developers last month in October, especially
can the Health Promotion Board guarantee for Stirling Residences (48%), The Tapestry
that no participant cheats in the challenge? (40%), Park Colonial (38%) and Riverfront
Do they conduct random checks or audits to Residences (27%).
ensure that we all follow the rules? If
everybody cheats by shaking their phone,
what is the point of working so hard to
accumulate healthpoints?
I thought Orange Tee & Tie told The Straits units sold and returned from the first day of
Times that the October total new sale number launch to end of last month.
“shows that demand for new homes at
existing launches have seen a pick-up after
the (July 6) measures”?
Park Colonial and Daintree Residence also from the market. (Read my earlier blog post
have high return rate of 20 percent. Affinity at “How the 4% Buyer’s Stamp Duty makes
Serangoon and Twin Vew follow closely speculators look foolish again”.)
behind with 16 percent and 14 percent
I could only think of three possible reasons
respectively.
behind the large number of returned units:
I thought The Straits Times just said the top-
Reason #1: Buyer’s Remorse
selling project last month was the Affinity at
Serangoon? Buyers at the sales galleries are impulsive or
are being pressured by their property agent.
In 2017, the high number of returned units
They commit without checking their sums or
may be the result of the Extended Option
doing due diligence.
Scheme – when buyers chose to exercise the
Option to Purchase on a much later date, Reason #2: Financing Problem
betting on the government’s relaxation of Buyers find they have insufficient capital or
ABSD. their housing loan applications are being
But with March’s 4 percent Buyer Stamp Duty rejected by the banks after signing the option.
and July’s additional property curbs, by now With rising interest rates and worsening
we should all know that the cooling measures global economy, banks are more cautious in
are here to stay. All types of deferred granting mortgages.
payment schemes should have disappeared
Developers and their marketing agents are The findings below could make accountants
not completely honest. To report impressive frowned upon because almost none of the
sales results, they are blowing their own projects have their sales numbers tally with
trumpet. The number of units sold may each other.
include buyers who submit their cheques,
“book” a unit or only indicate their interest.
developer Chip Eng Seng told the media that June. And there is no transaction before
Park Colonial is now 65.1 percent sold. This June. Where have the rest of the 27 units
is exactly 524 out of 805 units. gone?
However, there are only 511 transactions for Mysterious Case #3: More missing units
this project in the URA website as of end after launch weekend
October. So we assume 13 deals closed in
After the May 5 and 6 weekend, The
October have their options exercised in
Business Times has a property article titled
November. But according to Squarefoot, after
“CSC Land sells 85% of Twin Vew units on
deducting 115 returned units, the project only
launch weekend”. It is an impressive sale of
sold 473 units or 58.7 percent sold.
442 out of 520 units. The mysterious part is:
Mysterious Case #2: Missing deals closed For the month of May, there are only 384
during launch weekend transactions for Twin Vew in the URA
database. What happened to the rest of the
Still remember The Business Times said
58 units? Squarefoot data shows out of the
“Oxley Holdings has had 112 of the 300 units
454 units sold that month, 68 units have been
launched for Phase I sold over its official
returned to the developer.
launch weekend (June 2-3)” for Affinity at
Serangoon? Well, URA’s private residential Can someone explain the large discrepancy
property transactions database shows that between the sales numbers claimed by the
there are only 85 transactions of the project in developers and the actual caveats lodged
with the Singapore Land Authority? How can As laymen of the property industry, maybe we
the system guarantee that no industry shouldn’t take too seriously whatever property
stakeholder cheats in their reporting? Did any news and sales numbers the developers,
authority care to conduct an audit to verify the property agencies, local papers or property
validity of these sales numbers shared to the portals come out with these days.
public?
By guest contributor Property Soul, a
If everybody cheats by plucking numbers out successful property investor, blogger, and
of the air to exaggerate their sales result in author of the No B.S. Guide to Property
new projects, why would any developer still Investment.
bother to buy a good location, improve condo
facilities, design livable layouts, and set
reasonable pricing to attract buyers?
Non-Landed Residential Resale Property Transactions for the Week of Nov 18 – Nov 27