The recent property measures announced by Singapore Property have taken the heated market one step back. While the impact to the real estate market is to be further assessed, the market may most probably cool down for the coming 6 months. The imposed stamp duty over the 3 years could be taken as capital gain tax as form of penalty if you resell the property within 3 years of buying, and the HDB owners market is definitely stifled as the owner have to stay the minimum 5 years period before …

If you are looking for landed housing yet hoping for communal facilities such as security, swimming pool & gym, cluster housing may be a choice for you. Cluster housing appears like landed housing except each of the unit does not carry land title deed but strata title. Therefore they are also known as strata title landed housing. In terms of facilities, cluster housing shares communal facilities and common areas like other condominium developments. Therefore there will be a maintenance fee to be paid monthly.

In the tucked away prestigious district 11 …

Again we are seeing the developers’ sales of private homes surging to 82% month on month to 1,544 units in July from the low of 847 units in June, according to latest official figures.

In today’s sellers’ market, many of house owners are considering selling the houses at good price, trying to match the successful launches nearby. However I do sense signs of resistance in resale market from buyers, especially in older developments asking close to nearby new launched projects prices.
I understand all buyers would like to sell a price …

As requested by many readers, I have scanned the article on Balestier that was from The Edge, published on 12 Aug 2010 and will upload it soon.

Few days ago, I received a phone call from the Edge Editor, Cecilia Chow. She is the reader of Keithyip.com, and requested to have a phone interview as she is covering the topic of Balestier development.

Today I receive my weekly subscribed copy of the Edge. Under the Cover Story, Cecilia Chow has done a comprehensive review on the Renewal of Balestier. She has done a great job covering Balestier & Thomson property developments, therefore you should not miss out the issue.
You are able to find my views from the article …

Remember just years ago that no lease top-up was granted for Marina House’s application for lease top up was being turned down, although HMC Building nearby (being developed into Lumiere condo) got a lease top-up to 99 years earlier?
In the land scarce Singapore, people are getting more receptive to leasehold properties, being it commercial or residential. Therefore if your property is sitting on leasehold and expiring soon, you might be considering applying for lease topping up. And the approval rate is very much dependent on the government’s long term planning …

You would not have missed this ‘Gaudi’ roof design when you drive past the Novena area along the CTE. This eye catching roof with distinctive onion shaped domes belongs to the white apartment along Keng Lee Road called Haniffa.

You are able to see Muslim motiff cladding around the white apartment. This 12 storey building is owned by a Muslim family with 3 generations living under the same roof. Businessman Mohamed Haniffa, 70, spent $9 million in constructing the apartment block to house his family of 15 and five household helpers.

I …

To Continued from Part 1
INTRODUCTION
Let focus this part of article on the newly launched Thomson 368 by CDL.
368 Thomson is sitting at the former developments of Concorde Residences, Bright Building & Balestier Court. It is sitting on a freehold land of slightly more than 60,000 sf. It consists of a residential tower of 36 storey with 157 units, which is expected to be completed in year 2015.
Enough say of the surrounding site in my earlier articles. What is ‘striking’ is that the residential enclave of CDL’s empire being broken up …

11 Bassein Road has always appeared more of a historical site to me whenever I take a turn from Balestier Road to go to Mandalay Road. The reason being that I witness the intriguing structural ‘remains’ on the piece of plot with hoarding surrounding the site.
From the recent news on Pastoral view at 5 Bassein Road going enbloc, then I realised the plot of land belonged to OCBC bank.

I thought this is a pretty good strategy, as the land area will be 51,395 sft based on the combined land area. …

Do you know how much will a developer has to pump into a showflat for its launch? Depending on the size of the showflat, the cost will run up to few millions including the steel structure and interior fit out works. After all, the success of the launch relies very much on the Wow effect of the showflat that it is able to stir up the purchaser’s desire to put down the downpayment and sign the S&P. Therefore all developer are not stingy in spending on showflat in order to …