Tampines EC 'presidential suite' to be priced at $2.05m

A S$2 million EC unit? What's next, S$3 million?? And this is supposedly on a $12,000 a month household income!

The Straits Times
www.straitstimes.com
Published on Dec 27, 2012
Tampines EC 'presidential suite' to be priced at $2.05m

By Esther Teo property reporter

THE monster 4,349 sq ft "presidential suite" at an executive condominium (EC) project in Tampines will be the first EC unit to eclipse the $2 million mark if sold at its launch this weekend.

The Straits Times understands that the penthouse unit at 514-unit CityLife @ Tampines, which comes with a roof terrace of about 1,600 sq ft, will be priced at about $2.05 million - or $470 per sq ft (psf).

The unit price rises to $744 psf if only liveable space is counted.

If sold, the overall price will set a new record for an EC - the latest in a string of sky-high prices that have raised eyebrows and led to a raging debate on whether buyers of such expensive ECs should be entitled to Housing Board grants.

These public-private housing hybrids are pushing size and price boundaries, with large, luxurious units that come with fancy designs, rivalling even that of private homes.

The current record is held by a 2,845 sq ft penthouse unit at Heron Bay in Upper Serangoon that fetched an eye-popping $1.77 million in October.

Potential home buyers thronged the showflat in Tampines Avenue 7 yesterday - the first day of the showflat preview - although bookings will start only on Saturday.

All three-bedroom units and smaller will be priced under $1 million with average prices at $770 psf.

This is slightly lower than the median price of $806 psf for the 26 units sold last month at The Tampines Trilliant, another EC project next to CityLife.

Average prices at The Tampines Trilliant, however, were $766 psf when the project was launched in February.

CityLife was more than three times subscribed with about 1,800 applications received by the deadline earlier this month.

About 30 per cent of sales hotline inquiries the project received were geared towards either the presidential suite or the six skysuites, its marketing agent said.

The project is being developed by a consortium comprising Amara Holdings, Kay Lim Holdings and SingXpress Land.

esthert@sph.com.sg

How come $12K gross income can purchase property value >1.2M ???



Unless they borrow less by higher down payment... subsidise by their rish parent.

Yes, from what I heard the downpayment is paid for by rich parents, and the loan quantum they take up may be less than 80%. Even then, I suspect the parents may also help to pay for part of the installment?

(27-12-2012, 02:02 PM)Musicwhiz Wrote: Yes, from what I heard the downpayment is paid for by rich parents, and the loan quantum they take up may be less than 80%. Even then, I suspect the parents may also help to pay for part of the installment?

This is really a misstep by HDB. They should have limited the max sale price of each unit of EC to within the affordability range of $12k/month income which is about $1mil to $1.2mil.(4-5 bedroom units)
Now, the entire Singapore taxpayers are subsidizing the rich kids for their penthouses. Simply ridiculous.
These rich kids are not sandwiched class. They are premium white truffles.

Hey, I do not mind they sell cheap cheap 3-rooms flat to poor families.
But, this is really too much.
*&^%%$$-?"!@##$#%

yes agreed! MBT screwed up BIG TIME over this! now Khaw has to TAKE ACTION!!!

these rich kids should be buying PTE condos!!!

Developers buy subsided land and sell at PTE condos prices!! HUGE PROFITS!

taxpayers are paying for them!!!
---------------------------------------------------------------

Exercise Flexibility Within Spirit of Policy
November 23, 2012

EC developers have flexibility in designing and pricing their units. But they must remember the policy intent of EC and the spirit of the EC policy. EC is to help Singaporean families earning within $12,000 per month acquire a condominium at below market rate. This is achieved through zoning and tendering out the land as specific for EC, thus allowing the developer to acquire it cheaper than private condominium land.


All EC applicants must therefore meet
(a) the income criteria, as evidenced by payslips and/or income tax returns; and
(b) the public housing subsidy criteria, i.e. not having already bought two subsidised flats before.

The recent media highlight on an EC penthouse supposedly sold for $1.77 mil has raised some eyebrows.

There is now another developer going to market a luxurious penthouse. I expect the developer to have done his calculations, to ensure that the unit will be affordable for the targeted EC applicants.

We provide EC developers with much flexibility, but they must be mindful that flexibility must be exercised in keeping with the intent and spirit of the EC policy.

(27-12-2012, 02:24 PM)yeokiwi Wrote:

(27-12-2012, 02:02 PM)Musicwhiz Wrote: Yes, from what I heard the downpayment is paid for by rich parents, and the loan quantum they take up may be less than 80%. Even then, I suspect the parents may also help to pay for part of the installment?

This is really a misstep by HDB. They should have limited the max sale price of each unit of EC to within the affordability range of $12k/month income which is about $1mil to $1.2mil.(4-5 bedroom units)
Now, the entire Singapore taxpayers are subsidizing the rich kids for their penthouses. Simply ridiculous.
These rich kids are not sandwiched class. They are premium white truffles.

Hey, I do not mind they sell cheap cheap 3-rooms flat to poor families.
But, this is really too much.
*&^%%$$-?"!@##$#%

The HDB grants have been taken as entitlements instead of subsidies, which is not right IMO

Assuming a $100/psf difference between EC and PC, the market subsidy amounts to
4349 * 100 = $434900
+
$30000 CPF housing grant
= $474900!

A typical 4rm HDB standard flat in suburb is selling around $280k. 4rm resale is around $450k. The market subsidy is only around 200k.

The govt should build more home with adequate size (900 ~ 1400 sqft). In this super-jumbo penthouse case, it is totally lopsided. How can HDB allow such as misuse of land ???

(27-12-2012, 02:24 PM)yeokiwi Wrote:

(27-12-2012, 02:02 PM)Musicwhiz Wrote: Yes, from what I heard the downpayment is paid for by rich parents, and the loan quantum they take up may be less than 80%. Even then, I suspect the parents may also help to pay for part of the installment?

This is really a misstep by HDB. They should have limited the max sale price of each unit of EC to within the affordability range of $12k/month income which is about $1mil to $1.2mil.(4-5 bedroom units)
Now, the entire Singapore taxpayers are subsidizing the rich kids for their penthouses. Simply ridiculous.
These rich kids are not sandwiched class. They are premium white truffles.

Hey, I do not mind they sell cheap cheap 3-rooms flat to poor families.
But, this is really too much.
*&^%%$$-?"!@##$#%

The developers are courting trouble by building such huge units for public housing. Heron Bay started the trend and now CityLife@ Tampines. Who knows, maybe all the upcoming EC developments will have such frills and extras - thereby pricing the units higher and higher in absolute terms.

Good luck to the next generation - this is what I call the start of inter-generational debt (Japan sounds familiar?)!

I somehow will think that the market will naturally correct itself. With US recovering and manufacturing actually moving out of China, the next decade will really depend on whether Asia can continue to sustain internal growth through urbanization and consumerism. If not, wealth will travel again to the next big thing then.