Public housing demand continues to be brisk in 2008

By Wong Siew Ying, Channel NewsAsia
11 March 2008 1742 hrs

SINGAPORE: The demand for public housing continues to be brisk. HDB's first build-to-order project this year at Punggol Spring is already four times oversubscribed.

New flats aside, property agents have also described the HDB resale market as the kingpin for the real estate sector in 2008.

The application for Punggol Spring, where 494 units of four-room flats will be built, will not close until 17 March, but the project is already oversubscribed with 2,093 applications.

Punggol Spring is part of the 4500 new flats that HDB has committed to build for the first half of this year. Prices of the Punggol Spring flats range from S$204,000 to S$259,000.

Apart from this build-to-order development, HDB's bi-monthly sale of four-room and larger flats in February also drew overwhelming response with over 10,000 flat buyers vying for just 278 units.

Eugene Lim, associate director of ERA, said: "They are usually the first timers and they do not have so much cash with them, so as the norm is cash over value for the resale market, so inevitably, they are being pushed to the new flat market where they don't have to come up with as much cash or don't need to come up with any cash at all."

Still, transaction volume in the HDB resale market is expected to remain strong.

Industry players project 30,000 units to be sold in 2008, 1,000 more than last year.

Price-wise, it is estimated to increase by about ten per cent in 2008, compared to over 17 per cent in 2007.

Property agents said the spike was partly due to the sharp rise in cash over valuation (COV). But they added this is likely to change as buyers have hit a threshold when it comes to forking out more cash.

Propnex CEO Mohamed Ismail said: "The central areas were getting as high as S$100,000 for Queenstown, Bukit Merah, Toa Payoh, but such prices are not sustainable in the long term. Therefore, I do foresee (for) the very high-end side in the central location, the COV (will) dip quite drastically."

Some property agents said the COV for flats in the central region will dip by 20 per cent within the next three months. As of the fourth quarter of last year, the average COV for the area was about S$35,000 to S$40,000.

Despite the high demand for flats, agents are confident there will be enough to go around, whether it is for families or singles.

They also welcome HDB's new incentive to offer an extra S$9,000 grant to singles who buy a resale flat and live with their parents.

The scheme, however, is unlikely to have any impact on the market given the small segment it serves. - CNA/ac

Punggol 21 Plus masterplan is a long-term one: Grace Fu

By Valarie Tan, Channel NewsAsia
15 September 2007

SINGAPORE : The new Punggol 21 Plus is a long-term plan and is thus not expected to be completed in the next five years.

Minister of State for National Development, Grace Fu, says the masterplan, announced recently, will take time to study and develop.

She was responding to a query at a dialogue with residents on Saturday afternoon.

The majority of participants at the dialogue said yes to a new waterway lifestyle at Punggol 21 Plus.

They especially look forward to living just steps away from a man-made river built right in the heart of Punggol.

But some residents were impatient about the estate's development plans.

Desmond Koh, Resident, Mountbatten, says: "Do I have to wait another 10 years later to meet again and give feedback on Punggol? How fast does this development move because I have some friends staying in Punggol. They say the LRT there is not very developed."

Punggol 21 was initiated some 10 years ago in 1996 and was pitted to be the next lively housing estate in Singapore with over 90,000 public and private units.

But then the economic crisis kicked in and demand for new flats dipped and construction slowed down.

Still, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) says new flats and facilities will continue to be built according to demand.

Ms Fu says: "This is a long-term project so do not expect to see this in the next few years. It's something that we're going to work on definitely. It's going to go into the plan but it will take some time. We will build flats across the island but not in a very big way. The major development will be in Punggol, in Sengkang.

"That's really the plan that we have. As to how many flats how many units, we have to adapt those plans according to needs. We do go through economic cycles and people do change their plans. We have cases of lots of people queueing up saying they want to buy new flats, and in a year later, the queue actually disappeared because we went through a downturn."

Tay Kim Poh, CEO, HDB, says: "We're building about 2,000 to 3,000 flats a year (in Punggol). Today we have about close to 19,000 flats completed or under construction on the ground. Within the next few years, we're going to see a lot more flats coming up. Most of them will be located near the town centre. That will give us enough catchment to proceed with the developments of the town centre."

Punggol 21 Plus is part of the HDB "Remaking The Heartlands" plan.

And so far the plans have been seen by over 33,000 people at exhibitions in Toa Payoh, Tampines and Punggol

While many welcome the new flat designs, a majority of them were concerned about costs, and hope that the new flat units will not come with too high a premium.

But according to feedback to HDB, 81 percent of residents said they were willing to pay more for service and conservancy to enjoy the new flat designs.

About half of them said they were willing to pay above S$10 more than the usual rates. - CNA/ch

Comment: Channel 5 reports a statement from PUB about sustainable construction, reusing soil being dug up to be used for the new riverbed.*

*Needs to be verified

It's Time To Dream Again ...

Value of flats in Punggol will go up as area is developed

Nazry Bahrawi
nazry@mediacorp.com.sg
Aug 21 2007 (TODAY)

FOR several years, their "Punggol Dream" of waterfront living was put on
hold, even as they had to contend with the lack of shopping facilities,
less-than-perfect public transport and no sports stadium.

But the upgraded Punggol 21+ vision unveiled by Prime Minister Lee Hsien
Loong on Sunday has given residents not only bigger things to look forward
to, but also likely gains to the value of their homes.

ERA Singapore's assistant vice-president Eugene Lim predicts the resale
value of flats could see a "moderate" increase of 5 to 8 per cent over the
next three years. He said: "There is a lot of demand for flats there, but
we will not likely see massive price increases since the area's land
supply is abundant."

PropNex chief executive officer Mohd Ismail agrees that Punggol flats will
gain in value eventually. Describing the new Punggol 21+ plan as an
alternative to staying in a condominium, he told Today: "The pricing of
existing Punggol flats will be determined by the new pricing of the
Punggol 21+ flats."

About 18,000 HDB and private flats are expected to be built, some with
views of the water body that will be created by damming two rivers, Sungei
Punggol and Sungei Serangoon.

According to Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC MP Charles Chong, some developments
will be underway in the next five years.

Work on the waterfront promenade, that wraps around the coastline, could
begin early next year, said MP Penny Low, who added that a golf driving
range should be ready by November.

In 1996, plans to build about 80,000 units were unveiled, but the Asian
financial crisis a year later slowed demand which in turn affected the
original Punggol 21 vision to turn the former pig farming area into a
model town for the next century.

Last year, a new five-room flat at Punggol fetched between $182,000 and
$268,000 - compared to an average of $264,500 when the first batch of
Punggol flats was sold in 1998.

Demand is modest compared to other areas. A five-room Punggol flat in the
second quarter of this year fetched an average of $5,000 above valuation,
$20,000 less than a flat of the same size in Ang Mo Kio.

But now, residents can look ahead with hope. Ms Low said her team is
working with the HDB to gather suggestions from residents, starting this
month.

And some are brimming with ideas. Said teacher Radziah Abdul Rahman, 37, a
mother of two: "There is no fast-food restaurant here. My kids would love
to have a McDonald's at least."

Pastor James Satchy, 37, hopes Punggol's idyllic spirit will be retained:
"I do not want it to be another Ang Mo Kio or Toa Payoh, which are too
crowded and noisy for me."

But some have become sceptical after years of waiting. Said human resource
executive Mohd Suhaimi Ismail: "I hope the new Punggol 21+ will not be
delayed like previously."

And government officer Ms Elizabeth Lam, 33, is still bent on selling her
five-room flat - because she cannot wait too long for facilities such as a
shopping mall and a seaside village to materialise.

But Punggol-Oasis Residents' Committee chairman Ivan Chee is keeping his
head up: "The promise coming from Mr Lee at a National Day Rally is a big
assurance."

Meanwhile, shopkeepers like stationery shop owner Quek Hang Chew, 47, are
worried that development will attract competition that will eat into his
business.

But Mr Chong noted: "Development will also bring in more residents. I
believe the impact on businesses will be positive."

Time to keep the promise

There is no better time to deliver on "old promises", says MP Charles
Chong.

Asked why the Government had decided to announce the revival of the
Punggol 21 vision now, MP Penny Low said: "This is an ambitious plan …
Before any announcement, we have to ensure there is a certain degree of
confidence in delivering this vision, be it technical expertise, financial
resources or consultation with stakeholders."

Mr Chong also cited economic factors such as the higher demand for flats
in Punggol and the need to ease pressure on the broader property market.

Asked if the move was in anticipation of the next General Election (GE)
due by 2011, he said: "It is not dependent on the GE. It will carry on
regardless."

Earth's Dirty Little Secret: Slowly but Surely We Are Skinning Our Planet

Mon 16-Apr-2007
Source: University of Washington

Newswise — Throughout history civilizations expanded as they sought new soil to feed their populations, then ultimately fell as they wore out or lost the dirt they depended upon. When that happened, people moved on to fertile new ground and formed new civilizations.

That process is being repeating today, but in a new book a University of Washington geomorphologist argues the results could be far more disastrous for humans because there are very few places left with fertile soil to feed large populations, and farming practices still trigger large losses of rich dirt.

"We're doing the same things today that past societies have done, and at the same rate," said David Montgomery, a UW professor of Earth and space sciences who studies the evolution and structure of the various aspects of the Earth's surface. In essence, he said, we are slowly removing our planet's life-giving skin.

"It only takes one good rainstorm when the soil is bare to lose a century's worth of dirt."

Montgomery is the author of "Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations," in which he examines how soil is slowly created over time, the vital role it has played in the rise and fall of civilizations from Mesopotamia to Rome, and how it shaped where and how we live today. The 295-page book, published by the University of California Press, is a popular review of scientific literature on soil and farming practices.

In the past, as soil was depleted in a particular region – the American South during the height of tobacco plantations, for example, or the Great Plains during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s – people moved to new areas that could support their crops. But Montgomery argues that their primary farming method – plowing under any crop residue and leaving the surface exposed to wind and water erosion for long periods – was a major cause of the conditions that drove them from the land.

Flat lands and areas with thicker, richer soil tend to have less natural erosion, while steeper areas have greater erosion from both wind and water. Removing vegetative cover just worsens the problem, Montgomery said.

"If you take sloping land and strip the plants away, it leaves the soil bare and exposed. There will be a huge impact the next time it rains or when the wind blows," he said. "Plow-based agriculture can change the erosion rate of even a flat place like Kansas into the erosion rate of a place like the Himalayas. Basically that type of farming is remaking the surface of the planet."

When the Earth's population was smaller people could move from one place to another and give soil a chance to regenerate. But now, with more than 6 billion people on the planet, that option no longer exists, Montgomery said.

"We're farming about as much land as we can on a sustainable basis, but the world's population is still growing," he said. "We have to learn to farm without losing the soil."

He advocates a wholesale change in farming practices, moving to no-till agriculture, which he says would reduce erosion closer to its natural rate. That method would eliminate plowing and instead crop stubble would remain in the field, to be mixed with the very top layer of the soil using a method called disking. Farmers might need more herbicides to control weeds, but it would take fewer passes of farm machinery – and thus less fuel – to tend crops.

Currently about 5 percent of the world's farmers engage in no-till agriculture, the vast majority of them in the United States and Latin America, Montgomery said.

"We don't have to farm the way we do. It's as much a matter of culture and habit as it is of economics, and our habitual ways of farming have gotten people into a lot of trouble through the years," Montgomery said.

"It's more of a conceptual shift than anything else, but it's a conceptual shift that conserves the soil."

Tourism plans for Southern Islands put on hold

Krist Boo
krist@sph.com.sg
12 April 2007
Straits Times

FIVE months after announcing with much fanfare that the Southern Islands would be turned into the next big tourist attraction, the plans have been put on hold.

Although the Singapore Tourism Board wouldn't reveal why, industry sources say the Government is considering housing a casino on the six-island cluster.

If this is true, the islands could remain as they are for the next 10 years.

The deals that Las Vegas Sands and Genting International - operators of the Marina Bay and Sentosa integrated resorts (IRs) - have with the Government give them a 10-year head start before a third casino licence is issued.

Since both agreements were signed last year, the earliest possible date for a third casino is 2016.

If the two IRs prove to be successful, the Southern Islands will command a premium, the tourism industry sources said.

The STB would not comment on the speculation, saying only: 'A premium destination, an eco-tourism resort, or an attraction leveraging on the islands' existing cultural elements - all remain possibilities.'

The STB had, in November last year, said it would in the first quarter of this year come up with tender guidelines to transform the island into a tourist attraction, possibly for the well-heeled.

The board did meet potential investors in January to gauge their interest and listen to ideas, but the results apparently were not very encouraging.

In response to queries from The Straits Times, STB's assistant chief executive for leisure, Dr Chan Tat Hong, said: 'No decision has been made yet on a development concept, including whether an RFC (request for concepts) exercise will be launched.'

This is the second time in three years that the authorities are rethinking plans for the six islands - Kusu, St John's, the Sisters' Islands, Kias, Lazarus and Seringat.

With a total land area of 140ha - three times the size of the Sentosa IR site - the islands were in 2004 cited as a possible location for one of the two casino resorts.

But the projects landed at Marina Bay and Sentosa instead.

The shelving of development plans drew praise from Mr Francis Phun, chairman of the Association of Singapore Attractions, which represents 40 attractions in Singapore.

He said that, with the two IRs opening in about two years, and the Singapore Flyer being launched next year, Singapore is already creating a buzz as a tourist destination.

'The Southern Islands are a totally different product. They create another wave of new excitement.'

Land reclamation works not factor in talks with Jakarta: MFA

16 March 2007 (CNA)

SINGAPORE: Singapore's foreign ministry has reiterated that the country's land reclamation works are conducted within Singapore's territorial waters.

And Singapore has always stated that it would not be a factor in ongoing maritime boundary negotiations with Indonesia.

The third round of the negotiations will be held in Singapore at the end of the month.

A spokesman for the ministry was responding to media queries about an article in the Straits Times on 17 March 2007.

It is entitled "Jakarta fears S'pore will use reclaimed shoreline to decide border".

The spokesman stressed that the Minister for Foreign Affairs George Yeo had made clear Singapore's position when he spoke in Parliament on 12 February this year on the issue.


- CNA/so

Indonesia To Look Into The Alleged Sale Of Its Islands To Foreigners

Feb 17 2007 (TODAY)

BATAM - The Indonesian Government is investigating claims of foreigners
buying islands in the Riau province, citing security as an issue, The
Jakarta Post reported.

Indonesia's Sea Security Coordinating Agency commander, Vice-Admiral Djoko
Sumaryono, told the daily newspaper that the sale of islands to foreigners
not only violated existing regulations, it also showed that the local
provincial officials could not ensure security in its region.

Mr Djoko cited a presidential decree that was enacted in 2005, which put
the management of small islands on the nation's frontier areas under the
authority of the local administration and banned the sale of islands.

"Claiming ownership of parts of the beach is not allowed, let alone owning
islands," said Mr Djoko, who added that the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries
Ministry had already been instructed to investigate the sale of islands.

Mr Djoko was quoted as saying that the most recent Riau Islands sale
concerned Segayang Island near Batam, where small resort facilities had
been owned by a Singaporean since 2000. The business on the 20-ha island
had been operating over the last five years without any official permits
or consent, Mr Djoko claimed.

The Jakarta Post reported that the island had been sold by local residents
to a Singaporean for 55 million rupiah ($9,300). The sale of another
island was still being negotiated, Mr Djoko said, adding that it was on
offer for 100 million rupiah.

Indonesian news agency Antara reported that the government had taken to
naming the islands in Riau to prevent illegal sales. About 1,014 out of
the province's 1,050 isles have since been given names.

"The name would make them easy to detect and prevent them from being
illegally sold," said Riau's second assistant for administrative affairs
Muhktaruddin.

But Batam's deputy mayor Ria Saptarika said the capability of the local
administration to monitor the condition of the isles would still be
restricted by the huge number of islands and unclear ownership of many of
the islands.