2Q08 HDB & Private Homes Data

HDB Resale
Price Index: 4.5% (LastQ: 3.7%)

Private Homes
Price Index: 0.2% (LastQ: 3.7%) [Graph]

(a) Non-Landed: 0.1% (LastQ: 3.7%)
- CCR -0.1% (LastQ: 3.8%)
- RCR 0.7% (LastQ: 3.3%)
- OCR 0.9% (LastQ: 3.8%)
(b) Landed: 0.6% (LastQ: 3.9%)
(c) Rental: 2.5% (LasQ: 6.0%)
(d) Supply:
- 67,569 uncompleted units with 43,473 unsold
- 1,814 uncompleted units launched with 1,417 sold
- 108 completed units were sold
- 2,587 units TOP, vacancy rate at 6.1% (LastQ: 6.3%)
- Sub-sale: 440 units, 11% (LastQ: 398, 11.9%)

* HDB-2Q , URA-2Q , AsiaOne-2Q , AsiaOne-2009Supply *

***** 2 Jul 08: URA & HDB 2Q Flash Estimates *****
URA's flash estimate showed private home prices climbed by 0.4%, which was the smallest rise in abt 4yrs, and a drop from 1Q's 3.7%.

Over at HDB, flash estimate of the resale market showed an increase of 4.4% in the Resale Price Index (RPI), higher than 1Q's 3.7%. For 1H08, RPI increased by 8.2%.

* URA-Est , HDB-Est , AsiaOne-URA , AsiaOne-HDB *

Construction Costs Exceeds Land Costs

Some 99yr condo sites are seeing their construction costs higher than their land costs, bcos of increasing construction prices and weak sentiments in private housing developments.

For mass-mkt developments, construction costs was $260 - $320 psf in 1Q08, but has risen to $280 - $350 psf in 2Q08. Thus a $200 - $250 psf condo site equates to a breakeven costs of $650 - $700 psf.

* AsiaOne-Costs *

June CPI At 7.5%

Mth-to-Mth: -0.3% (Last mth: 0.2%)
Yr-to-Yr: 7.5% (Last mth: 7.5%)
1st 06mth 2008: 7.1%

Govt lifted this yr inflation forecast by 1% to 6% - 7%.

* SingStats-CPI , AsiaOne-CPI *

May RSI &CTI

Retail Sale Index (RSI):
Mth-to-Mth: +4.7% (Excl motor vehicles: +8.5%)
Yr-to-Yr: +4.8% (Excl motor vehicles: +7.9%)

Catering Trade Index (CTI):
Mth-to-Mth: +8.3%
Yr-to-Yr: +9.6%

* SingStats-RSI & CTI *

2Q08 Advance GDP Estimates

2Q08:
Yr-on-Yr: *1.9% (LastQ: 6.9%)
Qtr-on-Qtr: *-6.6% (LastQ: 15.6%)
*estimates

The slowest growth in 5yrs, with a sharp fall in biomedical manufacturing. However, Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said that expected growth is still between 4 - 6% this yr.

* SingStat-GDP , AsiaOne-GDP *

HSBC Revolution Home Loan

HSBC has come up with a revolution home loan with decreasing interest rate.

The new product is pegged to Sibor and to encourage loyalty, interest rate spread will be reduced by 10 basis points annually in the 1st 3yrs, ie from Sibor+0.75 to Sibor+0.55 from 3rd yr onwards.

* AsiaOne-HSBC *

*****

Bravo!

Bay Window & Planter Areas Included In GFA

Bay windows and planter boxes have been exempted from GFA, but Developers have been selling these areas as internal spaces of a residential unit.

wef 7 Oct 2008, these spaces will no longer be exempted from GFA for residential projects, with exceptions for communal areas and non-residential developments.

* URA-GFA , AsiaOne-GFA *

KFH Buys Fewer Goodwood Residence Units

Kuwait Finance House has decided to purchase 36 units, instead of 97 units, of Goodwood Residence and at a lower price of $2.8k psf, ie $400 psf less than the agreed price in Dec 07.

An analyst gauged that a fair price would be in the range of $2k to $2.9k psf.

* AsiaOne-Goodwood , RadarGaga-Goodwood *