Singapore is Top City for Asian Expatriates

Photo Credit: Sal

A well-balanced city as compared with the rest of it’s Asia counterparts as Singapore is being rated the top city with the best quality of life for the Asian expatriates rated by human resources consultancy ECA International.

…

Singapore beat 253 other cities, including Australia’s Sydney and Melbourne and Japan’s Tokyo, Yokohama, and Kobe. Hong Kong was ranked 11th due to its air quality.

Bringing up the tail were Baghdad in Iraq, Kabul in Afghanistan, Karachi in Pakistan and Port-au-Prince in Haiti. These were the least desirable locations for expatriates due to a lack of suitable facilities and high personal security risks, said ECA.

…

Straits Times Online

I suppose having a good reputation would boost global companies whom are thinking of expanding to consider us as a possible venue to expand in the Asia sector. This will also have a little number punch to the number of tourists who comes to visit as well.

Bravo Singapore!

Agency Pays Up on Flipping Profit to Couple

Remember the case we mentioned a month ago with regards to two unethical agents? The agency pays up the differences to the original sellers of $257,000.00 and the agents have since quit the firm.

A COUPLE who successfully sued estate agency ERA Realty Network for flipping their apartment has got back the money that the agents made on it, with interest.

ERA yesterday said that it would not be appealing against the decision last month ordering it to pay $257,000 to Mr Yuen Chow Hin and his wife, Madam Wong Wai Fan.

The couple had sold their two-bedroom downtown apartment for $688,000 through ERA agent Jeremy Ang in 2007, thinking it was the best price he could get them.

… Source: Straits Times Online

Continue reading “Agency Pays Up on Flipping Profit to Couple” →

IRAS – Tax Rebate and Defer Your Income Tax Payment

Every eligible Singapore tax payer should have a letter hitting their mailbox from our friend, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) on 2 things coming from the Singapore Budget’s Resilience Package.

One-off Income Tax Rebate

So everyone gets a 20% one-off income tax rebate or maximum of $2,000 for tax payable for 2009.

Defer Your Income Tax Payment

You could choose the option to delay your payment for 3 months using your SingPass. Note that you’ll also have to be paying your tax by GIRO to be eligible for the deferment.

Well, 6 month’s isn’t a bad thing (IRAS starts computing in 3 months and starts collecting the instalments 3 months later, making it 6 months in total) for people who might have cash flow problems in the meantime to sort out.

Signing Up

Head to http://www.iras.gov.sg/defergiro

Look out for the big red button on the corner, it looks like this

Pump in your SingPass details and you’re done! Remember, the latest date to sign up for deferment is on the 15th of March 2009, so please don’t miss it :)

Sometimes it’s really impressive and scary to think of how the government keeping tabs on all its citizens with SingPass to all the government portals and statutory boards.

HDB Additional Housing Grant (AHG) Increase Firmed Up

The Additional Housing Grant (AHG) enhancement has been firmed up in Parliament by Minister of National Development Mr. Mah Bow Tan in his speech. The new AHG is as of the following new structure:-

The New HDB AHG for 6th February 2009 after Budget Day

As mentioned in my previous Singapore Budget blog entry, each level notch gets the upgrade of the old AHG with the correct estimation. The goodies are:-

Income ceiling has increased from $4,000 to $5,000, meaning more people will be eligible for AHG.
Maximum grant quantum has been increased from $30,000 to $40,000.
More people will benefit from a reduction of 2 years continuous employment to 1 year.

AHG can be used for sale of new flat/ DBSS as well as resale flats as of last time with no changes on this aspect.

Singapore Budget 2009 – What It Means To Us

Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam unveiled the Budget for the fiscal year 2009 two days ago at 3.30pm; Among are the highlights of it’s 20.5 billion dollar Resilience package.

Here’re the highlights and perks for the property segment:

Bigger HDB Grants for Buyers

Additional Housing Grant (AHG) has been raised from $30,000 to $40,000. And more new families will definitely qualify for AHG since the income ceiling has been raised from previously $4,000 to $5,000.

This is the government way of letting us know that ahead of tough times, they still want people to own their own HDB flats to start a family, though I wish that they could raise the income ceiling higher for AHG. Any families that earns $5,000 or lesser could get the grant, but that doesn’t mean a new family would be able to enjoy the full grant of $40,000 as AHG is being tiered to your income. The higher your income that qualifies you in the criterion, the lesser you get.

A typical $4,900 income family would probably get $5,000.00 in the new AHG grant (my estimation)

The current AHG grant is still not being updated with the new stats, but can be found here in HDB’s website.

40% Property Tax Rebates for Industrial and Commercial Properties

Nada for residential. The government hopes that some of these savings will be passed down from landlords to tenants to sustain businesses. We’ll see rounds of negotiations coughing up on rental after this budget I’m sure.

The sad part is for residential property investors; No savings.

15% Rental Rebate For Government Tenants

This is a strong sign that governments are trying to save as much businesses as they can to sustain jobs. Government boards tenants from National Environment Agency (NEA), Housing Development Board (HDB), JTC Corporation and Singapore Land Authority (SLA) tenants will get the rebates. Yes, hawker stalls too!

HDB has already put up press releases on the rental rebates of 15% to their existing commercial tenants. Again, I’m not sure whether they did enough since the price on rentals and properties has inflated drastically in 2006/2007.

Allowing One Year Of Project Completion Period For Developers

To assist property developers during this slowdown, the government is allowing Developers with Qualifying Certificate (QC) to delay their project completion, by allowing more flexibility for them to stage their construction and sales to the market condition, as well as easing their cashflow.

Usually, QC holders are allowed to hold their projects for 6 years and with the above mentioned measure, developers are allowed to write in to Controller of Residential Property (SLA).

Developers of uncompleted Government residential projects awarded before 22 January 2009 will be allowed to apply for extention of Project Completion without extention premium.

Developers are allowed to re-assign of Government sale sites and private land

Should the re-assignments be not of speculative nature, the Government will be allowing it on case to case basis. Developers who wish to re-assign their land will have to have a written approval from Controller of Residential Property.

Four Years, Not Two From TOP To Dispose All Private Residential Properties/ And Allowing Developers to Rent Out Unsold Units for Maximum of 4 Years

The previous 2 years rule for QC holders to dispose their residential properties have been eased. Developers can now stage according to the market conditions and that would ease them in terms of their planning and execution of marketing plans. 4 years would be a fair duration given that the property cycle might pick up from 2011 – 2012.

Developers Can Pay Tax Later For Land Approved Sites

The Government is allowing developers to defer their property tax for up to 2 years. The sites must come with a valid Provisional Permission (PP) or Written Permission (WP) to qualify for such deferment.

Well we couldn’t say that there’s nothing done to aid our market, given that there’s alot of consideration in all sectors apart from the property segment.

We’ll see if it helps in curbing the credit crunch with the Resilience Package this year (especially after Chinese New Year).

Singapore Budget Announcement 2009 Tomorrow

Finance Minister Mr. Thaman Shanmugaratnam will be announcing Budget for fiscal year 2009 tomorrow at 3.30pm. You can get the updates on the budget by: –

Mailing List
Channel News Asia
93.8 Live Radio
By SMS

New media reaches more people eh? ;)

So what’s on top of your list for this Budget? 100% off property tax? Hmm ;) Visit Singapore Budget 2009 site for more information.

Laguna Ex-Commitee Chairman Charged in Court

Should the en bloc craze comes back, this should serve as a warning to people who’re up to mischief for capital gains.

Businessman accused of vandalising property at East Coast estate

WHEN the possibility of a collective sale for Laguna Park was announced in December 2007, some residents held back, hoping this would drive up the estate’s value.

But things turned ugly later at the East Coast area condominium, which was hit by a spate of vandalism cases after several residents opposed the sale. Cars belonging to residents known to have been against the sale were splashed with paint or scratched, while mailboxes were found with glue in their keyholes.

Still, many residents of the 667,000 square-foot estate were shocked to learn that their estate management committee chairman, Mr Lee Kok Leong, had been arrested last August on suspicion of perpetrating these acts.

During a brief appearance in court yesterday, the 62-year-old businessman, dressed in a white long-sleeved shirt and black jeans, stood emotionless as he was charged with two counts of mischief.

According to court documents, Mr Lee is accused of inserting glue into the padlock, rear gate keyholes and main wooden door of a flat at Block 5000E of Laguna Park at 12.44am on Aug 25 last year.

He also allegedly vandalised the front and rear wooden door keyholes of another flat on the same floor.

The damages amounted to $590. – Source, Today

Still, I’m quite skeptical of Laguna Park going through the sale now during this bad economy times. Given a 667,000 sqft massive size land and most developers are still stuck with their launches of new projects, I can’t shortlist any developer or developers who would be willing to come in at this time.

No verdict is out yet for Mr. Lee, but this will set the record straight for people who’re thinking of forcing their residents out in the next en bloc fever.

The Edge Goes Online

That’s my best Christmas gift ever.

The Edge Singapore Online

The Edge finally has its own online version of their content packed weekly publications finally. I’m not sure whether we could do RSS feeds of the articles, but according to their email, this online version will be packed with daily updates; something I’m looking forward to.

TheEdgeSingapore.com gives you every working day:

Free and breaking business and investment news

‘Blog Head’ views and commentaries from our journalists

Page-turner Special Focus sections which you can save and keep

The week’s corporate AGMs, financial events, and corporate payouts and actions

EXCLUSIVELY to weekly paid subscribers, free access to back copies of your weekly in pdf format

and there’s lots more to come…

Everyone is coming online, I suppose it’s a good time to get me a tablet to keep up with RSSes and new property news fast. No? *Ahem, it’s an excuse to show off my new toy X61T*

URA Gazettes Master Plan 2008

Alas, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) of Singapore has finally gazetted the Master Plan 2008. The draft version of the plan has been online since months back and has already interestingly piped the way that our country will be shaped the next 10 years.

Sunrise from The Sail on 34th floor, construction of Sands Integrated Resort (photo credit:Tom Bodley)

If you have trouble understanding what is Master Plan from URA, here’s the official textbook definition

“Statutory land use plan that guides physical development of the country for the next 10 to 15 years”

It’s law for developers and anyone that has got to do with land, buildings in the next 10 – 15 years according to the plan.

The online version of Master Plan 2008 was much better than the former 2003 in terms of use. Much clearer when you can actually search for the specific place rather than zooming in to look at the map. I like this change particularly ;)

Plot Ratio Change? Nay

Well, not much plot ratio change has been introduced as compared to former MP 2003. The focus for this plan is to introduce 3 regional hubs into our heartland, Jurong Lake District, Kallang Riverside and Paya Lebar Central.

I’m no good forecaster, but should this three hubs be established decently and effectively, we can probably see plot ratio increase for buildings that are around the new circle line entrances of new stations that is springing up around the hubs in the next MP 2013.

What’s Gonna Happen In 5 Years Time?

I’ve actually seen work already happening and working around my residential area in Geylang. Part of the leisure plan for water body has already started since months back. We’ll expect to see the landscape of our country changed yet again for the better.

I can’t see any reason why this plan could fail with the successes of the previous MPs, that said with the additional help not only from planners but even the public floor, where 300 feedbacks were taken into serious consideration after the draft Master Plan 2008 exhibition was up since 6 months ago.

Live. Work. Play.

Singapore will evolve for the better. I’m excited with the new changes coming up, are you?

Another Realtor’s Tool For Those Who Drive – Motorpay

Yes it costs about $1 – $2 extra a month, but I would think it’s better for you to keep track of your ERP spendings rather than aimlessly topping up your cashcard on a regular basis and missing out paying your gantries to suffer fines! Introducing Motorpay, your Electronic Road Pricing tracking & paying ticket.

The Requirements

You’ll need a Singapore registered car, a valid working credit card (DBS Mastercard preferred for free subscription for 6 months), and a working IU (I’m pretty sure the IU is working, else you can’t pay your tariffs can’t you?)

Registration is easy. You’ll enter your mobile number, and some funky automated system would give you a call to provide you with an access number for verification.

Get your IU ID from the side of your IU (white sticker with 10 digits) ready. Register with the necessary information and wait for approval (takes about 3 days).

Ahaa! Here you go, pass through gantries like you’ve never cared about your cash card balance before and track ’em down.

Now no longer pay $10 administrative fines and keep track of your road tariffs to LTA ;)