Buying a new home is usually an exciting and happy affair, but it became something of a horror story for a group of owners here who have seen a large chunk of their hard-earned money go down the drain. The 30 or so owners had the unfortunate experience of choosing crooked home renovation contractors who ended up vanishing with their deposits of between $20,000 and $30,000 each recently.

The prices of Housing Board resale flats have increased steadily over the past two years. In 2021, the HDB resale price index jumped 12.7 per cent year on year, which was the highest annual rate of growth in the past decade. In the past two years since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the prices of public housing here have grown 18.4 per cent. This is due to the combination of a few factors.

In the week of April 16 to 22, the highest transaction recorded on a psf basis was for a two-bedroom unit at Kopar At Newton, which was sold by the developer for $1.86 million or $2,703 psf, on April 21. The 689 sq ft unit sold is located on the 19th floor. The new psf price high marks the first time the development has crossed the $2,700 psf threshold.

A red-hot property market fuelled a 73.6 per cent surge in stamp duties collected in Singapore’s financial year ended March 2022, although it slipped year-on-year in the first 3 months of 2022.Stamp duty collections for FY21, which covers the period from April 2021 to March 2022, hit S$6.76 billion, from the S$3.9 billion collected in the corresponding period in FY20. It is also 61.1 per cent higher than the S$4.2 billion in FY19, prior to the start of the pandemic, based on data from the Accountant-General's Department, available online at the Singapore Department of Statistics.According to Huttons’ senior director of research, Lee Sze Teck, the total number of properties transacted in FY21 amounted to 63,914, 19.9 per cent higher than the year-ago period.

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A freehold conservation bungalow at 759 Mountbatten Road in District 15 has been launched for sale with a guide price of $27 million, or $1,295 per sq ft.Originally built in the 1920s, the colonial Victorian-style bungalow sits within the Mountbatten Road bungalow conservation area on a 20,847.54 sq ft site. A rear annex building was added in 1995 and its two pavilions were refurbished.

Many people hold real estate in joint names because there is a legal benefit in doing so - if one party dies, the other joint owner inherits the property - but there can be pitfalls as well. Lawyers usually advise those making legacy plans for their properties that this rule of "survivorship" will apply even if the owners make other arrangements in their wills.

Given their scarcity and exclusivity, landed homes are among the most coveted real estate assets in Singapore.

Housing Board resale prices climbed for an eighth consecutive quarter to fresh highs, though there were signs that some price resistance could be setting in.

Buying a property is a big deal, and you want to make sure the voyage into your property journey goes as smoothly as possible. Do you know what are the factors to consider when deciding which address is best for you?

Sevens Group, the purveyor of bespoke developments - distinctive, unique and significant landed homes. “We Build Great Houses, You Can Proudly Call Home”. A build or a purchase with Sevens Group is a unique experience beyond a transaction. It is where Sevens Group and home buyers come together and create. An organisation with an edge like Sevens Group, imprints its unique fingerprints on its developments and its homes.

The latest round of property curbs has taken the sizzle out of Singapore’s red-hot private property market, as the overall price rise slowed to a mere 0.4 per cent in the first quarter of this year.Analysts said this marked the slowest quarter-on-quarter price increase since the second quarter of 2020 when prices grew 0.3 per cent.

Kensington Park condominium in Serangoon has been offered for en bloc sale by public tender with a guide price of S$1.28 billion, sole marketing agent CBRE announced on Wednesday (May 18).In April, The Business Times reported that at least 80 per cent of the owners had consented to the potential deal, nearly 4 years after their previous efforts at a billion-dollar price tag.The latest guide price will work out to a land rate of about S$1,414 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr), after including the development charge (DC) payable of around S$178.1 million, CBRE said in a press statement.

A five-room flat in Henderson Road just changed hands for S$1.4 million this month, making it the priciest transaction in the HDB resale market yet.The unit in Block 96A, at 1,216 square foot (sq ft) in size, is on the 41st floor of the 48-storey block, which gives it panoramic views of the area. The lease commenced in 2019, making it only 3 years old.Lee Sze Teck, senior director of research at Huttons, said: “With construction delays due to Covid, this almost-new flat offers the opportunity for buyers to move in fast. It is also rare to have new 5-room flats in mature estates.”

A perfect storm could potentially be on the horizon for owners of private residential properties in Singapore, especially those who are highly leveraged, said the Institute of Real Estate and Urban Studies (IREUS) at the National University of Singapore.Rising interest rates amid growing inflationary pressures as well as an impending increase in the housing supply are expected to bring headwinds for homeowners relying on rental income, based on the research institute’s analysis of historical data.The Business Times (BT) reported in late April 2022 that several banks in Singapore had suspended fixed-rate home loan packages, which offer a flat interest rate, amid the surging cost of funds. Mortgage advisers polled by BT also said that mortgage rates in the city-state could be raised by 3 times this year.

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The red-hot private residential market slowed to a crawl in the first quarter of this year as December's property cooling measures took effect amid rising interest rates and the fallout from the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Private home prices managed to eke out a gain for the eighth straight quarter, rising 0.7 per cent, above the flash estimate of 0.4 per cent for the January to March quarter.

Strata landed houses are experiencing a rebound in the Singapore property market. Here's all you need to know about them and why they are becoming highly coveted among Singaporeans.

A FREEHOLD residential site comprising a 4-storey block of 24 apartments on Haig Road has been sold for S$49.3 million, above the owners' asking price of S$48 million, said sole marketing agent Colliers on Friday (Apr 8).

As quarantine-free travel returns, private home purchases by foreign buyers are expected to gradually gain momentum, although analysts also flagged headwinds such as economic uncertainties and currency fluctuations as factors to watch. According to data collated by OrangeTee & Tie, non-landed private home purchases by foreign buyers nearly halved after a fresh round of property cooling measures were unveiled in December, from 277 units in Q4 2021 to 146 units in Q1 2022. As part of the measures to cool the red-hot property market, foreign buyers now have to pay a 30 per cent Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD), up sharply from 20 per cent previously. OrangeTee’s senior vice-president (research & analytics), Christine Sun, said: “Some buyers may have been deterred by the higher taxes and bigger cash outlay.”

Some banks in Singapore have suspended fixed-rate home loan packages amid rising interest rates. While the lenders said they made these moves as fixed-rate packages have become less attractive for clients, mortgage brokers explained that the rising cost of funds may also have prompted these suspensions, especially among the foreign banks.

An elevated freehold residential landed site at 5 Oxley Rise in District 9 with an enormous size of 151,205 square feet (sq ft) has been put up for sale by public tender, with offers in excess of S$300 million expected. CBRE, which is marketing the property, says it is one of the last remaining freehold residential landed sites within the prime Orchard Road district, and has the flexibility of being redeveloped into a single large mansion, strata or mixed landed developments, or multiple Good Class Bungalows (GCBs).

Factors that will help channel buyers to resale market include: long waiting time of up to 5 years for BTO completions; generous housing grants of up to S$160,000 for first-time buyers; and firm private residential property prices.

Prices for Housing Board resale flats edged up for the 22nd straight month in April, as demand continues to outstrip supply. A four-room unit at Pinnacle@Duxton was resold for $1.228 million, setting the record for the highest transacted price for a four-room HDB flat. Another five-room unit at Pinnacle@Duxton changed hands last month for the same price of $1.228 million. The $1.228 million price tag for both was the highest transacted price for a resale flat in the month. HDB resale flat prices rose 1.1 per cent last month, a quicker pace compared with March's 0.7 per cent, according to flash data from real estate portals 99.co and SRX on Thursday (May 5). Compared with April last year, prices are up by 11.9 per cent, data showed.