Issue 239

Copyright 2011-2014 www.Propwise.sg. All Rights Reserved.

CONTENTS
p2

FROM THE

EDITOR

Protect Your Home A Guide to Mortgage

Loan Insurance

Welcome to the 239th edition of the

Singapore Property Weekly.

Hope you like it!

p7

Singapore Property News This Week

p11

Resale Property Transactions

Mr. Propwise

(December 2 December 8 )

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 239

Protect Your Home A Guide to Mortgage Loan Insurance

By ClearlySurely.com (guest contributor)
At long last. All the weekend viewings, the
endless paper work, the calls, the
negotiations, its all over. Youve finally bought
your property and have a house to call your
home. Which leaves only one thing left to
take care of.

Nest and eggs: kept intact by insurance

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Unless you can afford to pay the full value of

the house, you will have to take a mortgage
loan. Today, we'll try to shed some light on the
insurance that must be bought so that you
can protect your estate and honour the loan,
no matter what may transpire.

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 239

Why should it matter?
After all, the mortgage loan will simply be a
net loss to your estate after you have passed
on. However, at the relatively low cost of an
insurance policy, you can preserve your
estate value for your loved ones.
When it comes to protection, you are spoilt
for choice when it comes to life insurance
policies that cover the remaining mortgage
loan quantum. It could be term, whole life,
endowment or even riders. However,
Mortgage Insurance (MI) is often the go-to
option due to its relative low cost and its
feature of decreasing coverage as time goes
by.

2main choices for a home owner

In the current market, you can either obtain a
Home Protection Scheme (HPS) from HDB or
purchase MI from any of the insurers. Since
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80% of Singapore residents live in HDB, it

makes sense for us to start off with the HPS.

Where 80% of us call home

Home Protection Scheme
When you are buying public housing and
getting a loan from the HDB, it is compulsory
for you to purchase HPS. If you intend to
pledge a life insurance policy for the loan, you
may write to HDB for HPS exemption.
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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 239

HDB may require you to assign the rights of
the life insurance to them, if exemption is
granted.

term is 90% of the insurance term, meaning

that you only have to pay for 18 years in a 20
year coverage period.

The Insured amount and payable premium

will vary, according to your remaining loan
amount. In addition, you are also only
required to cover your portion of the loan if
you are sharing the loan burden with anyone
else.

Mortgage Insurance (MI)

Premiums are payable via your CPF OA

account. When your OA account is depleted,
you can pay via cheque, AXS, internet
banking and other variable of cash. Basically,
out of your pocket.
You can get an estimate of your premium via
CPFs HPS calculator but I wouldn't bother,
since they have been giving out premium
rebates from time to time. Lastly, the payment

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MI is offered by most insurers and banks and

is payable by cash. However, there are many
variations of MI.
Some are similar to HPS, with a reduced
premium payment period. Some offer cashback benefits when you do not have a claim
for certain numbers of years. There are MIs in
the market that cater to joint-ownership and
others that allow you to add insurance riders
to the cover.
Ultimately it is up to you to see which feature
you require the most. Otherwise, you may
want to choose the cheapest one.

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 239

Important points to note
For both HPS and MIs, they are essentially
reducing term insurance. Thus, they have
some common ground:
- Health declaration is required.
- Suicides are not covered in the first policy
year.
- Usually, self-inflicted injuries are not
covered in MI but for HPS, they are covered
after the first policy year.

For some insurers, you are able to attach a

Waiver of Premium rider to your policy. This is
an option that you should seriously consider.
Upon diagnosis of Critical Illness or Disability,
you will not be required to pay for MI
premiums anymore. It is a really good benefit
when calamity strikes.

Lastly, HPS ceases when you re-finance your

loan or sell your house. You'll have to get MI
or a fresh new HPS. On the other hand, MI
stays intact, regardless of loan re-financing or
sale of property.

Other tips
HPS allows you to pay via OA account. If you
are the type who thinks that CPF is not your
money, it may be better to have HPS than MI.

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 239

Conclusion
Having insurance coverage is important,
whether you are intending the property for
investment or residential purposes. Whether
you are choosing HPS or MI, the information
above should help make your decision a little
easier.
By ClearlySurely.com, which came about to
demystify Life Insurance in Singapore. It
provides users with simple, easy-to-digest
information about Life Insurance that helps
the decision making process. Other than
learning and comparing plans, there is also a
dedicated Insurance forum that facilitates
discussion. Show them some love by liking
their Facebook page here.

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 239

Singapore Property This Week

Residential
Nov private home sales up by 39% monthon-month

In November, developers sold a total of 759

private residential units, up from the 548 sold
in the previous month. This translates to a
39% month-on-month increase in sales and a
79% year-on-year increase. Chua Yang Liang
from JLL said that the number of units sold in
November is the third largest this year. Chua
said that the rise in demand may be
temporary as buying typically increases in
November ahead of the festivities in
December. According to Chua, the EC market
experienced a 32% fall in sales in November,
as the number of units sold by developers fell
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from 275 in October to 186 units in

November. Market experts predict that by the
end of this year, 7,500 private residential units
would have been sold. Nicholas Mak from
SLP International predicts that the annual
sales volume could fall to between 6,500 and
7,000 units in the coming year.
(Source: Business Times)
Private non-landed home prices fall by
3.4% since Q1
According to the Business Times, prices of
private non-landed homes have fallen by
3.4% over the first three-quarters of the year.
This drop in prices was led by the sale of
homes in the suburban region.
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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 239

Alice Tan from Knight Frank believes that
there could be a return of interest from both
local and foreign buyers. Yet, she predicts
that vacancy rates could increase up to 10%
or higher especially for non-landed homes
due to a surge in home completions next year
to 22,300 private home units. Alan Cheong
from Savills estimates that about 7,500
private
non-landed
homes,
excluding
executive condos will sold in the primary
market.
(Source: Business Times)
Fresh Start Housing schemes to help
public rental households
To help public rental households own their
own homes again, second-timers may receive
another HDB concessionary loan under a
new scheme that could also give them the
option of buying two-room flexi flats on
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shorter leases. The Fresh Start Housing

Scheme may consist of a grant that aims to
reduce the amount that buyers need to pay
for their new flat. The Ministry of National
Development is currently gathering views on
the scheme.
(Source: Business Times)
Govt tapers off residential and commercial
land supply in H1 2016 GLS
According to The Business Times, the
government will be tapering off residential
and commercial land supply in H1 2016 so as
to contain the problems of an oversupply.
Market experts predict that land prices will
remain high as limited sites have been
released under the Confirmed List for the H1
2016 Government Land Sales (GLS)
programme. According to The Business
Times, 4 sites have been released on the
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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 239

Confirmed List while another 12 are on the
Reserve List. 1,560 private residential units
and 11,000 sq m of gross floor area of
commercial space are expected to be
developed from the Confirmed List.

come on the market since 2007. Ong Kah

Seng from RST Research believes the site is
expected to draw 5 to 8 bids and the top bid
is expected to be between $1,100 to $1,250
psf ppr.

(Source: Business Times)

(Source: Business Times)

Commercial

Number of auction properties highest in 6

years

1.1 ha site at Central Boulevard released

under Reserve List
A 1.1 ha white site along Central Boulevard
has been released under the Reserve List by
the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).
The 99-year leasehold site can be built to 50
storeys with a maximum gross floor area of
141,309 sq m, of which 70.77% must be put
to office use. Up to 5,000 sq m of the gross
floor area may be set aside for retail use.
Moray Armstrong from CBRE said that the
site is the most prime office site that has
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The number of auction properties rose to 796

this yearthe highest in 6 years according to
data by Colliers. Despite that, only 33 units
were sold. This translates to a success rate of
4.1%, which is down from an average of 6.2%
over the last 5 years. The data cited by
Colliers excludes deals closed in private
treaties. According to Grace Ng from Colliers,
to seal better deals, most buyers prefer to
negotiate privately with sellers. Ng added that
a price gap persists between what buyers are
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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 239

willing to pay and what owners are willing to
accept. Market experts predict that the
number of auction properties will continue to
rise as owners continue to struggle to secure
tenants.
(Source: Business Times)

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 239

Non-Landed Residential Resale Property Transactions for the Week of Dec 2 Dec 8
Postal
District
4
5
5
5
5
5
8
8
9
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
11
11
11
12
12
12
12
12
13
13

Project Name
THE COAST AT SENTOSA COVE
ONE-NORTH RESIDENCES
THE VISION
BLUE HORIZON
BUONA VISTA GARDENS
HUNDRED TREES
CITYLIGHTS
CITY SQUARE RESIDENCES
ONE OXLEY RISE
FOUR SEASONS PARK
BALMORAL HILLS
THE TRIZON
THE BALMORAL SPRING
PINEWOOD GARDENS
AVALON
CORONATION ARCADE
THE SHELFORD
ADAM PARK CONDOMINIUM
MONARCHY APARTMENTS
THE RIVERINE BY THE PARK
THE MARQUE @ IRRAWADDY
THE BELLEFORTE
SUNVILLE
ST FRANCIS COURT
PLATINUM EDGE
CLYDESWOOD

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Area
(sqft)
2,024
517
904
1,152
1,464
3,714
689
840
732
3,821
1,841
1,550
1,227
2,099
1,593
1,184
1,539
1,141
1,163
1,776
883
1,023
947
1,270
1,055
1,152

Transacted
Price ($)
3,800,000
845,000
1,200,000
1,200,000
1,320,000
2,980,000
1,150,000
1,330,000
1,350,000
10,900,000
3,180,000
2,600,000
1,918,000
2,980,000
2,200,000
1,188,000
2,350,000
1,638,000
1,203,000
2,850,000
1,180,000
1,268,000
980,000
920,000
1,280,000
980,000

Price
Tenure
($ psf)
1,878
99
1,635
99
1,327
99
1,042
99
902
FH
802
956
1,669
99
1,584
FH
1,844
FH
2,852
FH
1,728
FH
1,677
FH
1,563
FH
1,420
FH
1,381
FH
1,003
FH
1,527
FH
1,436
FH
1,035
FH
1,605
FH
1,337
FH
1,240
FH
1,035
FH
724
99
1,213
FH
851
FH

Postal
District
14
14
14
15
15
16
19
19
19
19
20
20
21
21
21
21
21
22
23
23
27

Project Name
WATERBANK AT DAKOTA
WINDY HEIGHTS
EUNOSVILLE
COTE D'AZUR
PARK COURT
BAYSHORE PARK
KOVAN RESIDENCES
KOVAN MELODY
THE MINTON
COMPASS HEIGHTS
THE GARDENS AT BISHAN
BISHAN PARK CONDOMINIUM
THE CASCADIA
TERRENE AT BUKIT TIMAH
GARDENVISTA
GRAND CHATEAU
PINE GROVE
LAKEHOLMZ
GLENDALE PARK
REGENT GROVE
ORCHID PARK CONDOMINIUM

Area
(sqft)
1,141
2,476
1,776
1,539
958
3,531
1,259
1,292
797
1,249
1,582
1,324
883
915
861
1,141
1,755
1,884
1,206
1,259
1,206

Transacted
Price ($)
1,750,000
1,700,000
1,150,000
1,600,000
880,000
2,750,000
1,460,000
1,370,000
700,000
1,068,000
1,550,000
1,100,000
1,360,000
1,280,000
1,050,000
1,068,000
1,515,000
1,290,000
1,230,000
900,000
840,000

Price
Tenure
($ psf)
1,534
99
687
FH
648
102
1,039
99
919
FH
779
99
1,159
99
1,061
99
879
99
855
99
980
99
831
99
1,541
FH
1,399 999
1,219
99
936
FH
863
99
685
99
1,020
FH
715
99
697
99

NOTE: This data only covers non-landed residential resale property

transactions with caveats lodged with the Singapore Land Authority.
Typically, caveats are lodged at least 2-3 weeks after a purchaser
signs an OTP, hence the lagged nature of the data.

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