Against the backdrop of the cooling measures and the uncertain economic climate, crossing the 10,000 mark is commendable and shows the resilience of Singapore's property market.

Owners selling up in the public housing sector to buy in the private market gave a much-needed boost as 10,104 units were sold in 2019 - 14.9 per cent more than the 8,795 transacted in 2018 with 6 of the top 10 selling projects in 2019 being in the outside central region (OCR), with the remainder in the rest of central region (RCR). Usually, demand for OCR region mostly come from HDB upgraders, especially with the HDB resale market pricing bottoming out in 2019, HDB owners will likely sell their HDBs to buy private properties / condos in 2020 as an asset appreciation plan.

Developers sold 2,635 units in the fourth quarter of 2019, which is a 43.5 per cent surge from the 1,836 homes moved in the same quarter in 2018, as shown in Urban Redevelopment Authority's data published on 15 Jan 2020.

Huttons Asia's Kiwi Lim estimated around 30 new private apt / condo launches have been lined up for the first half of 2020, with about half in the core central region (prime districts) and the rest evenly spread between the rest of the central region or city fringes and the outside of central region. Top-selling projects last month included Parc Botannia, with 49 units sold at a median price of $1,345 per square foot (psf); Parc Esta, with 45 units sold at $1,666 psf; and Parc Clematis, with 40 sold at $1,638 psf. Demand for new homes is expected to stay strong with prices rising by 2 to 4 per cent in 2020.

Rents for both non-landed private homes and Housing Board flats rose in December last year from the year before, even as the number of rented condominium and private apartment units, and HDB homes, rose for the whole of 2019.

Flash data from real estate portal SRX Property on 15 Jan 2020 showed that overall condominium and private apartment rents rose 3.7 per cent in December 2019 from a year ago, although rents last month decreased 0.9 per cent from November. Figures in December 2019 are 16.6 per cent below their peak in January 2013. Year on year, non-landed private home rents were up in all areas last month: the prime or core central region rose by 3.9 per cent, the city fringe of rest of central region by 4 per cent, and in the suburbs or outside central region by 3.1 per cent.

For non-landed private home rental transactions, there were 58,236 homes leased for the whole of 2019, 2.3 per cent more than a year ago. In December alone, 1.2 per cent more private non-landed units were rented than the year before. 

​Over in the public housing market, HDB rents in December last year increased 1.3 per cent from a year ago. December's rents also inched up by 0.1 per cent from November. However, compared to the peak in August 2013, December's HDB rents are still down by 14.3 per cent. SRX data showed that while three-room flat rents fell 0.3 per cent in December compared with the year before, rents in other flat types rose: four-room flat rents rose by 2.1 per cent, rents for five-room units rose 1.3 per cent, and that for executive condominium flats rose 1.4 per cent. These price changes come on the back of more flats rented, as the number of HDB flats leased for the whole of last year hit 23,958, 1.9 per cent higher than 2018. Still, last month's overall HDB rental volumes fell 5.3 per cent compared with December 2018.

A condominium's management corporation (MC) has been held liable for the false ceiling of a penthouse collapsing due to the weight of spalling concrete that had accumulated on it and ordered to pay its owner $85,000 in damages, costs and disbursements.

The Strata Titles Board (STB) also ordered the MC of Mandalay Mansion, sited off Balestier Road, to repair the damage in the penthouse at its own cost. In addition, the MC has to hire a contractor registered with the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) to do the work, and a Qualified Person has to prescribe the repairs as well as certify their completion.

The Qualified Person was to be jointly engaged by the MC and the unit owner - at the MC's cost - to prepare a report that assesses the water tightness in the roof of the building and the presence of moisture in the roof slab, as well as recommend remedial works. The report is to be ready by Jan 17 this year.

The incident that led to the case took place in August 2018, when a part of the false ceiling in Madam Edna Kong's second living room collapsed together with the spalling concrete. Three people were injured and the police, an ambulance and the BCA were called. The following month, the BCA issued a notice that required both parties to conduct inspections and report their findings and recommendations to the authority.

Both parties separately appointed engineers to undertake the tasks to comply with the notice.​

The engineer that the unit owner engaged had concluded that the most probable cause of the spalling concrete was the presence of moisture due to ineffective waterproofing of the roof, which was common property and part of the MC's duty to maintain.

The MC blamed the unit owner for the collapse, saying Madam Kong failed to address the issue of spalling concrete from the false ceiling installed by the previous owner, when she carried out works on the penthouse in 2012.

The board, after considering the submissions and hearings, found there was evidence of moisture in the concrete roof slab located immediately above Madam Kong's living room which had the false ceiling. It held the MC liable since the defect was from the roof slab. The STB also said that the MC "had not discharged the burden of showing the collapse of the false ceiling was a result of the false ceiling works in 2012". STB made clear that the MC is required under the law to maintain and repair the roof slab.

​STB also noted that the MC had not provided a complete set of repair and/ or maintenance works carried out on the rooftop for the past five years, save for selective waterproofing works done in 2018. It further ordered the MC to pay $1,200 in STB fees for four arbitration hearings held last year and to reimburse the $500 application fee and costs of transcription services to Madam Kong.

The URA closed two government land tenders on Thursday – for a residential site at Irwell Bank Road, off River Valley Road, as well as a residential site at Jalan Bunga Rampai in the Bartley area. The URA will announce its decision on the award of the tenders at a later date, after the tender bids have been evaluated.
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The 137,632.6 sq ft site at Irwell Bank Road is in prime District 9 and has a maximum gross floor area of 385,379.9 sq ft. The new development is expected to yield about 445 units. The site is close to the upcoming Great World MRT Station on the Thomson-East Coast Line, Great World City shopping mall, and the Orchard Road shopping belt.

This government land sales (GLS) site attracted a total of seven bids. The highest bid of $583.9 million was submitted by CDL Perseus, a subsidiary of City Developments (CDL). This translates to $1,515 psf per plot ratio (ppr). The bid is 4.2% higher than the second highest bid of $560.1 million, which was made jointly by Far East Civil Engineering, Well Oasis, and Sekisui House.

According to Nicholas Mak, head of research and consultancy at ERA Realty, bidders displayed strong confidence in the site’s attributes, despite the fact that there are 16 upcoming new launches in the Core Central Region, with some 2,600 units that could be launched this year.
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“The median transacted prices of 99-year leasehold condo in the vicinity range between $2,680 psf and $2,860 psf. With a land rate of $1,515 psf ppr for the Irwell Bank Road site, the developer could earn a reasonable profit if the future condo on this site is launched at the current condo prices,” says Mak.