Do you know that short term rentals in Singapore is illegal?

Home stay and short terms stays are common among visitors in different parts of the world, while this is illegal in Singapore. Many holidaymakers around the world uses Internet booking sites (like Airbnb, Roomorama, Travelmob and Wimdu) to stay in homes as a cheaper, and interesting alternative to hotels, including in Singapore. But authorities (like HDB, ERA, etc) have warned home owners in Singapore.

HDB (Singapore Housing Development Board) stepped up enforcement on illegal short term rental phenomenon in Singapore. HDB received 20 complaints from the public on short-term leasing in the year 2012. For the first 7 months of 2013, HDB received 11 cases. Six months is the minimum subletting period here in Singapore.

SGD 1.43 billion top bid for Yishun site

A mixed commercial and residential site at Yishun Avenue 2/ Yishun Central 1 drew five bids with a highest bid of SGD 1.43 billion. The bidding was closed on 6th Sep 2013. The site was launched for sale by HDB on 28th Jun 2013, the land parcel has an area of 41,084.9 sq m and maximum gross floor area (GFA) of 123,254.7 sq m, with a plot ratio of 3.0. The top bid was submitted by Frasers Centrepoint. This was followed by an offer from Far East Civil Engineering, Far East Orchard and Sekisui House at SGD 969.3 million. The lowest bid of SGD 704.5 million came from Yorkshire Investments and Yorkshire Trustee, units of CapitaLand.

The site’s integration with Yishun MRT station and bus interchange in future makes it a new focal point for Yishun. The site is offered on a 99-year lease, the site could also generate about 890 housing units.

Should You Buy or Rent Your Home?

Are you tempted to buy a house? Years of price declines have made buying a home more affordable than renting in all and in many places of the world mortgage rates are still appealingly low. But is that a reason to buy a new house? Before you decide on a lifetime of mortgage payments and home-maintenance routines, here are a few questions to help you decide whether you should rent or buy. There are just few indicative answers and discussions; plan and result may vary according to different peoples.

1. Where do you live?The cost of buying versus renting varies greatly from city to city. A smart way to weigh the two options is to divide the average asking price for a home in your city by the typical annual rent for a comparable home. This will yield a price-to-rent ratio. For example, if the average sales price is $200,000 and average rent is $3,000 per month -- that’s $36,000 per year, then the ratio would be 5.5:1. In general, a price-to-rent ratio below 15 benefits buyers; above 20 rewards renters. Ratios between 15 and 20 can go either way, depending on a number of factors, from taxes to appreciation potential

2. How long will you stay put?Remember that home buying is a long-term commitment. If you're not planning to stay in the home for at least five to seven years (or minimum 3 years), think twice. Some cities the average origination and title fees are very high. So ask yourself, in the next five years, might you need to relocate for, say, grad school, a new job, your future spouse or hypothetical children? If so, renting will allow you the flexibility to pick up and move on short notice.

3. What is your monthly budget?As a homeowner, you'll have a lot of big new expenses to cover with your same old budget: mortgage payments, utility bills and costs for standard upkeep. Plus, you should consider beefing up your emergency fund for less-routine maintenance issues, such as a fallen tree branch or a burst pipe. All of those new costs can be pretty intimidating. But if you've got room in your monthly budget, home buying makes sense for the long haul. You'll be building equity, and your housing costs won't be exposed to inflation like they are with renting.

4. How much do you have saved?
The sexiest housing market in many parts of the world offers nothing if you don’t have savings. Putting down 20% of the sales price is a common requirement. That number may seem steep, but it will help you qualify for the best loan terms, and it eliminates the additional cost of private mortgage insurance.

Re-sale prices of Private Homes in Singapore

Resale prices of private homes in Singapore climbed 0.2 per cent in July 2013 as compared to June 2013. In June, resale home prices declined 0.1 per cent from a month earlier. The price growth in July was due to higher prices of transactions recorded in the non-central region and for small units, according to the latest Singapore Residential Price Index (SRPI) flash estimates published by the National University of Singapore's Institute of Real Estate Studies.

Subletting transactions in Singapore

HDB figures for July 2013 shows a 6 per cent rise in subletting transactions between the first and second quarters of this year. This means more owners of HDB flats have been renting out their units in recent months.

Industrial site at Woodlands Industrial Park E9

The Singapore Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has awarded the tender for the industrial site at Woodlands Industrial Park E9 to Incorporated Woodlands Pte Ltd, who submitted the highest bid in the tender for the site.

The bid was SGD 72,690,000.00 for 16,775.50 square meter of land with a Maximum permissible gross plot ratio 2.5.