By Matthew Snedden (guest contributor) With the high property prices in Singapore, many investors are looking overseas to find attractive investment opportunities. In this article we interview Matthew Snedden, one of the United Kingdom’s most recognized real estate experts and a speaker at the National Achievers Congress …

By Gerald Tay (guest contributor) I recently ran across this book titled How Rich People Think by Steve Siebold. I was immediately struck by the differences between the thoughts and actions of the “World Class” investor and the “Middle Class” investor. In the book, Steve listed 21 ways that the wealthy think differently …

By Mr. Propwise Here’s the story of a property investor who missed a once-in-a-decade opportunity. The date is early March, 2009. Post the onslaught of the Global Financial Crisis property prices had corrected sharply and everywhere he looked there were bargains to be had. At many projects prices were down 30+% from the …

By Mr. Propwise Over the weekend Housing Minister Khaw Boon Wan gave an interview to the Straits Times, where he spoke about what I believe to be a radical shift in policy for the pricing of new Housing Development Board (HDB) flats. In this article we’ll look at the potential changes and how they could [...]

By Gerald Tay (guest contributor) Dear Readers, I want to share some personal thoughts and investment decisions based on the 2013Q1 URA PPI flash estimate and what it means for the property market. The 2013Q1 estimate of 213.1 represents a 0.5% quarter-on-quarter increase, which is a moderation from the 1.8% q-o-q pace …

With the skyrocketing property prices in Singapore, many investors are looking overseas to find attractive investment opportunities. In this article we interview Dr. Rohan Weerasinghe, one of the United Kingdom’s most recognized wealth creation experts and a speaker at the National Achievers Congress 2013, on both his failures …

By Gerald Tay (guest contributor) I recently came across two investors who made money in property investing in the property boom during the last three years (i.e. from mid-2009 to end 2012), albeit in very different ways. I have taken the liberty to simplify and change some numbers as well as ignore all expenses so [.. …

By Mr. Propwise By now you’ve read the scary headlines – new home sales in February “plunged” by 65% on a month-on-month basis to 708 units (excluding Executive Condominiums), versus the 2,013 units sold in January. Sounds like a big drop doesn’t it? Looking more closely at February sales But when you start drilling down …

By Mr. Propwise In a recent parliamentary speech, Minister Khaw Boon Wan suggested that his Ministry is looking at ways to bring Build-To-Order (BTO) flat pricing in non-mature estates down to “four years of salary”, where it was before the current property bull market started more than six years ago, down from the current …

By Mr. Propwise The recently announced Budget 2013 was full of controversial measures such as the Wage Credit Scheme and higher Additional Registration Fees for expensive cars. One of the key themes was a system of more progressive taxes targeting the rich, and nowhere was this clearer as in the announcement of the new …

By Mr. Propwise I recently received the following email from a reader of Propwise.sg: Dear Mr. Propwise, Thank you for your weekly report. You’ve done a very sound analysis in putting housing growth and property growth together in your article 6.9m Population by 2030 – Good or Bad for Property? If most people agree with …

By Mr. Propwise Buying a property is the biggest purchase most of us will make in our lives. Making a mistake and buying a property at the peak of the market can have disastrous consequences, leading to years of income being wiped out, and even bankruptcy if you are over-leveraged and suddenly find yourself unable [... …

By Gerald Tay (guest contributor) I’m a cautiously optimistic investor, who would rather see ‘money on the table’ today, than have an over-realistic expectation or try to make ‘godly’ predictions of an unknown future. As an investor, I avoid trying to be a future trend predictor, a ‘fortune-telling’ guru or think I possess …

By Mr. Propwise There’s been so much talk (and hype) about the Government’s recently released Population White Paper and Land Use Plan to support up to a 6.9 million population in 2030, but I think at the end of the day most people are still confused about one key question – is the long term [...]

By Eileen Tan and Ui Wei Teck (guest contributors) Real Estate and Value Investing are two of the ways you can grow your wealth if you adopt the correct mindset and strategy while working for others or running your own business. With wealth, you can have peace of mind, greater freedom to pursue what you [...]

By The Folks (guest contributor) The wife and I came across an article in the Forum page of our de facto English newspaper (“So many questions, so few answers”) from a certain Mr. Tan who happens to be an enthusiastic first-time home buyer. He claimed that the numerous doubts and anomalies he had noticed after [...]

Looking for an affordable property? In this article, based on analysis done at PropertyMarketInsights.com, we share with you the five cheapest non-landed new sale properties sold by developers in Singapore in the month of December 2012 on a per square foot basis, based on URA data. This list is a quick way for you to [ …

By Mr. Propwise As I had discussed previously, skyrocketing residential and industrial property prices dramatically increased the risk of additional government measures to prevent a destabilizing property bubble from forming. And this time, no punches were pulled. On 11 January 2013 the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of …

By Gerald Tay (guest contributor) Singapore’s private residential property index continued to climb to 211.9 in Q4 2012 from 208.2 in Q3. This is a hike of 1.8 percent compared to the 0.6 percent increase in the previous quarter. HDB re-sale prices have hit an all-time high and Executive Condominiums (ECs) have reached …

By Mr. Propwise From the URA’s recent flash estimate of the 4Q2012 Private Residential Property Price Index (PPI), property prices have continued to defy gravity and have even accelerated quarter-on-quarter. The 4Q2012 URA PPI flash estimate hit 211.9 and was up 1.8% on a quarter-on-quarter basis. Singapore property prices …

By Mr. Propwise It’s that time of the year where we sum up what happened in 2012 and peer into 2013 to divine where the market may go. While I’m not a fan of forecasting (the type that says “the market will fall by 5% in the second quarter”) because I believe that the future [...]

What are the top selling projects by developers this month? In this article, based on analysis done at PropertyMarketInsights.com, we will share with you the five bestselling non-landed projects launched by developers in November 2012 ranked by the number of units sold, based on URA data. This list is a quick way for you …

By Mr. Propwise On 14 December 2012 the Ministry of National Development (MND) announced the Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme for the first half of 2013. A total of 23 residential, two commercial, four hotel, and three mixed-use sites were announced. These sites could potentially yield a total of about 14,000 private …

By Gerald Tay (guest contributor) There are many myths about doing property deals. Most contain a grain of truth – and a lot of misinformation. Several printed advertisements and mass emails in the past couple of years have been claiming that one can invest and own properties with no money down. One advertisement even claims …

By Gerald Tay (guest contributor) Yes! I just purchased the best property investment deal from a property seminar. I don’t have to do anything. All I have to do is sit on my couch and the cheques will be deposited into my bank account. They promise a 20% guaranteed return during the first year with [...]

What residential projects had the highest appreciation this month? Knowing which properties are   increasing in price will help you spot potential hot areas of the property market. In this article, based on analysis done at PropertyMarketInsights.com, we will share with you the top five resale and subsale residential projects …

Want to know where the rich are buying? In this article, based on analysis done at PropertyMarketInsights.com, we share with you the five most expensive landed residential transactions ranked by total cost in the month of October 2012, based on the URA data of caveats lodged. While most of us are probably not in the [. …

By Gerald Tay (guest contributor) There are many investors who invest in properties solely for capital gains. They are not concerned with making a rental profit, and are sometimes even happy to make a rental loss! Understanding why property prices rise and fall is very important if we want to make money. In Singapore’s …

What are the top selling projects by developers this month? In this article, based on analysis done at PropertyMarketInsights.com, we will share with you the five bestselling non-landed projects launched by developers in October 2012 ranked by the number of units sold, based on URA data. This list is a quick way for you …

By Gerald Tay (guest contributor) Years ago before the passing of my late multi-millionaire grandfather, I had the fortune of frequent conversations and debate on investment and wealth with him. Although I missed him after his passing, his simple teachings had taught me many vital lessons on wealth. Is it important to know …

By AK (guest contributor) When I was told that residential properties in Hong Kong generally come with a 50 years lease, I was amazed. Imagine that someone in his thirties bought a condo in Hong Kong and he lived to be 90 years old.  This effectively means that he could be kicked out of the [...]

By Gerald Tay (guest contributor) Some “property experts” claim that anyone, including ordinary investors, can own properties easily either with “No Money Down” or “Little Money Down”, and make people pay ridiculous amounts of fees in property seminars just to learn from them. In this article, I am going to share some of …

By Mr. Propwise While everyone (including the government) has focused their attention on the residential market, one segment that has gone through the roof is industrial property. In 3Q2012 the Industrial Property Price Index registered a stunning 8.8% quarter-on-quarter growth to hit 183.3, an all-time high. This was the …

By Gerald Tay (guest contributor) Warren Buffet once quoted, “Wall Street is the only place that people ride to work in a Rolls Royce to get advice from those who take the subway”. Investors who are able to understand the real meaning of this simple quote would stop any investing activities immediately and start to [.. …

What residential projects had the highest appreciation this month? Knowing which properties are   increasing in price will help you spot potential hot areas of the property market. In this article, based on analysis done at PropertyMarketInsights.com, we will share the top five resale and subsale residential projects ranked …

Looking for an affordable property? In this article, based on analysis done at PropertyMarketInsights.com, we share with you the five cheapest non-landed residential projects transacted (including new sales, resale and subsales) in September 2012 ranked by price per square foot, based on the URA data of caveats lodged. …

By The Folks(guest contributor) A letter from a certain Mr Zhuang Li-Hao was published in the Straits Times forum page recently. Mr Zhuang felt that existing policies curb transaction volumes, but are by themselves inflationary. This is why prices continue to rise despite the various rounds of cooling measures. He suggested …

What are the top selling projects by developers last month? In this article, based on analysis done at PropertyMarketInsights.com, we will share with you the five bestselling non-landed projects launched by developers in September 2012 ranked by the number of units sold, based on URA data. This list is a quick way for you …

By Mr. Propwise With more than 80% of the resident population in Singapore being housed in Housing Development Board (HDB) flats, the supply and pricing of public housing is a significant factor that affects the demand for and hence pricing of private housing. In this article we will look at the relative price performance …

By Mr. Propwise From the URA’s recent flash estimate of the 3Q2012 Private Residential Property Price Index (PPI), property prices have managed to defy gravity and even managed to register a slight increase in the quarter. The 3Q2012 URA PPI flash estimate hit 208 and was up 0.6% on a quarter-on-quarter basis. At the current …

By Gerald Tay (guest contributor) Yes, it’s Operation Screw all over again. They never learn from the past do they? The same mistakes are repeating all over again. The geniuses at the Federal Reserve have concocted a bold new plan to revive the U.S. economy – print a bunch of money, loan it to Americans [...]

By Gerald Tay (guest contributor) Here are four of my all-time favourite Conventional Wisdom Myths for the ordinary investor. I define an ordinary investor as anyone who’s holding a full-time back-breaking job, dependent on a job for income, maybe has a family to support, has some money to invest, dreams of becoming wealthy …

By Mr. Propwise On September 4th, 2012 the URA announced new guidelines that will effectively curb the future development of shoebox units, typically units smaller than 500 square feet, in suburban areas. Effective November 4th, 2012, the total number of homes that can be built for non-landed private residential developments …

By Mr. Propwise Interest rates have a significant effect on the real estate market as they affect both the cost of taking a mortgage from the bank to fund the property purchase, and the relative attractiveness of the property purchase versus other investment alternatives. Since the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, we have …

By Gerald Tay (guest contributor) In the first part of this article, we talked about the importance of looking at numbers instead of location when buying investment property. There are two vital numbers that novice investors and speculators frequently ignore: the Cash-on-Cash Return and Internal Rate of Return. Let’s now …

By Gerald Tay (guest contributor) You have probably heard this popular phase when learning about property investment: “Location! Location! Location! You can’t go wrong if you buy in a good location.” The lesson for investors is that “location” should be the top consideration in your investment decision. In other words, …

By guest contributor 2ycapital My first foray into the property market was via the most common route – the HDB flat. There weren’t any HDB grants during my time and we couldn’t afford one near our parents as we had only started working. We couldn’t afford an Executive Condominium either, as my starting pay was [...]

By Mr. Propwise There has been lots of media coverage of a wide array of numbers from the URA’s release of the second quarter 2012 real estate statistics, but in this article I’d like to focus on what I believe to be the three key trends that anyone interested in the property market should take [...]