Sunday, January 13, 2013
Use of CPF funds, HDB loans tightened for public housing
Use of CPF funds, HDB loans tightened for public housing
Posted: 11 January 2013 2148 hrs
SINGAPORE : As part of the cooling measures for the property market, limits have been set for granting of HDB loans and the use of CPF funds for the purchase of public housing with remaining leases of less than 60 years.
They will take effect on 1 July 2013.
If the remaining lease of the HDB flat is between 30 and 59 years, the use of CPF funds is allowed, except for buyers for whom the remaining lease cannot cover them to the age of at least 80.
The total CPF usage by the household will be the pro-rated Valuation Limit based on the ratio of the remaining lease when the youngest buyer who can use CPF turns 55 years old, to the lease at point of purchase.
If the remaining lease of the HDB flat is 29 years or less, use of CPF funds is not allowed.
As for HDB housing loan, if the remaining lease of the HDB flat is between 20 and 59 years, it will be allowed if remaining lease can cover the buyer to the age of at least 80, and loan tenure will be the shortest of 30 years or 65 years minus average age of buyers or balance lease at the point of purchase minus 20 years.
If the remaining lease of the HDB flat is below 20 years, HDB loan will not be granted.
- CNA/al
- wong chee tat :)
Posted: 11 January 2013 2148 hrs
SINGAPORE : As part of the cooling measures for the property market, limits have been set for granting of HDB loans and the use of CPF funds for the purchase of public housing with remaining leases of less than 60 years.
They will take effect on 1 July 2013.
If the remaining lease of the HDB flat is between 30 and 59 years, the use of CPF funds is allowed, except for buyers for whom the remaining lease cannot cover them to the age of at least 80.
The total CPF usage by the household will be the pro-rated Valuation Limit based on the ratio of the remaining lease when the youngest buyer who can use CPF turns 55 years old, to the lease at point of purchase.
If the remaining lease of the HDB flat is 29 years or less, use of CPF funds is not allowed.
As for HDB housing loan, if the remaining lease of the HDB flat is between 20 and 59 years, it will be allowed if remaining lease can cover the buyer to the age of at least 80, and loan tenure will be the shortest of 30 years or 65 years minus average age of buyers or balance lease at the point of purchase minus 20 years.
If the remaining lease of the HDB flat is below 20 years, HDB loan will not be granted.
- CNA/al
- wong chee tat :)
Key witness in sex-for-grades trial claims CPIB coercion
Key witness in sex-for-grades trial claims CPIB coercion
By Claire Huang | Posted: 11 January 2013 2236 hrs
SINGAPORE: The prosecution in the sex-for-grades corruption trial involving a law professor, turned against its key witness on the second day of the hearing by impeaching her credibility.
It argued on Friday that star witness Darinne Ko Wen Hui's testimony on Thursday had deviated from her first statement to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, taken in April last year.
Tey Tsun Hang, a former district judge, faces six counts of corruptly obtaining gratification in the form of gifts and sex from Ms Ko, between May and July 2010.
The gifts included tailor-made shirts, an iPod Touch and a Montblanc pen.
The prosecution said these were inducements to show favour in Tey's assessment of Ms Ko's academic performance.
In a dramatic twist to the closely-watched trial, Ms Ko said she was coerced into making parts of her first CPIB statement.
She said the CPIB recording officers were only willing to record some of what she told them.
The 23-year-old added that in relation to the gifts she showered on Tey, one CPIB recording officer "received specific orders" to record within the parameters of her agreement "with the (CPIB) boss".
These came minutes after the prosecution applied to impeach her credibility for parts of her testimony made on Thursday.
The swift move follows discrepancies in a few areas, including her amount of interaction with Tey after they broke up and the details of photos taken after they had sex.
Earlier in the day, the prosecution showed Ms Ko photographs of her and Tey, supposedly taken after they had sex.
When asked about some of the photos, Ms Ko said she could not remember when and where it took place. Apparently, this is inconsistent with her statement to the CPIB.
Ms Ko said on Thursday she gave the S$740 Montblanc pen to Tey as a belated birthday gift.
But prosecution pointed out that she failed to mention it in any of her CPIB statements.
To this, Ms Ko admitted she had "failed to convey to them (CPIB) at that point in time".
Ms Ko then said that she amended "only parts" of the first statement "which were coerced", in her subsequent statements.
She also said she stated clearly previously that the reasons for the gifts were due to her "feelings of affection" for Tey.
With impeachment, the judge will have to decide at the end of the trial, which parts of Ms Ko's evidence to take into consideration.
The trial started with Tey asking the prosecution for information on his former students' grades, including that of Ms Ko.
Some four hours were spent going through more than 30 applications, of which, six were granted and the rest were deemed irrelevant by Chief District Judge Tan Siong Thye, who denied some of his requests.
At one point in time, he told Tey off for wasting the court's time as some of the information have already been provided.
The trial continues.
- CNA/xq
- wong chee tat :)
By Claire Huang | Posted: 11 January 2013 2236 hrs
SINGAPORE: The prosecution in the sex-for-grades corruption trial involving a law professor, turned against its key witness on the second day of the hearing by impeaching her credibility.
It argued on Friday that star witness Darinne Ko Wen Hui's testimony on Thursday had deviated from her first statement to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, taken in April last year.
Tey Tsun Hang, a former district judge, faces six counts of corruptly obtaining gratification in the form of gifts and sex from Ms Ko, between May and July 2010.
The gifts included tailor-made shirts, an iPod Touch and a Montblanc pen.
The prosecution said these were inducements to show favour in Tey's assessment of Ms Ko's academic performance.
In a dramatic twist to the closely-watched trial, Ms Ko said she was coerced into making parts of her first CPIB statement.
She said the CPIB recording officers were only willing to record some of what she told them.
The 23-year-old added that in relation to the gifts she showered on Tey, one CPIB recording officer "received specific orders" to record within the parameters of her agreement "with the (CPIB) boss".
These came minutes after the prosecution applied to impeach her credibility for parts of her testimony made on Thursday.
The swift move follows discrepancies in a few areas, including her amount of interaction with Tey after they broke up and the details of photos taken after they had sex.
Earlier in the day, the prosecution showed Ms Ko photographs of her and Tey, supposedly taken after they had sex.
When asked about some of the photos, Ms Ko said she could not remember when and where it took place. Apparently, this is inconsistent with her statement to the CPIB.
Ms Ko said on Thursday she gave the S$740 Montblanc pen to Tey as a belated birthday gift.
But prosecution pointed out that she failed to mention it in any of her CPIB statements.
To this, Ms Ko admitted she had "failed to convey to them (CPIB) at that point in time".
Ms Ko then said that she amended "only parts" of the first statement "which were coerced", in her subsequent statements.
She also said she stated clearly previously that the reasons for the gifts were due to her "feelings of affection" for Tey.
With impeachment, the judge will have to decide at the end of the trial, which parts of Ms Ko's evidence to take into consideration.
The trial started with Tey asking the prosecution for information on his former students' grades, including that of Ms Ko.
Some four hours were spent going through more than 30 applications, of which, six were granted and the rest were deemed irrelevant by Chief District Judge Tan Siong Thye, who denied some of his requests.
At one point in time, he told Tey off for wasting the court's time as some of the information have already been provided.
The trial continues.
- CNA/xq
- wong chee tat :)
Buyers rush to beat property cooling measures deadline
Buyers rush to beat property cooling measures deadline
Posted: 12 January 2013 0049 hrs
SINGAPORE: Snaking queues of buyers and real estate agents formed at the La Fiesta showroom at Seng Kang square on Friday evening.
Potential buyers wanted to snap up units before the new property cooling measures kick in on Saturday. These include raising the Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty (ABSD) by five to seven percentage points across the board.
The tax will be imposed on PRs buying their first property and Singaporeans buying their second property. Others did not want to be affected by the Loan-To-Value limits granted by the banks.
For example those getting a second loan will have their Loan-To-Value limits lowered to 50 or 30 per cent, depending on the loan tenure or borrower's age.
Crowds started forming at about 9pm after buyers heard the news on Channel NewsAsia.
Channel NewsAsia also understands that the launch of the condominium was brought forward by two weeks and is now based on a first come, first served basis.
-CNA/ac
- wong chee tat :)
Posted: 12 January 2013 0049 hrs
SINGAPORE: Snaking queues of buyers and real estate agents formed at the La Fiesta showroom at Seng Kang square on Friday evening.
Potential buyers wanted to snap up units before the new property cooling measures kick in on Saturday. These include raising the Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty (ABSD) by five to seven percentage points across the board.
The tax will be imposed on PRs buying their first property and Singaporeans buying their second property. Others did not want to be affected by the Loan-To-Value limits granted by the banks.
For example those getting a second loan will have their Loan-To-Value limits lowered to 50 or 30 per cent, depending on the loan tenure or borrower's age.
Crowds started forming at about 9pm after buyers heard the news on Channel NewsAsia.
Channel NewsAsia also understands that the launch of the condominium was brought forward by two weeks and is now based on a first come, first served basis.
-CNA/ac
- wong chee tat :)
NUS law prof wants prosecution to give information on ex-students' results
NUS law prof wants prosecution to give information on ex-students' results
By Claire Huang | Posted: 11 January 2013 1116 hrs
SINGAPORE: The National University of Singapore (NUS) law professor on trial for corruption in a sex-for-grades case has asked the prosecution to provide information on the results of a few former students.
Tey Tsun Hang, 41, made the request on Friday.
He's accused of obtaining gratification in the form of gifts and sex from his former student, Darinne Ko Wen Hui, 23, between May and July 2010.
The gifts include tailor-made shirts, an iPod touch and a Montblanc pen.
The prosecution said these were inducements to show favour in his assessment of Ms Ko's academic performance.
Minutes into the second day of the trial, Tey said he filed a criminal motion in the High Court in August last year to ask for information from NUS on the grades of Ms Ko and four other students.
The four students were called up by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau during investigations.
Tey had requested for information on the students' grades to support his assertion that false confessions were extracted from him.
Chief District Judge Tan Siong Thye has ordered the prosecution and defence to sort out issue before continuing with the examination of Ms Ko.
Tey, a former district judge, faces six counts of corruption.
- CNA/ck
- wong chee tat :)
By Claire Huang | Posted: 11 January 2013 1116 hrs
SINGAPORE: The National University of Singapore (NUS) law professor on trial for corruption in a sex-for-grades case has asked the prosecution to provide information on the results of a few former students.
Tey Tsun Hang, 41, made the request on Friday.
He's accused of obtaining gratification in the form of gifts and sex from his former student, Darinne Ko Wen Hui, 23, between May and July 2010.
The gifts include tailor-made shirts, an iPod touch and a Montblanc pen.
The prosecution said these were inducements to show favour in his assessment of Ms Ko's academic performance.
Minutes into the second day of the trial, Tey said he filed a criminal motion in the High Court in August last year to ask for information from NUS on the grades of Ms Ko and four other students.
The four students were called up by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau during investigations.
Tey had requested for information on the students' grades to support his assertion that false confessions were extracted from him.
Chief District Judge Tan Siong Thye has ordered the prosecution and defence to sort out issue before continuing with the examination of Ms Ko.
Tey, a former district judge, faces six counts of corruption.
- CNA/ck
- wong chee tat :)
Prices of private non-landed homes jump 13.4% in Q4
Prices of private non-landed homes jump 13.4% in Q4
Posted: 11 January 2013 1404 hrs
SINGAPORE: Resale prices of private non-landed homes jumped 13.4 per cent on-year in the fourth quarter last year, according to flash estimates put out by the Singapore Real Estate Exchange (SRX).
SRX compiles data from 11 top property agencies in Singapore.
It said non-landed private resale home prices continued its uptrend to hit S$1,233 per square foot in the fourth quarter (Q4), compared to S$1,157 per square foot in the third quarter (Q3) in 2012.
Lee Sze Teck, senior research manager at DWG, said: "One possible reason is that there are fewer launches in November and December. So some of the buyers have gone over to the resale market."
Resale units in the mass market segment led the gain with a 4.8 per cent increase over Q3, while those in the city fringes saw prices climb 3.6 per cent.
But it was the core central region which saw a higher-than-expected growth of 4.6 per cent in Q4.
SRX said this was due to the city area's strong performance in December.
Average private resale home prices in the city area surged 8.8 per cent to S$1,899 per square foot in December, over November's average of S$1,746.
SRX said the strong growth is partly attributed to a possible record breaking price paid by Hong Kong's Swire Properties for all 12 units in the en bloc sale of Hampton Court located at the corner of Draycott Park and Draycott Drive
Meanwhile, resale transaction volume of non-landed private homes showed a seasonal drop of 5.5 per cent in Q4 compared with Q3.
But transaction volumes in the city area bucked the trend by reporting a 7.3 per cent increase. Volumes in city fringes and mass market segments fell by 11 per cent and 4.6 per cent respectively.
For the full year, 12,500 units were transacted in the private resale non-landed market - a 7 per cent drop compared to 2011.
SRX said this can be attributed mainly to the weak performance in the first half of the year, which saw a 27.3 per cent plunge in transaction volumes after the additional buyer's stamp duty was introduced.
But the trend was reversed in the second half of the year with a 20.1 per cent jump in the number of units transacted compared to a year ago.
On the HDB resale market, SRX said resale cash-over-valuation (COV) dropped 5.7 per cent to S$33,000 in December, compared to November's median COV of S$35,000 which is a record high for 2012.
For the fourth quarter, overall median cash-over-valuation rose to S$34,000 - up S$4,000 from Q3.
This helped to push overall HDB median resale price to a new historical high of S$455,000 - a 1.1 per cent increase from Q3's S$450,000.
- CNA/ck/ms
- wong chee tat :)
Posted: 11 January 2013 1404 hrs
SINGAPORE: Resale prices of private non-landed homes jumped 13.4 per cent on-year in the fourth quarter last year, according to flash estimates put out by the Singapore Real Estate Exchange (SRX).
SRX compiles data from 11 top property agencies in Singapore.
It said non-landed private resale home prices continued its uptrend to hit S$1,233 per square foot in the fourth quarter (Q4), compared to S$1,157 per square foot in the third quarter (Q3) in 2012.
Lee Sze Teck, senior research manager at DWG, said: "One possible reason is that there are fewer launches in November and December. So some of the buyers have gone over to the resale market."
Resale units in the mass market segment led the gain with a 4.8 per cent increase over Q3, while those in the city fringes saw prices climb 3.6 per cent.
But it was the core central region which saw a higher-than-expected growth of 4.6 per cent in Q4.
SRX said this was due to the city area's strong performance in December.
Average private resale home prices in the city area surged 8.8 per cent to S$1,899 per square foot in December, over November's average of S$1,746.
SRX said the strong growth is partly attributed to a possible record breaking price paid by Hong Kong's Swire Properties for all 12 units in the en bloc sale of Hampton Court located at the corner of Draycott Park and Draycott Drive
Meanwhile, resale transaction volume of non-landed private homes showed a seasonal drop of 5.5 per cent in Q4 compared with Q3.
But transaction volumes in the city area bucked the trend by reporting a 7.3 per cent increase. Volumes in city fringes and mass market segments fell by 11 per cent and 4.6 per cent respectively.
For the full year, 12,500 units were transacted in the private resale non-landed market - a 7 per cent drop compared to 2011.
SRX said this can be attributed mainly to the weak performance in the first half of the year, which saw a 27.3 per cent plunge in transaction volumes after the additional buyer's stamp duty was introduced.
But the trend was reversed in the second half of the year with a 20.1 per cent jump in the number of units transacted compared to a year ago.
On the HDB resale market, SRX said resale cash-over-valuation (COV) dropped 5.7 per cent to S$33,000 in December, compared to November's median COV of S$35,000 which is a record high for 2012.
For the fourth quarter, overall median cash-over-valuation rose to S$34,000 - up S$4,000 from Q3.
This helped to push overall HDB median resale price to a new historical high of S$455,000 - a 1.1 per cent increase from Q3's S$450,000.
- CNA/ck/ms
- wong chee tat :)
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