Business Times: For sale: Amber Park at $750m

December 28, 2007
For sale: Amber Park at $750m
By QUAH CHIN CHIN

A FREEHOLD residential redevelopment site on the east coast has been put up for sale for $750 million or $1,234 per square foot per plot ratio.Amber Park, in Amber Gardens, Katong, is on 213,673 sq ft of land and has an approved gross floor area of 607,601 sq ft.It comprises two 26-storey tower blocks that contain 192 apartments and eight penthouses.Sole marketing agent First Tree Properties says the site can be redeveloped into a high-rise condominium, subject to planning approval.This could yield about 375 apartments with an average size of 1,600 sq ft.According to First Tree, there will be no development charge based on the existing plot ratio of 2.843, which is slightly higher than the 2003 Master Plan plot ratio of 2.8.The site is close to Joo Chiat, Marine Parade and East Coast Park. The nearest MRT station is Paya Lebar. Other nearby amenities include Parkway Parade Shopping Centre, Katong Shopping Centre, eateries in the Katong vicinity, Tao Nan School, Tanjong Katong School, Chung Cheng High School and Dunman High School.The tender for Amber Park closes on Feb 1, 2008, at 3pm.

Women

Wife: Would you get married again if I died?

Husband: Definitely not!

Wife: Why not -- don't you like being married?

Husband: Of course I do.

Wife: Then why wouldn't you remarry?

Husband: Okay, I'd get married again.

Wife: You would? (With a hurtful look on her face)

Husband: ..............

Wife: Would you sleep with her in our bed?

Husband: Where else would we sleep?

Wife: Would you put away my pictures, and replace them with pictures of her?

Husband : That would seem like the proper thing to do.

Wife: And would you let her use my golf clubs?

Husband: She can't use them -- she's left-handed.

Wife: (silence)

Husband: Oh Sh*t !

Who is in the photo ?

The children had all been photographed, and the teacher was trying to persuade them each to buy a copy of the group picture.

"Just think how nice it will be to look at it when you are all grown up and say, 'There's Jennifer, she's a lawyer,' or 'That's Michael, He's a doctor.'

A small voice at the back of the room rang out, "And there's the teacher, she's dead."

SINGAPORE'S booming housing market is the world's hottest this year, with local home prices recording the fastest increase. Residential property prices in the Republic surged 24.3 per cent, after adjustments for inflation, ahead of other bullish markets such as Shanghai in China and Bulgaria, said property investment research house Global Property Guide. In a report published online, the firm said Singapore's strong performance, like those of Japan and South Korea, was due to robust economic growth. The survey was compiled using the latest official data from 42 countries, though other statistics were used for a few markets, such as Japan and the Philippines, where such figures were not available. The latest Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) numbers used in the survey show that Singapore home prices registered a 27.6 per cent annual jump at the end of September, significantly higher than the 7.6 per cent posted a year ago. This nominal, non-inflation adjusted figure was below the 30.6 per cent recorded by Bulgaria in September and the 27.9 per cent recorded by Shanghai in October. But in real terms, after adjustments for low inflation of only 2.66 per cent, the Republic leapfrogged these two markets to reach the top spot, said the report. Singapore's strong showing underscored a more general recovery in Asia, where several markets gained momentum in the first three quarters of the year. Global Property said this reflected, to some extent, continued recovery from the 1997 Asian financial crisis. In contrast, the United States housing market crashed due to the sub-prime mortgage crisis, while high interest rates were behind the slowdown in European house prices. 'In Europe, most countries registered unimpressive year-on-year house price changes in 2007, aside from Norway and Estonia,' the report said. Looking to the year ahead, Global Property said property prices in much of Asia are still undervalued compared with pre-Asian crisis levels, despite strong increases this year. It expects potential improvement in rentals in Singapore. 'We believe gross rental yields are now too low, at 2 to 3 per cent. 'Nevertheless, Singapore is attracting and admitting more foreign-born workers - which is positive for prices,' it said. Elsewhere in the region, Global Property also recommended Cambodia, Thailand, Japan, Australia and New Zealand to property investors. It, however, cautioned against investing in Europe, apart from a handful of Eastern European states, because of high valuations after a long period of price appreciation. In the Middle East, it found Egypt attractive for its high rental yields and low taxes, but warned of a possible oversupply in Dubai as more properties come on stream over the next two years.

Funny truths about life in small small Singapore Island

1. Nite - Sleep with air-con; Day - Bathe with heater on
2. Day - Cannot Wake up; Nite - Cannot Sleep
3. Translation is needed between Singaporean Chinese and Mainland Chinese
4. Smell Of rubbish besides letterboxes; Rubbish inside Letterbox
5. Spore Chinese use different languages other then Chinese to communicate.
6. Sporean never like to vote, but like to complain
7. There are quite a number of rich/poor in spore - They have Car, Credit Card,CPF but no Cash and is liable to lots of loans
8. There are quite a few high-tech barbaric singaporeans -they know how to use state-of-the art equipment, 3g mobile phone and powerful computers but they dunno how to use a simple dustbin or a toilet
9. Half Sporeans rushed to buy Hello kitty, but the other half busy killing stray cats
10. Chewing Gum - Can Chew, Cannot buy?? (Restricted to buying)
11. Cigarettes - Convenient to buy; not convenient to smoke
12. Private Cars - Cheaper and Cheaper to buy, harder and harder to Maintain
13. Public Bus - Half the Crowd squeeze in front section of the Bus, Second section is for Carrying Ghost
14. Education - Teachers teaching Less but expects students to learn More