Developer Launch Ec W/o Ura Approval And Collected Chq From Buyer

[therat 18]

http://news.omy.sg/News/Local-News/Wei-Huo-URAPi-Zhun-ForestvilleFa-Zhan-Shang-Xu-Tui-Hui-Mai-Jia-Zhi-Piao-123336

未获URA批准　Forestville发展商须退回买家支票

发展商未获市区重建局批准，上周末执意推出兀兰执行共管公寓“Forestville”，现在只好要求产业 经纪把买家的支票退回去。

这个新执行共管公寓项目“Forestville”位于兀兰，在上周五正式推出。

据了解，该项目的发展商皓源投资（Hao Yuan Investment），并没有获得市建局的批准，就公开售卖单位。

市区重建局（URA）答复本报询问时表示，“Forestville”的发展商被建筑管制处告知，不能在1 2月28日售卖执行共管公寓项目。不过，发言人并没有说明，皓源为何不获准售卖单位。

没获准就推出，专家称罕见。完整报道，请翻阅31.12.2012《新明日报》。

[therat 18]

http://www.valuebuddies.com/thread-2699-post-38987.html

The Straits Times

http://www.straitstimes.com

Published on Dec 31, 2012

EC developer was told not to sell units: URA

By cheryl ong

PROPERTY agents involved in the launch of executive condominium (EC) Forestville were told by the project's developer over the weekend to return cheques people had given them to book units in the development.

The move came after developer Hao Yuan Investment did not get approval from the authorities to sell units in the project, which was launched on Friday.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) told The Straits Times yesterday that Hao Yuan had not been authorised to sell any of the units in the development located in Woodlands.

"The developer of Forestville was given instructions from Controller of Housing (COH) on Dec28 not to proceed with sales for the EC project," said the URA spokesman. He did not elaborate on the reasons why Hao Yuan was not given approval.

Despite COH's orders, Hao Yuan went ahead with the launch but issued a "no-sale" instruction to agents. Agents were told not to collect any cheques, and prospective buyers were told that no Option-to-Purchase would be granted, said the firm.

Potential buyers could make only "expressions of interest" which Hao Yuan would honour.

But some said that agents operated normally during the launch and continued to collect cheques for bookings made.

Mr Vincent Ong, 39, had placed a cheque for a four-bedroom unit worth $910,000. "The developer's statement that no bookings of units were made contradicts the process I went through on Friday," he said.

On Friday, people had placed an interest in about 150 units in Forestville.

The latest incident comes in the wake of controversy over the high prices of EC units.

On Saturday, a 4,349 sq ft penthouse at CityLife@Tampines was sold for $2.05 million, a record high for an EC unit.

Forestville's 653 units are priced at an average of $710 per sq ft. Its biggest penthouse, with a floor area of 2,756 sq ft, has a price tag of $1.79 million.

It is unusual for developers to proceed with launches without approval to sell, said analysts.

Part of the reason is that developers want to build on the momentum and rising interest in ECs, said Chesterton Suntec International's research head, Mr Colin Tan.

There were about 6,500 EC units in the pipeline as at Sept30 with an additional 3,100 that could potentially go onstream in the first half of next year.

Said Mr Tan: "As a developer, you're not sure if market sentiment will last or not, so you will want to get some kind of commitment before interest is lost."

ocheryl@sph.com.sg

[therat 18]

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1245322/1/.html

URA investigating sale of Forestville EC units

SINGAPORE: The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said it is still investigating the proposed sale of Forestville executive condominium (EC) on 28 December.

In a response to queries from Channel NewsAsia, URA said the Controller of Housing (COH) had instructed the developer, Hao Yuan Investments, on 28 December not to sell units in the Forestville EC project, pending further investigations.

The statement added "the developer has launched the project with some proposed changes to the development's plans which had not been approved, and this is not allowed."

Channel NewsAsia understands that the developer had initially received the necessary approvals from URA for the sale.

However, the company had made some changes to the development plans at the eleventh hour and this has prompted URA to step in and stop the sale.

It is believed the URA is currently looking into the entire process leading up to the intended sale.

This includes ensuring the proposed changes to the development plans are in good order.

URA added that "the results of the investigation will help us determine what further actions to take".

Hao Yuan issued a statement on Saturday to clarify that "there were no bookings of units for Forestville EC as originally intended on Dec 28."

Instead, the company said "the balloting process proceeded as usual in order to determine the sequencing order of the applicants."

It added that there were also no booking fees collected and as such there will be no forfeiture.

This came following reports on Friday claiming that about 20 per cent of the dual-key units at Forestville were snapped up within two and a half hours of the launch.

The developers have included about 200 such units in the 653-unit project.

Dual-key units are designed to contain separate living spaces under one roof.

- CNA/xq

[bepgof 20]

What drived Hao Yuan Investments into the hurry?

Poor corporate governance? It seems.

[bepgof 20]

By 2030, 6.9mil, what does that signal you?

[fliptan 0]

YA...6.9 million population coming