Since we alll know that Sim Lian is not in the business of losing money, we can deduce that even with this price drop, they are making money from the flats. In other words, the initial pricing they came out with would have been classified under "obsene profits". That's what I call anyone who can drop his asking price by $102K and still make a profit. Sim Lian said it arrived at the new price by looking at resales prices for flats in the area, prevailing economic conditions, etc. Are they telling us that when they launched it and sold it at $880K, they did not take these conditions into play? Why are they looking at resale prices? DBSS is supposed to be affordable. They should have just added on their regular profit margin to the cost, and price it accordingly. No need to look at the resale market, unless they want to price higher. Yet, Minister Cow got the guts to defend developers and tell everyone that they are not making that much money? The last sentence of this article is classic PAP crap. It says that the MND warned developers that if they overprice their flats, they risk getting a poor response from buyers. Well, that is stating the obvious. Any developer, whether DBSS or not will get a poor response from buyers if they overprice their flats. What the people (who own the land that the developer used for the DBSS flats) want to hear from the MND is that the developers who overpriced their flats will be punished by the govt. Of course, this will never happen as they are in the same bed together. This whole DBSS scheme is a failure, just admit it and scrap it.
Do not underestimate the power of the people. After the public uproar about the high $880,000 price of a five-room DBSS flat in Tampines, the developers have reduced it by $102,000 after a week of feedback from the public.
Developer Sim Lian Group has slashed the prices of its Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) flats at Centrale 8 in Tampines by up to $102,000.
DBSS HDB Flats - Centrale 8 in Tampine. Photo by Sim Lian Group Limited.
The move follows the public outcry at the record prices of the designer Housing Board (HDB) units launched last Thursday, when the developer asked $880,000 for the biggest five-room flats.
Outraged buyers complained to the Ministry of National Development (MND) and minister Khaw Boon Wan, who on Saturday wrote in his blog that consumers who thought the prices too high should give the flats a miss.
Others accused Sim Lian of profiteering, pointing out that while it did not pay a record sum for the land for Centrale 8, it priced the project at record prices of up to $750 per sq ft (psf).
They wanted MND to tell the developer to lower the prices, something the ministry said it could not do because under the DBSS, developers are free to set prices for the finished flats.
Sim Lian’s announcement last night that it would cut Centrale 8 prices came hours after the ministry said in a letter to The Straits Times Forum Page that it would be reviewing the DBSS as part of its overall review of housing policies.
Last night, Sim Lian released what it called the ‘confirmed price range’ of its Centrale 8 units.
Centrale 8 at Tampine. Photo by Sim Lian Group Limited
Three-room units now cost up to $445,000, down from $510,000. Four-room ones now cost a maximum of $592,000, down from $683,000. And five-room units will now cost up to $778,000, or $663 psf.
The price cuts still keep its five-room units at a record high for DBSS launches, but much closer to the maximum of around $720,000 for five-room flats at previous DBSS launches like The Peak@Toa Payoh and City View@Boon Keng, and $739,000 at Bishan‘s Natura Loft.
Sim Lian said it arrived at the new prices by taking into account resale prices of HDB flats in the area, the prevailing economic conditions and proximity to the transport network, good public facilities and other amenities.
It also commented on the backlash from the public since it released the initial prices of its units.
Tampines HDB Resale Flat up for competition from Centrale 8?
‘It is regrettable that during the application period, the media and members of the public did not take note of our repeated public emphasis that the price range which we had announced was only an indicative price range, and would not be the final sale prices for the respective types of flat units,’ said the statement.
It is the first developer to date to cite ‘indicative prices’ for a DBSS launch, only to lower them by so much within a week.
Sim Lian Group was the first private company to work with the HDB in 2005 on the pilot DBSS project, The Premiere, also in Tampines.
The Premiere at Tampines
The Singapore Exchange-listed company’s core businesses are construction and property, and its construction arm has been doing contracts for HDB flats for more than 30 years.
The hefty discounts took industry watchers by surprise. Some asked how Sim Lian would have arrived at its original indicative price range, if confirmed prices eventually turned out so much lower.
Said SLP International head of research Nicholas Mak: ‘It is a sign that they are bowing to public pressure. It is a lesson to the other developers when it comes to pricing their own products.’
Said PropNex chief executive officer Mohamed Ismail: ‘Definitely, I think that Sim Lian’s reduction of the price is demonstrative of the fact that people are not prepared to pay such high prices for the flats, whether they are the intended sale prices or not.’
Indeed, MND warned in its letter to the Forum Page that DBSS developers which overprice their flats risk getting a poor response from buyers.
Do not underestimate the power of the people. After the public uproar about the high $880,000 price of a five-room DBSS flat in Tampines, the developers have reduced it by $102,000 after a week of feedback from the public.
Developer Sim Lian Group has slashed the prices of its Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) flats at Centrale 8 in Tampines by up to $102,000.
DBSS HDB Flats - Centrale 8 in Tampine. Photo by Sim Lian Group Limited.
The move follows the public outcry at the record prices of the designer Housing Board (HDB) units launched last Thursday, when the developer asked $880,000 for the biggest five-room flats.
Outraged buyers complained to the Ministry of National Development (MND) and minister Khaw Boon Wan, who on Saturday wrote in his blog that consumers who thought the prices too high should give the flats a miss.
Others accused Sim Lian of profiteering, pointing out that while it did not pay a record sum for the land for Centrale 8, it priced the project at record prices of up to $750 per sq ft (psf).
They wanted MND to tell the developer to lower the prices, something the ministry said it could not do because under the DBSS, developers are free to set prices for the finished flats.
Sim Lian’s announcement last night that it would cut Centrale 8 prices came hours after the ministry said in a letter to The Straits Times Forum Page that it would be reviewing the DBSS as part of its overall review of housing policies.
Last night, Sim Lian released what it called the ‘confirmed price range’ of its Centrale 8 units.
Centrale 8 at Tampine. Photo by Sim Lian Group Limited
Three-room units now cost up to $445,000, down from $510,000. Four-room ones now cost a maximum of $592,000, down from $683,000. And five-room units will now cost up to $778,000, or $663 psf.
The price cuts still keep its five-room units at a record high for DBSS launches, but much closer to the maximum of around $720,000 for five-room flats at previous DBSS launches like The Peak@Toa Payoh and City View@Boon Keng, and $739,000 at Bishan‘s Natura Loft.
Sim Lian said it arrived at the new prices by taking into account resale prices of HDB flats in the area, the prevailing economic conditions and proximity to the transport network, good public facilities and other amenities.
It also commented on the backlash from the public since it released the initial prices of its units.
Tampines HDB Resale Flat up for competition from Centrale 8?
‘It is regrettable that during the application period, the media and members of the public did not take note of our repeated public emphasis that the price range which we had announced was only an indicative price range, and would not be the final sale prices for the respective types of flat units,’ said the statement.
It is the first developer to date to cite ‘indicative prices’ for a DBSS launch, only to lower them by so much within a week.
Sim Lian Group was the first private company to work with the HDB in 2005 on the pilot DBSS project, The Premiere, also in Tampines.
The Premiere at Tampines
The Singapore Exchange-listed company’s core businesses are construction and property, and its construction arm has been doing contracts for HDB flats for more than 30 years.
The hefty discounts took industry watchers by surprise. Some asked how Sim Lian would have arrived at its original indicative price range, if confirmed prices eventually turned out so much lower.
Said SLP International head of research Nicholas Mak: ‘It is a sign that they are bowing to public pressure. It is a lesson to the other developers when it comes to pricing their own products.’
Said PropNex chief executive officer Mohamed Ismail: ‘Definitely, I think that Sim Lian’s reduction of the price is demonstrative of the fact that people are not prepared to pay such high prices for the flats, whether they are the intended sale prices or not.’
Indeed, MND warned in its letter to the Forum Page that DBSS developers which overprice their flats risk getting a poor response from buyers.
