The total footprint of land size for both developments is an estimated 350,448 square feet or 3.25 hectare.  Following the success of GuocoLand’s first mixed-use development above Tanjong Pagar MRT station in Central Business District, Midtown I and II are all set to be another winning development.  With its advantageous location and the combined value proposition of Midtown I and Midtown II, investors and homebuyers can look forward to an attractive Midtown Modern Price and also a potential upside in the future. 

High Demand Limited Supply 

Due to the limited land parcels in the Beach Road-Bugis area, future owners can expect the possibility of upside potential to the Midtown Modern Price.  Over the past years, land prices in the vicinity have experienced strong growth.  The white site at South Beach was transacted at $1,069 psf per plot ratio in 2007 while the 80,300 square feet residential site with commercial at first story use at Middle Road was transacted at $1,458 psf per plot ratio in 2019.  

For the Midtown Modern site, GuocoLand and Hong Leong paid an estimated $1,535 psf per plot ratio.  As land is scarce downtown, it is expected that land prices will continue to climb.  As such, Midtown Modern will be an attractive choice to buyers who are looking to invest in a high growth location. 

Property Market Resilience Despite Pandemic

Despite the impact due to the pandemic, the property market in Singapore remained resilient as prices remained stable without any sign of slowing down.  And due to pent up demand over the circuit breaker period, the number of real estate transactions multiplied right after circuit breaker.  Furthermore, interest rates took a dive to record levels and the savings in interest payments motivated many buyers to make the commitment to invest in property.  With such unshakable confidence, the real estate market continues to lend steady strong support to property prices such as the Midtown Modern Price.

Based on the latest data by URA in January 2021, the local private property price index in Q4 2020 enjoyed a 2.1% increase compared to Q3 2020.  At the onset of the circuit breaker, many homebuyers have been sitting on the sideline, expecting property prices to plunge due to the economic downturn.  But to everyone’s surprise, despite the huge economic impact, prices of private property enjoyed a healthy increase of 2.2% for the year 2020 compared to 2.7% in 2019.  Thus, the market is expecting the Midtown Modern Price to take advantage of the positive market momentum and show forth stability and resilience.  

Based on URA data, prices of non-landed properties rose by 3% in Q4 2020, compared with the 0.1% increase in Q3 2020.  For the whole year of 2020, the pricing for non-landed properties grew by 2.5% which is higher than the growth of 1.9% in 2019.  Despite 2020 being a year of economic challenges, the property market held its grounds and continued to grow.  

Furthermore, developers also took advantage of the market’s confidence and continued to launch new projects at price levels that echoed the positive market sentiments.  As such, homebuyers can expect the Midtown Modern Price to reflect the growing optimism in the market outlook.

Rising Private Home Prices in Central Core Region

For the Core Central Region (CCR), the Q4 2020 private home prices showed a growth of 3.2% despite the year-long pandemic crisis.  Similarly, the price index for the Rest of the Central Region (RCR) and Outside Central Region (OCR) also showed growth trends of 4.4% and 1.8% respectively.  With this upward trend across all regions in the midst of the pandemic, property buyers can be assured the Midtown Modern Price will be equally resilient to the different market factors ahead. 

From the 2020 URA data, we can observe that the local property market has deep foundations and it was not easily shaken through the market crisis, unlike other industries.  This firm foundation is a result of many government interventions over the decades.  And during the Covid-19 crisis, this foundation was truly put to the test.  Despite the gloomy forecast by buyers and sellers, the property market proved to be resilient.  With this, investors local and abroad are assured that not only the Singapore market but Midtown Modern Price will be able to weather the unforeseen circumstances ahead.

Some of the regulations that have contributed to the foundation of Singapore’s property market include the Seller Stamp Duty.  This policy was introduced to curb property speculation and discourage buyers from selling their property within 3 years of purchase.  With this policy, buyers can no longer conduct speculative transactions as the stamp duty payable is as high as 12% of the selling price.  With such regulations, investors and homeowners of Midtown Modern can be assured there will not be rampant speculative activities that may adversely impact the Midtown Modern Price.

Secondly, to discourage buyers from over-stretching themselves to own properties beyond their means, the government introduced the Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) which limits the monthly installment payment for housing loans to 60% of the buyer’s earnings.  As a result, the housing loan quantum is right-sized to match the buyer’s ability to service the required mortgage obligations.  This is to help reduce the incidence of firesale and avoid negative impact to the Midtown Modern Price.  

Lastly, to curb property hoarding, buyers who plan to own more than 1 residential property would be liable to incur additional buyer stamp duty.  For Singapore citizens, the second residential property would attract an additional buyer stamp duty of 12%.  All these regulations in place over the past years, it has helped Singapore property to stabilize and reduce the possibility of property prices taking a nosedive during an unforeseen economic crisis such as the times when SARS hit Singapore in 2003.