MCST – What is it? - 99.co

MCST stands for Management Corporation Strata Title in real estate

MCST, the Management Corporation Strata Title, refers to the managing body of a condominium or any compound which has multiple owners and shared public facilities. MCSTs are usually associated with private residential developments.

When a Management Corporation is contracted to manage an estate, it is given a name: Management Corporation Strata Title Plan No. xxxx (where “xxxx” are running numbers).

Why are there MCSTs?

The need for a managing body arises from the nature of private housing in Singapore. Many Singaporeans set up homes in compounds such as condominiums where numerous owners share common facilities. These compounds usually come with a swimming pool, small park, gym, security and other amenities. Naturally, all such public facilities have to be managed, maintained and at times, improved on or expanded.  

This is where the MCST comes in. Multiple property owners generally do not wish to constantly manage everything themselves, so they delegate tasks to a separate body, and this body is the MCST.

So what does a MCST do exactly?

It’s difficult to generalise what the job scope of the MCST precisely is. The duties tend to range from managing the day to day cleaning and fixing of the public facilities, to the upholding of the general health of a compound (e.g. taking care of leakages, mold, pest) to managing its overall security. A good MCST could expand its duties to include community development or even property appreciation.

It is both in the quality of service and the breadth of tasks that a MCST can differentiate itself from its competitors. While some MCSTs may set out to do the bare minimum, others take initiative and fix problems before you even realize they were there to begin with. Naturally, most MCSTs fall somewhere between these two extremes.

In the long run, a good MCST may mean better living at lower management fees.

How does an MCST form?

In the early stages near a building’s completion, it is the property developer’s responsibility to arrange the formation of a MCST. It is legally obliged to do so within 2 months from the issuance of the Temporary Occupation Permits (TOP) to the new homeowners.

After the first Annual General Meeting (AGM), the responsibilities of and control over the management is given to the property owners. The shift is a little complex and involves some steps, for which the details are available here (see page 9 and 10). If all goes well, the owners now have full authority to either keep the present management corporation or appoint a different one to manage their affairs as the MCST.

It is common, especially amongst bigger estates, that the owners collectively appoint a management council, which in turn hires a management agent. The management agent is the go-to person who takes care of all the day to day business, and functions as the liaison between the MCST, the management council, and by extension the property owners.  

A comprehensive list of all MCSTs

How do we know which MCST does what, and where? You can find the comprehensive list of all MCSTs with all the currently active MCSTs here. The list includes relevant information such as the condominiums information and contact details. Additionally, if you already know either the MCSTs plan number or the name of the development, this website is very helpful in that it allows you to fill them in and it will then give you all the relevant information such as contact details of the manager agent, contact details of the MCST, address development name etc.

How to find your new MCST?

Are you looking for a great MCST but don’t where and how to find one? Here are some pointers to nudge you in the right direction.

To start off, there are two non-profit organisation whose objective it is to enhance the standard of quality of management corporations: the Association of Management Corporations in Singapore (AMCIS) and the Association of Property & Facility Managers (APFM). One way to go about this would be to inquire with these associations and see if they can recommend good MCSTs.

Another way is to do some homework yourself (which could be a pain, yes, but bear with us, it will be worth it!). Go out there and see them for yourself. In all likelihood, all MCSTs will tell you beforehand that they will be doing a superb job in managing your estate. Yet, to be better informed, we recommend you to use their past and current performance as an indicator for future performance. For you, this means that you should check out how management corporations have been performing in the estates they are currently managing.

A Checklist

1. Make a shortlist of managing corporations that you deem good candidates. As noted earlier, a comprehensive list of all the MCSTs active in Singapore can be found here.  
2. Look up which estates the managing firms are currently managing and add them to a separate list. Again, save time by using this website  
3. Visit the estates and make a detailed observation of the facilities and public spaces.
4. Lastly—and this is key— talk to the tenants. Yes the tenants! After all, it is the tenants who see and experience the MCSTs work first hand every day, and they are well-suited to sharing the pros and cons about whether their estate is properly managed or not.
5. Additionally, you could attend the annual general meetings. While not the most exciting exercise you can think of, you will probably get to hear a lot about the MCST and get a good vibe of how the owners judge the MCST.

Good luck with finding your MCST!

4 years ago · 6 min read · by Marouan Fatti

Source: 99.co 

4 Simple Ways: How much can I sell my house?

Photo by Pixabay from Pexels

Are you intend to sell your house but do not know how much you should ask for your house?

Of coz you want to sell your house at high value as I believe every homeowner (or most of the homeowners) including myself would feel our house has high value and want to sell the highest possible price.


However, buyers will not think that way. They would want to buy their dream home at the lowest possible price or at least the price that they feel reasonable to them.

Hence, as seller, you should find out what is the current resale property market sentiments & past resale transactions records to have a estimated indicative price ranges that you can sell your house.

So below are the 4 Simple Ways:

1) HDB Resale Flat Price
For HDB seller, you can search the recent transacted resale flat price within the past 6 months to 2 years.

You can select your block number or a range of blocks around your house and search for the most recent transacted resale flat price as a guide which will be more relevant to current market.

Buyer also will be using this E-service to find out the recent transacted resale flat price as a benchmark when they look for houses.


2) Private Residential Property Transactions
For private seller, you can search private residential property transactions of your project with caveats lodged or options issued within the last 36 months.

It might be also useful if you search the transactions of the project(s) nearby you as reference.


3) Online Property Portals
You should also visit some of the popular online property portals to see if your neighbours in your project or nearby project(s) are also selling their units.

As they will be your "competitor" in the resale market, you would want to find out 
- how much they are asking,
- how is the condition of their houses,
- are they house on high floor, mid floor or low floor,
- what are the units' facing, etc


4) X-Value™ Pricing (For HDB & Private Property)
SRX (one of the online property portal) offers this free E-service where you can estimated value of your house as a guide for general purpose only by keying property type, floor, unit number & size.


5) Financial Calculations
You should always have your calculations done correctly and carefully with your mortgage bankers or certified professionals. 
So that you will know what is the minimal price that you to sell your house.

If your HDB flat is bought with housing loan from HDB, you can use HDB Resale Financial Plan.

This service will give you the estimated figures for the following:

• Loan amount from HDB
• Monthly instalments
• Payments required during the resale appointments: cash payments, stamp fees, conveyancing fees, caveat fee, and title search fees

With all above information & figures, you will be able to have a better indication of the current resale property market in order to make a better decision for your selling price.

How much commission to pay your real estate agent salesperson in Singapore for buying/selling resale residential property?

Photo by Acharaporn Kamornboonyarush from Pexels

There is no fixed rules on how much you need to pay your real estate agent salesperson so long as both parties agree to it.

You will only need to pay The Council for Estate Agencies (CEA)* registered real estate agent salesperson that represents you upon successful completion of the transaction(s).

According to CEA, you should sign an agreement with your real estate agent salesperson to prevent any conflicts which also let you indicate the sales commission that both parties agree upon.

*The Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) （房地产代理理事会） was formed as a statutory board under the Ministry of National Development.

Established under the Estate Agents Act, CEA is empowered to administer the regulatory framework for the real estate agency industry. 

A guide as below on the common practice in the market on how much to pay a real estate agent salesperson commission.

For HDB Seller (to agent representing seller)
- Exclusive agent = usually 2% of the transacted amount
- Non-exclusive agent = usually 1% of the transacted amount

For HDB Buyer (to agent representing buyer)
- Exclusive agent = usually 1% ~ 2% of the transacted amount
- Non-exclusive agent = usually 1% of the transacted amount

For Private Residential Property Seller (to agent representing seller)
- Exclusive agent = usually 2% of the transacted amount
- Non-exclusive agent = usually 1% of the transacted amount

For Private Residential Property Buyer (to agent representing buyer)
- Private buyer agent = no need to pay commission

You can even pay higher commission to the real estate agent if you think
he/she adds value to your selling/buying process.

**Note: 
- By law real estate salespersons are not allowed to represent both the Landlord’s/Seller’s Agent and the Tenant’s/Buyer’s Agent in a single deal, as this will present a conflict of interest.
- Real estate agent's commission will be subject to prevailing GST if the agent's Real Estate Agency is GST registered.

Remove Income Ceiling For First-Time HDB Buyers, Ho Ching - PropertyGuru

In vouching for public housing, Mdm Ho said people should make a smarter wealth choice by opting to live in HDB housing.

Ho Ching, the wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, has urged policymakers to remove the income ceiling for first-time buyers of Housing and Development Board (HDB) flat.

This comes as Mdm Ho, who serves as chief executive officer of Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek, believes that everyone should own and live in an HDB flat, reported The Independent.

“Over time, we should perhaps remove the income ceiling for buying HDB flats for first-time property buyers/owners,” she wrote on her Facebook page.

Mdm Ho made the statement in response to a recent study of the National University of Singapore (NUS) on ‘housing wealth’.

The study showed that while the government’s housing policies helped children born to lower-income families upgrade to more expensive houses when they grow older, the same does not apply to children born to middle-income families.

The NUS study found that children from mid-income families tend to end up worse off compared to their parents, with more than 50 percent from this group who grew up living in private properties downgrading to public housing.

The researchers noted that the sandwiched group is finding it hard to climb the social ladder due to the “high price and also the lack of government subsidies” for private housing.

In vouching for public housing, Mdm Ho said people should make a smarter wealth choice by opting to live in HDB housing.

ALSO READ: Enhanced housing grant to boost demand for HDB resale flats

“80 percent of housing is HDB. These come with various subsidies for first timers, for staying closer to parents, with excellent amenities minus the cost of maintaining private swimming pools. So families in the 60 to 80 percent income bracket may be making the smarter wealth choice going for HDB housing,” she wrote. 

She described the ownership of HDB housing a beneficial opportunity that should be taken advantage of by everyone.

“Now that we have stabilised the HDB housing supply, we can perhaps add a premium to the posted HDB price for new builds, based on some percentage of the income above the current ceiling,” she suggested.

“That way, everybody who doesn’t already own a property can benefit from the opportunity to own and live in HDB regardless of income levels,” added Mdm Ho.

Read our handy HDB Buying Guides or find a home on PropertyGuru. 

Victor Kang, Digital Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email victorkang@propertyguru.com.sg

Victor Kang • October 22, 2019

Source: PropertyGuru

Singapore’s Economy Expected To Have 0.5% Growth In 2019 - PropertyGuru

Meanwhile, MAS expects global economic growth in 2019 to slow down “discernibly” and then stabilise in 2020 “barring further shocks”.

Singapore’s economy is expected to grow 0.5 percent in 2019, with the 2020 growth prediction being below consensus at one percent, reported Singapore Business Review citing Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofAML) Global Research.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) believes the economy will improve modestly but below potential in 2020. Retail and manufacturing sector is seen to perform poorly, although finance & insurance, domestic-oriented services, construction and ICT may encounter continued expansion.

With the authority’s estimate that the output gap only turned slightly negative despite a steep fall in growth during the last few quarters, BoFAML said that this, however, points to potential growth being below the two to three official estimates.

MAS expects global economic growth in 2019 to slow down “discernibly” and then stabilise in 2020 “barring further shocks”.

A Fitch Solutions report indicated that the economic growth is on course to slow to 0.9 percent by the end of 2019 after quarters of dismal economic showing in Q2.

The economy grew 0.1 percent year-on-year (YoY) and 0.6 percent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) SAAR in Q3, narrowly escaping a technical recession.

RELATED: 2019 Growth Forecast For Singapore’s Economy Slashed To 0.6%

BofAML also predicts MAS to further ease the appreciation rate of $NEER to a zero percent slope, in line with the forecast of UOB.

“Such a move will be consistent with two years of below-trend growth and below-target inflation, which could ultimately threaten medium-term price stability,” said Merrill Lynch economist Mohammed Faiz Nagutha.

Meanwhile, manufacturing dropped 3.5 percent YoY, heavily influenced by electronics and precision engineering. Services grew 0.7 percent QoQ but dropped to 0.9 percent YoY, with sequential contraction in construction eased to dropping 1.1 percent QoQ and rose 2.7 percent YoY during the same period.

Read our handy HDB Buying Guides or find a home on PropertyGuru. 

Victor Kang, Digital Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email victorkang@propertyguru.com.sg

Victor Kang • October 21, 2019

Source: PropertyGuru

Property Investors Not Answering Renters' Needs: PropertyGuru Survey

Majority of those surveyed believe that property sizes in Singapore are too small, with more renters feel dissatisfied about the shrinking property sizes compared to investors and landlords.  

Nearly 70% of Singaporeans believe that Singapore properties are too small, according to the latest findings in the 1H 2019 PropertyGuru Consumer Sentiment Survey. Diving deeper into the demographic profiles of the survey’s 794 respondents revealed a bigger trend: seven out of 10 (70%) renters felt that property sizes in Singapore were shrinking, whereas only 53% of investors and 59% of landlords seemed to think the same. 

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Mismatch In Landlord And Renter Expectations

While there are whispers that smaller homes are getting more popular among investors and young couples, the recent survey results indicated that significantly more renters feel dissatisfied about the shrinking property sizes compared to investors and landlords.

Tan Tee Khoon, Country Manager of PropertyGuru Singapore, cautioned that investors should take heed of the disparity among landlord and renter expectations.

“This finding is a sobering discovery for property investors, who would do well to focus on liveability and meeting the spatial comfort of prospective tenants rather than just looking at the quantum of their purchase when making a property investment. For instance, renters may ultimately prefer a 500 square foot one-bedder over a 400 square foot unit,” he said.

Most Singaporeans Expect Rent To Fall

Majority of those surveyed also expects rental prices to decrease for the rest of the year across HDBs, condominiums, and landed properties. For HDB flats, 29% felt that rental prices will fall, in contrast to the 25% who believe that rental prices will increase. 

Condominiums saw the softest sentiments on rental: over one-third (36%) of respondents also felt that condominium rents would decrease overall, while 28% expects condo rental prices to increase. For landed properties, 30% also felt that rental prices for landed homes will decrease, compared to just 24% who felt that rental prices would increase for the rest of 2019.

“In Singapore, the competition among landlords is already beginning to be felt, with over 25 condos attaining Temporary Occupation Permit [TOP] this year,” said Tee Khoon. “The increase in supply is most significant in the Outside of Central Region [OCR], and investors of those properties will feel that they need to reduce their asking rent to avoid prolonged vacancies with the dampening economic outlook.”

Victor Kang • October 18, 2019

Source: PropertyGuru


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New private home sales hit a high in Sept - The Straits Times

The crowd at the preview of Avenue South Residence, which was launched last month. The condominium in the city fringe made top seller last month, with 361 units moved at a median price of $1,941 per sq ft. PHOTO: UOL GROUP

1,270 such homes sold, with nearly 60% located in city fringe, marking best Sept in seven years

New private home sales enjoyed their best September in seven years, while reaching heights not seen since the cooling measures were imposed in July last year.

The sales surge - 1,270 new private homes were sold, up 13 per cent from August - came as developers revved up launches after the Hungry Ghost month, with some in the city-fringe area proving catnip for buyers. Four of five new launches last month - Avenue South Residence, Meyer Mansion, The Antares and Uptown@Farrer - are in the city fringe, while Cuscaden Reserve is in prime district 10.

Nearly 60 per cent of last month's sales were in the city fringe, known in the industry as the rest of central region.

Avenue South Residence in Silat Avenue rode on the hype around the future Greater Southern Waterfront development announced in August to make top seller last month, with 361 units moved at a median price of $1,941 per sq ft.

"But Meyer Mansion, The Antares, Uptown@Farrer and Cuscaden Reserve did not fare so well, moving between five and 31 units in their first month," noted Ms Tricia Song, head of research for Singapore at Colliers International.

The 1,270 new private homes bought last month were also 36 per cent more than the 932 units sold in September last year, according to Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) data yesterday. The figures exclude executive condominiums.

The last time new sales in September were higher was in 2012, when 2,621 units were sold.

Last month's figure brings the number of new private homes sold in the third quarter to 3,572 units - 19 per cent higher than in the third quarter of last year, said JLL senior director of research and consultancy Ong Teck Hui. It is also the highest quarterly sales volume since the second quarter of 2013, when tighter loan-to-income rules under the total debt servicing ratio were introduced, he noted.

"The increases in the URA private home price index in the second and third quarters could be interpreted (as a sign) that prices are likely to be stable with limited downside, and this would give confidence to developers to continue launching their projects," Mr Ong said.

Developers launched 1,714 private homes last month, up 69 per cent from 1,015 units in August, and nearly 47 per cent more than the 1,169 units in September last year, URA data showed.

Ms Christine Sun, head of research and consultancy at OrangeTee & Tie, noted that last month's new-sales volume was driven mainly by Singaporeans and Singapore permanent residents.

"This indicates that many Singaporeans remain confident about the long-term prospects of private properties here. Many investors have reassessed their risk appetite... possibly turning to safer investment assets like real estate in Singapore," she added.

Analysts believe private new home sales will exceed 9,000 this year and beat last year's 8,795 units.

But some maintain the market is not overheating. Even though the URA's flash estimate for the third quarter indicates that private home prices rose 0.9 per cent over the previous quarter, the rate of growth is decelerating, noted Mr Nicholas Mak, head of research and consultancy at ERA Realty. This followed the 1.5 per cent quarter-on-quarter increase in the second quarter.

Mr Mak noted that last month's take-up rate slipped to 74.1 per cent amid high sales volumes. By comparison, the take-up rate ranged between 110 per cent and 130 per cent a month in the June to August period.

Grace Leong

Business Correspondent

Source: The Straits Times (16 Oct 2019)

Sub-sale: What property sellers and buyers need to know - 99.co

What happens when you’ve bought a new launch condo/property from a developer, but wish to sell it before it’s complete? Before completion, a transaction of a unit between the original buyer and new buyer is what’s called a sub-sale in industry parlance*. This guide takes you through the process of a sub-sale for under development private properties in Singapore.

*The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) defines a sub-sale as “the sale of a unit by one who has signed an agreement to purchase the unit from a developer or a subsequent purchaser before the issuance of the Certificate of Statutory Completion and the Subsidiary Strata Certificates of Title or the Certificates of Title for all the units in the development”. Simply put, a sub-sale is the secondary sale of a unit before it is completed.

Conditions for a sub-sale

In a sub-sale situation, the original buyer/purchaser (Buyer A) must have already signed a Sale & Purchase Agreement (S&P Agreement) with the developer, and have paid the stamp duties due.

Because the project is still under construction and the Certificate of Statutory Completion (CSC) has not been issued, Buyer A must first inform the developer (most of the time via his/her agent) of the proposed sub-sale to a subsequent purchaser, Buyer B for instance. Buyer A then enters into a Option to Purchase with sub-sale clause with Buyer B.

At the request of Buyer B through his/her lawyers, the developer is obliged to enter into a new S&P Agreement with Buyer B at the exact same monetary price and terms as was offered to Buyer A. In other words, the terms and conditions of the new S&P Agreement must place the developer and the Buyer B in the same position as if Buyer B were Buyer A in the original S&P Agreement.

What this means is, Buyer A directly pockets the profits of the sub-sale, minus taxes and legal fees he/she bears for the fresh S&P Agreement. If Buyer A had bought a unit at $2.5 million and sub-sells it at $2.8 million to Buyer B, Buyer A is due $300,000 in cashier’s order from Buyer B. What Buyer A has paid to the developer up until that point will also be credited back to Buyer A.

After Buyer B signs the fresh S&P agreement that’s in his/her name, he/she becomes the owner and will proceed to receive the keys from the developer upon the Notice of Vacant Possession of the unit.

Sub-sales can be a way for buyers to make a quick profit during property bull markets.

Why do sub-sales happen?

There were 81 sub-sale transactions for private property in Singapore in 3Q 2018, a tiny fraction of the 2,672 resale transactions that occured in the same quarter. So, why do sub-sales occur?

The most common reason is because the financial situation for the original buyer has changed after he/she has signed the S&P Agreement with the developer, and he/she has little choice but to sell the unit. In this case, the original buyer usually suffers a financial loss, after taking all stamp duties and fees into account. (Remember: the seller is liable to pay hefty Seller’s Stamp Duty charges.)

In contrast to 3Q 2018, there were 281 sub-sales in Q4 2017, before additional cooling measures were imposed. In a hot market, the original purchasers may find that it makes sense to cash in and realise capital gains by selling the new launch properties they bought, even before they are completed. This is especially if the original sellers have bought into projects that are popular (e.g. fully sold) or are holding onto units that are popular (e.g. a good stack/facing/unit number). These sellers are also at the tail end of their liability for Seller’s Stamp Duty (SSD), or have exited their 3-year liability period, making it possible to realise higher capital gains by avoiding SSD.

But the so-called perks end there. If you’re a married couple (at least one Singapore Citizen) and were counting on an remission for Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD), you cannot get a ABSD refund for sub-selling your under development property. This is because the ABSD refund is only applicable for the disposal of your first property, and the sub-sale property is your second property in this instance.

Buying sub-sale properties

In a cool market (like right now), prospective buyers might discover sub-sale units that are good value at otherwise sold-out projects. Compared to buying a new launch, buyers do not have to wait as long for TOP, although they might find sellers asking a higher price from trying to cover additional costs such as SSD and at least breakeven.

11 months ago · 5 min read · by Kyle Leung

Source: 99.co (16 Oct 2019)

Gross Plot Ration for Flats and Condominiums - URA

Gross Plot Ratio

The development potential of a residential development is guided by the Gross Plot Ratio (GPR) specified in the Master Plan (MP). The MP plot ratio is the upper bound as it may not always be achievable because of site limitations like shape of the plot, site topography or ground conditions, building setbacks, building height or technical requirements of other authorities that may affect the site.

The area of the land required to be set aside for drainage reserve1 (DR) and/or road reserve2 (RR) to be vested in the State may be included in the site area to compute the Gross Floor Area (GFA) for a GPR.

1 Drainage Reserve: An area safeguarded for purposes of building or widening a public drain.

2 Street/Road Reserve: The plot of land to be vested in the State as required under the Street Works Act. It is demarcated by the line of Road Reserve in the Road Line Plan and the site boundary.

GPR for sites where vesting is required

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Last updated on 5 July 2019

Source: URA (16 Oct 2019)