ERA’s property conference with Marcus Chu, COO of Apac Realty

Was the guest speaker at ERA’s market conference together with Marcus Chu, the COO of Apac Realty (parent of ERA). Interesting that we both brought up the same point – HDB upgraders, which account for 50% of demand for private apartments, will step out of Minimum Occupation Period in droves from 2019-22. It is 3x more per year than the preceding 5 year average, which means that the potential pool of upgraders will grow strongly. This should mitigate oversupply fears.

The bulk of the potential upgraders will hail from District 19. From past data, they typically look for condos in the vicinity. One beneficiary will be Parc Botannia, which is developed by Sing Holdings. It is one of the most affordable new projects in the area, given that the land was acquired in Sep 2016, before the en-bloc craze started.