Singapore housing boom brings out ghosts, feuds
By Sebastian Tong

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - As neighborhood spats go, Chow Ai Hwa's legal
battle to ensure that her husband's ghost has access to his former home
in Singapore is unusual.

With a rebound in the long-depressed real estate market and a lifting of
height restrictions for residential blocks, developers are buying up
low-rise buildings in prime locations, such as the one where Chow lives,
in order to tear them down and replace them with denser, more profitable
housing.

But Chow prefers to keep her apartment. She believes the spirit of her
dead husband would become a "homeless, wandering soul" if their home of
37 years was demolished. The 80-year-old widow is suing 62 neighbors who
accepted a developer's offer, in a bid to stop the sale of the building.
"I like where I live and I don't want to change my surroundings," Chow
told Reuters, adding that the developer offered about S$2 million ($1.28
million) for her apartment.

As developers such as Bukit Sembawang Estates and Wing Tai Holdings tear
down blocks that are just a few decades old, some critics argue that a
relatively young nation such as Singapore, which became independent in
1965, should start to cherish its modern landmarks and recent heritage.

PEDIGREE PROPERTIES
Architectural pedigree is no protection against the wrecker's ball as
Moshe Safdie -- the famous architect whose design was picked for
Singapore's first casino -- discovered.
A landmark apartment block that he built in Singapore, barely 25 years
ago, is set to be demolished and replaced by a project twice its present
17-storey height.

For a recent story on Safdie, please click on:
The size and frequency of such deals, concentrated in prime districts
around Singapore's city center, have increased since last year when a
recovery in the property market gained momentum.
Housing prices are set to rise for the third straight year, and some new
luxury projects are selling at levels -- in terms of price per square
foot -- last seen in 1996, before the Asian financial crisis.

Collective, or "en bloc," property sales rose to S$5.6 billion ($3.56
billion) in the first six months this year, or more than double the
amount in the whole of 2005.
But these collective sales often lead to bitter fights between
neighbors, some of whom prefer to keep their homes rather than sell out
to the developers. Officials have been brought in to mediate in 34 such
deals this year, up from 14 cases in 2005.

BRINGING OUT THE GREED
"These sales bring out the greed in certain people," said Lui Seng Fatt,
head of investments at property consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle Asia
Pacific.
This was to be expected, he said, because owners stand to get 30 to 80
percent more in a collective sale than they would from an individual
sale on the open market. By selling "en bloc" they become millionaires
overnight.
Those who don't want to sell their homes say the rules favor neighbors
who do. Under Singapore law, housing estates can be sold collectively
without the unanimous approval of all owners.

If a block is less than 10 years old, the consent of owners with 90
percent of the value is required. For older buildings, the agreement of
80 percent of the owners by value is necessary.
Rival financial center Hong Kong is mulling changing its rules to allow
for collective sales of buildings that are less than 40 years old. It is
also considering lowering the 90 percent minimum approval to spur
redevelopment.
"Why should crass materialism win the fight over those who value their
homes, their sentimental attachments, the comfort and ease of
familiarity of environment?" wrote apartment owner Ivy Soh in a letter
to Singapore's Today newspaper on August 4.

While Singapore's home ownership of around 95 percent is one of the
highest worldwide, the willingness of many homeowners to sell reflects
Singapore's shrinking family size. As couples have fewer children, many
are trading large flats for smaller ones.

"If we keep going like this, all our beautiful low-rises will be gone
and we will all be living in tall, ugly matchboxes," said art dealer
Georgia Kan, who was forced earlier this year to sell her home of a
decade after the overwhelming majority of her neighbors opted to sell
the block.

(additional reporting by Dominic Whiting in Hong Kong)