On the mark! I hope you did the right thing!

Hi guys, a very Happy New Year to you! I have been traveling intensively in December and I apologise that I have not been able to update my blog often enough. I was in Europe, Vietnam, Seoul and Bangkok. This is all in the space of 3 weeks. I literally was rebuilding the whole entire business up. It is interesting and even though it is tough, I would not want to do anything else. I’m absolutely exhausted dealing from all the issues at hand.

I hope you read the news that residential prices are finally coming down. For the record, in my blog, I repeatedly shared with you that asset prices are due for a correction. I hope you took my advice and lightened up on your property portfolio. I certainly did.  I have been taking care of all my property students for the last 4 to 5 years. In those few years, all they had to do was to follow my forecast trend and all of them made money. Even though I only made one forecast a year in the real estate market, that annual forecast has made my students a lot of money. From premium condos to commercial property to Iskandar land, a few of you have followed me steadfastly and I’m happy that you managed to create all that wealth. If you think the fall is worrying, you should be scared. The Federal Reserve will taper QE even more aggressively given the latest numbers and the situation will get worse. Someone asked me if the government rescinding cooling measures will perk things up and I told him a definite NO! Why? Things are where it is due to a series of trends like China tightening, QE and low costs of funds in Singapore. We are witnessing a reversal of tides and you should be prepared.

I just bumped onto this gentleman after church yesterday. By the way, I’m in church everyday at Saint Andrew’s Cathedral as it is where I find peace and get inspiration. I was at the Tumi store when he asked if I’m Andy Ong. I politely replied him yes and he proceeded to ask me a barrage of property questions and most importantly he wanted to attend my course. I told him that I don’t share anymore and wished him a Happy New Year. I have so many requests to teach as my deals get unwounded and the returns have astounded even market professionals. However, I pay a price. It is tiring watching trends that I do. I must admit I enjoy it but being responsible to those I share with is huge. I wake up every morning to CNBC and Bloomberg TV. And everyday is endless scrutiny of numbers.

Whilst I’m happy to share what I’m doing(I’m still doing deals), it is quite draining. I am about to move into my new office and my team is looking forward to their new home. The business has grown so substantially that I am glad that the people in charge has stepped up and made things work. I am extremely proud of them. We now hire over 300 people and the business is expanding at a pace that is quite scary to me. However, growth also means opportunity and I’m proud that people like my ex-PA, Claire, can now assume director level positions. I’m proud of them and hope to create more opportunities for them in the future.

Till the next blog, take care and God bless!

Your Friend

Andy Ong
10/01/14

Right on the mark!

Hi guys, its been such a long time! I have been traveling a lot, in fact, I was in Bangkok till yesterday. I have been so blessed that I caught the two days on calm in this protest-happy country. I do wish them all the best as they are a very lovely bunch of people. I have been fighting crisis after crisis, but it is the faith that the Good Lord has given me opportunities to do all this that drives me on. I have often reflected why I have to face so many trials, I always try to do the right thing but I suppose different people have different perspectives.  Life is challenging but I suppose you have to bulldoze your way through.

In my last entry, I shared with you that the residential sector will come down and well I have been right on the mark. The real estate sector is dependent on cheap liquidity and the government cooling measures has prevented further speculation. And with foreign demand cooling off due to additional higher stamp duties, the market will face intense headwinds in the months ahead. I know that many bought Duo(the combined Temasek and Khazanah development) which did very well at launch but those who are successful in getting units should be rather careful at this stage. I really do not like the feng shui of the place and for $2000 plus psf, I have many other options that are far more attractive.

The world’s economies seem to be reporting better economic numbers. This bode well for Singapore due to our reliance on the international economies. However, with money flows trending the other way around as they hunt for better returns, well I am not too positive on asset prices.

Till the next blog, take care and God bless!

Your Friend

Andy Ong

09/12/13

The property market in perspective…

I was at my long time lawyers place yesterday. They have acted for me in all my transactions until the professional liability insurance could not support us anymore. However, we have become very good friends in the process. They were all lamenting the lack of deals in the market. The banks are taking forever to process deals and many deals are being aborted as financing becomes scarce. As I had predicted in earlier posts, this round of new government measures WILL BE EFFECTIVE.

There is still activity in the market as Chinese money is still hunting for investments. I suspect the recent crackdown on corruption in China has something to do with this. Chinese officials and their cronies are preparing for ‘what if’ situations. The structures they have set up looks a little dodgy and they are targeting mainly commercial property and there is no ABSD that increases the price of their transactions for them. Do not underestimate the amount of money flowing in from this source as I estimate the amount to be staggering.

What is the bottom line then? Residential will be very muted especially if that asset class’ demand is domestically driven. Why? The drying up of financing will impact local Singaporeans’ ability to buy. This is because they are very dependent on bank loans. Think of landed properties where only Singaporeans and selected PRs are allowed to participate.  

I am also grim for HDBs as many workers are being sent back as the government is serious about winning the popular vote and cutting the quotas of workers. Those with employment passes are also being targeted as the minimum salary level has increased and the newly implemented job bank will require certain regulations to be passed before companies are able to hire them. The strong rental for HDBs has been propping up the upgraders market for mass market homes. I have been reiterating this for quite some time and I hope you do keep tab.

Commercial properties will still be selectively strong as foreigners are able to pay full cash! Yup, you did not hear me wrong, no financing. I certainly hope that the international economy do not collapse as any shrinkage of the economy will have everyone heading for the exit with no one to pick up the slack.

Till the next entry, take care and God Bless!

Your Friend,

Andy Ong

01/10/13

Give thanks for our blessings!

Life in the fast lane is interesting but all of us should put things in perspective. We all need perspective as we lose ourselves in this world of material chase. Only when traumatic events occur that we start to cherish the people around us. We really need to treasure the people around us a little more. As we chase for material things, we may have neglected them. Sadly, we leave behind all our material possessions when we have to depart eventually. We should stop and smell the roses and thank the people around us who loves us, try it and I am sure that you will be a happier person too

Till the next blog, take care and God bless!

Your Friend

Andy Ong

01/10/13