URA data shows 4,000 units in 70 developments with pre-requisites for sale as at end-Nov (SINGAPORE) The number of private homes sold by developers inched up 4.7 per cent to 593 units in November, up from 566 units in October. The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) also revealed monthly property market data of transacted benchmark prices […]
Archive | 2007
URA awards Boon Lay site to Frasers Centrepoint
THE Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) yesterday awarded a residential site at Boon Lay to Frasers Centrepoint, which put in the higher bid of $205.6 million – or $248 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr) – after the tender closed last week with just two bids. The weak response to the 99-year leasehold site […]
Rising population adds to climate woes
Socio-economic factors play big part in global warming THREE-QUARTERS of the problems associated with global warming have to do with socio-economic factors like rising population, and only a quarter has to do with the climate itself, according to Andrew Watkinson, director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research in the UK. ‘The population debate […]
NY hotel boom to ease room shortage
But mid-market room rates of US$200-300 still too high for some (NEW YORK) While planning her vacation to New York, Lisa Werness was so horrified by the prices in Manhattan that she chose cheaper lodging in Brooklyn – where she got a room rate of just US$400 a night. ‘Don’t remind me. I’m trying to […]
Wheat price surges above US$10 for first time
(NEW YORK) Wheat rose above US$10 a bushel for the first time, leading other grains and oilseeds higher in a food price spiral that threatens to derail global economic growth. Chicago wheat futures jumped as much as 30 cents, or 3.1 per cent, to US$10.095 a bushel as dry weather threatened crops in Argentina, renewing […]
Minister sees Japan’s economy continuing recovery next year
IN JAPAN JAPAN’S economy is likely to continue growing next year, Minister for Economic and Fiscal Policy Hiroko Ota suggested yesterday, dismissing growing fears that it could plunge into recession as a result of an expected global slowdown in 2008. But she acknowledged a number of longer-term challenges to the continued growth of the economy. […]
Asia’s growth may slow in ’08
Emerging problems in major economies cloud outlook (SHANGHAI, China) Asia’s dynamic economic growth is expected to slow modestly next year as its biggest economies grapple with emerging problems, from inflation in China to appreciating currencies in India and Japan. The expected slowdown in the US economy – a vital export market – and higher oil […]
World economy smaller than previously estimated
New measure puts GDP in perspective, but world order remains similar (SINGAPORE) The size of the world economy is apparently smaller than previously thought, according to new estimates of GDP from the world’s biggest statistical initiative. But the global economic pecking order remains more or less the same, with the five biggest economies – the […]
US faces risk of slipping into stagflation
Global growth this quarter and next may be slowest in four years: analysts (WASHINGTON) The world economy is facing the risk of both recession and faster inflation. Global growth this quarter and next may be the slowest in four years, while inflation might be the fastest in a decade, say economists at JPMorgan Chase & […]
No takers for many collective sale sites as market cools
Quiet end to record year where $12.5b worth of estates were sold en bloc MOST collective sale sites put up for tender in recent weeks have closed without any bids. About 40 estates have been launched for sale since October, but just eight deals were sealed between October and last month, said property firm CB […]
Inflation fears drag global stock markets down
LONDON – ASIAN and European stocks tumbled yesterday as last week’s strong United States inflation data reduced expectations that the US Federal Reserve would deliver further interest rate cuts soon. Also, in a sign that rising food and agricultural prices may push inflation up globally, US wheat futures surged more than 3 per cent and […]
Global economy facing threat of stagflation
Growth may slow to 4-year low and inflation could hit 10-year high WASHINGTON – THE world economy is facing the risk of stagflation – the double whammy of suffering both recession and faster inflation. Global growth this quarter and next may be the slowest in four years, while inflation might be the fastest in a […]
Greenspan favours govt bailout for home owners
ATLANTA – FORMER United States Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan says he favours using US government money to bail out mortgage borrowers who risk losing their homes because they cannot make payments. Mr Greenspan, speaking on ABC’s This Week programme aired last Sunday, said cash bailouts, while creating a larger budget deficit, had the advantage […]
WALL STREET INSIGHT: Fear of prolonged credit crunch hangs over market
Investors expect to get glimpse of 2008 outlook from earnings reports of 3 major broking houses BY many measures, the global credit crisis is back to its worst levels since August. The prospects for a prolonged credit crunch that limits lending to businesses will be hanging like a black cloud over Wall Street this […]
IMF expects to lower global growth outlook
(ZURICH) The International Monetary Fund will lower its growth outlook as the continued credit crisis hurts the US and European economies, while global imbalances also weigh on growth, its top economist was quoted as saying. ‘Given this background, the numbers will indeed be weaker than in our latest World Economic Outlook,’ IMF chief economist Simon […]
US on recession course: Morgan
(SYDNEY) The US is heading for a recession and the rest of the world would be ‘dead wrong’ to think this will not impact growing Asian economies, Morgan Stanley senior executive Stephen Roach said yesterday. In an interview with Sky News in Australia, Mr Roach said that the US Federal Reserve Bank would ‘most assuredly’ […]
POPULAR DESPITE RENTAL HIKES: Queensway still best place for sports retailers
QUEENSWAY Shopping Centre is rundown and fairly inaccessible, it has none of the frills its rivals have, such as a cinema, and rents have been rising. However, tenants at the well-known sporting goods haunt appear willing to stick with it. Queensway, said Jeans Arcade proprietor Mohamed Yahya, who was echoing what five other retailers in […]
Asking rents at specialist malls rise by up to 30%
Some retailers pay willingly for locale’s reputation, others prefer mix of shops RETAILERS in specialist malls such as Sim Lim Square, Queensway Shopping Centre and United Square have not escaped the tide of rising rentals seen at other malls here. Some tenants have reported demands for rent hikes of up to 30 per cent […]
Ascendas in $144m Viet industrial park deal
DEVELOPER of industrial and business parks Ascendas has teamed up with Vietnam’s state- owned Protrade to jointly develop a US$100 million (S$144 million) industrial park. It will mark Ascendas’ first major development project in Vietnam. The ambitious project involves developing a 500ha industrial park in Binh Duong province which will cater to light and clean […]
New launches to slow till next year
With a still uncertain market, quiet times in property sector may continue till after Chinese New Year THE frantic property market is taking a breather, as buyers adopt a wait-and-see approach. Property launches have been scarce in the past month, and that will continue now that the holiday season is here. If you are one […]
Job market outlook brightens for professionals
THE job market outlook remains bright, particularly for white collar employees, but may be stabilising. Some 35,500 jobs were unfilled in September, or a vacancy rate of 2.4 per cent, according to data released yesterday by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). This third-quarter scenario was ‘better’ than a year earlier when 29,900 jobs went begging […]
Factory, property spending growth slows on loan curbs
Industrial output in Nov grows slowest, while loans rose the least in 8 months (BEIJING) China’s factory and property spending growth has slowed – another sign that government lending curbs may be starting to cool the world’s fastest-growing major economy. Fixed-asset investment in urban areas rose 26.8 per cent in the first 11 months from […]
Potential and problems in Ho Chi Minh City
IN HO CHI MINH CITY BUSINESSMEN, some of them Singaporean, shared their optimism about Vietnam’s economy with Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong over lunch yesterday when he arrived in Ho Chi Minh City on the final leg of his week-long visit to the country. But the businessmen, among them executives from Singapore’s Keppel Land and […]
Odds of US recession clearly rising: Greenspan
This is due to slowing rate of economic growth, says ex-Fed chief (NEW YORK) The odds of a recession in the United States are ‘clearly rising’ due to the slowing rate of economic growth, former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said. ‘We are getting close to stall speed … and we are far more vulnerable […]
Office sector to finish 2007 as property’s star performer
Prime office rents grew 92% this year; premium office rents have done even better – up 96% RESIDENTIAL property may have been red hot, but office rents – with their phenomenal growth amid a severe supply crunch – will finish up as the year’s star performer. Latest figures from property consultancy CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) […]
Japanese business sentiment drops to 2-year low
Tankan survey results boost expectations that rate hike will be delayed to second half TOKYO – BIG Japanese manufacturers’ business sentiment has slipped to a two-year low, a Bank of Japan (BOJ) survey showed yesterday, reinforcing expectations that a rise in interest rates will be delayed to the second half of next year. Rising raw […]
Biggest rise in US consumer inflation in 2 years
WASHINGTON – UNITED States consumer prices rose the most in more than two years last month on record energy costs, reinforcing the Federal Reserve’s concern that inflation remains a risk to the economy. The consumer price index increased 0.8 per cent after a 0.3 per cent gain in October, the Labour Department said yesterday. Prices […]
High-end home launches to take a breather
The frenzy of 2007 is expected to give way to a more sedate pace, slower price rises (SINGAPORE) Launches of high-end homes are set to shrink in the coming year – even though developers will push more units across Singapore. The Core Central Region (CCR) – which comprises prime districts 9, 10 and 11, Sentosa […]
Consumers are more upbeat about outlook: survey
But sentiments over stock market, quality of life, regular income slide SINGAPORE consumers are now more bullish about their prospects in the next six months than a year ago, despite the recent spike in market volatility and US sub-prime troubles, according to a MasterCard Survey of consumer confidence in the Asia-Pacific. The twice-yearly study said […]
Banyan Tree to manage resorts in Omani IR devt
BANYAN Tree has signed a management contract with Jabal Resorts LLC for the development of two resorts within one of the largest integrated resort (IR) developments in Sifah, Oman. The Banyan Tree and Angsana resorts are positioned as the anchor properties in the 650 hectare property which will include over five hotels, more than 450 […]
PECC sees slower Asia-Pacific growth in 2008
Think-tank forecasts 4.9% GDP growth this year and next (SINGAPORE) Asia-Pacific’s economic outlook is now more uncertain than any time since the 1997 Asian crisis, and the region is expected to post slower economic growth in 2008, according to one think-tank. In its latest State of the Region report, the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) […]
Asia at risk if US growth slows: ADB
Region still depends on outside markets despite growing intra-Asian trade IN TOKYO ASIA’S emerging economies are likely to be hit hard by any serious slowdown in the wake of the US sub-prime mortgage crisis, the Asian Development Bank warns in a report published yesterday. Asia still depends heavily on the US and other outside markets […]
Central bankers’ liquidity plan fails to impress Asian investors
China and HK biggest losers in Asia; STI down 2% (SINGAPORE) Investors in Asian stock markets, clearly sceptical that a plan by central banks to inject liquidity into the system to ease sub-prime pressure would work, yesterday braced themselves for an expected Wall Street sell-off by first dumping stocks throughout the region. The losses were […]
Shop rents rising faster in city fringe, suburbs than in Orchard
Landlords enjoy good takings as demand spills over from prime belt ORCHARD Road may be the epicentre of shopping buzz, but malls in quieter areas are coming into their own. Rents of shops on the city fringe and in suburban areas rose faster than those in the prime shopping belt in the October to December […]
Ten Mile Junction site up for sale
THE Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) yesterday launched for sale by tender a site with a twist at Choa Chu Kang. The URA is selling a 1.56ha site with a three-storey commercial development – the existing Ten Mile Junction Mall. The sale excludes the third-storey Light Rapid Transit (LRT) station, now in operation. This is the […]
Consumers in HK, S’pore ‘less upbeat over stock markets’
They are more bullish over jobs and the overall economy: MasterCard survey A NEW survey has found that Singapore consumers are highly optimistic about the economy but slightly less upbeat about the stock market. Their counterparts in Hong Kong are also bullish about the economy, but confidence in the stock market has fallen even more […]
Sentosa Cove condo plot draws 3 bids
Tender for Boon Lay condo site attracts just 2 bids that are below expectations A TENDER for the last condo plot at Sentosa Cove – named The Pinnacle Collection – is said to have attracted three bids when it closed yesterday, including a joint bid by Ho Bee Investment and Malaysia’s IOI Group. The other […]
SLA rents out 3 properties for office use, offers 2 more
Successful bid for former police HQ in Pearl’s Hill Terrace is 40% above guide THE Singapore Land Authority (SLA) has awarded three state-owned properties for rental through a public tender. And the successful bids were 17-40 per cent above the guide rents it had set. The former Police Headquarters at 195 Pearl’s Hill Terrace, the […]
Sabah’s @ease boutique hotel expects 60% occupancy
It’s part of RM450m Sandakan Harbour Sq integrated project (KUALA LUMPUR) @ease boutique hotel, a hotel in Sandakan, Sabah, and owned by Sara-Timur Properties Sdn Bhd, expects to draw an occupancy rate of up to 60 per cent in line with the industry’s average rate. The hotel, built at a cost of more than RM40 […]
Corporate abodes with style
Big names in professional services believe an address in the Marina Bay area will boost accessibility and branding It’s not only banks that want to be located in a financial centre. The big professional services – law, auditing, management consultancy – are all hustling to Marina Bay, the new downtown. The suits hobnobbing there will […]
Apollo Centre sold for $205m
Buyer AEW intending to refurbish it US PROPERTY fund manager AEW Capital Management has bought Apollo Centre for $205 million, or $1,378 per sq ft (psf) of lettable floor area, the property firm that brokered the deal said yesterday. Apollo Centre, in Havelock Road, is a seven-storey commercial building with shops on the basement, first […]
Slumping Spanish market may reverberate through Europe
Banks in Spain are aggressively curbing loans in fallout from US sub-prime woes (MADRID) Julia Gavin sold more than a house a week as the Spanish real-estate boom peaked last year. Now that business is drying up, she’s sharing leads with competitors, reckoning a partial commission is better than none at all. ‘We’re up to […]
Indochina Land eyes US$1b for 2 new Vietnam funds
(LONDON) The property arm of Vietnamese financial services firm Indochina Capital said yesterday that it wanted to raise a minimum of US$1 billion for two new investment funds. In a statement, Indochina Land said it planned to soon launch its third real estate fund, Indochina Land Holdings 3, as well as Indochina Infrastructure Holdings, which […]
Property devt in UK hits a low
(LONDON) Property development activity in the UK fell for the first time in four-and-a-half years in November as worries about a weakening property market outlook spread to the commercial building trade, data showed yesterday. In a monthly survey of industry professionals, property services firm Savills said around 22 per cent reported a drop in activity […]
US recession fears overblown: IMF
But official says US growth outlook has become subject to greater risks (WASHINGTON) World economic growth may be hobbled by financial market turmoil and the risks to the United States have mounted, said IMF first deputy managing director John Lipsky, but fears of a recession still look overdone. ‘Never say never, but the latest indicators […]
RESIDENTIAL PLOT: Boon Lay site draws lukewarm response
A WEAK response to a residential site tender at Lakeside has caught the industry by surprise – given that suburban centres have been touted as the next property hot zones. The 99-year leasehold site bounded by Boon Lay Way and Lakeside Drive had attracted only two bids by the time of the tender’s close yesterday, […]
US real estate fund pays $205m for Apollo Centre
Deal reaffirms confidence in Singapore’s office market APOLLO Centre on Havelock Road has been sold to a United States fund manager for $205 million. This higher-than-expected price comes as a relief to property watchers, who say it is a strong sign that foreign investors remain confident in the Singapore office market despite the US sub-prime […]
DBS Bank to move headquarters to Marina Bay Financial Centre
AFTER months of speculation, DBS Bank has finally announced that it will move its headquarters from Shenton Way to Singapore’s next financial hot spot – the Marina Bay Financial Centre. DBS will take 700,000 sq ft of office space spread across 22 storeys, the largest lease deal ever in the Republic after the 508,298 sq […]
TAKING STOCK: Regional markets make hasty retreat as Fed cut disappoints
REGIONAL investors were as disappointed yesterday as their United States counterparts over the size of the latest US interest rate cut. Bourses in Asia fell across the board following an overnight tumble on Wall Street, where key benchmarks fell over 2 per cent. Investors were unhappy that the Federal Reserve trimmed interest rates only by […]
Wall St upset with Fed’s quarter-point cut
Move in line with forecasts; some observers had hoped for more WASHINGTON – THE United States Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a modest quarter-percentage point on Tuesday. The move disappointed Wall Street’s hopes for bolder action but offered some help to an economy facing credit strains and a deep housing slump. The central bank’s […]
