Separately, URA launches tender for Sin Ming light industrial site SOILBUILD Group Holdings has bought the freehold Margate Mansion off Meyer Road for $58 million through a collective sale. The deal reflects a unit land price of $882 psf per plot ratio including an estimated $6.5 million development charge (DC) based on July 18, 2007 […]
Archive | August, 2007
S’pore hikes property development charges
SINGAPORE – Singapore said on Friday it will raise property development charges from Saturday to reflect the rising value of homes and offices. Firms building offices and malls will see the development charge rise by an average of 42 per cent from July, while those developing condominiums will pay a charge that is 58 per […]
Banyan Tree enters Turkey market
LUXURY resort operator Banyan Tree Holdings has signed a new management contract in Turkey. The win marks Banyan Tree’s first foray into Turkey, where the group will manage a boutique resort and residential development located in the northern coast of the Bodrum peninsula. ‘This project exemplifies Banyan Tree’s ability to continually lead the markets by […]
Middle East Development group finalising projects,not buying land
WE refer to your Reuters report, ‘Bin Laden-linked group buying land to build cities’ (BT, Aug 30). We would like to clarify the following points: (1) The group is not ‘buying’ land to build cities as mentioned in the report but in the process of finalising the projects which are undertaken by the group’s companies […]
Chevron House sets record price for office block deals
CapitaLand, partners sell Raffles Place building for $730m or $2,780 psf (SINGAPORE) CapitaLand and its partners have sold their stakes in Chevron House (formerly known as Caltex House) at Raffles Place in a deal that values the leasehold office block at $730 million or $2,780 per square foot of net lettable area. This sets a […]
Horizon Towers saga reaches a turning point
(SINGAPORE) The long-running saga that has gripped the Singapore property market has reached a turning point; the majority sellers in the Horizon Towers debacle now have just over a week to respond to lawsuits filed against them. Sued for allegedly messing up the en bloc sale of the development, the majority sellers need to decide […]
Bush to outline sub-prime mortgage initiative
WASHINGTON – President George W Bush will outline reforms on Friday intended to help homeowners with sub-prime mortgages avoid default, a senior US administration official said on Thursday. ‘He will also discuss reform efforts to prevent these kinds of problems from arising in the future,’ the official said on condition of anonymity. Financial markets have […]
Foreign funds, individuals on property spree
Almost $2b spent on buying condos this year (SINGAPORE) Institutional investors and foreign individuals have been bulk-buying 10 to 50 condominium units at a time here, with such deals expected to have hit almost $2 billion so far this year. CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) Research says at least 16 deals worth a total of about […]
The rich get more, so the poor want more
INCOME INEQUALITY IN THE U.S. BETWEEN 1949 and 1979, incomes across all classes in the United States grew at about the same rate of 3 per cent a year. The before-tax income of the bottom 20 per cent of households increased by 116 per cent over those three decades, that of the median households by […]
Accor profit doubles on H1 asset sales
(PARIS) Accor SA, the world’s second-largest hotel company, said first-half profit more than doubled on the sale of properties and higher revenue in Europe at the Sofitel luxury chain. The Paris-based owner of Novotel and Ibis hotels said net income climbed to 596 million euros (S$1.2billion), or 2.66 euros a share, from 241 million euros, […]
Wing Tai triples Q4 net
WING Tai Holdings yesterday posted fourth-quarter group net profit of $243.2 million, more than triple the $75.4 million for the previous corresponding period. The results brought the group’s net earnings for the full year to June 30, 2007 to $381.8 million – a record for the property and retail group – and almost three times […]
Alexandra condo site up for tender
HDB also invites bids for sale of commercial plot at Toa Payoh Lorong 6 THE Urban Redevelopment Authority yesterday asked for tenders for a 99-year leasehold residential plot at Alexandra Road, close to the Redhill MRT station and opposite the Metropolitan, after receiving a minimum bid price that triggered the launch from the Reserve List. […]
Kingdom Hotel to raise US$100m for expansion in Asia
(DUBAI) Kingdom Hotel Investments, the lodging chain backed by Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, plans to raise US$100 million to help bolster its presence in Asia. The cash will be used to buy hotels and refinance existing properties in Asia, Sarmad Zok, chief executive officer of the Dubai, United Arab Emirates-based company, told reporters on […]
Abu Dhabi to pump 7b dirham into home, business, hotel project
(DUBAI) The Abu Dhabi Municipality will develop a residential, business and hotel complex, in partnership with private investors, that will include building 88 towers at a cost of seven billion dirham (S $2.9 billion). The Emerald Gateway project will be located between downtown Abu Dhabi and Abu Dhabi International Airport on a 3.5-kilometre stretch on […]
Ascott to buy Wilkie Road serviced apts for $79m
Property to take on Citadines brand, will open in 2009 THE Ascott Group has agreed to buy a 99-year leasehold serviced residence in town for $79.3 million, the company announced yesterday. The property, located at Wilkie Road, is part of lifestyle complex Wilkie Edge, which is under construction. Wilkie Edge is a mixed development consisting […]
California househunters sit on fence despite price dive
Fear of prices falling further is keeping them out of the residential market (LOS ANGELES) For some prospective home buyers in Southern California, the effect of the US mortgage crisis has been to keep them on the sidelines of the home market, wary of stepping in for fear prices will fall further. Sheila Hill, 35, […]
Philippines’ Ayala Land to raise capital, issue preferred shares
Move will allow more foreigners to buy into the firm (MANILA) Ayala Land Inc, the Philippines’ top property developer, said yesterday that its stockholders approved a plan to raise capital and issue 1.5 billion pesos (S$49 million) worth of preferred shares. The company raised its authorised capital by 7.5 per cent to 21.5 billion pesos […]
Property firms record good H1 gains, outlook bright
Progressive booking of profits from projects sold will underpin results ALL the big listed property groups have reported substantial gains in net earnings for the period ended June 30, 2007. And the earnings outlook for the second half is positive, as developers continue to progressively recognise profits from Singapore residential projects already sold based on […]
Peninsula luxury chain to open its first hotel in Japan
Tokyo property will be Hongkong & Shanghai Hotels’ eighth Peninsula (TOKYO) Hongkong & Shanghai Hotels Ltd will open the Peninsula Tokyo on Sept 1, becoming the latest international luxury chain to seek to benefit from increasing visitor numbers to Japan’s capital. The hotel, with nightly rates start at 69,300 yen (S$920) and running to almost […]
Wing Tai chief cautiously upbeat on property prices
WING Tai Holdings’ head honchos yesterday said the US sub-prime woes have slowed property transactions across the whole market here but believe that property prices are still on a growth path ‘if the sub-prime (crisis) stabilises within a reasonable period’. Wing Tai chairman Cheng Wai Keung said: ‘Yes, temporarily, it has affected some of the […]
Sub-prime culprit: irrational exuberance
(WASHINGTON) We are now in the ‘blame phase’ of the economic cycle. As the US housing slump deepens and financial markets swing erratically, Americans have embarked on the usual search for culprits. Who got us into this mess? Our investigations will doubtlessly reveal, as they already have, much wishful thinking and miscalculation. They will also […]
US developer ProLogis to invest 450b yen in Japan
(TOKYO) US-based industrial property developer Pro- Logis will invest 450 billion yen (S$6 billion) in Japan to bring its total Japanese investment to 900 billion yen by end-2009, its Japan chief said on yesterday. The company, which started to invest in Japan in 2001, has already invested 450 billion yen of assets including those currently […]
US sub-prime crisis may worsen: Nobel laureate
(KUALA LUMPUR) The US sub-prime mortgage crisis will probably ‘get worse’ as banks tighten lending rules and borrowing rates increase, Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz said. The sub-prime fallout has roiled global markets as investors dumped riskier assets and lenders tightened credit. US homes facing foreclosure almost doubled in July as property owners with adjustable-rate mortgages […]
En bloc sales without tears
SELLERS both eager and reluctant in collective property deals will find out in time if the legislative changes Deputy Prime Minister and Law Minister S. Jayakumar tabled in Parliament on Monday balance their competing interests. What the latest draft amendments to the Land Titles (Strata) Act will do, as much as they can do for […]
Good class bungalow sold for record $29m
A GOOD class bungalow at 15 White House Park has become mainland Singapore’s most expensive, after it was sold for a record $1,308 per sq ft (psf) – eight years after the historic property was restored and put on sale. The 22,000 sq ft conservation bungalow – called Glencaird – was sold to a Singaporean […]
Inflation gap narrows between bottom and top income groups
WHILE prices for Singaporeans staged their biggest monthly increase in 12 years last month, people in the lowest income groups saw a far lower rate of inflation in the first six months of the year than in the same period last year. Latest figures out yesterday show that the consumer price index (CPI) for the […]
US home price index suffers worst fall ever
NEW YORK – AN INDEX measuring United States house prices suffered its worst decline since its creation 20 years ago, and there is no sign of a bottom, according to a report compiled by Standard and Poor’s (S&P) and economist Robert Shiller. The S&P/Case-Shiller US National Home Price Index fell 3.2 per cent to 183.89 […]
Owners eager to push pending collective sales
CHANGES TO EN BLOC RULES They could soon face higher hurdles under new rules aimed at more transparency (SINGAPORE) Ahead of proposed changes to the Land Titles (Strata) Act, property agents and owners of affected en bloc sites are eager to push pending sales as they may soon face bigger hurdles when the amendments become […]
Marina Bay IR to cost more than the US$2.4b Venetian Macao
Cost could jump by up to 40%, pushing price tag of S’pore resort beyond S$5b IN MACAU GAMING and resorts operator Las Vegas Sands’ newly opened US$2.4 billion Venetian Macao in the Chinese territory may be the biggest single structure in Asia, and it may be the second biggest building in the world. But its […]
Property stocks slip on fears over new rules
Investors worried over impact on land-banking; office market retains shine RESIDENTIAL property stocks took a beating yesterday as investors got the jitters over tougher en bloc legislation that could slow land-banking. City Developments slipped 40 cents or 2.6 per cent to $14.70, CapitaLand lost five cents or 0.7 per cent to $7.40 and Keppel Land […]
Greenback falls on weak US housing data
(TOKYO) The US dollar edged down against the yen in Asian trade yesterday as weak data renewed market vigilance over the troubled US home loan market, dealers said. They also said the euro was weaker against the greenback after European Central Bank (ECB) president Jean-Claude Trichet said overnight that the ECB was not pre-committed to […]
Home prices, consumer confidence tumble
LATEST US DATA (NEW YORK) Home prices fell by a record amount in the second quarter as sales fell and mortgage lenders made it tougher to get a loan. At the same time, Americans’ confidence in the economy also fell to its lowest since Hurricane Katrina two years ago. Home values dropped 3.2 per cent […]
URA to auction 12 Sembawang sites for landed homes
FOR the first time in six years, the Urban Redevelopment Authority is offering small sub-divided landed housing plots for sale. It will auction 12 on 99-year leasehold tenure at Sembawang Road/Andrews Avenue on Oct 30. The plots, in Phase 1 of a new landed housing estate called Sembawang Green, can be developed into a total […]
LaSalle makes top bid for Anson Road site
It offers $237.2m for a 99-year leasehold office plot next to International Plaza LASALLE Investment Management (LIM) was the top bidder yesterday for a 99-year leasehold commercial plot next to International Plaza, with a bid of $237.2 million or $941 psf of potential gross floor area. LIM, which bid on behalf of its LaSalle Asia […]
Bank stocks hit by sub-prime worries again
Attention also shifts to impact on their fee income (SINGAPORE) Banks here were hit yesterday by renewed concerns over their exposure to collateralised debt obligations or CDOs, after Goldman Sachs downgraded its stock ratings on DBS and OCBC, sending their share prices lower. But analysts BT spoke to said the main worry for now was […]
Tender for Anson Road site closed
THE tender for a 99-year-old office plot on Anson Road closed yesterday with local-based Firstoffice lodging the highest bid of $237.2 million. It outbid Mapletree Lighthouse Trust trustee VivoCity, which offered $201.7 million, and Winglow Investment, which bid $159.8 million. The Firstoffice price works out to $941 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr), […]
Expected impact of US sub-prime woes on stock markets overblown
Real problem is lack of transparency by banks in dealing with the risk: UBS banker A TOP banker with one of Europe’s leading financial institutions was in Singapore this week with a message for investors still rattled over volatile markets: It’s not as bad as it looks. Zurich-based Dr Klaus Wellershoff, a member of UBS […]
Collective sale market seen slowing on proposed changes
New rules will address minority concerns over sale price, transparency THE property fever that has gripped Singapore for the past year will likely cool in the wake of proposed changes to rules on collective sales. The new rules – likely to apply in early October – will make collective sales a lengthier, more complex procedure, […]
Tender for Anson Road site closed
THE tender for a 99-year-old office plot on Anson Road closed yesterday with local-based Firstoffice lodging the highest bid of $237.2 million. It outbid Mapletree Lighthouse Trust trustee VivoCity, which offered $201.7 million, and Winglow Investment, which bid $159.8 million. The Firstoffice price works out to $941 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr), […]
WBL unit to sell Kowloon building for HK$223m
WBL Corporation’s wholly- owned subsidiary, Wearnes Motors (HK) Ltd (WMHK), has entered into a provisional agreement to sell a building in Kowloon for HK$223 million (S$43.4 million). Upon completion of the deal, WMHK will lease the building – which it now uses as a showroom with workshop service facilities for the car trade – from […]
MI-Reit to expand into offices and technology parks
THE fourth listed industrial real estate investment trust (Reit) – MacarthurCook Industrial Reit – is extending its investments into offices and technology parks. MI-Reit yesterday announced that it has agreed to buy Plot 4A, International Business Park fromEurochem Corporation (a member of Tolaram Group), for $91 million. This is a 13-storey office park building with […]
Moody’s keeps Emaar rating after swap fails
(DUBAI) Emaar Properties PJSC’s credit rating was affirmed by Moody’s Investors Service yesterday after the Middle East’s largest property developer by market value called off a proposed land-for-shares swap with state-owned Dubai Holding. Emaar’s credit rating remains at ‘A3′, the seventh-highest grade, Moody’s said. ‘We believe the government support that would be provided to Emaar, […]
Unibail-Rodamco H1 earnings rise 11%
Market values Europe’s largest property trust at 15.3 billion euros (Edinburgh) Unibail-Rodamco SA, Europe’s largest real estate investment trust, said first-half profit rose 11 per cent as rents and property values increased. Net income rose to 1.1 billion euros (S$2.3 billion), or 24.79 euros a share, from 1.03 billion euros, or 22.46 euros, a year […]
Goldman bags Tiffany’s Tokyo flagship property
Deal worth 37b yen; glitzy Ginza store to be leased back to jewellery retailer (TOKYO) Goldman Sachs is buying Tiffany & Co’s flagship property in Tokyo for 37 billion yen (S$484 million), a person familiar with the deal said yesterday, in a move that underlines the appeal of prime real estate here to investors. The […]
Mortgage meltdown survivors say affected owners not ideal neighbours
Investors flipped homes for a quick profit, they complain (CORONA, California) Bhaviesh and Varsha Shah bought their dream home in a new development east of Los Angeles two years ago, planted flowers around an emerald lawn and picked out wicker furniture for sitting outside on cool afternoons. Today the view from their porch is a […]
July home resales drop for 5th consecutive month
(NEW YORK) Sales of previously owned homes in the US fell in July for a fifth consecutive month, adding to the inventory of unsold properties and showing the housing slump that triggered a collapse in credit markets will drag on. Purchases declined 0.2 per cent, less than forecast, to an annual rate of 5.75 million, […]
S Korean firm building 70-storey tower in Hanoi
World’s 17th tallest building will house offices, hotel and 2 apartment blocks (HO CHI MINH CITY) Keangnam Enterprises Ltd began building what the South Korean company says will be Vietnam’s tallest skyscraper, betting that the South-east Asian country will maintain economic growth and foreign investment levels. Ground-breaking ceremonies were held in Hanoi two days ago […]
Law may alter the pace of en bloc sales
Amendments could see sales surge in near future, but sites may take longer to launch later (SINGAPORE) Proposed changes to the law will make the en bloc sale process more transparent and include safeguards to ensure that the various stakeholders get a fair deal. Sales committees will have to be properly formed and elected. Collective […]
MAS raises inflation forecast to 1% – 2%
THIS year’s inflation forecast by Singapore’s central bank has been bumped up a notch. But the Government says slightly higher inflation – a faster rise in consumer prices – is hardly surprising given long-running strong economic growth. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) yesterday raised its inflation forecast for this year to between 1 and […]
July sales of existing US homes dip 0.2%
WASHINGTON – THE pace of existing home sales in the United States fell slightly last month to a 5.75 million unit annual rate, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said yesterday. The report also said that the supply of unsold single- family homes hit its highest since 1991. Total existing home sales, which include condominium […]
