MEGAN WALTERS and ALVIN TEO examine the impact of sub-prime woes on the real estate needs of financial institutions here Singapore’s fast growing financial sector has been a major user of prime office space and helped fuel the strong growth in rental and capital values of late. But the recent credit crisis in global markets […]
Archive | September, 2007
Brisbane Devt to release 2nd phase of Illoura
Freehold project has 30 detached, semi- detached houses AUSTRALIAN property company Brisbane Development is all set to release the second phase of Illoura, its strata landed project in the Holland Road area, after the first 15 units in the development were sold at prices exceeding $5 million apiece. Illoura consists of a total of 30 […]
Bright outlook for S-Reit market
With more overseas players seeking to list here and strong backing from the government to strengthen governance and the operation structure of the market, Singapore is fast developing into a regional Reit hub SINGAPORE has established itself as one of the most developed markets in Asia for real estate investment trusts (Reits), supported by new […]
The ascent of landed housing
Solid gains await with double-digit price growth and Singapore’s scarcity of land THE private residential market has been hogging the headlines in the past 18 months. Overall prices recovered in 2004 and 2005 by 0.9 per cent and 3.9 per cent respectively, and home prices shot up by 10.2 per cent in 2006 and another […]
Redas: Mass market poised for double-digit growth
En bloc sales slow after introduction of new rules by govt By UMA SHANKARI (SINGAPORE) The Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore (Redas) yesterday said that it expects ‘double-digit’ price growth in the mass market over the next 12 months. ‘The mass market hasn’t been very active and the base is low,’ said Chia Ngiang […]
Sentosa’s strata landed site goes for $78.7m
Boutique developer Elevation bags The Green Collection SENTOSA Cove’s only strata landed housing development, The Green Collection, has been sold for $78.7 million, or some $1,099 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr). Boutique developer Elevation Developments won the 71,600 sq ft site with the highest bid out of eight received, following an expressions […]
Jalan Sultan conservation shophouses up for tender
SEVENTEEN two-storey conservation shophouses opposite KeyPoint at Jalan Sultan were yesterday offered to suitable investors by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). The reserve-list site is 0.14 hectares in size. A URA spokeswoman said: ‘The land parcel can be put to commercial uses such as hotel, office, shops and restaurants. There is no control on the […]
HK home prices may rise 33% by 2009: UBS
(HONG KONG) Hong Kong’s home prices may jump as much as 33 per cent between now and the end of 2008, extending gains as wages rise amid a lack of new housing, UBS AG said. Housing prices are strong thanks to ‘rising pay increases, record low supplies, cheap mortgages and fund flows from mainland China’, […]
Fed adopts broker rules for banks after eight-year delay
(WASHINGTON) The Federal Reserve has approved new rules defining securities transactions that banks can conduct without registering as brokers, ending an eight-year impasse with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The rules, adopted on Monday at a Fed meeting here, will let banks continue selling mutual funds, variable annuities and other securities. The SEC, which […]
Big loan problem credits up: US regulators
WASHINGTON – The value of big loans with problems held by US banks rose 20 per cent in 2007, but the volume of syndicated credit commitments worth US$20 million or more also rose, bank regulators said on Tuesday. Adversely rated credits – loans that are likely to result in some loss for the lender without […]
US consumer confidence tanks, home sales slide
Weaker business conditions, less favourable job market cast cloud over consumers (WASHINGTON) Sales of existing homes, depressed by turmoil in credit markets, fell for a sixth straight month in August, pushing activity to the lowest point in five years. Meanwhile, US consumer confidence tanked in September to almost a two-year low amid weakening business and […]
Boutique developer buys Sentosa Cove site for $79m
It beats 7 others for landed property plot; plans to build 20 houses there A YOUNG entrepreneur who became a full-time polo player after selling his Silicon Valley dot.com firm has emerged as a successful property developer here. Indian-born Satinder Garcha, 36, signalled his growing status in the industry yesterday when his company paid $78.68 […]
UPFRONT – Viet property boom a goldmine for S’pore firms
LE THI Phuong Thao, 51, never planned to get rich – very rich, in fact, by Vietnamese standards – by speculating on real estate. Ms Thao, a home furnishings business operator, stumbled across buying and selling property almost by accident five years ago. And she is now seizing the opportunity presented by an extraordinary boom […]
Case, property body seek licensing of housing agents
Calls come amid growing number of complaints lodged against agents A SHARPLY rising tide of consumer complaints against property agents has emerged in recent data, amid a spike in property sales in the current market boom. Complaints include claims of misrepresentation and a failure to explain contract terms and conditions fully, the consumer watchdog, the […]
REDAS CHIEF ON BRIEF PAUSE – Collective sales ease as new rules take hold
THE market for collective sales has had a spectacular run this year, but new rules are likely to act as a brake to it, Mr Simon Cheong, chief executive of property developer SC Global, said yesterday. Mr Cheong, who is also chairman of the Real Estate Developers Association Singapore (Redas), said the market is still […]
Singapore office rentals still competitive
COMPANIES are paying more for labour and rentals in Singapore than before, but prices are still competitive compared to global cities such as London, New York, Tokyo and Hong Kong. Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew pointed this out yesterday, but said the Government would ensure prices stayed lower than countries ‘in a similar position’. This […]
Sale of Seletar Garden could fetch up to $75m
This works out to $683-$733 psf ppr inclusive of DC for the 73,099 sq ft site SELETAR Garden, a mixed development at Yio Chu Kang Road, is up for sale by tender with the estimated price of between $70 million and $75 million. This works out to be $684-$733 per square foot per plot ratio […]
Second transitional office site released
THE government yesterday launched for sale its second transitional office site in a bid to improve the supply of office space. Market watchers estimate that the 1.2 hectare site in Tampines could fetch about $100 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr) – which works out to some $12.4 million in total. The land […]
Residential property launches gathering speed again
Ho Bee previews Turquoise, Wheelock properties to launch Scotts Square DEVELOPERS are slowly stepping up residential property launches again, with Ho Bee Investments previewing its Turquoise condo at Sentosa Cove and Wheelock Properties (Singapore) holding the official launch of Scotts Square later this week. Turquoise, which will have 91 apartments, will be priced at $2,500 […]
German fund manager eyes Asia properties
Union Investment looks to quadruple its regional portfolio over a 4-year period GERMAN fund manager Difa Deutsche Immobilien Fonds (recently renamed Union Investment) is looking to quadruple its property portfolio in Asia over the next four years, its Asia-Pacific head has told BT in an interview. ‘Right now, we have 10 properties worth about 500 […]
Foreigners snap up 87% more landed homes in first half: DTZ
Companies make 265 buys in H1 2007 vs one in H1 2006 (SINGAPORE) Foreigners, including permanent residents, bought 232 landed homes here in the first half of this year, up 87 per cent from the same period last year, according to DTZ Debenham Tie Leung’s analysis of caveats. But foreign buyers’ share of total caveats […]
HPL: Horizon Towers sellers extend deadline
Buyer will now ask for adjournment of legal proceedings (SINGAPORE) Hotel Properties Ltd (HPL) has finally secured a much-needed extension of a deadline to purchase the Horizon Towers development. And the listed developer will now make good on its promise to apply for an adjournment of the legal proceedings it has commenced against the sellers. […]
Foreigners snap up 87% more landed homes in first half: DTZ
Companies make 265 buys in H1 2007 vs one in H1 2006 (SINGAPORE) Foreigners, including permanent residents, bought 232 landed homes here in the first half of this year, up 87 per cent from the same period last year, according to DTZ Debenham Tie Leung’s analysis of caveats. But foreign buyers’ share of total caveats […]
Jumeirah to open its first European resort
(DUBAI) Jumeirah Group, the hotel management company owned by Dubai’s government, leased a property being built in Mallorca, Spain from a German real estate fund to gain its first European resort and spa. The 120-room Jumeirah Port Soller resort is held on a ‘long-term’ lease from the WestInvest Interselect fund, Jumeirah said in a statement […]
Ciputra Property to tap up to US$150m in Jakarta IPO
Developer plans to use proceeds to acquire companies and subsidiaries (HONG KONG/JAKARTA) Indonesian real estate developer PT Ciputra Property is planning to raise up to about US$150 million in a domestic initial public offering, according to a listing prospectus and a source familiar with the deal. Ciputra Property, a mixed-use commercial property unit of PT […]
Credit fallout to hit London office building
CBRE sees 2.5m sq ft of new space instead of 4.5m forecast earlier (LONDON) The equivalent of two to four skyscrapers per year are now unlikely to be built in London in 2009 to 2011 due to fallout from the US subprime crisis, property services firm CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) said yesterday. CBRE said it […]
Taipei housing market confidence dips
Rising prices push figure down to lowest in 4 years (TAIPEI) Taipei housing market confidence dropped to its lowest in almost four years because of rising prices, a Taiwan government-sponsored survey showed. The housing confidence index for Taiwan’s capital fell to 97.55 in the second quarter, slipping below 100 for the first time since the […]
Shanghai properties draw pension funds
JLL: Foreign insurers may buy in as yields dip see short-term investors exiting ( SHANGHAI) Overseas pension funds and insurers may become main buyers of premium office and commercial properties in Shanghai as shorter-term investors could sell due to falling yields, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) said last week. Property investors with a relatively short-term investment […]
Only 20% of US sub-prime mortgages at risk
No plans to scrap such mortgages as they democratise credit: US official ABOUT 5 per cent of all US mortgages are sub-prime but only one fifth of these are at risk of default, US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) assistant secretary Darlene Williams said yesterday. Ms Williams was speaking at the inaugural Asia-Pacific […]
CapitaLand gives $1m to 10 charities
TEN charities received a combined $1 million yesterday from the philanthropic arm of Asian property giant CapitaLand. Giving away 10 cheques of $100,000 each was CapitaLand Hope Foundation chairman Lim Chin Beng. Set up in 2005, the foundation aims to help young people, with children’s charities its main focus. This year’s donation – the largest […]
HPL to ask to adjourn Horizon Towers hearing on Thursday
Decision follows official confirmation of extension of sale deadline to Dec 11 THE move by the Horizon Towers sellers to extend the sale deadline of their estate has succeeded in fending off Thursday’s High Court hearing. Hotel Properties (HPL) said yesterday that it will apply to have the hearing adjourned. This came after it received […]
Second short-term office site released at Tampines
THE Government has released a second temporary office site for sale, this time at the Tampines Regional Centre. This followed the strong response to a similar plot along Scotts Road last month, which drew a better-thanexpected 11 bids. The two sites are the first plots of office land to be offered in Singapore on 15-year […]
Inflation rises to 2.9% – highest since December 1994
Climbing food prices and higher transport and communication costs drive CPI up CONSUMER prices rose by 2.9 per cent last month from a year earlier, the biggest increase since 1994, as the effects of the goods and services tax (GST) hike continued to set in. The August figure came in above the median market expectation […]
Defaults on sub-prime loans ‘stabilising’
THE default rate for strife-hit United States sub-prime mortgages is stabilising, a US housing official said yesterday at a housing conference in Singapore. Defaults on these loans, issued to homebuyers with low income or a poor credit history, triggered global shock waves recently and sparked intense scrutiny of Singapore banks’ exposure to them. Assistant secretary […]
HSBC Holdings closes US sub-prime mortgage unit
(NEW YORK) HSBC Holdings, Europe’s biggest bank, said last Friday that it is closing its US sub-prime mortgage unit, cutting 750 jobs and taking US$945 million in charges and write-downs. It said that the business is no longer sustainable. For London-based HSBC, which is under pressure from activist investors to shake up its corporate governance, […]
INSIDE MARKETS – Buy and sell transactions hit low levels; fund managers quiet
PURCHASES by directors and substantial shareholders was low for a second straight week with only 34 companies posting 72 ‘buys’, based on filings on the Singapore Exchange from Sept 17 to 21. The figures were consistent with the previous week’s 35 companies and 72 acquisitions. Investors should note that the buying has been low in […]
WALL STREET INSIGHT – Investors look for direction after the rally
Impact of credit market turmoil on Q3 earnings, US economy’s ability to stave off recession, oil price surge top concerns IN NEW YORK FROM the Fed and lower interest rates to corporate quarterly earnings, the stock market enjoyed a week of nearly unmitigated good news and outright euphoria that has temporarily but dramatically banished the […]
LEASEBACK DEAL – MapletreeLog pays $15m for Tuas warehouse
MAPLETREE Logistics Trust Management (MapletreeLog) has bought a warehouse in Singapore for $15.2 million, marking the latest in a rapid run of acquisitions over the last few months. Yesterday, it announced that it had bought the warehouse in Tuas from Pioneer Districentre, which will lease back the property for seven years – with an option […]
HSBC to shut down sub-prime lending unit
Bank says US unit is no longer sustainable; closure will cost $1.3b in goodwill charge NEW YORK – HSBC Holdings, the British-based banking giant, announced recently that it would close its subprime mortgage subsidiary in the United States, saying the unit was ‘no longer sustainable’. HSBC’s earnings have been hit by its heavy exposure to […]
25% more HDB flats rented out since March
MORE Housing Board (HDB) flatowners are cashing in on the rising rental market by letting out their units following a relaxation of the rules on doing so. The new rules have spurred 5,700 more people to rent out their flats over the past six months. The latest figures from the HDB show that a total […]
En blocked: How Horizon Towers made history
The Leonie Hill condo was just one of scores of estates snapped up by developers in a collective sales frenzy over the past two years. Now its owners are being sued by a developer in a landmark case that will go before the High Court on Thursday. How did it all come to this? THE […]
The rant over rent: Landlords strike back
We’re not greedy, we’ve been ‘subsidising’ tenants with low rates since 2003, they say RETIRED doctor S.M. Soon, 62, is one happy landlord. She collects $16,000 a month from her tenant at Emerald Hill, which means she doesn’t have to use her own funds to top up her monthly mortgage payments. But things weren’t always […]
Potential risks of buying undeveloped land
THE gains from investing in undeveloped or raw land might sound attractive, but experts say retail investors need to take care. Mr Ku Swee Yong, the director of marketing and business development at property consultant Savills Singapore, said such investments can be ‘a good tool’ because of the potential for capital gains and because they […]
Banking on overseas land
Thousands of Singaporeans have sunk money into undeveloped plots overseas in the hope of getting high returns. Finance Correspondent Lorna Tan talks to three investors who have ventured into this foreign territory FOR some, it is not enough to have a roof over their heads. Singaporeans’ love affair with property has extended to owning raw […]
85% of MCL Land’s Hillcrest Villas sold in the past fortnight
Average price for the 163-unit cluster terrace homes project is $871 psf MCL Land has sold 85 per cent of its 163-unit cluster terrace homes development Hillcrest Villas over the past fortnight. The average price for the 99-year leasehold project in the Dunearn Road area on the former SingTel Academy site is about $871 per […]
Fed rate cut a blessing and a curse for China
AS THE Federal Reserve cut interest rates by half a point this week, it is doubtful much thought went into what it would mean for China. And that is fine. The Fed has 12 districts around the United States, and it acts to influence the domestic economy. Globalisation has globalised the Fed, though. It is […]
Investor’s Choice! Amber Towers For Sale!!!
Dear Investors / Buyers, I’m most excited to introduce a District 15 property for sale!!! FREEHOLD!!!! Check out this latest property for sale! Suitable for Investors’!!! Here are the details: Project: Amber Towers Property Type: Apartment No. of Rms: 4 (Penthouse) Size: 2929 sqft Tenure: Freehold Remarks: 360 degree unblock view! Check out The View! Seaview AND City […]
Home market will grow even if punters retreat: report
Developers may go for higher volumes, lower margins in mass, mid-segment (SINGAPORE) Recent events could make the residential property market vulnerable to declines in collective sales and speculative activity. However, Goldman Sachs believes that other demand drivers such as the increase in resident population will help mitigate the fall in those selling their homes through […]
Horizon Towers resolution may be in sight
Owners of 135 units vote to extend sale deadline to Dec 11 (SINGAPORE) There may finally be a resolution, of sorts, for the long-running Horizon Towers saga. Owners of 135 units at the Leonie Hill development – who attended a hastily convened meeting at the Raffles Town Club last night – voted in favour of […]
House okays changes to en bloc sale rules
PARLIAMENT yesterday approved changes to the Land Titles (Strata) Bill, which spells out proper procedure for en bloc sales. The changes will now become law sometime next month after it has been cleared by the President’s office. During the second reading of the Bill in Parliament yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister and Law Minister S Jayakumar […]
