SO right after the Bear Stearns funds blew up, I had a thought: This is what happens when you lend money to poor people. Don’t get me wrong: I have nothing personally against the poor. To my knowledge, I have nothing personally to do with the poor at all. It’s not personal when a guy […]
Archive | September 7, 2007
HPL: Horizon Towers sales committee tried to scupper deal
(SINGAPORE) Several members of the Horizon Towers sales committee tried to scupper the en bloc sale by rallying the rest of the majority sellers into going back on their collective agreement, according to an affidavit filed in the High Court yesterday by the buyers. The claim is one of several in the late-night filing made […]
JTC launches Tuas industrial site for sale after $5.9m bid
ON the back of good demand for industrial space, JTC Corporation yesterday launched a 235,400 sq ft land parcel at Pioneer Road/Tuas Avenue 11 for sale, and market watchers estimate that the site could fetch as much as $7.6 million – or $23 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr). JTC launched the site […]
Fengshui defence helps couple avoid property deal tax
A COUPLE who were taxed on the profits they made on a property deal appealed – and have won their case against the taxman. Their argument in this unusual case: they sold the apartment because of its bad fengshui. Although Singapore does not have capital gains tax, which is charged on profits from the sale […]
ECB, Britain’s central bank leave rates unchanged
This comes as US Fed pumps $48b into banking system to bring down lending rate LONDON – THE European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of England (BOE) held interest rates steady yesterday, saying it was too soon to gauge the damage wrought by a global credit crisis. The ECB also pumped 42.2 billion euros (S$87.6 […]
En bloc sales slow to a trickle, may pick up later
Just one sale sealed in August, but some say lull presents a chance to buy (SINGAPORE) After the breathless rush earlier in the year, there was just a single collective sale in August – that of Margate Mansion at a modest $58 million. In contrast, the first seven months of 2007 saw a total of […]
Economists hike growth forecasts to median of 7.5%
Distribution of forecasts skewed towards higher end of official 7-8% prediction (SINGAPORE) Taking a cue from the government, private-sector economists have bumped up their forecasts of Singapore’s 2007 economic growth to a median of 7.5 per cent, with the most optimistic gunning for 8.1 per cent. The 7.5 per cent forecast from 18 respondents to […]
ExxonMobil backs S’pore with big bet
US$4 billion second cracker project will crank up petrochemicals output, export to China, India (SINGAPORE) A giant petrochemical complex, whose significance to Singapore was highlighted by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in the run-up to the last General Election, finally got the green light yesterday. ExxonMobil’s second complex on Jurong Island will become operational in […]
UK house prices rise for 8th month in a row: report
August average up 0.4% at £199,700, says lender HBOS (LONDON) UK house prices rose for an eighth month in August, a sign that five interest rate increases have yet to curb demand for property, a report from HBOS plc showed. The average cost of a home climbed 0.4 per cent last month to £199,770 (S$613,000), […]
Property bubble may burst: Daiwa House
A concerned CEO of Japan homebuilder aims to cut costs and expand in China (TOKYO) Daiwa House Industry Co, Japan’s second biggest homebuilder by market value, wants to cut local costs and expand in China as the developer is concerned a property ‘bubble’ may burst, slashing land prices. ‘The property market has become dangerous,’ Takeo […]
LATEST US DATA – US home sales dip; layoffs worsen
Reports show that labour market is cracking: analyst (NEW YORK) Pending sales of previously owned US homes plunged 12.2 per cent in July and planned layoffs by US companies surged 85 per cent in August due to turmoil in the sub-prime mortgage market, independent reports showed yesterday. Also, employers added jobs at the slowest pace […]
Hedge fund investors withdrew US$32b in July
Outflows may increase in August, industry survey finds (NEW YORK) Investors withdrew a net US$32 billion from hedge funds in July, the most in any month since at least 2000, helping to spark global stock and bond sell-offs, according to a new industry survey. Funds of hedge funds, which invest clients’ money with other managers, […]
15% price fall seen in US commercial property
Rising borrowing costs forcing owners to accept less or postpone sales (SAN FRANCISCO) US commercial real estate prices may fall as much as 15 per cent over the next year in the broadest decline since the 2001 recession as rising borrowing costs force property owners to accept less or postpone sales. ‘People aren’t willing to […]
No sub-prime miracle cure, says OECD chief economist
Increased scrutiny; borrower education; pugnacious rating analysis needed (MADRID) The surge in short-term rates caused by rising defaults of US sub-prime mortgages exposed ‘serious imperfections’ in the way global credit and housing markets function, OECD chief economist Jean-Philipe Cotis said. ‘Recent developments have revealed serious imperfections in the functioning of US housing markets and, more […]
Biggest UK property firm mulls break-up
(LONDON) Paul Myners, chairman of Britain’s biggest listed property firm Land Securities, has ordered the group to examine a possible break-up, the Daily Telegraph said yesterday. The move is one of the options being looked at as part of a wider strategic review in response to poor share price performance, the paper said, without citing […]
Sub-prime beast won’t drown in sea of liquidity
IN TOKYO WHAT one veteran banker dubbed the ‘securitisation monster’ created by financial innovation has bitten back. And it is proving to be a painful lesson for those who reposed faith in securitisation to make financial risk a thing of the past by spreading it around so thinly that it could no longer be detected. […]
‘Goldman fund buying Chevron House’
Acquisition would be second major Singapore office deal for group (SINGAPORE) A Goldman Sachs-linked fund is believed to be the buyer of Chevron House (formerly Caltex House) whose sale by CapitaLand and its partners was announced last week. The deal values the leasehold Raffles Place office block at $730 million or a record $2,780 per […]
Ascendas IT Park project in Dalian to cost US$200m
Flagship outfit will be built over 5-8 years in phases (SINGAPORE) The six million sq ft Dalian Ascendas IT Park in China will cost an estimated US$200 million and will be built over five to eight years in phases. Speaking at an event in Dalian yesterday to mark the completion of the first phase of […]
Dubai to build hotels and apartments in Vietnam
(DUBAI) Dubai will develop a US$220 million property in Vietnam, building hotels and luxury apartments near the beaches and limestone mountains of Halong Bay, government-owned developer Limitless said here yesterday. Limitless is part of the conglomerate that is building three palm-tree-shaped islands and an archipelago the resembles a map of the world off the coast […]
Ample perks for M’sian property sector
Tax adviser says any more incentives in Budget likely to benefit buyers (KUALA LUMPUR) Malaysia’s property sector does not need another shot in the arm in the 2008 Budget as it has received more than enough incentives, Veerinderjeet Singh, managing director of Taxand Malaysia Sdn Bhd said yesterday. Instead, any incentive introduced tomorrow might well […]
US pending home sales plunge, layoffs surge
New data raises expectations the Fed will cut key interest rate WASHINGTON – PENDING sales of existing homes in the United States fell in July to their lowest level in nearly six years, as the mortgage market’s troubles made it tough for many borrowers to finalise home purchases. Planned layoffs by US companies surged 85 […]
TAKING STOCK – Market enjoys best outing in more than a month
THE Singapore bourse had its best day of gains in more than a month yesterday, as market watchers began to express hopes that the nasty recent correction is now over. It took its cue from Wall Street, which returned to business after a Labour Day holiday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining a healthy […]
ECB hints it may cut rate today if volatility persists
FRANKFURT – THE European Central Bank (ECB) said yesterday it is prepared to ‘act accordingly’ in the light of renewed market volatility, a sign that instead of keeping its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4 per cent, it could actually lower it. It did not explain why it issued the statement, a surprise that caught […]
Economists’ median growth forecast rises to 7.5%
Rosier estimate by 18 analysts is at mid-point of govt’s range of 7% to 8% FORGET recent stock market woes and weak export numbers. Projections by private-sector economists for Singapore’s full- year economic growth have turned even rosier over the past three months. A quarterly survey of economists by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) […]
