Business Times – 25 Mar 2008 THE Housing and Development Board will introduce mandatory checklists for housing agents handling resale flat transactions from May 1 – a move welcomed by industry players. The checklists cover key policies and procedures that housing agents will need to advise resale flat buyers and sellers on before they commit […]
Archive | March, 2008
Home, retail, office rental growth to ease
Business Times – 25 Mar 2008 Housing rentals to rise 5-15% year-on-year in 2008: Knight Frank PRIVATE housing rents are expected to grow at a slower pace this year than last year, Knight Frank said in a report yesterday. The property consultancy firm expects a year-on-year rise of 5-15 per cent in 2008 – after […]
Don’t know what to do during the current property lull?
Business Times – 25 Mar 2008 PROPERTY EXPERTS GIVE SOME TIPS Seven tips for buying a second home Did you know, for example, that an HDB flat near an MRT station will give you a higher rental yield than most private properties? The importance of being earnest when going en bloc A major en bloc […]
3,500 vied for 714 condo-like flats in Boon Keng, but only 460 sold
The Straits Times March 25, 2008 THOUSANDS of applications poured in for a condo-like Housing Board project in January – but as of last week, less than two-thirds of the flats had been taken up. About a third of the 714 units – or about 250 units – in City View @ Boon Keng remained […]
US crisis deepens as home owners turn to short-term loans
The Straits Times March 25, 2008 Such ‘payday loans’ come with high interest rates, piling on the debts CLEVELAND (OHIO) – AS HUNDREDS of thousands of American home owners fall behind on their mortgage payments, more are turning to short-term loans with sky- high interest rates to get by. While hard figures are hard to […]
Singapore inflation stays at 26-year high
The Straits Times March 25, 2008 Prices jump 6.5%, driven by higher food, transport and housing costs CONSUMER prices surged 6.5 per cent last month from a year ago, continuing a rate of increase not seen in 26 years. Food, transport and housing costs were again the main drivers as a confluence of external and […]
Realising the Marina Bay vision
Business Times – 22 Mar 2008 CHING TUAN YEE and BENJAMIN NG reflect on the planning of Singapore’s most ambitious urban project and highlight the exciting developments in store for Singaporeans and visitors alike THE vision for Marina Bay is that of a high-quality, 24/7 live-work-play environment, one that encapsulates the essence of the global […]
Business confidence takes a dive
Business Times – 24 Mar 2008 BT-UniSIM survey shows companies gloomy about next six months, despite strong orders (SINGAPORE) Business confidence in Singapore has slumped to its lowest level since end-2004, according to the latest business climate survey by The Business Times (BT) and SIM University (UniSIM). While sales and profit figures were largely unchanged […]
Singapore interest rates likely to fall further
The Straits Times March 24, 2008 Fed cut and robust Sing$ could push interbank lending rate below 1% SINGAPOREANS can expect cheaper mortgages but lower savings and fixed deposit rates in the months to come. This is after a move by the United States Federal Reserve to slash a key US interest rate last week. […]
PROPERTY: Muted market gives buyers more bargaining power
The Straits Times March 23, 2008 Prices aren’t tumbling but it’s a good time to get a unit at a reasonable price, say experts IT IS no secret that the residential property market is in a lacklustre mood. With many buyers and sellers having scurried to the sidelines as the United States sub-prime woes brought […]
Behind latest Fed rate cut, inflation fears loom
The Straits Times – March 20, 2008 WASHINGTON – THE United States central bank cut interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point to 2.25 per cent, less than widely expected but more than what some of its policymakers were comfortable with. Two of the 10 voting members of the Federal Open Market Committee opposed […]
Strong demand in Asia seen slowing next year
Business Times – 20 Mar 2008 This poses risks as firm US recovery unlikely: consultancy (SINGAPORE) Domestic demand in Asian countries this year look strong, but may slow down in 2009. This may present risks to regional countries as the US economy is unlikely to make a strong recovery next year, according to consultancy firm […]
Cheung Kong pips Far East in URA tender
Business Times – 20 Mar 2008 It offers $305psf ppr for West Coast condo plot next to Blue Horizon (SINGAPORE) Cheung Kong Holdings-linked Billion Rise yesterday pipped Far East Organization to emerge as top bidder for a 99-year leasehold condo site facing West Coast Park and overlooking the sea. Billion Rise’s bid of $110.44 million […]
Foreigners snap up homes as rents start to bite
Business Times – 12 Mar 2008Their purchases could account for half of 2007 transactions on the secondary market (SINGAPORE) A record number of foreigners here have opted to purchase homes instead of renting them at ever-climbing rates. According to an analysis of transactions of private residential properties by DTZ Debenham Tie Leung, foreigners bought 6,536 […]
Guocoland dives on options lapse
Business Times – 12 Mar 2008 Shares hit as Kuwaiti-linked fund pulls out of $815m property purchase SHARES of Guocoland fell victim yesterday to news that a fund company managed by Kuwait Finance House (Malaysia) Berhad (KFHMB) did not exercise options to buy $814.8 million worth of apartments in Guocoland’s upmarket project here. Following analysts’ […]
Landed housing plot draws top bid of just $77.80 psf
Business Times – 12 Mar 2008 Only one other offer made; poor show seen as sign of uncertain market IN what is seen as a sign of an uncertain property market, a landed housing parcel in Jurong West drew only two bids, and a low top bid of $11.8 million – or just $77.80 per […]
Wild swing reflects fears of US slowdown
Business Times – 12 Mar 2008 SHORT-COVERING and a late afternoon rebound on Nasdaq futures saw the Singapore market’s benchmark index chalking a remarkable 80-point turnaround in intra-day trading, first plunging to a new 16-month low, then rebounding to close in positive territory. Also boosting the market are expectations that the Federal Reserve may intervene […]
Space crunch in Orchard pushes docs to Novena
March 12, 2008 The area could turn into medical hub as more private doctors set up clinics there PRIVATE doctors are flocking to the Novena area as the squeeze on clinic space in the Orchard Road belt tightens. The migration could turn the area into Singapore’s newest centre for private health services, some believe. In […]
All eyes on govt land tenders this month
Business Times – 11 Mar 2008 $500m site above Serangoon MRT, 3 suburban housing plots on offer AMID the current quiet market, all eyes will be on four 99-year leasehold suburban Government Land Sale site tenders that close this month. They comprise three private residential sites including one for landed housing, and a ‘white’ site […]
China’s growth story due for reality check
Business Times – 11 Mar 2008 Country may face headwinds of a US recession as its stock market, property sector cool THE beginning of Wen Jiabao’s second term seems remarkably similar to his first. In 2003, when Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao, first took the helm as president and prime minister respectively, they were tested […]
Economists trim S’pore Q1 growth forecast to 5.7%
Business Times – 11 Mar 2008 Q2 may see another dip before rebound kicks in; inflation likely to rise (SINGAPORE) Private sector economists have pared their forecasts of Singapore’s first quarter GDP growth to a median 5.7 per cent, from 7 per cent three months earlier. Economic growth is then expected to dip below 5 […]
THE BOTTOM LINE: Fed slap in market face won’t work this time
Business Times – 11 Mar 2008LAST Friday’s employment report – which was so weak that it had many economists declaring that the US is already in a recession – was bad news. But it was actually less disturbing than what’s going on in the financial markets. The scariest thing I’ve read recently is a speech […]
Investments push S’pore growth again
Business Times – 11 Mar 2008 But the biggest problem facing policy-makers is inflation; if it doesn’t stabilise, we may see more drastic steps SINGAPORE has enjoyed exceptionally strong and stable gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the last few years. For many years after 1997, Singapore’s economy had suffered volatile growth even as it […]
Investors eye real estate after tough 2007
Business Times – 11 Mar 2008 Asian property and niche sectors are attracting assets (LONDON) Many investors in alternative assets plan to invest more in real estate after poor returns from the sector in 2007, a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) survey showed yesterday. John Forbes, UK real estate leader at PwC, said some investors had been lured […]
Ophir-Rochor corridor site to be marketed in France
Business Times – 11 Mar 2008 THE Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) will market the first site in the new Ophir-Rochor corridor at the ‘Marche International des Professionals de L’Immobilier’ (MIPIM), a premier international property event in Cannes, France. The site will be launched for sale under the Confirmed List of the Government Land Sales Programme […]
Opportunistic investors recoil from Asia property
Business Times – 11 Mar 2008 They see more scope for picking up cheaper properties in US, Europe; loans in Japan tougher (HONG KONG) Opportunistic investors are pulling back from Asian property because they see more scope for picking up distressed assets in the United States and Europe, and loans are harder to get in […]
Rising market pressures may trigger third wave of credit crisis
Business Times – 11 Mar 2008 Nervous investors hanging on to pronouncements of central bankers (LONDON) Tight money markets and tumbling stocks and the US dollar are expected to increase worries for investors this week as pressure mounts on central banks facing what looks like the third wave of a global credit crisis. Last week, […]
URA sets aside more land for offices
Business Times – 11 Mar 2008 (SINGAPORE) Singapore will provide more land for offices as part of a strategy to strengthen its position as an Asian financial centre, the government’s real estate planning agency said yesterday. ‘The new growth area set aside for the seamless extension of the existing financial district … will be more […]
Kuwait fund pulls out of bulk purchase of high-end homes
March 11, 2008 It allows options for 97 condo units at Goodwood Residence to lapse A KUWAIT bank fund that agreed in December to buy 97 units at posh Goodwood Residence for $818.4 million has let the purchase option lapse. Kuwait Finance House has given no reason for the move, which could result in the […]
Property investors set sights on market trough in US, Europe
March 11, 2008 HONG KONG – OPPORTUNISTIC investors are pulling back from Asian property because they see more scope for picking up distressed assets in the United States and Europe. Hedge funds have stopped dabbling in property in the region, fund managers say. Although private equity firms will continue to develop property in India and […]
China faces ‘very severe’ unemployment
20m new jobseekers expected every year: labour minister (BEIJING) China’s labour minister yesterday admitted that the booming economy faced a ‘very severe’ unemployment situation as millions of new jobseekers join the market every year. The flood of new entrants in both urban and rural areas will continue for a long time, labour and social security […]
Inflation likely to have hit 8.3% in Feb: Bank of China
Reports of bank’s estimate trigger speculation of interest rate hike (BEIJING) China’s inflation likely hit a new 11-year high of 8.3 per cent last month on the back of rising food prices, state media reported yesterday, triggering speculation of a modest hike in interest rates. Severe winter weather which crippled transport networks, and the Chinese […]
India losing its status as world’s top outsourcing hub
China, Morocco and EEurope among new locations for global IT services providers INDIA’S position as the No. 1 low-cost outsourcing destination is under threat, with China, Morocco and eastern European nations such as Hungary emerging as the sought-after locations by nformation technology (IT) services providers, a recent study has shown. The study by Pierre Audoin […]
When will market slide reach bottom?
Dow, S&P still remain above bear market threshold despite plunge (NEW YORK) Recession may well be here, given the dismal February employment report last Friday. But on Wall Street, many investors still are having a hard time deciding how worried they should be. The Dow Jones industrial average slid 146.70 points, or 1.2 per cent, […]
Punggol River set for big change
Work starts on $7.13m project to create reservoir park with man-made island by 2010 WORK to transform the Punggol River into a scenic reservoir park, complete with a man-made island, got off the ground yesterday. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who was at the official opening of the adjoining Anchorvale Community Club in Sengkang, symbolically […]
PROPERTY: Demand for single office units still going strong in quiet market
Investors turn more cautious, but small firms still interested in strata-titled officesALL has turned quiet on the housing front, but some other segments of the property market appear to have escaped that fate. Still going strong in particular are sales of single office units in larger commercial buildings. Known as strata-titled offices, these properties recorded […]
PROPERTY: Demand for single office units still going strong in quiet market
Investors turn more cautious, but small firms still interested in strata-titled offices ALL has turned quiet on the housing front, but some other segments of the property market appear to have escaped that fate. Still going strong in particular are sales of single office units in larger commercial buildings. Known as strata-titled offices, these properties […]
US employers cut 63,000 jobs in February
Payroll data indicate that probability of recession is more than 50 per cent (WASHINGTON) US employers cut payrolls for a second straight month during February, slashing 63,000 jobs for the biggest monthly decline in nearly five years as the nation’s labour markets weakened steadily, a government report yesterday showed. The Labor Department said that last […]
Mortgage war breaks out as DBS and UOB offer new rates
Banks focusing on specific targets, waging battles without fanfare THE mortgage war finally erupted, as Singapore banks responded to a dramatic rate cut by Maybank three weeks ago – with one even offering a zero per cent package. That attractive deal comes from United Overseas Bank (UOB), which has relaunched a package with a teaser […]
New rules ‘must keep sub-prime market open’
SPRINGFIELD (ILLINOIS) – LAWMAKERS must not be too heavy-handed as they react to the collapse of the United States sub-prime mortgage market and end up closing this source of credit forever, a senior Federal Reserve policymaker said yesterday. St Louis Fed president William Poole said the sub-prime market was now basically shut and might never […]
US household wealth falls for first time in five years
WASHINGTON – HOUSEHOLD wealth in the United States fell in the fourth quarter for the first time in five years, while borrowing slowed as home values plunged and lenders restricted credit, Federal Reserve figures have shown. Net worth for households decreased by US$532.9 billion (S$739.5 billion) from the previous three months, the first decline since […]
US reports surprise loss of 63,000 jobs
Biggest drop in five years another sign that economy is on the decline WASHINGTON – THE United States unexpectedly lost jobs last month for the second consecutive month, adding to evidence that the economy is in a recession. Payrolls fell by 63,000, the most in five years, after a revised decline of 22,000 in January, […]
Casinos, other large projects push up cost of loans: OCBC
Casinos, other large projects push up cost of loans: OCBC SINGAPORE’S two casinos and other large projects will add S$30 billion to loan demand this year, pushing up the cost of corporate loans in the city-state, said Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp on Wednesday. Las Vegas Sands and Genting International have each borrowed about S$5 billion to […]
Citigroup to sell, close some US branches: WSJ
(NEW YORK) Citigroup has agreed to sell its network of retail banking branches in Amarillo, Texas, and plans to shutter other branches in the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website on Wednesday.Citibank, its retail banking unit, has agreed to sell branches in Amarillo to local lender Happy State Bank for an […]
Existing home sales stay at just short of record low
Home foreclosures and rate of homes entering the process at record highs in Q4 (WASHINGTON) Industry data released yesterday show January pending US home sales were below analysts’ expectations and remained at the second-lowest reading on record. The National Association of Realtors said its seasonally adjusted index of pending sales for existing homes held at […]
Growth slows in 8 of 12 regions in US: survey
Beige Book cites weak retail sales, slow manufacturing and housing woes (NEW YORK) The Federal Reserve says economic growth has slowed in eight of 12 US regions since the start of the year, hurt by faltering retail sales, manufacturing and a continued decline in housing. ‘Two-thirds of the districts cited softening or weakening in the […]
Speculators holding out for higher prices
Subsale activity slows but transacted prices remain resilient (SINGAPORE) Property prices have been bolstered by speculators in the last year. But now that speculation is on the decline, could prices follow suit? An analysis by Savills Singapore of properties subsold last year after being bought from developers in the same year has revealed that while […]
Aussie Q4 growth at lowest pace in a year
(SYDNEY) Australia’s economy grew at the slowest pace in more than a year in the fourth quarter as construction declined and bottlenecks at ports cut exports. Gross domestic product rose 0.6 per cent from the third quarter, when it increased a revised 1.1 per cent, the Bureau of Statistics said yesterday. The gain matched the […]
Fed and Bush moving closer to mortgage rescue
Bernanke calls for more action by banks and the govt to help millions of home owners (WASHINGTON) However much they might oppose it on ideological grounds, the Bush administration and the Federal Reserve are inching closer towards a government rescue of distressed home owners and mortgage lenders. Fed chairman Ben Bernanke told a group of […]
Mixed landed housing site for sale
CHESTNUT VILLE (I and II), a mixed landed site at Dairy Farm Crescent, has been put up for collective sale and the indicative price for the combined plot is $90 million. This represents a land price of $741 psf over the land area, inclusive of an estimated $1 million development charge. The development currently comprises […]
