Latest News About the Property Market in Singapore

HDB imposes checklists on resale flats

aldurvale — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 08:45:34 +0000

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 to a [...]

Home, retail, office rental growth to ease

aldurvale — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 08:44:07 +0000

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 a massive 40 [...]

Don’t know what to do during the current property lull?

aldurvale — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 08:42:49 +0000

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 sales agent discusses the impact [...]

3,500 vied for 714 condo-like flats in Boon Keng, but only 460 sold

aldurvale — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 08:40:53 +0000

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 unsold, said [...]

US crisis deepens as home owners turn to short-term loans

aldurvale — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 08:39:33 +0000

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 come by, evidence [...]

Singapore inflation stays at 26-year high

aldurvale — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 08:37:55 +0000

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 internal factors kept [...]

Realising the Marina Bay vision

aldurvale — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 08:33:07 +0000

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 city Singapore [...]

Business confidence takes a dive

aldurvale — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 08:28:11 +0000

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 in the three [...]

Singapore interest rates likely to fall further

aldurvale — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 08:24:58 +0000

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. The Fed had cut [...]

PROPERTY: Muted market gives buyers more bargaining power

aldurvale — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 08:22:34 +0000

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 about an uncertain [...]

Behind latest Fed rate cut, inflation fears loom

aldurvale — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 03:33:48 +0000

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 the cut, [...]

Strong demand in Asia seen slowing next year

aldurvale — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 03:32:22 +0000

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 IMA Asia. ‘Many [...]

Cheung Kong pips Far East in URA tender

aldurvale — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 03:28:11 +0000

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 or $305 per [...]

Foreigners snap up homes as rents start to bite

aldurvale — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:51:33 +0000

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 non-landed homes [...]

Guocoland dives on options lapse

aldurvale — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:46:55 +0000

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’ downgrade, the stock [...]

Landed housing plot draws top bid of just $77.80 psf

aldurvale — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:37:33 +0000

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 square foot [...]

Wild swing reflects fears of US slowdown

aldurvale — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:35:58 +0000

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 more [...]

Space crunch in Orchard pushes docs to Novena

aldurvale — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:32:47 +0000

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 the space of two [...]

All eyes on govt land tenders this month

aldurvale — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:30:00 +0000

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 above the Serangoon [...]

China’s growth story due for reality check

aldurvale — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:27:32 +0000

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 by the [...]

Economists trim S’pore Q1 growth forecast to 5.7%

aldurvale — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:22:27 +0000

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 per cent in [...]

THE BOTTOM LINE: Fed slap in market face won’t work this time

aldurvale — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:21:00 +0000

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 given [...]

Investments push S’pore growth again

aldurvale — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:18:26 +0000

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 was buffeted [...]

Investors eye real estate after tough 2007

aldurvale — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:15:26 +0000

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 back to UK [...]

Ophir-Rochor corridor site to be marketed in France

aldurvale — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:13:38 +0000

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 in June. In [...]

Opportunistic investors recoil from Asia property

aldurvale — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:12:03 +0000

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 Japan, one [...]

Rising market pressures may trigger third wave of credit crisis

aldurvale — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:07:26 +0000

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, money markets tightened [...]

URA sets aside more land for offices

aldurvale — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:02:33 +0000

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 than twice [...]

Kuwait fund pulls out of bulk purchase of high-end homes

aldurvale — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:01:03 +0000

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 firm having to [...]

Property investors set sights on market trough in US, Europe

aldurvale — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 18:58:59 +0000

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, they are [...]

China faces ‘very severe’ unemployment

aldurvale — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 18:47:32 +0000

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 minister Tian [...]

Inflation likely to have hit 8.3% in Feb: Bank of China

aldurvale — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 18:45:42 +0000

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 New Year [...]

India losing its status as world’s top outsourcing hub

aldurvale — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 18:43:26 +0000

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 Consultants has [...]

When will market slide reach bottom?

aldurvale — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 18:39:21 +0000

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, to 11,893.69 [...]

Punggol River set for big change

aldurvale — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 18:33:42 +0000

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 released the [...]

PROPERTY: Demand for single office units still going strong in quiet market

aldurvale — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 08:07:55 +0000

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 active [...]

PROPERTY: Demand for single office units still going strong in quiet market

aldurvale — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 08:07:41 +0000

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 recorded active [...]

US employers cut 63,000 jobs in February

aldurvale — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 08:05:13 +0000

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 month’s cut [...]

Mortgage war breaks out as DBS and UOB offer new rates

aldurvale — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 08:03:27 +0000

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 first-year rate [...]

New rules ‘must keep sub-prime market open’

aldurvale — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 08:01:37 +0000

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 reopen [...]