Surbana acquires Chengdu residential site for S$126m
Township developer Surbana Corporation has acquired a residential site in Chengdu, China for 677 million yuan (S$126 million) through a public tender.Located in the Swan Lake Area, the site is roughly 15 km southeast of the city centre. It has a total area of 804,000 square feet and will generate...
Continue Reading • 29 Jul 2011
Lian Beng's net profit jumps to S$48.18m
Singapore-based building construction company Lian Beng Group announced that its profit for the full year ending June 2011 has doubled to S$48.18 million, from S$24 million a year ago, mainly attributed to strong performance from its construction and property developments, as well as its...
Continue Reading • 29 Jul 2011
US mortgage applications drop as interest rates rise
Home loan applications in the US have declined, along with an increase in fixed mortgage rates, according to the latest figures released by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).The MBA’s weekly mortgage applications survey showed that total mortgage applications dropped 5.0 percent in the...
Continue Reading • 28 Jul 2011
Australand net profit up 17% in H1
Australand Property Group, a wholly-owned Australian unit of CapitaLand, has announced that its net profit in the first half of 2011 rose 17 percent to A$84.8 million, while its operating profit climbed seven percent to A$64.9 million.Bob Johnston, Managing Director of Australand, said the...
Continue Reading • 28 Jul 2011
LTA awards contracts to build MRT stations
Three civil contracts worth S$582.07 million were awarded yesterday by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) for the construction of stations on Downtown Line Stage 3 (DTL3).One of the contracts is for the construction of the Tampines station, while the other two are for the construction of the...
Continue Reading • 27 Jul 2011
UK mortgage fraud on the rise
The number of fraud cases in the UK climbed 10 percent in the first half of 2011, driven mostly by mortgage borrowers who had failed to disclose previous addresses, in an attempt to hide their adverse credit histories.According to the latest Fraudscape Bulletin from CIFAS, mortgage borrowers also...
Continue Reading • 27 Jul 2011
Jones Lang LaSalle reports solid revenue growth
Global real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) has posted strong revenue growth and earnings for the second quarter, achieving a net income of US$44 million, compared with US$32 million over the same period last year.JLL said the Q2 results include US$6 million in restructuring and...
Continue Reading • 27 Jul 2011
PropertyGuru wins trademark dispute against iProperty
The Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration (KLRCA) has ruled in favour of PropertyGuru, regarding the ownership of the domain name “propertyguru.com.my”.The ruling came after AllProperty Media Pte Ltd (the owner of PropertyGuru) filed a complaint against the registration and use...
Continue Reading • 26 Jul 2011
Govt curbs hit HK mortgage market
New home loan applications in Hong Kong dropped 30.3 percent to 11,913 in June, as the government's cooling measures took effect.According to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the total amount of new home loans approved dropped 16 percent to HK$26.6 billion in June. Of the mortgages...
Continue Reading • 26 Jul 2011
LaSalle appoints Paul Guest as new head of research
LaSalle Investment Management has appointed Paul Guest as its new Head of Research and Strategy for Asia Pacific effective 1 September 2011.He will be working with the Global Strategy team, which analyses regional economies and property markets, as well as capital markets in 150 metropolitan...
Continue Reading • 26 Jul 2011
Frasers Hospitality buys another serviced residence in Australia
Frasers Hospitality is eyeing Australia’s serviced residence market, given its latest acquisition of a serviced apartment complex in Melbourne, according to The Business Times.Frasers has acquired 115 studio units in the former Cube Serviced Apartments and plans to rebrand it as Fraser...
Continue Reading • 26 Jul 2011
Singapore inflation up again
Singapore’s consumer price index (CPI) surged to 5.2 percent in June, close to January’s peak of 5.5 percent, fuelled by higher housing, food and transport costs.According to the Department of Statistics, rising inflation can be attributed mainly to housing and transport costs, which...
Continue Reading • 26 Jul 2011
Savills, CKH merge property management business
Savills has announced that its Singapore-based Savills Property Management business unit has merged with CKH Strata Management to establish an industry leader specialising in property, asset and facilities management.“This is a strategic merger that offers a clear ‘win-win’...
Continue Reading • 26 Jul 2011
PropertyGuru acquires Thailand's DDProperty
Singapore’s leading online property portal, PropertyGuru, has acquired Thailand’s DDProperty Investing, which owns www.ddproperty.com, for THB80 million, in a bid to expand its footprint in the country’s online property market.“This partnership happened because both...
Continue Reading • 25 Jul 2011
Mortgage fraud in the US continues
Using fake signatures on mortgage documents, also known as "robo-signing”, remains widespread in the US, more than eight months after major banks and mortgage lenders promised to put an end to the illegal practice, which has led to a nationwide suspension of home foreclosures.According...
Continue Reading • 25 Jul 2011
MAS won't take action against Global Logistic Properties
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has decided not to take action against Global Logistic Properties (GLP) Ltd, after concluding its investigation into an omission in the firm’s initial public offer (IPO) prospectus filed last year.“MAS has carefully assessed the circumstances...
Continue Reading • 25 Jul 2011
New venture a boost for property investors and developers
REA Group, a leading digital real estate advertising company, has announced its plan to increase its Asian presence, to benefit international developers and property investors.Its Hong Kong-based real estate website, Squarefoot.com.hk, encourages property developers to invest in the growing Asian...
Continue Reading • 22 Jul 2011
UK mortgage approvals stable, according to survey
Major lenders in the UK expect home loan approvals to stay at their current rate in the coming months, while others predict more foreclosures this year, according to a survey conducted by the Bank of England (BoE).The bank’s quarterly Trends in Lending Report included recently released...
Continue Reading • 22 Jul 2011
MAS raises 2011 inflation forecast
Due to the unexpected hike in housing and car prices, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has raised its inflation forecast by one percentage point to four to five percent.The consumer price index (CPI), which eased to 4.5 percent in April and May, is “expected to creep back up to...
Continue Reading • 22 Jul 2011
Banyan Tree looking to further expand in S'pore and China
Banyan Tree Holdings is on an expansion campaign marked by several firsts, such as the launch of its first Banyan Tree project in Singapore — a spa at Marina Bay Sands.“We've always wanted to do something in Singapore but because this is our home base, we've been quite selective....
Continue Reading • 21 Jul 2011