New rules to ensure accuracy of showflats
The Ministry of National Development (MND) intends to announce new regulations to ensure that showflats created by property developers accurately represent the actual units in a project, sources revealed to The Business Times.The move is designed to guarantee that home buyers are not deceived by...
Continue Reading • 8 Feb 2011
Top Global to establish property business
Catalist-listed Top Global is planning to establish a real estate investment and development business in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and China, as well as lease or acquire hotels in Chinese cites, said Hano Maeloa, CEO of the company.Top Global recently set up a real estate consultancy firm in...
Continue Reading • 8 Feb 2011
Australian lenders cut loans to parents
Australian borrowers who have children are being offered smaller home loans, due to their inability to meet mortgage repayments.Since the introduction of the new laws on 15 January for responsible lending, many banks and lending institutions in the country have cut the maximum amount of mortgages...
Continue Reading • 8 Feb 2011
JLL posts exemplary 2010 result
Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) has announced that its net income for the year ended 31 December, 2010 rose to $154 million on a US GAAP basis or $3.48 per share, against a net loss of $4 million or $0.11 per share for the same period last year.The company’s revenue reached a record high of $2.9...
Continue Reading • 8 Feb 2011
UK mortgage lending drops to 1980s level
Mortgage lending in the UK dropped to its lowest level in two years, with 42,500 mortgage arrangements recorded at the end of last year.The total amount of lending also plummeted to £8 billion in 2010, compared to £11 billion recorded in 2009. Many experts noted that the mortgage...
Continue Reading • 7 Feb 2011
Investors encouraged to consider developed markets
While internationally focused investors may still be hot on Asian and emerging markets, a growing group of fund managers say investors should not overlook developed markets altogether.This comes amid fears expressed by some market watchers that emerging markets are seeing more...
Continue Reading • 7 Feb 2011
Indonesia offers opportunities for Singapore companies
Indonesia is among the hottest markets for businesses seeking to tap the rapid growth in Asia and Singapore firms which already know the nation should begin looking at its energy- and mineral-rich eastern islands, said Stephen Bailey, CEO of the Washington-based political risk consultancy...
Continue Reading • 7 Feb 2011
AllProperty Media acquires Rumah.com
AllProperty Media, which owns PropertyGuru.com.sg, the leading online property portal in Singapore, has agreed to buy Indonesia’s top property website, Rumah.com.The agreement comes two weeks after AllProperty Media's announcement of the launch of www.HomeGuru.com.my in Malaysia and the...
Continue Reading • 7 Feb 2011
US mortgage fix programme more stable in December
The main housing rescue programme of the Obama administration showed more signs of stabilisation in December, as the number of people who received permanent modifications during the month exceeded the number of those who exited the programme.A total of 30,030 homeowners received permanent loan...
Continue Reading • 2 Feb 2011
19% of service companies see favourable H1 2011
About 19 percent of companies in the service sector expect favourable business prospects for the first half of 2011, compared with the July to December 2010 period, according to the Business Expectations Survey for the service sector, conducted by the Department of Statistics Singapore.This net...
Continue Reading • 2 Feb 2011
Tuan Sing delivers strong full-year results
Property developer Tuan Sing Holdings has posted a strong set of results, with net earnings jumping 53 percent to S$68.2 million for the year ended 31 December 2010, while full-year revenue rose 24 percent to S$274 million, from S$220.2 million a year ago.The strong full-year results were largely...
Continue Reading • 2 Feb 2011
CapitaLand Residential Singapore CEO named new Redas boss
Wong Heang Fine, CEO of CapitaLand Residential Singapore, has been appointed the new president of the Real Estate Developers Association of Singapore (Redas).This followed the decision of Amara Holdings CEO Albert Teo to decline the position, said some sources. Mr. Teo was believed to have been...
Continue Reading • 2 Feb 2011
PM Lee promises to maintain affordable housing
The Singapore government promises to do more to stabilise the property market, if necessary, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his Chinese New Year message.“The government has acted to curb speculation and cool the property market. We will do more to stabilise the market if and when...
Continue Reading • 2 Feb 2011
Most Singaporeans satisfied with quality of life
While Singaporeans have higher levels of confidence in the economy and future of the country, they are concerned about issues like public housing affordability and employment opportunities for the needy and elderly, according to a new survey.Commissioned by Reach, the feedback arm of the...
Continue Reading • 1 Feb 2011
Australian mortgage applications drop to eight-year low
Mortgage applications in Australia have dropped to an eight-year low, as high housing prices and increasing interest rates hit the home loan market.The number of mortgage applications by Australian home buyers slipped 19 percent in 2010, according to research by credit agency Veda...
Continue Reading • 1 Feb 2011
LaSalle expands roles for top officials
LaSalle Investment Management (LaSalle), the leading global real estate investment manager, has announced that Jack Chandler has been appointed its new Global Chief Investment Officer, starting 31 January.In addition, he will also be the new Executive Chairman of LaSalle’s Asia Pacific...
Continue Reading • 1 Feb 2011
Wing Tai's half-year profit up 23%
Wing Tai Holdings has announced that its profit for the half-year ended 31 December 2010 climbed 23 percent year-on-year to S$84.1 million from S$68,650 a year ago. However, revenue dropped 27 percent to S$328.8 million from 2009’s S$451.37 million.The company said revenue results for...
Continue Reading • 1 Feb 2011
Amara CEO to head Redas
Albert Teo, CEO of Amara Holdings, will be the new head of the Real Estate Developers' Association of Singapore (Redas), according to a report from The Business Times.Mr. Teo will take over from SC Global Developments’ Simon Cheong, who has headed the organisation for the maximum two...
Continue Reading • 1 Feb 2011
US mortgage applications continue to fall
The number of mortgage applications in the United States dropped for the third week in January, with the Market Composite Index at nearly 12 percent compared to the previous week, according to a Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) report.The decline this month is the most significant since 2008....
Continue Reading • 31 Jan 2011
Australia's mortgage repayments set to rise
Monthly mortgage repayments in Australia could surge by as much as A$200, according to a forecast.Economic consultancy firm Access Economics said this figure could be the result of a one percent increase in variable mortgage rates at the end of this year or early next year.It said that interest...
Continue Reading • 28 Jan 2011