CMA offers one-year, three-year bonds worth $200m
Mall developer and manager CapitaMalls Asia (CMA) is offering one-year and three-year bonds worth up to $200 million to retail investors and possibly, institutional investors.CMA may look at issuing more retail bonds in the future if there is demand.The one-year bonds that will mature in 2012...
Continue Reading • 7 Jan 2011
Australia to ban mortgage exit fees from July
Starting July 1, mortgage exit fees for new home loans in Australia will be removed in line with efforts to overhaul banking laws.The move will allow the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to look into any possible price signalling between National Australia Bank, Westpac, ANZ and...
Continue Reading • 6 Jan 2011
SGX records growth in turnover value
The Singapore Exchange (SGX) saw an 8.6 percent year-on-year growth in turnover value to $401.946 billion in 2010, though total securities trading volume dropped 13.3 percent year-on-year with 400.446 billion shares sold.The value of turnover for December reached $28.4 billion, down from $40.4...
Continue Reading • 6 Jan 2011
Wilmar finalises property JV, set to develop 6 China sites
Wilmar International has announced that it has finalised a joint venture (JV) to develop six sites in China.This comes following a separate successful joint bid with Shangri-La Asia and Kerry Properties for the sites in Laobian District, Yingkou City, Liaoning Province, China for 1.35 billion...
Continue Reading • 6 Jan 2011
CMA to invest $2bn in new projects
Mall developer and manager CapitaMalls Asia (CMA), a 65.5 percent owned subsidiary of CapitaLand, is looking to invest about $2 billion in new projects in 2011 after it committed a similar amount in 2010, said Lim Beng Chee, chief executive of CMA.With zero net gearing and about $1.4 billion of...
Continue Reading • 5 Jan 2011
UK home loan approvals surge unexpectedly
Home loan approvals in the UK rose unexpectedly in November to its highest level since July, according to new figures released by the Bank of England.About 48,019 home loans were approved in November, a slight increase from previous months, despite analysts predicting a decline.However, despite...
Continue Reading • 5 Jan 2011
Tiong Seng unit to build prefab hub in Tuas
Robin Village Developments, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tiong Seng Holdings, is building a $26 million prefab hub in Tuas to supply precast concrete components.This move follows the government’s call for higher productivity through wider adoption of precast construction methods.The...
Continue Reading • 5 Jan 2011
Former CEO of CapitaMall Trust plans IPO in Singapore
Mr. Pua Seck Guan, former chief executive of CapitaMall Trust, intends to raise around S$1 billion through an initial public offering (IPO) of a real estate investment trust (REIT) in Singapore, said a source familiar with the situation.The trust, to be launched by Perennial Real Estate, a real...
Continue Reading • 5 Jan 2011
Council for Estate Agencies swamped on first day
The Council for Estate Agencies (CEA), the new statutory board responsible for regulating and licensing real estate agents in Singapore had a tough first day of business on Monday.The Toa Payoh premises of the CEA was swamped with people, mostly disgruntled agents or their bosses, who had come to...
Continue Reading • 5 Jan 2011
Economic growth momentum to continue this year
Singapore’s economic growth momentum is expected to remain intact in 2011, even as the pace of the gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to slow sharply from last year’s nearly-15 percent.Economists said the full-year growth for 2010 is likely to be revised up to 15 percent from...
Continue Reading • 4 Jan 2011
UK mortgage affordability on the rise
Mortgage affordability in the UK has increased, according to new figures released by Halifax. The figures showed that affordability in the UK mortgage market now stands at a 12-year high, with 40 percent of local authorities being branded as affordable for first-time property buyers.This...
Continue Reading • 4 Jan 2011
Singapore economy expands 14.7% in 2010
The Singapore economy expanded by 14.7 percent last year, said the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), adding that a 15 percent growth forecast was expected for the year.Advance estimates showed that the economy grew 12.5 percent in Q4 last year, rebounding from a 10.5 percent growth in Q3....
Continue Reading • 3 Jan 2011
CapitaLand to develop Raffles City Changning
CapitaLand, together with CapitaMalls Asia (CMA) and three other partners, will develop an integrated mixed-use property in Shanghai under the Raffles City brand at a development cost of about 8.1 billion yuan.CapitaLand expects to record a net gain of about $132 million through a series of stake...
Continue Reading • 3 Jan 2011
Keppel Land China expands with site in Nantong
Merryfield Investment Pte Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Land China, has acquired a 17.2-hectare site in the city of Nantong, Jiangsu province, for RMB1.04 billion for a lakefront residential development.The maiden property development of Keppel Land China is situated in the town centre...
Continue Reading • 3 Jan 2011
US foreclosures jump in Q3
The number of US home owners who received help either from government programmes or banks fell 17 percent in Q3 to 470,000, according to a report released by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Office of Thrift Supervision.The federal government’s Home Affordable Modification...
Continue Reading • 3 Jan 2011
Errant real estate agents weeded out
Following the government’s moves to regulate the real estate industry, the number of property agents in Singapore has fallen but not as much as initially feared.So far, the number of approved property-sales agents is 27,754, higher than the 20,000 estimated by property agency owners quoted...
Continue Reading • 30 Dec 2010
British homeowners cut mortgage debt
British homeowners have reduced their outstanding mortgage debt by £6.1 billion in the third quarter, driven by record low mortgage rates and the fears of tough times ahead.The Q3 figure was the highest net injection of equity people have made into their homes since the beginning of...
Continue Reading • 30 Dec 2010
Wilmar in joint bid to acquire more China sites
Wilmar International, together with Shangri-La Asia and Kerry Properties will submit a joint bid to acquire six land sites in China that could spur a total investment of 7.5 billion yuan (S$1.4 billion).The company said it will hold a 35 percent stake in the JV, or about 2.63 billion yuan, while...
Continue Reading • 30 Dec 2010
No plans to establish Reits, GuocoLand
Singapore-listed property developer GuocoLand has clarified that it currently has no plans to set up a real estate investment trust (Reit), after a report in The Business Times yesterday said that the developer may be looking at floating two REITs, in the office and retail market, with assets of...
Continue Reading • 30 Dec 2010
HK mortgage loans drawn down increase 11.1%
New mortgage loans drawn down in Hong Kong rose 11.1 percent to HK$27.9 billion (US$3.58 billion) in November, according to data released by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA).The value of new loans approved in November jumped 22 percent to HK$37.6 billion from the previous month.However,...
Continue Reading • 29 Dec 2010