Sing Holdings acquires two properties
Singapore-listed Sing Holdings has signed a deal to acquire 1 Robin Drive and Robin Court for approximately $77.33 million, or about $1,363 psf of potential gross floor area.The company said no development charge is expected for the acquisition.The acquisition of Robin Court involves an en bloc...
Continue Reading • 20 Sept 2010
HSBC slashes fixed-mortgage rates for high-end clients
The New Zealand branch of HSBC is slashing its two-, three- and five-year fixed-mortgage interest rates for its high-end customers and said it is the lowest interest rates available from a bank in the country.The two-year HSBC Premier rate has been cut by 25 basis point to 6.49 percent from the...
Continue Reading • 20 Sept 2010
Sim Lian tops bid for Hougang site
Property developer Sim Lian Land Ltd has offered the highest bid for a land parcel at Hougang Avenue 7 in a public tender that closed on Friday.HDB said the 99-year leasehold site at Hougang Avenue 7 has drawn a total of six bids, with Sim Lian Land offering the highest bid of $160 million. The...
Continue Reading • 20 Sept 2010
Fragrance Group subsidiary purchases Geylang Road site
Mainboard-listed property developer Fragrance Group has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Fragrance Realty Ltd, has inked a deal to purchase a land parcel at Geylang Road for about $31.55 million.The land site has a total land area of approximately 1,681.2 sq m and can yield a maximum...
Continue Reading • 20 Sept 2010
US foreclosures hit all-time high in August
The number of Americans suffering from home foreclosures hit an all-time high in August, according to a report released by RealtyTrac.About 95,364 properties were repossessed by banks in August, up 25 percent over the same period last year and 2 percent from last May’s record. The number of...
Continue Reading • 17 Sept 2010
APREA launches real estate report on Asian pension funds
The Asia Pacific Real Estate Association (APREA), a non-profit industry association promoting and representing the real estate sector on a regional basis, has announced that it launched a major real estate report on the dynamic and increasingly important area of real estate in Asian pension...
Continue Reading • 17 Sept 2010
Winners of APREA Best Practices Awards 2010 announced
CFS Retail Property Trust and Axis Real Estate Investment Trust have won the inaugural APREA Best Practices Awards 2010 in the Mature Markets category and Emerging Markets category, respectively.The APREA Best Practices Awards 2010 are open to all real estate firms and trusts listed on a regional...
Continue Reading • 17 Sept 2010
Keppel Land acquires waterfront site in China
Keppel Land Ltd., the property arm of Keppel Corp, has purchased an additional 66 hectares of land parcel in Zhongshan, China, paving the way to develop its first 86-hectare waterfront residential cum marina project in China.The company previously announced its interest to develop premium...
Continue Reading • 17 Sept 2010
New approach promises more flexibility in landed homes design
A pilot project of modified guidelines aimed at allowing more creative designs for landed homes is being conducted by the URA.The URA will apply the guidelines on nine landed housing plots that will be auctioned in October under the Phase 3 of Sembawang Greenvale.The guidelines eliminate some of...
Continue Reading • 17 Sept 2010
PRs not only factor affecting flat demand
The increasing number of foreigners and permanent residents is not the only factor driving HDB flat demand, said National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan yesterday.He stressed that the “sentiment-driven nature of the market” and the broader economic forces in the country contribute...
Continue Reading • 16 Sept 2010
Parliament passes Estate Agents Bill
The Parliament has passed the Estate Agents Bill, which calls for the creation of a new statutory board, the Council for Estate Agents (CEA), to oversee the real estate industry.National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said the new board will start operations on October 22.Starting 1 January...
Continue Reading • 16 Sept 2010
New property rules aim to help first-timers
National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan emphasized that the new property measures are aimed to help first-time homebuyers get “first crack” at the housing market.The Minister noted that while the cooling measures may cause disadvantage or inconvenience to some homeowners, the...
Continue Reading • 16 Sept 2010
Australia's mortgage rates to hit 9% in 2013
Mortgage rates in Australia will increase to more than nine percent over the next years, according to a leading property expert.Frank Gelber, chief economist at BIS Shrapnel, said that strong recovery of Australia from its economic downturn will trigger the home loan interest rates to...
Continue Reading • 16 Sept 2010
HK's HOS owners to get loan guarantees
Loan guarantees will be offered by Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation to owners of government-subsidised flats to make it easier to sell or rent their homes on the open market.The state-owned mortgage company will offer loan guarantees of up to HK$3 million to help Home Ownership Scheme (HOS)...
Continue Reading • 15 Sept 2010
Service residence firms look to expand
Ascott, the serviced residence unit of CapitaLand, plans to use proceeds from the sale of 28 assets to its listed unit Ascott Residence Trust for expansion, said Mark Chan, senior vice-president for business development and asset management at Ascott.“In the past year or so, we have been...
Continue Reading • 15 Sept 2010
Low Kheng Huat Q2 profit up 41.3%
Singapore builder Low Kheng Huat has announced that its net profit in the second quarter rose 41.3 percent to $28.4 million from $20.1 million over the same period last year, despite a fall in revenue of 49 percent to $81.9 million.Net profit before tax and minority interests in Q2 increased...
Continue Reading • 15 Sept 2010
Tan Chin Hwee joins K-REIT Asia Management board
K-REIT Asia Management Limited ("KRAM"), which manages K-REIT Asia, has appointed Mr. Tan Chin Hwee as an Independent Non-Executive Director on its Board starting September 14.Mr. Tan began his career at Group Treasury at Keppel Corporation Limited between 1995 and 1999. He is now the...
Continue Reading • 14 Sept 2010
Mortgage loans in Shanghai drop in August
Shanghai’s stock of individual mortgages dropped 1.06 billion yuan or S$209 million last month, as property cooling measures implemented by the central government hit home purchases.The decline followed after net new mortgage loans in Shanghai rose by a tiny 270 million yuan in July,...
Continue Reading • 14 Sept 2010
SLP appoints Nicholas Mak as research head
Mr. Nicholas Mak will officially join property consultancy firm SLP International tomorrow as executive director of its research and consultancy division.Mr. Mak was previously a real estate lecturer at Ngee Ann Polytechnic. Prior to that, he served as research and consultancy director at Knight...
Continue Reading • 14 Sept 2010
Ascott Reit to raise funds from new units
Ascott Residence Trust is seeking to raise as much as $549.5 million through the issuance of 487.5 million new units.Its offer information statement was lodged with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) after it secured the approval of unitholders for the equity fund-raising exercise early...
Continue Reading • 14 Sept 2010