UK mortgage lending climbs up but remains subdued
Mortgage lending in the UK made a slight recovery in February, edging up by six percent compared to the previous month, according to latest figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).Gross mortgage lending, which ignores loan redemptions, climbed to £9.2 billion in February compared...
Continue Reading • 19 Mar 2010
US home loan applications drop even as loan rates sink
US home loan applications declined last week despite the lowest mortgage rates in more than three months, said the Mortgage Bankers Association, suggesting a long haul before the housing market recovers.Rough winter weather has likely tapered off the demand, but high unemployment and...
Continue Reading • 18 Mar 2010
CCT to issue $225m in convertible bonds
CapitaCommercial Trust (CCT) is proposing to issue five-year convertible bonds of at least $225 million.The bonds, which are due in 2015, are being offered to accredited and institutional investors.CCT said that the size of the bond issue may increase by up to $25 million within the next 30 days,...
Continue Reading • 18 Mar 2010
Lian Beng wins $78m condo contract
Lian Beng Group, a construction player, has won a $78-million contract from Far East Group to build Centro Residences. The development is expected to be completed by January 2013.The deal, which is the second in two weeks for Lian Beng, is for a multi-storey carpark, a 34-storey residential...
Continue Reading • 17 Mar 2010
Sim Lian acquires Tampines site for $302m
Property developer Sim Lian has submitted a top bid of $302 million for a land parcel in Tampines.Sim Lian led the land tender event, which included some other well-known developers like Frasers Centrepoint, Far East Organization, MCL Land and CapitaLand, as demand for residential land in the...
Continue Reading • 17 Mar 2010
Compulsory PI coverage for property agents set to boost public confidence
Homebuyers now have a greater degree of assurance of recovering at least part of their losses should their property agent give them poor advice, lie to them or fail to do their due diligence.Starting next month, agents accredited with the Singapore Accredited Estate Agencies (SAEA) must obtain a...
Continue Reading • 17 Mar 2010
Low interest rates attract homebuyers
A battle has broken out in the home loans market, with banks pushing down their interest rates over the past few weeks. DBS Bank fired the first volley and now others have responded.This is good news for all home owners and those investors looking to refinance or re-price their mortgages. The...
Continue Reading • 17 Mar 2010
Warnings issued against rising mortgage fraud in the UK
UK mortgage lenders have been urged to be cautious against an increase in mortgage fraud, as the economic conditions in the country eases up.The National Fraud Authority (NFA) said that organizations involved in lending processes should continue working against mortgage fraud, which costs around...
Continue Reading • 16 Mar 2010
MCC Land wins tender for EC land site
A 99-year leasehold site located at Yishun Avenue 3 has been awarded by the HDB to MCC Land Pte at a tender price of $127,800,000. An executive housing project is set to be built on the 15,074.2-sq-m land plot with a 42,207.76 sq m maximum gross floor area.The new development will be the first...
Continue Reading • 16 Mar 2010
Chip Eng Seng acquires a S$25.8-million site in Melbourne
Property and construction firm Chip Eng Seng Corporation has acquired a land parcel in Melbourne for about A$20.2 million (S$25.8 million). The amount for the deal is considerable when compared to the company’s 2009 net profit worth of $75.3 million.The 20,000-sq-ft land site is located at...
Continue Reading • 16 Mar 2010
A boost in US home loan modifications for February
The United States Treasury Department and the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have announced the number of home loan modifications through the Home Affordable Modification Programme (HAMP) for the month of February. There were 91,800 loan modifications that had been approved by servicers and...
Continue Reading • 15 Mar 2010
Property agent jailed for targeting foreigners in rental scam
Razieya Mohamed Ali, a part-time real estate agent fooled eight foreigners in a rental scam and collected almost $22,000 for herself and her accomplices. She was jailed for 11 months by a district court.From November 2008 to February 2009, the 34-year-old divorcee posted flats-for-rent...
Continue Reading • 15 Mar 2010
Fixed rates in UK mortgages trimmed back
The average cost of two-year fixed-rate home loans in the United Kingdom dropped to a 6½-year low in February, according to new figures released by the Bank of England.The average rate of fixed mortgages fell from 3.97 percent in January to 3.88 percent, a level last seen in July...
Continue Reading • 11 Mar 2010
Lankom Electronics to acquire two property firms in $586m RTO deal
Lankom Electronics, which was recently included in the watch-list of the Singapore Exchange (SGX), has proposed purchasing two property firms in a $586-million reverse takeover (RTO) deal.Lankom will buy Modena Property Development and Newage Investment Holding under a signed conditional...
Continue Reading • 11 Mar 2010
Economy to register robust 9.5% growth in Q1, say economists
According to economists, Singapore's economy is expected to see a robust 9.5 percent growth this quarter, though it will be more of a technical rebound.Economists in the private sector who were polled in February by the Monetary Authority of Singapore produced forecasts ranging from 6.8 percent...
Continue Reading • 11 Mar 2010
Biggest drop recorded for Australian home loans in a decade
The number of home loans in Australia for the month of January 2010 declined by 7.9 percent, the biggest drop since June 2000, as the market continues to move slowly following the phasing out of the First Home Buyers grant last year and increasing interest rates.A report by the Australian Bureau...
Continue Reading • 10 Mar 2010
Lippo acquires bigger stake in OUE
Lippo, a major Indonesian conglomerate, has acquired the property group Overseas Union Enterprises (OUE) in a $957-million deal that raised its stake to about 88.52 percent.The Indonesian company, through Golden Concord Asia, acquired a 44.3 percent stake at $11 per share from Usaha Tegas, a...
Continue Reading • 10 Mar 2010
Lian Beng wins $144m design-and-build condo contract
Lian Beng Group has won a $144 million building contract for a condominium project at Dakota Crescent.The design-and-build contract was awarded by UOL Development (Dakota) Pte Ltd. The project is comprised of 616 apartment units in four 20-storey blocks and three 19-storey blocks, and a...
Continue Reading • 10 Mar 2010
Government grants smaller flats instead of reducing lease tenure
Instead of reducing the 99-year lease tenure to make HDB flats more affordable, the government prefers other methods to assist those with lower income to acquire their own flats, said Mr. Mah Bow Tan, Minister for National Development.According to Mr. Mah, HDB now offers additional grants to the...
Continue Reading • 10 Mar 2010
Singapore mortgage volume could decline in 2010 but values expected to grow
Singapore banks are unlikely to see an increase in the volume of home loans this year. According to several analysts, the number of home loan transactions are not expected to increase from last year, as demand eases out from the mass market property segment. But support could come from interest...
Continue Reading • 9 Mar 2010