FCT to raise up to $182.2m through private placement
Frasers Centrepoint Trust (FCT) will launch a private placement of 137 million new units to partly finance the acquisition of YewTee Point and Northpoint 2 malls.The issue price ranges from S$1.29 to S$1.33 per new unit, which reflects a discount of 3.7 percent to 6.6 percent to the adjusted...
Continue Reading • 27 Jan 2010
PM Lee: Govt to keep new HDB flats affordable
While the government remains committed to keeping prices of new HDB flats affordable for Singaporeans, it has no complete control over prices in the resale market, according to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. PM Lee highlighted this yesterday when he commented on one of the most controversial...
Continue Reading • 27 Jan 2010
USA Mortgage breaks all-time high for home loans
USA Mortgage said that it has recorded an all-time high of $1.2 billion worth of home loans last year, more than twice the $586 million for loans in 2008.Doug Schukar, CEO of USA Mortgage said the retail loan volume of the company hit $1.2 billion last year.Creve Coeur, USA Mortgage’s...
Continue Reading • 26 Jan 2010
Keppel Land to build 5,500 homes across Asia
Keppel Land, which saw its Q4 earnings increase by 56 percent as the Asian property market recovered, has expressed plans to launch over 5,500 residential homes across the Asian region this year.“Keppel Land is moving into 2010 with optimism on the back of its stronger financial position,...
Continue Reading • 26 Jan 2010
Majority getting unsatisfactory real estate services
A latest survey conducted in Singapore showed that 80 percent of all property deals transacted in the country are done through property agents, with most of the transactions ending with customers complaining about some sort of ‘bad service’.This was part of the findings on the...
Continue Reading • 25 Jan 2010
Inflation warning for mortgage borrowers
Borrowers who took-up variable-rate mortgage deals should prepare for increasing monthly repayments due to inflation.Home owners have enjoyed tracker transactions and low standard variable mortgage rates, which indicates changes to the base rate in the Bank of England, since the rate dropped to...
Continue Reading • 25 Jan 2010
Colliers International and FirstService REA to combine
Colliers International has collaborated with FirstService Real Estate Advisors to establish the world’s third largest commercial property services firm. Colliers International and FirstService Real Estate Advisors (“FirstService REA”) announced that they will integrate...
Continue Reading • 25 Jan 2010
Population of Filipinos in Singapore to rise
Filipinos will continue to flock to Singapore to work, particularly with Resort World Sentosa (RWS) IR’s opening. This is despite an earlier promise made by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to “slow down” the intake of foreigners.PM Lee had already defended his pro-foreigner...
Continue Reading • 22 Jan 2010
Genting Group raises its shares in Iskandar project
The Genting Group is already planning to build a huge mall, another resort, and an even “more interactive theme park” just across the Causeway in Iskandar Malaysia, as it prepares to launch its casino and theme park at Resorts World Sentosa (RWS).“We want visitors to Sentosa to...
Continue Reading • 22 Jan 2010
Australians must be cautious about mortgage scams
Home loan buyers in Australia must be cautious about "sham arrangements" that promise customers tax deductions to which they are not entitled to and aid them to repay their mortgage, said one expert.Terry Hayes, a senior tax writer at Thomson Reuters, said the Tax Office is advising...
Continue Reading • 22 Jan 2010
Singaporean wants PRs to live in rented flats
As an indication that many Singaporeans believe that Permanent Residents (PRs) should take the blame for the sky-rocketing prices of HDB flats, another Singaporean has written to the Straits Times, criticizing the pro-foreigner housing policies of the ruling party.Ms. Wan Siew Kay reckoned that...
Continue Reading • 21 Jan 2010
Mortgage pain not yet over
In a sign that the problems in the US banking sector are far from over, declining bond trading revenue and faltering mortgage lending in Q4 have been reported by lenders, including the Bank of America Corp.Stock investors have ignored some of the problems and instead focused on the improving...
Continue Reading • 21 Jan 2010
Westpac Bank reduces availability of mortgage options
Westpac Bank in Australia has been forced to close part of its RAMS home loans business to reduce the availability of its mortgages.Funding problems have forced the Australian bank to inform its mortgage brokers that RAMS-branded products will no longer be disseminated to third parties, said a...
Continue Reading • 20 Jan 2010
Law to safeguard clients in property deals changed
Proposed changes that restrict the access of lawyers to their client’s money in property deals has been tweaked by the Law Ministry, which is going for a second round of public consultation before the finalization of the changes.The new suggestions will allow conveyancing lawyers to hold...
Continue Reading • 20 Jan 2010
Singaporean wants PRs to be banned from selling HDB flats at a profit
An enraged Singaporean by the name of Lua Eng Chuan has written to the Straits Times Forum demanding that PRs be banned from selling their HDB flats at a profit.Mr. Lua’s response is to remarks made by Law Minister K. Shanmugam yesterday about foreigners being falsely accused of driving up...
Continue Reading • 20 Jan 2010
UK market bombarded with new mortgage products
The number of mortgage products offered to borrowers in the UK increased for the third consecutive month in January this year to 2,516 different loan products, according to MoneySupermarket.com’s report.During its peak in August 2007, the number of distinct mortgages offered by lenders...
Continue Reading • 19 Jan 2010
CapitaLand buys assets of Orient Overseas in China for $2.2b
Southeast Asia’s biggest property developer, CapitaLand Ltd., has agreed to purchase the real estate assets of Orient Overseas (International) Ltd. in China for $2.2 billion. The move doubles CapitaLand’s real estate portfolio in the world’s most populous nation.In a statement...
Continue Reading • 19 Jan 2010
UK mortgage rates down as competition tightens
It's lucky days for homebuyers who are looking for a short term, low-cost mortgage rate, as competition amongst lenders increases, driving down mortgage rates.Several providers have launched attractive price mortgages in the past few weeks, suggesting that the month of January will see a...
Continue Reading • 18 Jan 2010
Should foreigners take the blame?
During an hour-long dialogue with Law Minister K. Shanmugam on Sunday, 58-year-old Wee Kai Fatt stood up and complained about the foreigner population boom in Singapore, saying he was shocked to learn that there were over five million people residing in Singapore. He added that the influx of...
Continue Reading • 18 Jan 2010
CCT to sell Robinson Point for $200m
CapitaCommercial Trust (CCT) plans to sell Robinson Point, a 21-storey freehold office property, for about $200 million, or around $1,500 per sq ft of net lettable area. The buyer is said to be the US real estate fund manager AEW. AEW purchased the former Apollo Centre for $205 million in...
Continue Reading • 18 Jan 2010