CapitaLand group to sell Westgate Tower for $579.4m
CapitaLand, CapitaMalls Asia and CapitaMall Trust have signed an agreement to sell Westgate Tower (pictured) to a consortium comprising Low Keng Huat (Singapore) and Sun Venture Homes for S$579.4 million. Located in Jurong Gateway, the 20-storey Westgate Tower is the office component of the...
Continue Reading • 6 Jan 2014
Singapore's Q4 GDP grew 4.4%
Singapore's economy grew by 4.4 percent on a year-on-year basis in Q4 2013 compared to 5.9 percent in the previous quarter, revealed advance estimates from the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI). On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally-adjusted basis, the economy contracted by 2.7 percent, a...
Continue Reading • 3 Jan 2014
Singapore jeweller buys Melbourne property for S$46.5m
Singapore-based jewellery group Aspial Corporation has made its first major foray into the overseas property market with the acquisition of 383 King Street in Melbourne (pictured) from MWM Australia for A$41.5 million (S$46.5 million). Strategically located directly opposite Flagstaff...
Continue Reading • 3 Jan 2014
S'pore developers suffer worst performance in 2013
After posting the highest gains in 2012, Singapore’s developers recorded the worst performance on the Straits Times Index in 2013 as property cooling measures slowed price gains and pushed down home sales, media reports said. Ranked the most expensive city to purchase luxury homes in Asia...
Continue Reading • 2 Jan 2014
PM Lee's 2014 New Year message forecasts strong economic growth
The Singapore economy grew 3.7 percent in 2013, better than initially expected, revealed Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his New Year message. This year, he said the economy is expected to grow by two to four percent.He added that while the country encountered a few rough spots in 2013,...
Continue Reading • 2 Jan 2014
Singapore's Westin hotel sold for US$369m
The Westin hotel in Singapore’s new central business district has been sold by BlackRock’s Asia Property Fund III to Tokyo-based Daisho Group for a stunning US$369 million, media reports said. The deal takes place just one month after the 305-room hotel opened at Asia Square Tower 2....
Continue Reading • 31 Dec 2013
Housing policies are showing results, Khaw says
The new housing policies are showing results, revealed National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan on Thursday.In a blog post, Mr Khaw said ramping up the construction of new flats, introducing the Parenthood Priority Scheme (PPS) and the Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme (PPHS) are meant to...
Continue Reading • 26 Dec 2013
GIC acquires 50% stake in London complex
Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC has acquired Blackstone’s entire 50 percent interest in London’s Broadgate office complex for more than £1.7 billion (S$3.5 billion), making this its largest property foray in Europe, media reports said. In a statement, GIC and British...
Continue Reading • 26 Dec 2013
Cooling measures is right thing to do: Khaw
In a Facebook post on Monday that was reported in the media, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan said that the government cannot completely eliminate the property cycle, but it can restrict the formation of a property bubble. Referring to a recent New York Times article about the rise and...
Continue Reading • 24 Dec 2013
Cambridge buying Bukit Merah facility
Cambridge Industrial Trust Management (CITM) is in the process of acquiring a purpose-built warehouse cum light industrial building at Bukit Merah Industrial Estate, according to media reports.CITM announced on Monday that the six-storey facility along Hoy Fatt Road is being purchased for S$32...
Continue Reading • 24 Dec 2013
Singapore's ARA about to enter South Korea
If all goes to plan, Singapore-based ARA Asset Management will soon enter the real estate market of Asia’s fourth largest economy, media reports said.The property fund management firm announced that it has secured conditional agreement for the purchase of South Korea’s Macquarie Real...
Continue Reading • 24 Dec 2013
CAG, CapitaMalls Asia to develop Changi's Project Jewel
Changi Airport Group (CAG) and CapitaMalls Asia, through their respective wholly-owned subsidiaries Jewel Changi Airport Holdings and CMA Singapore Investments, announced today their joint venture (JV) agreement to develop an iconic mixed-use development at Changi Airport, codenamed...
Continue Reading • 20 Dec 2013
JLL: More cautionary stance adopted
The latest Government Land Sales programme, announced yesterday, suggests that the government is taking a more cautionary stance towards the housing market especially in light of the slower market activity since the introduction of the recent financing policy, according to a statement from Jones...
Continue Reading • 19 Dec 2013
Sites for 11,600 new homes revealed
Eight 'Confirmed List' sites and 15 'Reserve List' sites will be launched under the Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme for the first half of 2014 (1H2014), the Ministry of National Development (MND) has announced.The government said that these sites could potentially yield a collective sum of...
Continue Reading • 18 Dec 2013
Forst takes charge at Cushman and Wakefield
Edward C. Forst has been appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Cushman & Wakefield Inc. He will join the firm effective January 6, 2014.Forst, 53, joins the company following his tenure at Goldman, Sachs & Co. as Global Co-Head of the Investment Management Division, as a...
Continue Reading • 18 Dec 2013
Ex-property agents sentenced for moneylender referrals
Two former property agents have been convicted and sentenced for referring their respective clients to moneylenders, revealed the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) on Friday.The offences were committed by 52-year-old Mustafa Kamal Bin Seri and 39-year-old Ghazali Bin Mohamed Rasul, both...
Continue Reading • 16 Dec 2013
Singapore firm to become major developer in Iskandar
Catalist-listed Albedo has agreed to acquire six more land parcels from Infinite Rewards, a company controlled by Malaysian tycoon Tan Sri Danny Tan, bringing its land bank in Iskandar Malaysia to 13 parcels of around 478.57ha, media reported.The move will increase the size of the reverse...
Continue Reading • 16 Dec 2013
More dormitories to be built for foreign workers
To better house foreign workers, the government plans to build a substantial number of dormitories over the next two to three years, revealed media reports quoting Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.“We believe that foreign workers in Singapore ought to be treated fairly and properly. We do not...
Continue Reading • 16 Dec 2013
Savills ready for Do-Not-Call rules
Real estate agency Savills Singapore has announced it has completed its Do-Not-Call (DNC) compliance readiness in response to the new DNC rules which are set to be to be introduced in January 2014.Covering people, process and systems, Savills is the first real estate company in Singapore to...
Continue Reading • 11 Dec 2013
New cooling measures targeted at EC buyers
The Ministry of National Development (MND) has introduced three new measures to align the executive condominium (EC) scheme with that of public housing and support a sustainable EC market.Firstly, the cancellation fees for ECs has been reduced from 20 percent to five percent of the purchase...
Continue Reading • 10 Dec 2013