Little India riot won't depress property prices
Sparked by the death of an Indian worker hit by a private bus, the riot in Little India on Sunday night saw hundreds of foreign workers attacking police and burning vehicles, making it the first major riot in Singapore in more than 40 years. While it stunned many, analysts believe the riot is...
Continue Reading • 10 Dec 2013
UK tax to target foreign buyers
Foreign owners of property in the United Kingdom will now be forced to pay capital gains tax, Finance Minister George Osborne announced in London on Thursday.The much-predicted new tax will come into effect from April 2015.Under current U.K. tax laws only second homeowners who are U.K. residents...
Continue Reading • 10 Dec 2013
Two residential sites up for collective sale
The Eunosville apartment has been re-launched for collective sale with its owners expecting a minimum asking price of S$688 million, marketing agent Jones Lang LaSalle said.The 330-unit property first went en bloc in June 2013, but interested developers requested for more time to assess the...
Continue Reading • 10 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
JTC revises industrial property rules
Industrialists and third-party facility providers including property funds and developers that own industrial properties located on JTC-leased sites are now mandated to hold on to these properties for a longer period prior to selling them, media reports said.With effect from 15 November, JTC also...
Continue Reading • 9 Dec 2013
Govt to impose cap on foreign tenants in HDB flats
In a bid to maintain the character of Singapore's heartlands, the Ministry of National Development (MND) has agreed to impose a cap on the number of flats sublet to foreigners in HDB blocks, said National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan in a recent blog post.But he remains mindful of the need...
Continue Reading • 9 Dec 2013
Global house prices hit new peak
Global housing prices have hit a new high, rising 4.6 percent over the last 12 months to September, up four percent from the previous peak in Q2 2008, revealed Knight Frank's Global House Price Index.“The index’s strong performance has been assisted not just by headline grabbing price...
Continue Reading • 9 Dec 2013
Andy Lau also eyeing Singapore property
Another Hong Kong celebrity has expressed interest in buying Singapore property just a few days after actress Carina Lau announced she is considering it as well, media reports stated.Andy Lau (pictured), one of Hong Kong's four ‘Heavenly Kings’, said he was thinking of purchasing a...
Continue Reading • 6 Dec 2013
Ascendas signs contract for Tokyo serviced property
Ascendas Hospitality Trust (A-HTRUST) has secured a five-year management agreement with serviced apartment company Oakwood Asia Pacific to operate its serviced residence in Tokyo, Japan. Under the agreement, Oakwood will manage B:CONTE Ariake (pictured) in Tokyo, which will be rebranded as...
Continue Reading • 5 Dec 2013
Malaysia's Medini zone granted tax break
Malaysia has exempted the area of Medini in Johor state from the 30 percent property gains tax announced in October, a move that could support a US$800 million IPO of the region’s developer in 2014, media reports said.Developed by Medini Iskandar Malaysia, it is the biggest township across...
Continue Reading • 5 Dec 2013
S'pore home loan growth slows: MAS
Property cooling measures are main reason for the slowdown. Growth in the home loans market slowed to 12 percent in September, down from the peak growth of 22 percent in September 2010, according to the annual financial stability report released by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)...
Continue Reading • 5 Dec 2013
Office market activity still cautious
On-going corporate caution resulted in subdued leasing activity in Asia Pacific's Tier 1 office markets in the third quarter this year, according to a report from Jones Lang LaSalle. The study noted that while take-up rates of Grade A office space has slowed in most markets, particularly...
Continue Reading • 5 Dec 2013
Amerald Land launching cluster housing project
This weekend property developer Amerald Land will hold a private preview at the showflat of Kaleido, a new freehold cluster housing project along Lorong K Telok Kurau in the east, revealed marketing agent Knight Frank. The project comprises 14 cluster terrace houses, each made up of...
Continue Reading • 5 Dec 2013
Two plots at Upper Serangoon View awarded
The tender for two residential sites at Upper Serangoon View (pictured) has been awarded to Kingsford Development, revealed the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).The developer submitted the highest bids for both sites at S$258.8 million for Parcel A and S$201.63 million for Parcel B, or S$522...
Continue Reading • 3 Dec 2013
Draft Master Plan 2013 - What it really means
So the much anticipated public secret is out – Draft Master Plan 2013. What hope is in store for the public and developers at large? Similarly, what disappointments come with it? To be honest, it is difficult to come to grips with this new release because of the information overload....
Continue Reading • 3 Dec 2013
Two new malls to open before Christmas
The shopping mall Westgate opens its doors today offering a variety of lifestyle, fashion and F&B outlets under one roof. Located in Jurong East, the seven-storey building houses over 250 brands spread across 410,000 sq ft and is the only development to provide direct links to both the Jurong...
Continue Reading • 2 Dec 2013
Rapid rise in overseas property launches here
In a bid to lure buyers and investors from Singapore, foreign developers are flying in every other weekend to showcase new projects, media reports revealed. This year alone, about 107 London projects including student accommodation property have been brought here to be sold by several real...
Continue Reading • 2 Dec 2013
HK actress mulls buying Singapore property
Hong Kong superstar Carina Lau (pictured) is considering buying a property in Singapore, media reports said.The 47-year old actress was in the city-state to grace the opening of luxury fashion boutique Roger Vivier at Takashimaya Shopping Centre.Speaking in Mandarin, she revealed that she used to...
Continue Reading • 2 Dec 2013
Resale private home prices drop further
Resale private home prices continued to soften in October as new projects lured buyers away from the secondary market.Overall prices of resale private homes fell 1.2 percent last month based on flash estimates of the NUS Singapore Residential Price Index (SRPI).This is in comparison to the 0.9...
Continue Reading • 29 Nov 2013
Strong bidding interest for Upper Serangoon View sites
The tender for two residential sites in Upper Serangoon View (pictured) closed on Thursday, with both plots attracting eight bids and top bids of more than S$200 million each. Launched for sale on 30 September and offered on 99-year leases, Parcels A and B have land areas of 165,140 sq ft and...
Continue Reading • 29 Nov 2013