Stamp duty hits private home subsales
The 16 percent seller’s stamp duty (SSD) announced in January last year may have caused a slowdown in subsales of private apartments and condos and extended the holding period for subsale transactions.Despite this, a record 98.1 percent of subsales in 2011 are still deemed profitable even...
Continue Reading • 28 Mar 2012
Shoebox subsales fare better than larger units
Compared to larger units, shoebox apartments have performed better in the subsale market even after the seller's stamp duty (SSD) was taken into account, according to The Business Times. Around 14 percent or 47 out of the 115 subsale condos and apartments in 2011 were up to 500 sq ft (which are...
Continue Reading • 28 Mar 2012
Profitable Plots directors held on cheating charges
Three Profitable Plots directors have been charged with 86 criminal counts of cheating investors of US$2.4 million (S$3.017 million) on investments for an industrial lubricant called Boron, according to The Business Times. The charged were named as John Andrew Nordmann, Geraldine Anthony...
Continue Reading • 28 Mar 2012
Mortgage pain hits Aussie housing market
Homeowners and property developers in Australia have felt the ill effects of deteriorating conditions in the residential property market, which have triggered a rise in profit warnings and mortgage arrears.According to credit ratings agency Fitch, late payments on home loans soared unexpectedly...
Continue Reading • 28 Mar 2012
Van Gogh's former home sold at auction
The London house where artist Vincent van Gogh lived from 1873 to 1874 was yesterday sold at auction for £565,000 (S$1.13 million). Van Gogh worked at an art dealership in Southampton Street, and from August of 1873 he lived at 87 Hackford Road (pictured) in the south west part of the...
Continue Reading • 28 Mar 2012
Unit at Nassim Park Residences tops subsale gains
The most profitable subsale in dollar terms for 2011 was a unit at Nassim Park Residences, according to analysis by Savills.The unit generated a profit of around S$6.2 million, after it was purchased in July 2008 for nearly S$18 million and sold in April 2011 for slightly above S$24.1...
Continue Reading • 28 Mar 2012
UK a nation of renters?
More homeowners in the UK are looking to rent their homes in a phenomenon called the ‘generation rent’, according to a report by Savills and UK property portal Rightmove. As of end-2011, the total value of properties in the UK’s private rented sector climbed to £840...
Continue Reading • 27 Mar 2012
HK mortgage loans drawn-down up 25.8%
New drawn-down mortgage loans in Hong Kong hit HK$7.6 billion (S$1.23 billion) last month, up 25.8 percent from January, according to data from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA).It noted that the value of new loans approved last month rose 44.1 percent to HK$14.4 billion (S$2.33 billion)....
Continue Reading • 27 Mar 2012
S'poreans make up the bulk of E&O's foreign buyers
A rising number of Singaporean and Singapore-based investors are investing in Malaysian developer Eastern & Oriental Berhad’s (E&O) projects in Penang, according to The Business Times.E&O, which set up an office in Singapore two years ago, noted that Singaporeans account for the...
Continue Reading • 27 Mar 2012
Keppel Land penetrates Beijing market
Keppel Land, the property arm of Keppel Group, has finally penetrated into Beijing’s commercial market with the acquisition of its first commercial development that sits on a 2.6-ha site in the city’s CBD.With a gross floor area (GFA) of about 100,000 sq m, the site is set to feature...
Continue Reading • 27 Mar 2012
Asians look to Liverpool property investments
The city of Liverpool (pictured) in the Northwest of England might be more famous for football and The Beatles, but it has also been attracting the attention of savvy Asian property buyers and investors.The U.K.'s finance minister George Osborne highlighted the increasing amount of Chinese...
Continue Reading • 27 Mar 2012
Slew of new projects launching this week
Following record home sales in February, developers will be rolling out several housing projects into the market this week, amid fears over further cooling measures by the government.The slew of new projects include the Natura project (pictured) from Macly Group and Roxy-Pacific Holdings,...
Continue Reading • 27 Mar 2012
PropertyGuru statement on HDB resale story
PropertyGuru published a story headlined “HDB flats are more unaffordable than private homes” online on March 22nd and in print the next day. Following publication, HDB issued a response in which it claimed our story was “misleading” and based on a “simplistic...
Continue Reading • 27 Mar 2012
SE Asia looks to tap increasing UK interest
The United Kingdom’s largest overseas property exhibition – A Place in the Sun Live (pictured) – takes place in London next weekend (March 30 – April 1), and exhibitors from Southeast Asia will be looking to ride the wave of renewed interest from British buyers for...
Continue Reading • 26 Mar 2012
New fad: Tenants renting bomb shelters
Shoebox units may be small, but for those who need an even smaller space, utility rooms and bomb shelters (pictured) are being rented out.Some homeowners have resorted to renting out the smallest rooms in their house for extra income, although the practice is illegal for public housing. As for...
Continue Reading • 26 Mar 2012
Top US lender to test new mortgage plan
Bank of America (BofA), one of the largest lenders in the US, will be testing a new foreclosure-avoidance programme called ‘mortgage-to-lease’.BofA will send proposals later this month to nearly 1,000 mortgage customers in New York, Arizona and Nevada. If the result is positive, the...
Continue Reading • 26 Mar 2012
Slowdown seen in resale property market
Property developers and agents are venturing into other avenues of business, as the once booming resale market for private and public housing has been affected by the government’s tightening measures.According to estimates, the number of resale transactions in both markets dropped...
Continue Reading • 26 Mar 2012
Bartley Residences sees strong demand
Property developer Hong Leong Holdings Limited will release new homes at Bartley Residences (pictured), after all 240 units launched during Phase One were snapped up over a period of three weeks. Betsy Chng, Head of Sales & Marketing at Hong Leong, said that the majority of buyers were...
Continue Reading • 26 Mar 2012
World Class Land unveils new East Village project
World Class Land Pte Ltd has unveiled a new freehold mixed development offering residential units and commercial spaces at Tanah Merah. Called East Village (pictured), it is strategically located at the junction of Bedok Road and Upper Changi Road. The freehold development offers 90 residential...
Continue Reading • 23 Mar 2012
Tai Keng Court sold for S$161m
Tai Keng Court (pictured), a residential-cum-commercial redevelopment site in Upper Paya Lebar, has been sold to Kensington Village Pte Ltd, a joint venture company between Fragrance Group and World Class Land Ltd, for S$161.1 million.Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), the sole marketing agent for the...
Continue Reading • 23 Mar 2012