More foreigners buying pricey homes in Singapore
The ratio of private homes acquired by foreigners climbed to 16 percent in Q1 2011, the highest quarterly percentage ever recorded since Q1 1995.According to DTZ, foreigners accounted for 13 percent of all private home purchases in Q4 2010. It added that more foreigners purchased high-end homes...
Continue Reading • 25 May 2011
TCT wins real estate fund manager award
Singapore-listed Treasury China Trust (TCT) has been recognised as the best performing real estate fund manager in Asia by AsianInvestor, in its 2011 Institutional Funds Management Awards.“It is a great honour and amazing achievement for Treasury China Trust to receive such recognition...
Continue Reading • 25 May 2011
HK new mortgage loans fall 12.1% in April
Hong Kong’s new mortgage loans slipped 12.1 percent to HK$26.9 billion (S$4.3 billion) in April from the previous month, according to data from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA).The latest figures also showed that the value of new mortgage loans approved in April declined to HK$27.6...
Continue Reading • 24 May 2011
Asia Pacific banks can withstand property crisis
Banks around the Asia Pacific region seem well placed to endure any moderation in home prices, reflecting tight regulations, prudent lending practices, and high household savings rates, according to a report published by Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Ratings Services.Entitled “Could...
Continue Reading • 24 May 2011
S'pore's inflation drops below 5%, first time in 2011
Singapore’s inflation has dropped below five percent for the first time in 2011, with April’s consumer price index (CPI) standing at 4.5 percent year-on-year, mainly attributed to higher food, transport and housing costs, according to the Department of Statistics.Transport costs...
Continue Reading • 24 May 2011
Singapore trade confidence high, says HSBC
Recent data from the HSBC Trade Confidence Index revealed that Singapore has achieved the highest jump in business confidence levels in Asia, which indicates strong optimism in trade growth over the next six months.This is despite the increasing prices of raw materials, inflationary pressures and...
Continue Reading • 24 May 2011
Good demand for residential and industrial property
Industrial and residential projects with affordable prices continue to attract demand.MCL Land has marketed 150 of the 200 units it has launched at its 414-unit Terrasse condo in Hougang.“Before we began sales last Saturday (May 21), we had intended to release only 120 units initially. But...
Continue Reading • 24 May 2011
KSH full-year profit up by 23%
Construction, property development and property management group KSH Holdings has announced a 23 percent increase in net profit after tax to S$22.6 million for the full year ending 31 March 2011.“We are pleased to have achieved another year of growth, buoyed by the pickup in the global...
Continue Reading • 24 May 2011
Kuok Group to acquire all shares of Allgreen
Malaysian billionaire Robert Kuok has offered to acquire all the stocks in Allgreen Properties through a privatisation move that values the company at around S$2.54 billion.Brookvale Investments, which is owned by members of the Kuok group of companies, offered S$1.60 per share in the...
Continue Reading • 24 May 2011
Laguna Park gets $1.33b price tag
Laguna Park condo, a former HUDC estate, has received a S$1.33 billion price tag and is set to become the second-largest collective sale in the country after Farrer Court, which was sold for a whopping S$1.34 billion in 2007, if the deal is successful.The S$1.33 billion indicative price, which...
Continue Reading • 24 May 2011
Aussie banks pump mortgage market with discounts
A new series of mortgage discounts in Australia will likely cut up to A$4000 from yearly interest payments on the average mortgage.Ubank, an internet-based subsidiary of the National Australia Bank (NAB), will offer a standard variable rate mortgage over one percentage point below NAB's...
Continue Reading • 23 May 2011
HK developers launch new flats to tap robust market
Property developers in Hong Kong are preparing to release more new flats in the market, with Sun Hung Kai Properties planning to market all 117 units at i.UniQ today.Flats at the Shau Kei Wan project are sized from 398 sq ft to 622 sq, ft with an average price of HK$13,508 psf — higher than...
Continue Reading • 23 May 2011
CapitaLand clinches 10 BCA awards
CapitaLand, Southeast Asia’s largest real estate company, clinched 10 Building and Construction Authority (BCA) awards this year, recognising its properties’ green features, construction excellence and design and engineering safety. Included in this year’s award-winning...
Continue Reading • 23 May 2011
Khaw nervous about new post
Former Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan revealed in his latest blog post that he feels “greater trepidation” at the prospect of taking over the Ministry of National Development (MND) than when he accepted his previous position.“I came to MOH (Ministry of Health) during SARS with...
Continue Reading • 23 May 2011
UOL partners Richard Rogers for Shanghai project
UOL Group has named globally recognised architect Richard Rogers of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners (RSHP) to design its upcoming residential project in Changfeng, Shanghai.Mr. Rogers, a 2007 Pritzker Architect Prize Laureate, founded the RSHP and is well-known for his clear design focus and...
Continue Reading • 23 May 2011
Sime eyeing stronger Singapore presence
Sime Darby Property Bhd, one of Malaysia’s largest property developers, is eyeing more new developments in Singapore, especially redevelopment projects, said Datuk Tunku Putra Badlishah Ibni Tunku Annuar, Managing Director of Sime Darby.“We are constantly looking for new projects but...
Continue Reading • 23 May 2011
Tianjin Eco-City gets new leadership
Leaders taking charge of Tianjin Eco-City will see a new slate, with many key people being transferred to different posts or stepping down, as the Prime Minister reshuffled the Singapore cabinet two weeks after the general election.However, many analysts are hopeful that the transition will be...
Continue Reading • 23 May 2011
KSH Holdings clinches S$78.7m residential contract
Established construction, property development and property management group KSH Holdings Limited has clinched a S$78.7 million contract from Botanica Pte Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wheelock Properties, for the construction of the Ardmore Three development.Under the terms of the contract,...
Continue Reading • 20 May 2011
Roxy-Pacific obtains 100% consent for enbloc at Mackenzie Rd
Specialty property and hospitality group Roxy-Pacific Holdings Ltd has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, RL Central Ltd, has obtained 100 percent consent for the collective sale of a freehold site located at 131 Mackenzie Road for approximately S$24.6 million.“The company is...
Continue Reading • 20 May 2011
UK mortgage market favours wealthy
The UK mortgage industry is still giving the best rates to wealthy borrowers, implying that the market remains effectively closed to most first-time home buyers.On average, the best deals offered by lenders to typical first-time home buyers are of “very poor value.”There is also the...
Continue Reading • 20 May 2011