BCA honours Jakarta Garden City
The Jakarta Garden City development is raising the bar for green developments by becoming the first residential township in Indonesia to be conferred the Green Mark Gold Award by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) of Singapore. Developed by one of Asia's premier property developers,...
Continue Reading • 20 May 2011
Jones Lang LaSalle announces new appointment
Global real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) has appointed Martin Hinge as Managing Director for Project and Development Services (PDS) business in Asia Pacific. Mr. Hinge has worked in JLL’s Australia, Greater China, India, Philippines and Singapore offices for 10 years. He...
Continue Reading • 20 May 2011
Inflation to ease 3 - 4%, says MAS
Inflation has most likely peaked and will average three to four percent in 2011, said Ravi Menon, Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).The Consumer Price Index (CPI) climbed 5.2 percent in Q1 2011 but the MAS expects price increases to moderate, due in part to the robust...
Continue Reading • 20 May 2011
April home price increases more widespread in China
More cities in China witnessed a rise in the prices of new homes in April, compared with March, as the government continued to curb property prices, according to official data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).Of the 70 major cities monitored, 56 recorded an increase in the prices of...
Continue Reading • 20 May 2011
Two redevelopment sites up for sale
Two redevelopment sites, 70 Shenton Way and Elizabeth Tower, have been launched for sale.70 Shenton Way, which was acquired by a Roxy-Pacific-led consortium for S$148 million in April 2010, has been put on the market with an indicative price of S$270 million.This works out to around S$1,583 psf,...
Continue Reading • 19 May 2011
US mortgage rates still declining
Mortgage rates in the US continued to slip, falling for the fifth consecutive week, according to the latest figures from the Mortgage Bankers Association.Average interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate home loans dropped to 4.60 percent in the previous week, the lowest since last...
Continue Reading • 19 May 2011
Singapore drops to 3rd place in global economic competitiveness
Singapore has lost its number one spot in the world’s ranking of economic competitiveness, according to the latest annual IMD World Competitiveness report.The United States took the top spot, primarily driven by recovery in its financial markets. Hong Kong came in second, while Singapore...
Continue Reading • 19 May 2011
S'pore revises growth forecast to 5 - 7%
The Singapore government has revised its 2011 gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast to between five and seven percent from the previous four to six percent, citing healthy Asian growth and modest recovery in developed economies.The revision came after the latest data showed that...
Continue Reading • 19 May 2011
PropNex bags its 4th RDTB Gold Award
PropNex, the leading real estate company in Singapore, has once again received the Reader’s Digest Trusted Brands (RDTB) Gold Award. The award is in line with the company’s extensive effort in promoting integrity and competence among its salespersons.“Winning an award based on...
Continue Reading • 19 May 2011
More housing projects in the pipeline
Developers continued to launch new projects in May, after witnessing a 29 percent month-on-month increase in private home sales last month.Two new housing projects are set to be released this week — Belysa, an executive condo (EC) project in Pasir Ris, and Terrasse, a private condo...
Continue Reading • 19 May 2011
Sky@eleven wins BCA Excellence Award
Sky@eleven, a freehold condo project in prime district 11, will be receiving a Merit Award under the Residential Category for the Design and Engineering Safety Excellence Awards 2011.Developed by Times Development, the project is located off Thomson Road. It was launched in January 2007, with all...
Continue Reading • 19 May 2011
PropertyGuru gets S$5m in funding
PropertyGuru, Singapore’s leading online property portal, has closed a S$5 million line of credit from a Singaporean investment management firm to speed up its expansion plans.The financing allows the company to draw down extra funding at short notice if needed, at very favourable market...
Continue Reading • 19 May 2011
PM Lee reveals new cabinet
Nearly two weeks after the general election, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has announced the new cabinet lineup, bringing in new chiefs and promising all ministers a “free hand” to reshape policies.PM Lee promoted Tharman Shanmugaratnam to Deputy Prime Minister. Aside from...
Continue Reading • 19 May 2011
Aussie mortgage approvals drop to 10-year low
Mortgage approvals in Australia unexpectedly fell in March to its lowest in over 10 years, as higher rates lured buyers away from the mortgage market, according to a Business Times report.The number of mortgages granted to borrowers dropped 1.5 percent to 44,968 in March, from the 4.7 percent...
Continue Reading • 18 May 2011
China intensifies rebuilding efforts in Urumqi slums
China is increasing its efforts to replace crude mud-and-brick houses with contemporary concrete apartments in the slum regions of the northwestern city of Urumqi.Home to 250,000 people, the majority of which are ethnic Uighurs, the slum areas in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region’s capital...
Continue Reading • 18 May 2011
Property auction in Taipei responsible for setting record prices
Spaces within a building in the Eastern area of Taipei City in Taiwan were auctioned on Monday, attracting several potential buyers and setting record prices.The property, Sanyang Zhongxiao Building, is located at No. 180, Zhongxiao East Road Section 4. It is divided into two sections, with the...
Continue Reading • 18 May 2011
HK's URA to acquire 159 flats at record prices
A clutch of shabby flats at To Kwa Wan in Kowloon, Hong Kong are set to be offered at record prices.The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) is all set to pay HK$9,785 psf to acquire 159 flats in a region bounded by Chun Tin Street, Ma Tau Wai Road and Hok Yuen Street. The shabby flats will be replaced...
Continue Reading • 18 May 2011
CapitaLand unit divests Shanghai property
CapitaLand Limited has announced the divestment of a 144,657 sq m residential site in Shanghai’s Qingpu District in China, for a cash consideration of RMB807.7 million (S$152.6 million).CapitaLand’s wholly-owned unit, CapitaLand China Holdings (CCH), has entered into a...
Continue Reading • 18 May 2011
Unit at The Marq sets new price record
A new price record has been set for private property in Singapore.According to an anonymous source, a four-bedroom apartment at SC Global Developments’ The Marq on Paterson Hill has been sold for S$5,842 psf, surpassing the previous record of S$5,600 psf at The Orchard Residences in October...
Continue Reading • 18 May 2011
Private home sales jump 29% in April
Sales of private homes jumped 23 percent month-on-month to 1,901 units in April, as developers are rolling out more property projects to ride the tide of buying momentum.Excluding Executive Condominium (EC) units, private home sales rose 29 percent to a whopping 1,788 units sold last...
Continue Reading • 18 May 2011