Private home prices set to drop 5%
Private home prices will likely see a five percent decline in 2011 but will be mainly stable, said a new report released by property consultancy firm DTZ Research.The recent cooling measures announced by the government will likely reduce sales volumes but will not cause a substantial decline in...
Continue Reading • 28 Jan 2011
UK mortgage lending lowest in December
Mortgage lending in the UK dropped in December to its lowest level since 1999, while net lending fell to nearly £880 million, the lowest total in more than 11 years, according to the British Bankers’ Association.The UK mortgage market rounded off with a tough year, with net mortgage...
Continue Reading • 27 Jan 2011
China implements more cooling measures
China has implemented more property cooling measures, lifting the minimum down payment for second home loans to 60 percent from the current 50 percent, in a move to avert the risk of a property bubble.“China will continue to effectively curb investment and speculative purchases of houses to...
Continue Reading • 27 Jan 2011
Singapore named Asia's best property investment destination
Singapore has been ranked the best property investment destination in Asia, driven by the country’s robust economic growth and brisk activity in the high-technology and financial industries.Singapore is among the preferred investment target markets in Asia by investors who are ready to...
Continue Reading • 27 Jan 2011
Optimistic outlook for private residential market
The outlook for Singapore’s private residential market is cautiously upbeat this year, as the number of new homes sold will likely taper off from last year’s high to a more sustainable level this year, possibly in the region of 10,000 units, said Colliers International.Overall private...
Continue Reading • 27 Jan 2011
Singaporean investors optimistic on markets
Singaporean investors are upbeat on markets and returns and will likely take a more aggressive stance in their investments, according to a newly launched investor sentiment index.JP Morgan Asset Management recently launched the JP Morgan Investor Sentiment Index, which is based on a half-yearly...
Continue Reading • 27 Jan 2011
Ascendas India Trust net income down 12%
Singapore-based Ascendas India Trust (a-iTrust), which focuses on real estate investment in India, has posted a 12 percent year-on-year decline in net income to S$17 million in the third quarter ended 31 December 2010.The decline was attributed to lower-than-usual real estate expenses because of...
Continue Reading • 27 Jan 2011
FCOT Q1 net property income down 2.4%
Frasers Commercial Trust (FCOT) saw a 2.4 percent year-on-year decline in net property income to S$22.95 million for the first quarter ended 31 December, 2010.The trust’s gross revenue also slid 2.3 percent to S$28.98 million in Q1.The decline was due to “lower contribution from Cosmo...
Continue Reading • 27 Jan 2011
CRCT's 2010 net property income up 5.8%
CapitaRetail China Trust (CRCT), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CapitaLand, achieved a net property income of RMB382.3 million for the fiscal year 2010, up 5.8 percent from the previous year.“We delivered a strong set of results in FY 2010. Our portfolio occupancy rate at end-2010 was 98.1...
Continue Reading • 27 Jan 2011
CDLHT poised to acquire Studio M Hotel
CDL Hospitality Trusts (CDLHT) is poised to acquire Studio M Hotel, located in the Mohamed Sultan area, possibly this year, suggest many analysts.Studio M Hotel, which opened in April 2010 and which is owned by CDLHT’s sponsor, London-listed Millennium & Copthorne Hotels, is deemed as a...
Continue Reading • 27 Jan 2011
A bumper year for Accor's Asia Pacific expansion
Accor, the world’s largest hotel operator, announced that it signed more than 70 new development contracts in the Asia Pacific last year, which will add more than 16,000 hotel rooms to the company. The record number of new contracts in a single year will retain Accor’s leading...
Continue Reading • 27 Jan 2011
AllProperty Media partners with Malaysia's Redberry
AllProperty Media, which owns Singapore’s leading property portals, www.PropertyGuru.com.sg and www.CommercialGuru.com.sg, has announced a joint venture agreement with Malaysian media company Redberry.This comes a week after AllProperty Media announced its acquisition of FullHouse Media Sdn...
Continue Reading • 26 Jan 2011
Major developer dismisses China's property bubble fears
The measures announced by the central government to curb property prices are affecting developers, said Shui On Group Chairman Vincent Lo, who also dismissed fears of a bubble in the Chinese real estate market.China is facing a long term real estate supply shortage, said the chairman of one of...
Continue Reading • 26 Jan 2011
UMS to divest Changi North Crescent property
UMS Holdings Limited is planning to divest its leasehold property at 27 Changi North Crescent for about S$6.98 million, in a move to dispose its non-income generating assets after shifting operations out of Singapore to lower costs in its manufacturing sector.On 16 April 2004, JTC Corporation...
Continue Reading • 26 Jan 2011
US mortgage rates ease
The average 15-year fixed and 30-year fixed-rate mortgages in the US have dropped recently, according to the US Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 4.71 percent from 4.77 percent, while the average 15-year fixed-rate mortgages declined to 4.08 percent...
Continue Reading • 26 Jan 2011
Hong Kong's housing polled world's least affordable
Hong Kong has the world’s least affordable housing, said an international survey, a finding that will surely stir further discontent among residents already dissatisfied with runaway real estate prices.Buying a home in Hong Kong costs over 11 times the average salary of the city, surpassing...
Continue Reading • 26 Jan 2011
S-Reits to continue acquiring assets
Real estate investment trusts in Singapore (S-Reits) will likely continue acquiring assets this year, as funding is still available and interest rates remain low, said Moody’s Investors Service.”S-Reits will use their well-capitalised balance sheets to continue acquisitive growth...
Continue Reading • 26 Jan 2011
Keppel Corp's full-year profit up 12%
Keppel Corporation has announced that its net 2010profit before exceptional items surged 12 percent to S$1.419 billion from S$1.265 billion in the previous year.“I am pleased to announce that 2010 was another record year for Keppel Corporation. Net profit grew by 12 percent to a new high of...
Continue Reading • 26 Jan 2011
Holland Tower up for en bloc sale
Holland Tower, a 14-storey residential block in District 10, has been put up for collective sale by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL).The property, located within the Holland Park Good Class Bungalow Area, is zoned for residential use and has a total site area of 21,879 sq ft. The URA has indicated that a...
Continue Reading • 25 Jan 2011
Iskandar Investment signs deal to develop USMC
Iskandar Investment Group has started the year with a deal between Iskandar Education Enterprise Sdn Bhd and the University of Southampton to develop the University of Southampton Malaysia Campus (USMC) in EduCity, Iskandar Malaysia.Due to open next year with 60 students, the 1.39 acre USMC will...
Continue Reading • 25 Jan 2011