IHG to operate RB Capital hotel
RB Capital Hotels has appointed InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) to run the hotel it will build at the corner of Havelock Road and Clemenceau Avenue.The property is set to be the largest Holiday Inn Express in Southeast Asia in terms of room count with about 460 to 500 rooms. It is due to open...
Continue Reading • 9 Nov 2010
Treasury China Trust expands into Xian
Treasury China Trust (TCT) and Ginwa Group have committed to a strategic partnership to tap into the growing commercial property market in central and western China.The agreement, which will initially focus on Xian, will likely serve as TCT’s springboard into the untapped commercial real...
Continue Reading • 9 Nov 2010
Gap in bids for land narrows
Property developers are no longer bidding wildly at Government Land Sale tenders as the effects of the property cooling measures set in.This can be measured from the fact that the gap between the top bidder and the next highest bidder for sites with residential components has begun to...
Continue Reading • 9 Nov 2010
Keppel Land buys stake in Ocean Properties
Property group Keppel Land Limited, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Straits Property Investments Pte, has acquired an additional 11.85 percent stake in Ocean Properties Ltd. for $107.1 million from HSBC, an existing shareholder of Ocean Properties.Ocean Properties is the owner of Ocean...
Continue Reading • 9 Nov 2010
KSH Holdings posts half-year results
KSH Holdings Limited, a well established construction, property development and property management group, has announced that its revenue for the half year ended September 30, 2010 increased 15.4 percent to S$144.1 million from S$124.9 million in the previous year.“I am pleased to report an...
Continue Reading • 9 Nov 2010
Fortune REIT posts strong revenue income in Q3
Singapore-listed Fortune Real estate investment trust (Reit) has posted a 24.5 percent increase in net property income to HK$444.5 million in the first nine months of the year, as improved economic condition revives interest in purchasing properties.The trust’s distributable income rose...
Continue Reading • 9 Nov 2010
New account openings surge
With the mega IPOs from Global Logistics Properties (GLP) and Mapletree Industrial Trust (MIT) making good starts this month, remisiers have seen an increase in new account openings made by novice investors.“I've had 10 new accounts opened in a two- week period. For the majority of them, it...
Continue Reading • 8 Nov 2010
Australian banks to dump mortgage break fees
Four big banks in Australia are likely to dump their controversial mortgage break fees, according to an Australian newspaper, but a confirmation has yet to be made.The newspaper said that the four major Australian banks, which include NAB, ANZ, Westpac and Commonwealth, are planning to dump the...
Continue Reading • 8 Nov 2010
Hotel Fort Canning opens its doors
The Hotel Fort Canning has opened in Singapore, featuring a collection of 86 rooms and suites.The property, which previously served as a base for the British Far East Command during WWII, has been restored by an award-winning Singapore architectural company.Among the facilities in the hotel...
Continue Reading • 8 Nov 2010
Top Global eyeing land parcel in China
Catalist-listed property firm Top Global is eyeing a land parcel located on an island governed by Shanghai.With a gross floor area of approximately 808,000 sq m, the land parcel can be developed into retail, residential and commercial use, with a development cost of approximately $900 million.The...
Continue Reading • 8 Nov 2010
Woodgrove Avenue site draws 6 bids
A land parcel at Woodgrove Avenue has attracted six bids in a public tender that closed on September 22, with Tampines Court Ltd offering the highest bid of $105.12 million or $3,582.97 psm per GFA.The second-highest bid came from EL Development Ltd, offering $100.90 million or $3,439.10 psm per...
Continue Reading • 8 Nov 2010
CMA invests $747.2m in Shanghai project
CapitaMalls Asia (CMA), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Southeast Asia’s largest property developer CapitaLand, has announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire a 66 percent stake in a prime shopping mall and office development in Shanghai for S$747.2 million (RMB3.86...
Continue Reading • 8 Nov 2010
Roxy-Pacific sees strong growth in Q3
Property and hospitality group Roxy-Pacific Holdings Ltd. has announced that net profit in the third quarter jumped 42 percent to S$8.9 million from S$6.3 million in the previous quarter.The increase came on the back of a 41 percent increase in revenue to S$53.1 million in Q3, driven by a 44...
Continue Reading • 4 Nov 2010
YTL Hotels opens first centre outside KL
YTL Hotels has opened its Travel Centre in a prime shopping district in Singapore. Situated at Wisma Atria in the heart of Orchard Road, this is the first centre to operate outside Kuala Lumpur, where the hospitality company is based.Set to be the Centre of Service Excellence of YTL Hotels, the...
Continue Reading • 4 Nov 2010
DBS posts $722m Q3 earnings
Southeast Asia's largest lender DBS bank has seen a record quarterly profit at $722 million in the July to September period, up 28 percent from $563 million a year ago.It joined rivals in beating expectations as strong trading income and decreasing bad debts helped it overcome low interest...
Continue Reading • 4 Nov 2010
Malaysia introduces new mortgage rule
The Malaysian central bank has implemented limitations on the loan-to-value ratio for people taking out third home loans, in a move to curb “excessive” investment and speculation in the urban areas.Bank Negara Malaysia has imposed a maximum lending limit of 70 percent, which will...
Continue Reading • 4 Nov 2010
HK plot fetches low price
The Hong Kong government sold a land parcel yesterday at a surprisingly low price, as property developers were less keen on the site because of its location and uncertainties over whether more tightening policies will be announced by the government.It is the first auction following Hong Kong...
Continue Reading • 4 Nov 2010
Ascott opens three new properties in China
The Ascott Limited, a wholly-owned serviced residence business unit of CapitaLand, has opened three new serviced residence properties with more than 600 apartment units in three Chinese cities.The 105-unit Somerset International Building Tianjin is the company’s latest acquisition through...
Continue Reading • 4 Nov 2010
Collective sales market gaining momentum, says JLL
Collective sales in Singapore are gaining momentum, with en bloc sale transactions hitting S$975 million year-to-date, according to property consultancy firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL).About 90 percent of the total transactions came from residential segments, with more than 10 residential deals...
Continue Reading • 4 Nov 2010
Accuracy of official estimates questioned
The debate on the accuracy of official estimates has been reignited by a recent presentation by real estate company International Property Advisor (IPA) on the estimated supply of private housing units in the pipeline.The presentation emphasised that the number of private homes projected to be...
Continue Reading • 3 Nov 2010