China property prices picking up again
The recently implemented cooling measures in China’s property market had little effect last month with property prices increasing 23 percent in Beijing, 31 percent in Shanghai, 56 percent in Guangzhou and 84 percent in Shenzen, according to the South China Morning Post.The inability of the...
Continue Reading • 15 Sept 2010
Service residence firms look to expand
Ascott, the serviced residence unit of CapitaLand, plans to use proceeds from the sale of 28 assets to its listed unit Ascott Residence Trust for expansion, said Mark Chan, senior vice-president for business development and asset management at Ascott.“In the past year or so, we have been...
Continue Reading • 15 Sept 2010
Low Kheng Huat Q2 profit up 41.3%
Singapore builder Low Kheng Huat has announced that its net profit in the second quarter rose 41.3 percent to $28.4 million from $20.1 million over the same period last year, despite a fall in revenue of 49 percent to $81.9 million.Net profit before tax and minority interests in Q2 increased...
Continue Reading • 15 Sept 2010
Bulk transactions for high-end apartments on the rise
Bulk transactions involving high-end apartments are edging up again, with some property funds which invested in Singaporean upmarket residential sector benefiting from a price recovery in the segment to exit their investments.A German fund managed by Morgan Stanley in the Draycott Park area is...
Continue Reading • 15 Sept 2010
Tan Chin Hwee joins K-REIT Asia Management board
K-REIT Asia Management Limited ("KRAM"), which manages K-REIT Asia, has appointed Mr. Tan Chin Hwee as an Independent Non-Executive Director on its Board starting September 14.Mr. Tan began his career at Group Treasury at Keppel Corporation Limited between 1995 and 1999. He is now the...
Continue Reading • 14 Sept 2010
Hong Kong to see significant housing growth
Hong Kong will likely see the largest worldwide increase in housing prices in 2011, as values settle at more sustainable levels and a “post-crash bounce” eases off, said property broker Knight Frank LLP.Growth in Hong Kong may slow to 12 percent next year from this year’s 18...
Continue Reading • 14 Sept 2010
Mortgage loans in Shanghai drop in August
Shanghai’s stock of individual mortgages dropped 1.06 billion yuan or S$209 million last month, as property cooling measures implemented by the central government hit home purchases.The decline followed after net new mortgage loans in Shanghai rose by a tiny 270 million yuan in July,...
Continue Reading • 14 Sept 2010
SLP appoints Nicholas Mak as research head
Mr. Nicholas Mak will officially join property consultancy firm SLP International tomorrow as executive director of its research and consultancy division.Mr. Mak was previously a real estate lecturer at Ngee Ann Polytechnic. Prior to that, he served as research and consultancy director at Knight...
Continue Reading • 14 Sept 2010
Property market expected to settle down
While the latest policy moves aimed at cooling the local property market have caused some “flux”, things should “settle” in a few months, said Wong Heang Fine, chief executive of the Singapore residential arm of CapitaLand.“We think there is currently some flux in...
Continue Reading • 14 Sept 2010
Ascott Reit to raise funds from new units
Ascott Residence Trust is seeking to raise as much as $549.5 million through the issuance of 487.5 million new units.Its offer information statement was lodged with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) after it secured the approval of unitholders for the equity fund-raising exercise early...
Continue Reading • 14 Sept 2010
PropertyGuru to hold property outlook forum
With the recent measures imposed by the Ministry of National Development (MND) to curb the private property market, together with the Estate Agents Bill introduced for a First Reading at Parliament, Propertyguru has announced that it will bring together several property experts to tackle...
Continue Reading • 13 Sept 2010
Westpac optimistic on property loans business
The Singapore branch of Westpac Private Bank is upbeat about the prospects of its property loans business here, which has tripled in volume in the last year.Sean Straton, head of premium client group in Singapore, explained that 65 percent of revenue from Westpac Private Banking came from...
Continue Reading • 13 Sept 2010
Foreign players venturing into Japan
Many investors from Singapore and the US are looking at the Japanese property market, with more than $2 billion in deals already made since late 2009, most of them in Tokyo.“Hotels, Tokyo offices, Tokyo residential, I would say, will be the three specific sectors and opportunities that are...
Continue Reading • 13 Sept 2010
STI opens higher
Singapore stocks increased slightly on opening trade today after Wall Street gained positive data from the US and China on Friday, easing up previous worries about the pace of the global economic recovery.The STI was up 0.44 percent or 13.24 points at 3,035.52. Gainers beat losers in the broader...
Continue Reading • 13 Sept 2010
S'pore the world's 3rd most competitive economy
Singapore remains the most competitive economy in Asia and third in the world in a recently released global competitiveness ranking.According to the latest annual Global Competitiveness Report released by the World Economic Forum (WEF), Switzerland is still the world’s most competitive...
Continue Reading • 13 Sept 2010
Shoebox units affect developers' sales
The average price quantum of private units sold declined to $1.2 million in May and June and $1.1 million in July from April’s $1.4 million, but average psf price has played at over $1,000 psf for most months of 2010.In addition, the average unit size of new units sold also declined to...
Continue Reading • 13 Sept 2010
Property market heats up after Ghost Month
Private property buyers are returning into the market after the Hungry Ghost Month.However, the festival’s conclusion was not the only reason for a quick turnaround in the buying activity over the long weekend. A new property launch also boosted buying sentiment.Most of the transactions...
Continue Reading • 13 Sept 2010
Emerging market stocks may hit US$80 trillion
Emerging-market stocks may see more than a five-fold increase in their market value to US$80 trillion in 20 years, surpassing developed countries, as China becomes the largest stock market in the world, said Goldman Sachs Group Inc.Emerging countries’ share of world equity capitalisation...
Continue Reading • 9 Sept 2010
Aussie mortgage commitments up in July
Mortgage lending in Australia remains weak despite the monthly increases, giving room for the central bank to keep interest rates on hold, said some economists.Mortgage commitments for owner-occupied housing jumped more than 1.7 percent in July from the preceding month, according to figures...
Continue Reading • 9 Sept 2010
URA awards Jalan Eunos site
The URA has awarded a residential site at Jalan Eunos to Tuas Technology Park Ltd and OPH Marymount Ltd. after they offered the highest bid in a public tender that closed on September 7.The two companies submitted a joint bid of $257.8 million, or about $4,462.43 psm of gross floor area.The...
Continue Reading • 9 Sept 2010