Home sales fuelled by new line
Six units at Waterfront Gold and eight at Waterfront Key in the Bedok Reservoir area have been snapped up since last week’s announcement that an MRT station will be developed nearby.The units were snapped up since last Friday when the government announced the Stage 3 details of the Downtown...
Continue Reading • 26 Aug 2010
Yishun land site receives 7 bids
The public tender for a Yishun land parcel located at Miltonia Close has been closed after receiving a total of seven bids.HDB launched the 27,000 sq m land site at Miltonia Close for sale on July 2. It has a maximum gross floor area of 37,800 sq m and a lease term of 99 years. The site could be...
Continue Reading • 25 Aug 2010
STI opens lower, declines 0.3%
The Singapore stock market opened lower today after shares at Wall Street remained weak, as low US housing data added to fears that global economic recovery would taper off.Singapore’s Straits Times Index declined 0.29 percent, or 8.34 points, at 2,914.51.Turnover was at 59 million shares...
Continue Reading • 25 Aug 2010
Singapore remains top location for meetings
For the third consecutive year, Singapore remains the top international meetings city, ahead of 1,653 cities, according to rankings by the Union of International Associations (UIA), an organisation which has carried out statistical studies on international meetings for the past 61 years.Singapore...
Continue Reading • 25 Aug 2010
Idle land in China blamed
While a land shortage in China is blamed for increasing housing prices, more than 11,000 hectares of land has been left idle across the country, according to China’s top land watchdog.To date, the Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR) has identified almost 2,208 illegal land use cases that...
Continue Reading • 25 Aug 2010
UK mortgage market still subdued
The housing market in the UK remains stagnant, with the mortgage market continuing its slide with a drop in the number of new mortgage loans approved by High Street banks.According to the British Bankers' Association (BBA), the number of mortgages approved for home purchases dropped by 877 to...
Continue Reading • 25 Aug 2010
US home sales down
Sales of existing homes in the US dropped 27.2 percent in July, to its lowest level in more than a decade, according to an industry group, adding new doubts on the economic recovery of the US.The White House described the latest data as “tough”, and promised to consider any...
Continue Reading • 25 Aug 2010
British buyers lose interest in Southeast Asian properties
Cash-strapped British buyers seem to have lost interest in properties located in Southeast Asia, based on data released by RightMove Overseas, a leading property website in the UK.The results of the report, which compared search statistics between July 2008 and July 2010, do not bode well for...
Continue Reading • 25 Aug 2010
Blackstone tackles China housing market
US private equity firm Blackstone Group has committed to invest in China's booming housing market, according to a report in the Financial Times.Blackstone is backing Hong Kong developer Great Eagle’s construction of more than 1,000 luxury units in the city of Dalian, dubbed the Hong Kong of...
Continue Reading • 25 Aug 2010
St. Regis Bangkok set to launch in October
The Residences at The St. Regis Bangkok is expected to open in October, buoyed by confidence after Bangkok was ranked number one in Travel + Leisure magazine's 2010 “World’s Best City” list.“The Travel + Leisure ranking affirms what we have known about Bangkok all...
Continue Reading • 25 Aug 2010
Properties pushed out at faster pace
Property developers who are worried about the looming uncertainty in the property market are fast-tracking mass market properties to take profits sooner, said Cheng Wai Keung, chairman of Wing Tai Holdings.As the cooling measures implemented by the government take hold, developers are launching...
Continue Reading • 25 Aug 2010
Shanghai new home sales dropped between Jan-July
Sales of new homes in Shanghai declined 48 percent in the first seven months of this year compared to the previous year, as the country’s efforts to cool the property market started to take effect, reported China's state media.Sales in terms of floor space reached 9.11 million sq m by the...
Continue Reading • 24 Aug 2010
UE secures loan facilities for Sengkang EC project
United Engineers (UE) has announced that MaxLee Development, a steel products distributor company, has secured $220 million worth of term loan facilities from UOB and OCBC to finance the development of an executive condominium project located at Sengkang East Avenue / Buangkok Drive.MaxLee...
Continue Reading • 24 Aug 2010
Singapore residential market easing up
Buying sentiment within the Singapore residential market cooled in the second quarter this year, according to a report released by DTZ Research.Market activity within the private residential market recovered early in Q2 but slowed in mid-quarter due to increased land supply from the GLS...
Continue Reading • 24 Aug 2010
Development charges expected to increase
The residential sector is expected to lead the increase in development charges (DC), which are payable to intensify or enhance the use of some sites.“The upcoming DC rate revision is likely to be monitored closely by industry players as the extent of revision would indicate the government's...
Continue Reading • 24 Aug 2010
False data raises doubt on China property market
The reliability of data on China's property market has been put into question after it emerged that Chinese firms in Shanghai have falsified answers in responses to some polls conducted by the national statistics agency.The problems, which ranged from omitting data to reporting inaccurate prices,...
Continue Reading • 24 Aug 2010
Mortgage default rates decline significantly
Mortgage default rates in Singapore have declined significantly in the last two years, attributed to the low interest rates and improving property market that helped borrowers repay their mortgages.According to figures released by information firm DP Credit Bureau, the average rate of default...
Continue Reading • 24 Aug 2010
Japanese Reit bond market set to thaw
The Japanese real estate investment trust (Reit) bond market is beginning to thaw after two years as the economy picks up, though an increase in property prices is needed to achieve full recovery, said Fitch Ratings.“New bond sales are recovering to some extent,” said Toru Kobayashi,...
Continue Reading • 24 Aug 2010
Wing Tai Holdings posts Q4 results
Property group Wing Tai Holdings Limited has announced that its net profit in the fourth quarter that ended 30 June 2010 was S$68.92 million, recovering from a loss of S$53.88 million in the previous year.Revenue in the fourth quarter edged up 17 percent to S$222.35 million from S$ 190.08 million...
Continue Reading • 24 Aug 2010
Viva Vista project over 80% sold
Over 80 percent of Oxley Holdings' Viva Vista development has been snapped up during its private preview, indicating that shoebox units are still a hit in Singapore.Sizes of the 144-unit project range from 323 sq ft to 1,076 sq ft, with average price starting at $520,000 or $1,450 psf.The...
Continue Reading • 24 Aug 2010