China housing bubble a major concern
The housing bubble in China has been a serious concern for the last ten years, with the current average house price in big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai reaching more than 25,000 yuan (S$5,100) psm, compared to approximately 5,000 yuan a decade ago.The Chinese housing market has gone...
Continue Reading • 14 Jul 2010
Malaysia's Iskandar wooing Singaporean investors
Malaysia's economic region Iskandar expects a strong investment flow from Singapore, in spite of an expected economic slowdown in H2 of this year.Puan Arlida Ariff, CEO of Iskandar Investment, hopes the improved bilateral ties will attract Singapore investments.Spanning over 2,200 sq km, the...
Continue Reading • 14 Jul 2010
Affluent Singaporeans are cautious
Affluent Singaporeans are more cautious about investments than their Asian counterparts. In spite of this, over 50 percent of affluent Singaporeans still managed to increase their net worth in the last two quarters, according to the latest results of the HSBC Affluent Asian Tracker survey.The...
Continue Reading • 14 Jul 2010
Singapore growth forecast revised to 13-15%
The Singapore government has upgraded its economic growth forecast for this year to 13-15 percent, exceeding estimates of about 10 percent growth for regional powerhouse China.The sharp upgrade from the previous estimate of 7.0 percent to 9.0 percent growth in gross domestic product (GDP) was due...
Continue Reading • 14 Jul 2010
Tomlinson Investment acquires People's Mansion for S$42.7m
Tomlinson Investment has acquired People's Mansion at Lorong 31 in Geylang for S$42.68 million through an en bloc sale, surpassing the second highest bid of S$42.1 million. This translates to around S$421 psf ppr.Urban Front Real Estate closed the public tender for the site on July 2 after...
Continue Reading • 14 Jul 2010
Biggest collective sale sealed
Meng Garden Apartments off Killiney Road has gone on collective sale for $137 million or approximately $1,380 psf ppr, including a development charge of about $681,000 – taking the year-to-date tally to 16 deals at approximately $786 million.Boutique developer TG Development, which acquired...
Continue Reading • 14 Jul 2010
Australian home loans on the rise
The number of mortgage loans in Australia has marked its first increase in eight months, as buyers looked beyond higher interest rates to wade back into the market.According to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the number of home loan applications increased 1.9 percent last month, following...
Continue Reading • 13 Jul 2010
IMF chief warns of possible economic shocks for Asia
The Chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Asian policymakers must brace for possible economic shocks, given risks to the global economy like the eurozone debt crisis.Asia also faces policy challenges, like managing the sharp rebound in capital inflows, as well as risks related to...
Continue Reading • 13 Jul 2010
Asia's growth remains intact, say analysts
The growth in Asia is still intact, in spite of excess liquidity in China and inflation risks in India, according to analysts.Analysts also said that Asian stocks are still fairly valued for now, and they do not see a main threat from growing capital inflows on key equity investors.Asian markets...
Continue Reading • 13 Jul 2010
Property prices in China fall
Property prices in China have seen their first monthly fall in June since February last year – providing further evidence that the government’s cooling measures are working.According to the National Bureau of Statistics, average prices in 70 cities declined 0.1 percent from May,...
Continue Reading • 13 Jul 2010
HK government should regulate apartment sales
The Hong Kong government should regulate property developers' sales tactics to raise transparency, a lawmaker said, as Hong Kong’s Parliament conducted a special session on the collapse of HK$2.67-billion (S$474.89 million) of apartment sales by Henderson Land Development Co.The Parliament...
Continue Reading • 13 Jul 2010
Singapore stocks open higher
Singapore shares opened higher today, with the Straits Times Index up 0.30 percent or 8.72 points, at 2,934.04 in early trade.Around 149.6 million shares were sold, with gainers beating losers 94 to 28.
Continue Reading • 13 Jul 2010
BBR to purchase freehold land
BBR Holdings intends to buy a parcel of freehold land for S$86 million at Simon Lane, located close to Serangoon Gardens.The mainboard-listed company said it plans to develop a low-rise condominium project on the site, which currently houses Goodrich Park Condominium.Under the URA 2008 Master...
Continue Reading • 13 Jul 2010
Goodrich Park Condo and Cavenagh Mansions sold
Goodrich Park Condominium and Cavenagh Mansions have been sold after their respective tenders closed last week.Goodrich Park, located at the Upper Serangoon area was sold by BBR Holdings through an en bloc sale for $86 million. This translates to a unit price of $629 psf ppr, with no development...
Continue Reading • 13 Jul 2010
Low US mortgage rates fail to lure new loans
Mortgage rates in the US hit a 50-year low last week, but it has failed to produce a series of refinancing activity and loan origination that some analysts had predicted.The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 4.57 percent last week, the lowest record since the government-owned...
Continue Reading • 12 Jul 2010
Hong Kong sets one flat per buyer policy
Flat buyers in Hong Kong will only be permitted to acquire one flat and will not be allowed to resell it before the completion date, according to a new policy set by the Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong.The guidelines were issued after a police investigation into the controversial...
Continue Reading • 12 Jul 2010
Singapore shopping malls benefit from World Cup fever
Shopping malls in Singapore benefited from the World Cup fever. Several retailers in malls screening live matches said they saw a growth in business by almost 20 percent since the tournament started.For example, crowds at 313@Somerset have increased by almost 10 percent due to several ongoing...
Continue Reading • 12 Jul 2010
Choosing to invest in shophouses and strata shops
The number and value of shophouses and strata shops transacted in the first half of 2010 were down slightly compared with the previous half year, according to a study conducted by Knight Frank.However, the property consultancy firm predicts that the result for the whole-2010 will exceed that of...
Continue Reading • 12 Jul 2010
Prime strata office floors at GB building up for sale
Commercial property services company CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) has announced the launch of the private treaty sale of four titled units on the 23rd to 26th storeys of GB Building.The building, which is located at the corner of McCallum Street and Cecil Street within the CBD, is a 26-storey office...
Continue Reading • 12 Jul 2010
Key tenants at revamped Katong Mall unveiled
The landlord of the former Katong Mall, which will reopen in Q3 2011, has unveiled three key tenants, which include Golden Village Multiplex, Market Place by Cold Storage and the BreadTalk Group.Following a $60-million facelift, the tenants will occupy 32 percent of retail space at Katong Mall,...
Continue Reading • 12 Jul 2010