Growing interest in selling properties near the Circle Line
Some property agents have announced that more owners are planning to put their homes near the Circle Line train network up for sale, even as the real estate market powers on. There has been a 10-percent to 20-percent increase in interest in selling those properties...
Continue Reading • 4 May 2010
Big tenants moving out of Raffles Place area
As big-time tenants are packing and preparing to move into gleaming new office buildings, including the Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC), landlords of older office blocks are beginning to search for replacements. “Raffles Place will be particularly hard hit,...
Continue Reading • 4 May 2010
95% home loans to attract Australian buyers
Home loans in Australia for which borrowers could borrow up to 95 percent of the total value of the house have started to reappear in the Australian mortgage market, as non-bank lenders try to lure first-time homebuyers away from major banks. Last week, Hemisphere...
Continue Reading • 3 May 2010
Developers have varying views over Thailand property market
While Keppel Land says that it is reviewing its presence in Thailand, City Developments Ltd (CDL) and CapitaLand said they are taking a long-term view on their operations and expressed full confidence that the country’s fundamentals will eventually prevail in the long run.The exposure of...
Continue Reading • 3 May 2010
Capsule apartments being designed for China's poor
Wen Jiao, a 22-year-old unemployed Chinese, who is waiting for a breakthrough in her music career, lives in cramped quarters on the outskirts of Beijing.This two-m-sq capsule apartment, which can only fit her bed and her laptop, is all Wen could afford, as monthly rent is just 250 yuan, or...
Continue Reading • 3 May 2010
First Japanese fine-dining restaurant opens at RWS
Resorts World Sentosa will be opening four fine-dining restaurants owned by celebrity chefs, and the first in line is a Japanese outlet, which opened yesterday.Kunio Tokuoka is the first Japanese chef with a Michelin star rating to open a restaurant in the country,...
Continue Reading • 3 May 2010
Singapore market opens on a weak note
The market started the week on a negative note, with the key Straits Times Index down 0.64 percent or 19.03 points at 2,955.58.In the broader market, losers beat gainers at three to one in a volume of 49 million valued at $45.9 million.Top decliners included SPH, HL...
Continue Reading • 3 May 2010
Realty firms in Singapore stop lending activities
Property firms in Singapore with moneylending arms, and which have roaring business operations, are now putting the brakes on their ventures.Their activity came under scrutiny after National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said in Parliament that the Ministry of...
Continue Reading • 3 May 2010
Tuan Sing's earnings up in Q1
With the strong sale, profit recognition and progressive revenue on its property projects in Shanghai, Tuan Sing Holdings has announced that its net profit for the first quarter was $20.9 million, up from last year’s $724,000.Its revenue has more than doubled from $29.6 million to $105.7...
Continue Reading • 3 May 2010
STC signed no agreement on Orchard site
Ms. Chew Gek Khim, executive chairman of Straits Trading Company (STC), said the company did not sign any contract with OCBC Bank on the development of the prime Specialists' Shopping Centre and Hotel Phoenix site in Orchard Road. “Contrary to popular belief,...
Continue Reading • 3 May 2010
New sales committee to kick-start second en-bloc-sale attempt
A new sales committee has been appointed to kick-start the en bloc sale process of Laguna Park condo, as residents there want to give the collective sale of their estate a second try.This was after their previous attempt to sell the 33-year-old former HUDC estate in October 2009 failed. During...
Continue Reading • 3 May 2010
Mortgage rates in the US drop in the latest week
Mortgage rates in the US dropped in the latest week, according to a closely watched mortgage survey yesterday, with rates still at low levels that should work well for the housing market.Lower mortgage interest rates may sustain home loan refinancing activities, pouring more cash into the hands...
Continue Reading • 30 Apr 2010
Cage home rents in HK exceed luxury condos
The so-called “cage men” in Hong Kong may be among the city’s poorest, but rents per square foot for their dingy wire-mesh cubicles are now on the same level with luxury flats in HK’s famed Peak district.With property prices in HK increasing and urban redevelopment...
Continue Reading • 30 Apr 2010
The Estuary writeback boosts MCL Land's Q1 profit
MCL Land’s net earnings of an eye-popping US$48.7 million during the three months of the year was mainly attributed to a writeback of an impairment charge of US$51 million for The Estuary condominium project in Yishun. The group reported a net profit of US$1.4 million over the same period...
Continue Reading • 30 Apr 2010
Ho Bee Investment's net profit up 11.8% in Q1
Property developer Ho Bee Investment reported a net profit of $41.7 million for the first quarter ended 31 March 2010, up 11.8 percent compared with the same period in 2009.The increase from $1.9 million to $10.8 million was mainly attributed to a surge in share of profit of jointly controlled...
Continue Reading • 30 Apr 2010
Over 30 units sold at Marina Bay Suites preview
Over 30 units at Marina Bay Suites were sold during its preview yesterday. They were among a batch of 36 apartments launched on nine floors in the 66-storey condo development and which are priced between $2,167 psf and $3,133 psf.Several analysts observed that the selling price is about 15...
Continue Reading • 30 Apr 2010
Two prime freehold properties released for public tender
The sizzling-hot property fever in Singapore has triggered the sale of two prime freehold commercial buildings.One is a 3,402-sq-ft four-storey building at 23 and 25 Kampong Bahru Road, which was put up for sale at around $16 million or $1,421 psf.The boutique building, which has a total strata...
Continue Reading • 30 Apr 2010
Mortgage exam for first-time buyers in the UK
First-time homebuyers in the UK should be properly educated about mortgages and that “they should be sold like driving licences, after study and an exam,” according to a national debt charity.During the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) Annual Convention, CCCS Chairman...
Continue Reading • 29 Apr 2010
JLL Singapore's Q1 revenue up 27%
Jones Lang LaSalle Singapore has posted a 27-percent year-on-year increase in revenue for the first quarter of 2010.“The Singapore business is in a good position for the year ahead due to the strong performance of our residential project sales, office leasing, investment sales and property...
Continue Reading • 29 Apr 2010
MRT stations pushing up land prices
Property prices in Singapore were pushed up by the opening of new MRT stations, making it harder for property developers to find land at viable prices.Chng Chee Beow, property director of Wing Tai Asia, said: “The transportation networking makes things much closer and that brings up...
Continue Reading • 29 Apr 2010