CCT to issue $225m in convertible bonds
CapitaCommercial Trust (CCT) is proposing to issue five-year convertible bonds of at least $225 million.The bonds, which are due in 2015, are being offered to accredited and institutional investors.CCT said that the size of the bond issue may increase by up to $25 million within the next 30 days,...
Continue Reading • 18 Mar 2010
Credo Real Estate puts Culford Garden up for tender
Credo Real Estate, a property consultancy firm, has put Culford Garden at Siglap up for tender, with an asking price ranging between $37 million and $40 million.At that price, each unit owner can expect to yield between $1.54 million to $1.66 million from the collective deal.With a land area of...
Continue Reading • 18 Mar 2010
Two property owners hope to fetch $30m for adjacent bungalows
Two owners of adjacent bungalows in the Mountbatten area have jointly put their properties up for sale, hoping to fetch some $30 million.According to Cushman & Wakefield, a property consultancy firm, the freehold units at 6 and 8 Margate Road have a combined land area of 24,000 sq ft.The...
Continue Reading • 18 Mar 2010
Property developer offers to absorb stamp duty
The property fever may not have cooled down yet, but one real estate developer in the country is offering an incentive, which has not been seen in over a year, to boost sales and attract buyers.The stamp duty absorption, which is usually used by wary developers during a market downturn, is now...
Continue Reading • 18 Mar 2010
Private home transactions up 130%
Private home transactions for both new and resale homes surged more than 130 percent in 2009, despite the economic downturn. Singaporeans were likely the main drivers for the increase. An increase of about 144 percent or 23,516 private home transactions were made by Singaporeans last year,...
Continue Reading • 18 Mar 2010
Lian Beng wins $78m condo contract
Lian Beng Group, a construction player, has won a $78-million contract from Far East Group to build Centro Residences. The development is expected to be completed by January 2013.The deal, which is the second in two weeks for Lian Beng, is for a multi-storey carpark, a 34-storey residential...
Continue Reading • 17 Mar 2010
Former Alkaff Mansion put up for tender
The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) has launched a tender for the former Alkaff Mansion.The site near Mount Faber can be leased for the following uses – as a restaurant, spa, art gallery or museum.SLA will issue an initial three-year tenancy term, which is renewable for another two terms of...
Continue Reading • 17 Mar 2010
Sim Lian acquires Tampines site for $302m
Property developer Sim Lian has submitted a top bid of $302 million for a land parcel in Tampines.Sim Lian led the land tender event, which included some other well-known developers like Frasers Centrepoint, Far East Organization, MCL Land and CapitaLand, as demand for residential land in the...
Continue Reading • 17 Mar 2010
Compulsory PI coverage for property agents set to boost public confidence
Homebuyers now have a greater degree of assurance of recovering at least part of their losses should their property agent give them poor advice, lie to them or fail to do their due diligence.Starting next month, agents accredited with the Singapore Accredited Estate Agencies (SAEA) must obtain a...
Continue Reading • 17 Mar 2010
Low interest rates attract homebuyers
A battle has broken out in the home loans market, with banks pushing down their interest rates over the past few weeks. DBS Bank fired the first volley and now others have responded.This is good news for all home owners and those investors looking to refinance or re-price their mortgages. The...
Continue Reading • 17 Mar 2010
Warnings issued against rising mortgage fraud in the UK
UK mortgage lenders have been urged to be cautious against an increase in mortgage fraud, as the economic conditions in the country eases up.The National Fraud Authority (NFA) said that organizations involved in lending processes should continue working against mortgage fraud, which costs around...
Continue Reading • 16 Mar 2010
MCC Land wins tender for EC land site
A 99-year leasehold site located at Yishun Avenue 3 has been awarded by the HDB to MCC Land Pte at a tender price of $127,800,000. An executive housing project is set to be built on the 15,074.2-sq-m land plot with a 42,207.76 sq m maximum gross floor area.The new development will be the first...
Continue Reading • 16 Mar 2010
Private home sales in February down by 19%
Private home sales for February kept up their momentum, with 1,196 units changing hands. This figure is down by 19 percent (or some 280 units) from January, when the increase in transactions prompted the Singapore government to come up with more anti-speculative measures. However,...
Continue Reading • 16 Mar 2010
Chip Eng Seng acquires a S$25.8-million site in Melbourne
Property and construction firm Chip Eng Seng Corporation has acquired a land parcel in Melbourne for about A$20.2 million (S$25.8 million). The amount for the deal is considerable when compared to the company’s 2009 net profit worth of $75.3 million.The 20,000-sq-ft land site is located at...
Continue Reading • 16 Mar 2010
Asian REITs may return to pre-crisis highs by end of 2011
According to market experts, Asian real estate investment trusts (REITs) are expected to take one or two years to yield back to the pre-global financial crisis market capitalisation peaks.They expect a robust rebound in REITs in the second half of 2010, particularly from the industrial...
Continue Reading • 16 Mar 2010
A boost in US home loan modifications for February
The United States Treasury Department and the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have announced the number of home loan modifications through the Home Affordable Modification Programme (HAMP) for the month of February. There were 91,800 loan modifications that had been approved by servicers and...
Continue Reading • 15 Mar 2010
Property agent jailed for targeting foreigners in rental scam
Razieya Mohamed Ali, a part-time real estate agent fooled eight foreigners in a rental scam and collected almost $22,000 for herself and her accomplices. She was jailed for 11 months by a district court.From November 2008 to February 2009, the 34-year-old divorcee posted flats-for-rent...
Continue Reading • 15 Mar 2010
100 units sold out at The Vision's phase one launch
Property developer Cheung Kong has set another record selling price for a residential project located in the West Coast area.The HK developer was able to sell the entire 100 released units in the first phase of sale for the 99-year leasehold project – The Vision. Out of the total number of...
Continue Reading • 15 Mar 2010
More executive condos to be built in 2010
Minister for National Development, Mr. Mah Bow Tan, has said that more executive condominiums (ECs) will be built this year in order to meet the “sandwiched group’s” housing needs.This group pertains to couples who are not qualified to avail for new HDB flats because their...
Continue Reading • 15 Mar 2010
Fixed rates in UK mortgages trimmed back
The average cost of two-year fixed-rate home loans in the United Kingdom dropped to a 6½-year low in February, according to new figures released by the Bank of England.The average rate of fixed mortgages fell from 3.97 percent in January to 3.88 percent, a level last seen in July...
Continue Reading • 11 Mar 2010