CDL to preview Cube 8 condo at $1,250 psf
City Developments Ltd (CDL) is expected to start previewing its Cube 8 freehold condo on Thomson Road this week, with the average price approximated at $1,250 per sq ft.Allgreen Properties is poised to begin sales at Holland Residences, a five-storey freehold condo with 83 units located at Taman...
Continue Reading • 19 Jan 2010
CapitaLand buys assets of Orient Overseas in China for $2.2b
Southeast Asia’s biggest property developer, CapitaLand Ltd., has agreed to purchase the real estate assets of Orient Overseas (International) Ltd. in China for $2.2 billion. The move doubles CapitaLand’s real estate portfolio in the world’s most populous nation.In a statement...
Continue Reading • 19 Jan 2010
UK mortgage rates down as competition tightens
It's lucky days for homebuyers who are looking for a short term, low-cost mortgage rate, as competition amongst lenders increases, driving down mortgage rates.Several providers have launched attractive price mortgages in the past few weeks, suggesting that the month of January will see a...
Continue Reading • 18 Jan 2010
Singapore well-placed to draw surplus office demand from Hong Kong
While Hong Kong faces a shortage of prime office space, Singapore has a glut. The head of research and consultancy and deputy managing director at Savills Hong Kong, Mr. Simon Smith, believes that Singapore is well placed to take advantage of the imbalance.Based on Savills research, supply of...
Continue Reading • 18 Jan 2010
Should foreigners take the blame?
During an hour-long dialogue with Law Minister K. Shanmugam on Sunday, 58-year-old Wee Kai Fatt stood up and complained about the foreigner population boom in Singapore, saying he was shocked to learn that there were over five million people residing in Singapore. He added that the influx of...
Continue Reading • 18 Jan 2010
Low sales recorded for private homes in December
Sales of private homes fell for the fourth straight month in December, plummeting 20 percent month-on-month to only 481 units, according to Singapore's Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).The figure is the second lowest number of monthly sales last year, following January’s low, with only...
Continue Reading • 18 Jan 2010
CCT to sell Robinson Point for $200m
CapitaCommercial Trust (CCT) plans to sell Robinson Point, a 21-storey freehold office property, for about $200 million, or around $1,500 per sq ft of net lettable area. The buyer is said to be the US real estate fund manager AEW. AEW purchased the former Apollo Centre for $205 million in...
Continue Reading • 18 Jan 2010
UK mortgage costs continue to decline
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) confirmed on Thursday that the cost of UK mortgages has dropped to a five-year low. The required percentage of income to cover the average mortgage payment has dropped to 12 percent, which will bring more people into the mortgage market and improve demand for...
Continue Reading • 15 Jan 2010
Singapore's investment property market stages a robust comeback
The investment property market in Singapore appears to be shrugging off the global financial turmoil and is staging a robust comeback.According to C B Richard Ellis, Singapore's investment market showed a better-than-expected performance in 2009. It said that the total property investment sales...
Continue Reading • 15 Jan 2010
More firms may consider expanding their businesses in Singapore
More firms are planning to expand their businesses in Singapore due to the increase in supply of office space in the market.According to analysts, the expected sharp increase in office rentals in Hong Kong is another reason why firms find it more cost effective to hire in Singapore.Based on the...
Continue Reading • 15 Jan 2010
Grade A office rents to drop 20–25 percent, according to Savills
Rental rates of Grade A office spaces in Singapore are expected to drop by 20 to 25 percent this year. This will widen the gap between rents in the country and in Hong Kong, and will give Singapore a more competitive advantage when it comes to companies looking to expand their business in Asia,...
Continue Reading • 15 Jan 2010
Luxury and high-end home projects to dominate in 2010
Singapore's high-end and luxury home prices started to climb up this year, but developers and analysts are confident that further growth is possible.The smooth year began last week as CapitaLand sold 60 apartments in the 165-unit Urban Suites condominium in the Cairnhill area, with prices ranging...
Continue Reading • 14 Jan 2010
Green Lodge bid receives weak response
The tender for the en bloc sale of Green Lodge at Toh Tuck Road closed on Wednesday, but it is not clear if a winning bid for the site has emerged.It is believed that there were a few bids for the land parcel, but marketing agents Newman & Goh haven't announced the tender results. It is...
Continue Reading • 14 Jan 2010
Demand for home loans in Australia drops
The number of housing loans issued by Australian banks is falling due to the reduction of the government’s stimulus measures and increasing interest rates.Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that the number of home loans issued in November last year fell to 5.6 percent....
Continue Reading • 14 Jan 2010
DBS sees a promising first half in 2010 for earnings
DBS Group, the biggest lender in Southeast Asia, said on Wednesday that the first half of 2010 looks positive for its earnings.“Overall it looks very promising for the first half,” said Chairman Koh Boon Hwee, referring to both the economy and earnings.Changes in the regulatory...
Continue Reading • 14 Jan 2010
Nomura Singapore to lease in MBFC
The Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC) is clinching another tenant, Nomura Singapore.The Japanese bank, which acquired the operation of Lehman Brothers in late 2008, is expected to lease 100,000 square feet of office space in Tower 2 of MBCF, which is slated for completion in mid-2010.The signing...
Continue Reading • 13 Jan 2010
CapitaLand and Hoang Thanh sign second JV agreement for residential project
CapitaLand, one of the largest real estate developers in Asia, signed a joint venture agreement with Hoang Thanh, a Vietnamese property developer, for a second residential project in Hanoi, Vietnam.The agreement is aimed at developing a 14,000-sq-m residential site in Ha Dong district in...
Continue Reading • 13 Jan 2010
Bangkok condo market still under pressure
Rental rates of condominiums in Bangkok are facing continued pressure this year, as a greater number of newer units appear on the scene.Research conducted by DTZ showed that in the final quarter of 2009, six projects with a total of 1,408 units were launched within Thailand’s Central...
Continue Reading • 13 Jan 2010
Average prices of UK homes rise back to above £200,000
The Communities and Local Government (CLG) released information showing that the average prices of UK homes have now risen back to above £200,000.While November figures showed that the rate of increase in the value of UK property has started to slow down, prices are still 0.6% above the...
Continue Reading • 13 Jan 2010
UEM Land to raise RM970 million
UEM Land Holdings Berhad (ULHB) intends to undertake a rights issue to raise about RM970 million gross proceeds.The proceeds will be used for payment of the acquisition of land in Cyberjaya, repayment of borrowings, working capital purposes, and payment for property development, said ULHB in a...
Continue Reading • 12 Jan 2010