Few tourists visiting Singapore will give Orchard Road a miss. The island's main shopping and entertainment strip has been going through a multi-million-dollar makeover. In order to pit the central shopping belt against bigger names like London's Oxford Street, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) gave the district a US$26.7 million makeover in April 2008. From building rest areas known as Green Rooms to...
2008
THE leasing market has become the latest casualty of Singapore’s weakening property market, with both residential and office rents posting their first declines since 2004 in the third quarter of this year. According to Urban Redevelopment Authority figures released yesterday, rentals of private residential properties fell 0.9 per cent in the third quarter, compared to a 2.5 per cent rise in the second...
CAPITALAND, Singapore's largest real-estate developer by assets, will hold back on investments until the global credit crisis shows signs of bottoming, said chief executive officer Liew Mun Leong. CapitaLand is evaluating opportunities to invest about $4 billion of cash and will wait for signs that the rout in financial markets is nearing an end, Mr Liew said. The developer has invested about half of the...
THE Housing and Development Board's (HDB) lease buyback scheme appears to be the best option for the elderly who wish to "unlock" the value of their homes. The lease buyback scheme, which the HDB will implement next year, provides the highest monthly payouts compared with other plans that enable the elderly to monetise their flats for retirement income. Under the lease buyback model, HDB will buy back...
Singapore's Housing and Development Board (HDB) released data on Friday that showed prices of resale flats rising by 4.2 per cent in the third quarter, as compared to the previous quarter. This was in line with estimates released earlier this month. Sales volume also went up by about four per cent from 7,760 to 8,110 transactions. HDB said the median Cash-Over-Valuation (COV) amount for all resale...
Prices of private residential properties in Singapore dropped 2.4 per cent in the third quarter of this year from the second quarter, snapping four years of growth. The figure fell short of an initial estimate of a 1.8 per cent decline, on the back of an economic downturn. Costs of high-end properties in prime districts continue to trend down, dipping 2.7 per cent, while prices in mid-tier and mass...
The United Nations (UN) gave Singapore top marks in its latest report on the state of the world's cities, and has said it is keen to deepen its collaboration with Singapore as a knowledge hub. The UN also called on cities to take on pro-growth policies that support the poor and strengthen infrastructure. It said all these can make a difference when it comes to sustainable living. The UN said people's...
After three years of construction, the S$230 million Marina Barrage is ready. It dams up Singapore's river mouth, forming a reservoir - the Marina Reservoir - which has a catchment area that is one-sixth the size of Singapore. Right now, the reservoir contains mainly sea water. But when the monsoon rains come, the sea water will be flushed out through the gates into the sea, making it a freshwater...
The Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) has increased its investment in an Australian property firm. Media reports in Australia say GIC has increased its stake in GPT to between 12 and 18 per cent after pumping in an additional A$250 million to A$300 million. GPT is one of Australia's largest diversified listed property groups with prime retail and office assets across Australia. It also has a...
Keppel Land has turned in a 23.2 per cent drop in earnings for the first nine months of 2008. Net income came in at S$159 million. Revenue for the same period fell by almost 38 per cent on-year to S$645 million. Keppel Land said the global economic crisis has hurt residential sales in China, Vietnam, India and Indonesia in the third quarter of 2008. It also saw lower earnings from its property services...