The Singapore Retailers Association (SRA) says that 20,000 employees may be retrenched as a result of store closures, if landlords do not lower rentals. It says members' incomes have contracted by 20 to 30 per cent over the last few months, and that margins are now almost negligible, if not negative. Yet, rental rates have not come down for many retailers, says the association. Occupancy costs have...
February 2009
It may be a property buyers' market now, but the poor economy has brought woes to another segment of the housing industry. The business slump is turning contractors into casualties of the recession, forcing some to tout for business. Residents in Punggol have recently become the targets of touts. Several callers to Channel NewsAsia's news hotline said they had been approached by many contractors seeking...
Office rentals in Singapore suffered their sharpest quarterly drop since 2000 in the final three months of last year. A research report from property consultancy CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) said Grade A office rents fell 20 per cent on-quarter in the fourth quarter of last year, to an average of S$15 per square foot. Average office rents stood at some S$13 per square foot, down 14 per cent from a year...
For the first time, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) is launching studio apartments in Woodlands under the Build-To-Order scheme. Called Champions Court, there will be 224 units of studio apartments, 182 units of 3-room, 224 units of 4-room and 185 units of 5-room flats available. 3-room flats will cost at least S$118,000, while prices of 4-room flats and 5-room flats will start from S$194,000 and...
Singapore property and hotel group City Developments (CDL) said Thursday its net 2008 profit fell 20 percent year-on-year to 581 million dollars (382 million US) due to lower hotel operation revenues. The decline in 2008 profits came amid a sharp slowdown in the local property sector, but City Developments said its real estate business remained a major source of earnings. Total revenues in 2008 amounted...
Singapore's economy, already in recession, shrank 4.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2008 from a year earlier, with overall annual growth coming in at 1.1 per cent, the government said on Thursday. The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said it was maintaining its 2009 forecast of a shrinkage in gross domestic product (GDP) of between 2.0 and 5.0 per cent. On a seasonally adjusted annualised...
Singapore is the world leader in terms of innovation and competitiveness while South Korea ranks fifth and Japan ninth, according to a report released on Wednesday. Other countries in the top 10 of the study by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) were Sweden (2), Luxembourg (3), Denmark (4), the United States (6), Finland (7), Britain (8) and the North American Free Trade Agreement...
Luxury resorts developer and operator Banyan Tree Holdings said its full year net profit fell 91 per cent to S$7 million. The bottomline was hit by the political turmoil in Thailand last year, which led to a week-long closure of Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport and left more than 300,000 tourists stranded in November. The slowing global economy has also not helped. Revenue was flat, rising...
Some mortgage rates are rising; shop around before making a choice As global interest rates fall, you would expect more homeowners to be tempted into taking up mortgages pegged to the Singapore Interbank Offered Rate (Sibor) or Swap Offer Rate (SOR). After all, the three-month Sibor rate is currently around 0.68 per cent - just shy of its all-time low of 0.63 per cent. However, instead of resulting in...
The Thomson-Balestier area is transforming from a quiet mature locale to a rejuvenated community of trendy food establishments, interesting entertainment places and fresh living spaces. And soon to settle into this locale with just the right breath of contemporary living is CDL’s upcoming development – The Arte. A masterpiece of modern living, this 336-unit freehold development will inject an air of...