The sale of private residential properties shot up more than tenfold in February to 1,323 units, compared to just 108 in January. Homebuyers thronged the showflats of mass-market projects like The Caspian in Boon Lay and The Alexis in Alexandra, and they propped up the property sales figures in February, accounting for more than 70 per cent of the units sold for the month. Property-watchers said those...
2009
The manager of Singapore-listed Mapletree Logistics Trust said it currently has no plans for any equity fundraising exercise. In a filing to the Singapore Exchange, MapletreeLog sought to differentiate itself from its sister entity Mapletree Industrial Trust, or MIT. MIT said on Friday that it is deferring cash distributions to investors for at least two years because of stricter covenants by the...
Owner-occupiers of older condominiums and HDB properties are capitalising on affordable pricing to upgrade to new and larger apartments THE BEST TIME to buy property, says K S Quek, a 45-year-old businessman who runs an electronic equipment servicing company with his wife, “is during a downturn”. The Queks did just that in the last property slump when they bought their current home, a fourth-floor...
Mapletree Industrial Trust (MIT) is deferring cash distributions to investors for at least two years because of stricter covenants by banks. The trust revealed this on Friday in a bid to address tenants' demands for a reduction in rents. MIT said its interest costs have doubled to S$23 million with the current credit crunch. It revealed that its shareholders have provided an additional S$140 million in...
Property developer CapitaLand said its S$1.84 billion rights issue has been oversubscribed. It cited indicative figures available at the close of the offer on Thursday. CapitaLand said the final number is subject to validation of acceptances and excess applications received by the Central Depository and CapitaLand's share registrar. CapitaLand had offered one share for every two existing shares at S$1.30...
Small is apparently beautiful for Singapore's hotel industry in these uncertain times. Boutique hotels with fewer than 100 rooms do not seem to be seeing the tourism blues, with some seeing near full occupancy rates in the past few months, even without slashing prices. Size does not matter for boutique hotel Naumi, even though it has only 10 storeys of 40 rooms. Naumi, set up in 2008, has seen about 75...
Champions Court - this year's first Build-to-Order (BTO) project in Woodlands - has been oversubscribed. Almost 3,200 applications have been received for the 815 units on offer. The project comprises studio apartments, three, four and five-room flats, and applications for all types have been oversubscribed. For example, there are only 224 studio apartments on offer, but 618 applicants are vying for them....
A 40-year-old shopping icon in Orchard Road is at risk of losing its tenants to upcoming malls in the area. Sources told Channel NewsAsia that about half of Shaw Centre's office and retail tenants had moved out within the last six months. Many of them refused to renew their leases after Shaw raised rents by about 100 per cent. Tyan and Betty Barclays, both upmarket boutiques on the ground floor of Shaw,...
THE WATERFRONT VIEW from the higher floors of the office towers around Raffles Place has changed dramatically in recent weeks. A trio of 55-storey connected hotel towers at Marina Bay that will make the base of Singapore’s first casino resort soared past its halfway mark late last month. With just 10 months to go before the downtown resort opens, the developers are racing to complete it on time. Marina...
Domus is a masterpiece of contemporary architecture rising twenty-eight storeys above a fascinating landscape of charming old world urbanity. It also offers panoramic views of the city and Macritchie Reservoir. Located within the established Novena residential estate, Domus is a five-minute walk away from Novena MRT station and just minutes away from Orchard Road, the Central Expressway (CTE) and Pan...