HONG Kong prime office rents may fall a further 26 per cent this year as the global financial crisis prompts banks and investment companies to control spending, according to a report by property agency Colliers International. "The prime office market is predicted to experience a further downward adjustment due to the consolidation of the financial markets and the global economic outlook," Colliers...
2009
DEVELOPERS of at least six mass-market private condos could release their projects in the next few months, riding on buying momentum generated lately by the Caspian condo near Jurong Lake - despite the recession. Property consultancy CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) tips Oasis @ Elias, The Gale on Flora Road in Upper Changi and Ascentia Sky on Alexandra Road among projects for possible launch in the next two...
I DISAGREE with the recommendations to build "no-frills" housing to meet the needs of young couples who cannot afford resale flats or even new flats direct from HDB. Firstly, not having features such as playgrounds or BBQ pits in such a no-frills housing estate will have social repercussions. The idea contradicts the Government's campaign of encouraging couples to start a family or have more children....
OF LATE, relatives and friends looking into investing in property have found the process very difficult, with the Inland Revenue Authority Of Singapore (Iras) asking for details pertaining to their property transactions. These investigations are highly detailed and intrusive; tend to drag on for months and may even involve face-to-face meetings with a panel of senior tax officials. Iras typically takes...
I REFER to the report "No-frills housing, please" (Feb 9). MP Lim Wee Kiak is right to note that 3- and 4-room flats cost only $15,000 and $20,000, respectively, in the '70s. In fact, even 5-room flats cost only $27,500 to $35,500 then. How did they all come to cost 10 to 30 times more in a matter of 30 years? Have construction costs and salaries gone up that much? Not only have prices gone up, the sizes...
IN DISMISSING yesterday the last-ditch appeal by 10 minority owners against the collective sale of Gillman Heights, Singapore's highest court has set down the clear criteria, going forward, for all other privatised HUDC estates that wish to go en bloc. In a case that hinged on the completion date of the estate, the Court of Appeal ruled that the age of HUDC estates should be pegged to the date when they...
Property giant seeks $3.07 billion from existing shareholders IN A move to position itself for "opportunities in distressed assets", property giant CapitaLand is looking to raise $1.84 billion in a rights issue that analysts say could be a precursor of more fundraising exercises for developers. South-east Asia's largest property developer and its subsidiary - CapitaMall Trust (CMT), which has planned a...
HE APPARENTLY preyed on unsuspecting tenants in search of rental units. Over a period of 10 months, he was said to have cheated them of more than $100,000 in more than 50 cases island-wide. On the run since last year, the 33-year-old unemployed man was arrested in a stake out early yesterday. According to preliminary police investigations, between April last year and last month, he had collected advance...
Property giant CapitaLand is looking to pad its portfolio with good buys amid the current global recession. The company aims to raise S$1.84b in a rights issue, and is eyeing distressed assets in China. China is one of its key markets, accounting for some 45 per cent of CapitaLand's earnings. Liew Mun Leong, CapitaLand Group president and CEO, said: "In China, we are quite well known for taking over...
The Court of Appeal has dismissed the last-ditch appeal by 10 minority owners of former HUDC estate Gillman Heights to stop its collective sale. Minority owners at the huge estate at Alexandra Road have been battling the S$548m collective sale since it was approved by the Strata Titles Board (STB) in 2007. This appeal was the last recourse for the minority owners. They had argued that STB was wrong to...