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TOP Global's wholly-owned subsidiary Holland V Investment Holdings has exercised an option with Bhajis Holdings and Lawson Investment Holdings to purchase a property in Singapore for S$13 million. The property, along Lorong Mambong, has a total area of about 2,860 square feet with a freehold tenure. A 5 per cent deposit of S$650,000 has been paid and the balance 95 per cent will be paid when the...

Allowing those who are taking a home loan package from the Housing Board to have options in how they want to use their Central Provident Fund (CPF) money is a “good” move that will give flat buyers greater flexibility in planning for their finances, experts said. However, there could be some risks of over-leveraging as would-be homeowners take up bigger loans, they cautioned. In an announcement...

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Monday (Aug 27) declared that foreigners will not be granted visas to live in the giant Forest City project in Johor, a major threat to the marketing strategy for the development. It is not his first broadside against the plan by Chinese developer Country Garden Holdings Co to create a new city that was envisaged to eventually house 700,000 people on...

The Housing and Development Board (HDB) has launched 5,101 flats for sale under the August 2018 Build-to-Order (BTO) and Re-Offer of Balance Flats (ROF) exercise, it said in a press release on Tuesday (Aug 28). The flats include 4,375 BTO units in Punggol and Yishun and another 726 ROF units across various towns and estates, HDB said. BTO EXERCISE The BTO flats on offer are spread across four...

Flat buyers can now choose to keep up to S$20,000 each in their Central Provident Fund (CPF) when taking a loan from the Housing and Development Board (HDB), the housing board said on Tuesday (Aug 28). Previously, buyers would have to fully utilise the balances in their CPF Ordinary Account (OA) to pay for their flat before taking up an HDB loan. The move will provide flat buyers with "greater...

HDB flats in the new Punggol Point District with waterfront views could fetch 5 to 10 per cent more than units that do not overlook the sea, said property analysts yesterday. But they added that buyers will still be mainly focused on factors such as the apartment's proximity to transport nodes and amenities. Their insights came a day after the Housing Board announced details of the new Punggol zone,...

According to the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) flash estimates for its Singapore Residential Price Index (SRPI) released on Tuesday, prices of completed non-landed private homes continued to lose momentum in July, declining 0.5 per cent month-on-month after a slower appreciation in June. In June, prices rose 0.7 per cent, down from a positive 1.6 per cent pace in May. The July decline...

HubSpot - a software products developer has opened an additional office at Mapletree Anson in the central business district as it expands its footprint. With its APAC headquarters already based here, HubSpot now plans to create about 100 new jobs in Singapore by 2021, covering areas such as sales, marketing, services, and support. This comes after the company announced the creation of 150 jobs when it...

A freehold cluster of three adjoining conservation shophouses located right in the heart of the historic and vibrant district of Chinatown at Smith Street has been launched for sale via public tender. Sited within the popular street block bordered by New Bridge Road, Temple Street, Trengganu Street and Smith Street, the corner plot is conveniently located within 2 to 5-minutes’ walk from the Chinatown...

Besides improving retirement adequacy, the move to allow flat buyers to retain S$20,000 in their Central Provident Fund (CPF) Ordinary Account when taking up Housing and Development Board (HDB) loans would provide some relief and flexibility to homeowners who are retrenched or between jobs, said experts. Before the change, which took effect on Tuesday (Aug 28), buyers had to first use up the entire...