General

Singapore's property glut is an unintended consequence of government measures to force developers to build and sell apartments quickly or face stiff penalties, according to City Developments Ltd. The city-state's second-biggest home builder has come out swinging against a rule that imposes a levy on companies if they don't complete construction and sell all units within a period of five years from...

Resale prices for non-landed private residential properties in Singapore dipped slightly in November after two straight months of increase. Sales volumes also declined, according to flash figures from real estate portal SRX Property on Tuesday. Condominium resale prices fell 0.1 per cent in November from the previous month, compared with a 0.8 per cent rise in October. Volumes, meanwhile, fell 7.2 per...

Rents for non-landed private homes in Singapore rose in November from the previous month, while those for HDB flats slipped, though they were both higher as compared to a year ago. Overall condo rents increased 1.2 per cent from October, and is up by 4.6 per cent year on year. However, they are still 16 per cent below their peak in January 2013. Rents in the suburbs, or the outside central region...

With private property prices increasing at a faster rate than wage growth, property experts are saying that the affordability gap for private homes could further widen for Singaporeans. Professor Sumit Agarwal from the National University of Singapore Business School said that the divide between income growth and residential property price increases could grow bigger, with technology set to displace...

StreetSine and the Singapore Institute of Surveyors and Valuers (SISV) have reached an understanding on the use of automated valuation models (AVMs) following mediation, which has resulted in StreetSine discontinuing proceedings that had been previously brought against SISV. In a joint statement issued on Tuesday morning, StreetSine and SISV said: "Pursuant to a court-initiated mediation process, SISV...

Residents who live around NEX shopping mall and Serangoon MRT station will be within walking distance of Singapore's largest polyclinic when it opens in 2025. This was announced by Mr Seah Kian Peng, Member of Parliament for Marine Parade GRC, in a Facebook post on Sunday (Dec 8). The Ministry of Health is looking to ramp up the number of polyclinics from the current 20 to about 30 to 32 by...

Singapore has a property glut that could take years to clear, threatening to kill a nascent price recovery amid an already uncertain economic outlook. The city-state had an overhang of 31,948 units as of Sept 30, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority. Sales have averaged about 2,500 homes per quarter this year, and at that rate it will take almost four years to clear the backlog, according to...

Developers continue to jump on the hotel-conversion bandwagon, with Fragrance Group for its flagship office building in Alexandra Road and Lian Beng for Wilkie Edge among the latest to have received nods from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). The trend is being fuelled by the rise in hotel land values and a perceived shortage of hotel room supply on the island; this follows URA generally having...

You'll build and they'll come? Well, don't bet on it. That's what Singapore's authorities seem to be telling property developers, who are flooding the market with new homes. The builders themselves are getting nervous about the glut. But everyone — the prospective homeowner, the seller and the government — is actually lucky. A minor bubble got pricked in time, with exorbitant duties now charged...

SPH Reit has obtained A$205 million (S$194.8 million) in secured loans from Westpac Banking Corp to finance its proposed acquisition of a half-stake in Westfield Marion Shopping Centre. Inked in November, the A$670 million deal for the freehold mall in Adelaide, South Australia, will also be funded by a S$300 million issuance of perpetual securities in August plus S$164.5 million raised from a private...