74 per cent of Singapore home buyers are delaying their property purchases, and 59 per cent of the respondents surveyed are confident prices will not decline. According to a recent survey conducted by property website iProperty Group, 60 per cent of the Singapore respondents have called for additional cooling measures. This compares to 27 per cent who do not want further cooling measures. The portal...
General
The S$410 million remake of Suntec City is starting to take shape -- Phase 1 of the makeover was completed in June. Susan Sim, deputy CEO of ARA Trust Management (Suntec) Limited, said: "We are 100 per cent occupied on Phase 1, and most of the tenants have already started operations. Phase 2 as of June, we are 70 per cent pre-committed and we are on target for Phase 2, which is going to be ready by...
Fears have emerged that a bubble has formed in the London property market after prices rose to levels not seen since before the global financial crisis, but that is not deterring Singaporean investors who are attracted by the city’s global appeal and a favourable exchange rate. Official data released last week showed that London house prices rose by 8.1 per cent in a year to record highs, pushing the...
Some home buyers Channel NewsAsia spoke with have suggested that the new housing grants announced at Sunday's National Day Rally be extended to those buying from the resale market as well. Home buyers welcomed in particular the extension of the existing Special Housing Grant, which provides up to S$20,000. The grant will soon include not just two and three room flats, but four-room flats as well. The...
Buyers snapped up 76 per cent of the units at City Developments' (CDL) new executive condominium (EC), Lush Acres, over the weekend. CDL said the 380-unit EC project opened for booking on Saturday and 289 units were sold over the weekend. About 37 per cent were eligible first-time buyers. Located in Sengkang, the project consists of three- to five-bedroom apartments of sizes between 915 square...
After an elaborate campaign to woo buyers featuring fun-fair rides, fireworks displays and free yacht trips at the showflat site, Country Garden Danga Bay, a condominium development in Johor Baru, has sold over 5,000 of the 7,000 units on offer, with 30 per cent of them snapped up by Singaporeans. The project by Chinese developer Country Garden is located in Iskandar Malaysia, some five minutes from the...
The government will make sure every Singaporean family who is working can afford a home, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his National Day Rally Speech on Sunday. Giving the assurance, he announced new Step-Up Housing Grants and the extension of the current Special Housing Grant to help more low- and middle-income households. "I believe home ownership is still a fundamental principle for...
The Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME) has scrapped a plan to build an industrial park for SMEs in Malaysia's Iskandar region. However, ASME said it was looking into other ways to help SMEs cope with rising costs in Singapore. Over the past year, many business groups in Singapore have organised trips to Iskandar to explore expansion and relocation opportunities. In December 2012, the...
A commercial site at Cecil Street/Telok Ayer Street attracted four bids at the close of tender yesterday, with the top bid of S$924 million coming from Fraser & Neave unit FC Commercial Trustee, data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority showed. The 99-year leasehold site, originally made available through the Reserve List of the Government Land Sales programme last December, was put up for tender in...
The much-awaited launch of the Build-To-Order (BTO) two-room Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats for singles saw about 58 applicants vying for each available unit by the close of offer last Monday. In his blog, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan said this had silenced the sceptics as the market response was not lukewarm at all. A more apt description of the response would be “sizzling...