The Housing and Development Board (HDB) and Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) are releasing three residential sites and two commercial-and-residential sites for sale in June 2013 under the Government Land Sales Programme for the first half of 2013. Together, these five sites can yield about 3,600 residential units. Two Executive Condominium sites at Punggol Drive and Yuan Ching Road are launched...
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The consortium comprising FCL Topaz, Far East Orchard and Sekisui House has won the bid to develop a land parcel at Fernvale Close. It topped eight bids with a S$257-million offer. That is 2 percent more than the second-highest bid placed by MCC Land. HDB estimated some 495 units will be built. Analysts estimate the developers will price the suburban units at S$1,200 per square foot. The top...
Singapore's third-largest suburban mall JEM says it will open on Saturday, 15 June. This comes after the sudden delay in the mall's opening earlier this week. JEM is giving away S$10 vouchers to the first 1,000 shoppers on Saturday. JEM was due to open on Tuesday, June 11 but this had to be postponed because none of the units in the mall had applied for a Fire Safety Certificate or Temporary Fire...
An upcoming private residential project, J Gateway at Jurong East, looks set to shatter price records for suburban homes. According to property agents, the selling price for units ranges between S$1,400 and S$1,650 per square foot. J Gateway is tipped to be the "hottest project launch" by property agents, but units will not come cheap. According to a marketing mailer from agents, a one-bedroom...
The government is expected to announce its land sales programme for the second half of 2013 soon. Analysts expect the state to continue to put out an adequate supply of sites to meet housing demand. But some market watchers suggest that perhaps fewer sites can be offered under the Confirmed List to keep supply in check. In the first half of 2013, the government has set aside 12 residential sites...
Commercial real estate has long had a place in the portfolios of wealthy investors, who see it as a useful diversification away from residential property and the more volatile assets such as stocks or bonds. But lately, the trend has accelerated, in particular among Singaporean and other Asian investors, who are taking advantage of the strength of their currencies and the environment of low interest...
The Republic will continue its reign as Asia’s most competitive city in terms of attracting capital, business, talent and visitors by the middle of the next decade, according to a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The report, titled Hot Spots 2025: Benchmarking the Future Competitiveness of Cities, also puts Singapore in third place globally behind New York and London, with factors such as...
There has been a flurry of REIT IPOs coming to market, with Overseas Union Enterprise (OUE) and Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) announcing their proposed listings on the Singapore Exchange within a week of each other. Both REITS are expected to raise more than S$1.5 billion from the market. Market observers expect strong demand for these REITs, mainly for their high yields of between 5.5 and 6...
The level of speculative activities in the private residential market in Singapore has dropped substantially in the past few years. Sub-sales of private residential properties hit a six-year low of 4.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2013, according to data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority. Analysts said sub-sales - which refer to the resale of uncompleted units - should continue to trend down...
More property investors are giving Singapore a miss and are snapping up homes in Iskandar Malaysia instead after the government raised the additional buyer's stamp duty (ABSD) earlier this year. Real estate agencies Propnex and OrangeTee said they have seen an increase in sales transactions and enquiries for homes in Iskandar Malaysia in Johor Bahru, and a lot of that demand is from Singaporeans. In...