When I first raised my concerns about the proliferation of shoebox homes with a Ministry of National Development official in an informal meeting early last year, he wanted justifications for action and a size definition of what constituted a shoebox unit. Today, I am not sure if the official has finally got "satisfactory answers" to his questions but recent events hint that the days of the shoebox unit...
General
Singapore has recently seen a surge in the issuance of perpetual bonds. As the name suggests, these are bonds that can last in perpetuity with no maturity date. Most perpetual bonds have a "call" date when the issuer may redeem the bonds, usually at a premium. However, redemption is not an obligation, and so most perpetual bonds have a "step-up coupon" feature that increases the coupon payment investors...
The tender by Housing and Development Board for an executive condominium (EC) site at Woodlands Avenue 5 / Woodlands Drive 16 has attracted five bids. The top bid of S$247 million came from Hao Yuan Investment which works out to about S$320 per square foot per plot ratio for the 25,800 square metres site. Hao Yuan Investment bid 3.5 per cent higher than the second bid. The rest of the bids ranged between...
Rents of grade A office space has increased in 13 markets in Asia Pacific in the first quarter of 2012, according to Jones Lang LaSalle in its just-released Q1 Asia Pacific Office Index Report. The Index monitors grade A net effective rents in 27 key markets in Asia Pacific. It also highlighted that rents of grade A office space remained static in 3 markets and declined in 11 markets. Aggregate rental...
CapitaMall Trust sells (CMT) has on 2 May 2012 awarded a tender to Oxley Bloom Pte Ltd for the sale of Hougang Plaza located at Upper Serangoon Road at a price of around S$119.1m. Hougang Plaza is a three-storey neighbourhood shopping mall located in Hougang Central that caters to the basic shopping and entertainment needs of residents in the vicinity. The property has a leasehold tenure of 99 years with...
Katong Regency is a freehold mixed development, with a three storey and one basement retail mall. The 200,000 sqft mall will host a wide range of F&B outlets and shops as well as a food court and supermarket. It is located beside the future Paya Lebar Central, one of the three key growth areas outside city centre identified by the government. The area will be bustling with 3.16 million sqft of office...
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) announced today the formation of a Rail Corridor Partnership to look into the programming and promotion of community activities along the Rail Corridor. The Partnership is an expansion of the Rail Corridor Consultation Group, which was formed last July to provide input to the government on charting the future development plans for the Rail Corridor. With the...
Around 400 online applications was received for its 416 units at about 5pm on Tuesday at the executive condominium (EC) project, Watercolours in Pasir Ris. Watercolours is the only Housing and Development Board project among the four developments located at the junction of Pasir Ris Link and Pasir Ris Drive 3. The other three developments are private condominium projects Ripple Bay and Seastrand, and an...
Hotel trust M&L Hospitality Trusts has deferred its initial public offering (IPO) on the Singapore Exchange, as investor demand for its shares was less than targeted. The trust has completed its international roadshow with investors this month, but the "targeted book coverage outcome was not ideal". In a report by Channel Newsasia, M&L had planned to raise as much as S$460 million for its IPO...
Prices of resale private homes increased by 0.8 per cent in March, after falling 1.6 per cent February. This is according to the Singapore Residential Price Index (SRPI) flash estimates published by the Institute of Real Estate Studies at National University of Singapore (NUS). It noted an increase in the housing transactions volume in March and it is possible that the market may be shaking off the...