More land will be released for the development of executive condominiums (ECs) in 2012. The Ministry of National Development (MND) says that it is prepared to supply land sites for 5,000 EC units next year. This is part of the government's move to help more higher income Singaporeans own private housing by expanding the EC market. The government has taken an earlier step by raising the monthly income...
General
Lucky Plaza - which was hit by flooding again last Friday - is in the process of installing flood barriers. Its management told Channel NewsAsia it is in discussion with national water agency PUB and the relevant authorities. It is unable to reveal further details. Channel NewsAsia understands the project has been in the works since last year, when Singapore experienced one of its worst flooding in...
More Singaporeans have their sights trained on offshore property markets as the outlook for local prices dims, according to some real estate agents and industry watchers. A survey by PropertyGuru found that 19 per cent of more than 1,737 respondents were "tempted" to invest overseas, up from the 14 per cent registered in PropertyGuru's previous survey in June 2011. Malaysia was the top overseas...
With the backlog of first-time buyers of HDB flats largely cleared, Singapore's Minister for National Development Khaw Boon Wan has set his sights on helping second-timers get their homes faster in the new year. Experts said this could be in the form of increasing the percentage of Build-To-Order (BTO) flats allocated to second-timers currently set at five per cent. 2011 has been about answering the...
Avid readers of regional newspapers would have noticed an interesting trend recently: While headlines in Hong Kong and China have highlighted declining transaction volumes and sliding prices in their residential property markets, local newspapers are still reporting healthy demand, especially for mass-market homes, with prices reaching record highs. An interesting case in point is the recent launch of...
The Ascott, the world's largest serviced residence owner-operator, has no plans to list a real estate investment trust (REIT) in Malaysia, the company said yesterday, clarifying a news report published this week. The New Straits Times, citing Ascott regional general manager for Singapore and Malaysia, Mr Tan Boon Khai, had reported on Wednesday that Ascott might group its assets in Malaysia and float them...
Some local governments in China are considering measures to fine-tune property curbs and may propose these tweaks during next year's National People's Congress, the 21st Century Business Herald reported yesterday. While key cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Qingdao have decided to extend home-purchase limits and continue property-tightening measures next year, other local governments are mulling...
The government has released three residential sites for sale on Thursday. These are at Bedok South Avenue 3, Jervois Road and Boon Lay Way. The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said they can yield about 1,325 housing units, adding to the 21,560 units launched for sale under the Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme this year. The land parcels at Bedok South Avenue 3 and Jervois Road are launched for...
It appears that more Singaporeans are looking at buying private residential properties in Malaysia according to some real estate agents. Malaysia-based developer Eastern & Oriental, for instance has seen a 20 per cent increase in enquiries on its project in Penang from home hunters in Singapore. Fifty-six-year-old retiree Soh Poh Neo has been investing in properties in the US and Singapore for the...
Mapletree Logistics Trust (MLT) has issued 9 billion yen 10-year fixed-rate notes to a long-term financial investor. The bonds were priced at a fixed interest rate of 2.71 per cent and were issued out of the trust's S$1 billion multi-currency medium-term note programme. The bonds mature in December 2021. MLT said the issuance in the current financial environment underscores its strong credit standing...