Real estate consultancy firm CBRE expects prime Orchard Road rents to remain stable in the fourth quarter of 2011. It added that a limited supply of retail premises along the shopping belt should continue to keep rents firm next year. Currently, rents for prime retail space in Orchard Road remained unchanged at S$31.60 psf/mth, up by 4.6 per cent compared to the fourth quarter of 2010. Letty Lee,...
General
As the countdown begins to Christmas Day and the New Year, hotels here are riding on the mood to celebrate. They're enjoying an increase of between five and 30 per cent in occupancy, compared with last year. It's still early and quiet on the hotel front, but the action will pick up when the party begins, as locals and foreigners head for the hotels to wind down and celebrate. Those in Marina Bay and...
The facades of six iconic buildings in Bugis and Bras Basah have been turned into canvasses of light - to shed new light on their heritage. It's part of efforts by the National Heritage Board to raise awareness of their past and create a new experience. A new look for a church that has been around since 1835. The facade of the Armenian (Apostolic Church of St. Gregory the Illuminator) Church - the first...
The recent cooling measures which require foreigners buying private property in Singapore to fork out an additional 10 percent stamp duty, is expected to curb skyrocketing property prices. And if recent transacted prices at certain luxury developments are anything to go by, the new measures could not have come at a better time. A prime example is The Marq on Paterson Hill. The latest deal involved a...
The threat of a global economic double-dip and additional property cooling measures in Singapore may result in a decline of buying interest in the next six months, according to latest residential market report by Savills. This year, Savills expects new home sales (excluding executive condominiums) to hover between 15,000 units and 15,500 units, a slight decline from last year’s record of 16,292...
Wee Hur Development Pte Ltd has won the tender for a land parcel at Punggol Central / Punggol Place at a price of $206.2m. The Housing & Development Board (HDB) launched the condo site for tender on 27 October 2011, attracting 13 bids. The parcel has a total area of 18,019.4 sq m and a maximum gross floor area (GFA) of 54,058.2 sq m. It is zoned for condominium development, which can yield some 540...
Mainboard-listed Global Logistic Properties Limited (GLP) has formed an equal joint venture with sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corporation (CIC) to acquire 15 modern logistics facilities in Japan. The deal, worth 122.6 billion yen or US$1.6 billion, is believed to be one of the biggest-ever property deals in Japan. The properties, with a total gross floor area (GFA) of 770,989 square metres,...
After experiencing strong growth since 2009, Asian property markets are now either flattening or declining, according to the Wall Street Journal. Reports from Hong Kong, Sydney, Singapore and Beijing reveal that property values have declined, while the Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok markets remain unchanged. As witnessed in Singapore, the decline comes after the government implemented cooling measures to rein...
The additional buyer’s stamp duty could become a permanent fixture in the residential property market even after prices cool, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Chua Hak Bin, an economist at the bank, said cooling measures implemented in 1996 to differentiate between local and foreign buyers were eventually repealed but this new measure is different. “The 1996 measures were seen as more of a...
The government’s announcement of an additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD) on top of the existing 3% appears to be mainly targeted at foreign buyers, notes UOB Kay Hian in a report. “The move will act as a strong deterrent for foreign buyers as their transaction costs would increase by 10% overnight,” says Vikrant Pandey, analyst at UOB KayHian. The high-end market will be the most impacted as...