General

Three former school buildings are to be conserved. They are the former Chong Cheng School at Aliwal Street, the former Anglo-Chinese School at Cairnhill Road and the modern block of the former St Anthony's Convent at Middle Road. Minister of State for National Development, Mr Lee Yi Shyan said although the schools have moved to other locations, the buildings, with their distinctive facades, remain...

Singapore-listed mall developer CapitaMalls Asia has received in-principle approval for a secondary listing in Hong Kong. It plans to list by way of introduction, without raising any new equity, on the mainboard on October 18. CapitaMalls Asia may not be raising new capital from its listing in Hong Kong, but the move will allow the mall developer to widen its investor base here in Hong Kong and by...

The Housing and Development Board (HDB) said the building of additional rental flats in the next two years will take place in towns such as Bukit Batok, Punggol, Sembawang, Sengkang and Yishun. HDB recently announced it would build some 7,000 rental flats for low income Singaporeans. HDB figures show it's been increasing the supply of rental units to cope with demand. Since 2007, the waiting time for...

Introducing some flats with shorter lease periods would make them more affordable The Ministry of National Development's decision earlier in the year to raise the supply of HDB flats is a step in the right direction. The move to raise the income ceiling for buyers from S$8,000 to S$10,000 for Build-To-Order flats and from S$10,000 to S$12,000 for executive condominiums is another welcome response from...

CapitaMalls Asia said yesterday it has signed a conditional agreement to form a joint venture to develop a shopping mall and office tower project worth about S$1.28 billion in Suzhou in Jiangsu province. CapitaMalls Asia, a subsidiary of CapitaLand, will jointly develop and own a shopping mall and two office towers on a site in Suzhou Centre with Suzhou Industrial Park Jinji Lake Urban...

Singapore's longest man-made waterway will be open to visitors from October 23. The 4.2 kilometre-long My Waterway@Punggol features five bridges, bringing visitors closer to the water. Punggol waterway was created out of barren land, and connects Punggol Reservoir to Serangoon Reservoir. But the area has been given a facelift, making it a scenic spot for a slew of leisure activities. Visitors can...

Private resale homes prices stayed flat in August following a similar result in July, according to an index that tracks transactions in completed projects. Property experts say the flatlining prices indicate that buyers are taking a cautious approach towards property amid a period of economic uncertainty. Flash estimates of the Singapore Residential Price Index (SRPI) indicated zero overall price growth...

The upcoming Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC) Tower 3 has been 60 per cent leased with talks ongoing that could see the rest of the space taken before next year's opening. The confirmed tenants of MBFC's Tower 3 are DBS Group Holdings, McGraw-Hill, and law firms Ashurst, Clifford Chance and WongPartnership. Raffles Quay Asset Management, which manages and markets the property, has a few prospective...

The price of shoebox units are on the rise but concerns over affordability in this segment could see prices softening. The Singapore Residential Price Index (SRPI) by the National University of Singapore (NUS), which tracks the price movement of new small apartments, rose 3.1 per cent in August (month-on-month), after falling 0.5 per cent in July. The increase is more significant when compared to the...

The sale of Housing & Development Board's (HDB) "balance flats" has attracted an overwhelming response. A total of 17,255 applications have been received for 2,847 "balance flats" offered under the Sale of Balance Flats Exercise on 22 September. Applications closed on 28 September. "Balance flats" are those left unselected from earlier Build-To-Order (BTO) exercises, surplus replacement flats under...