General

Property agents who are struggling with a mandatory industry examination will have another six months to prepare for the test. This applies to agents with provisional licences who need to pass the Real Estate Salesperson (RES) examination to continue practising. The Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) said the deadline has been extended from December 31 this year to June 30, 2012. The exam was introduced...

Foreign investors continue to change the landscape of the luxury property market in Singapore. According to Cushman and Wakefield’s analysis of URA caveats lodged, Indonesians and mainland Chinese formed the majority in the upmarket segment this year, followed by Malaysians, Indians and the British. “Singapore is seen by many foreign investors to be a safe haven for property investment due to the...

A freehold industrial site on Alexandra Road has been put up for sale. Colliers International, the marketing agent, did not give an indicative price as there has been no recent industrial site sales in that area. However, Colliers did say an HDB leasehold site located at the nearby Kung Chong Road was sold for more than S$20 million this month. The Alexandra Road site is a four-storey industrial...

Interest rates in Singapore may rise - from their lowest levels in 40 years - as early as March next year, according to analysts. They say home loan refinancing is surging, but bank profitability and the rising cost of funds offshore may force the banks' hand. Banks could be forced to raise their home loan interest rates as early as six months from now. Low rates have hurt their profitability and they...

Demand for private properties in Singapore is not expected to ease up in the coming months despite the stock market turmoil and uncertainties in the developed economies of Europe and the United States. Market experts said that the demand for private properties here will be propped up by the pent up demand in the public housing market which will in turn result in more Housing and Development Board (HDB)...

China's new-home prices rose last month in all 70 cities monitored by policymakers, challenging the government's efforts this year to control property prices. Prices in Beijing rose by 1.9 per cent from a year ago, while those in Shanghai, the nation's financial centre, increased by 2.8 per cent, the statistics bureau said on its website yesterday. China's measures to control its property market are at a...

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) announced today that it has accepted an application from a developer to put up the office site at Mountbatten Road for public tender. The land parcel was made available for sale through the Reserve List system on 31 October 2008. URA has received an application from a developer for the site to be put up for public tender. The developer has committed to bid at a...

The 175-unit The Orchard Residences saw two transactions from Aug 12 to 23. The 54-storey condominium tower sitting on top of the ION Orchard mall is the new landmark on Singapore’s famed shopping strip, and was developed by CapitaLand and Hong Kong’s Sun Hung Kai Properties. The Orchard MRT station sits underground and is linked to the neighbouring malls. Completed late last year, the landmark...

How times have changed. A HDB flat being sold at S$1 million, COE for cars at S$70,000 and bungalows being marketed at S$100 million. Singapore is now one of the world's most expensive cities to live in. For many, change has come fast and furiously. Q2 2011 data shows that more than half of private property sales were "mass market" homes sold below S$1,200 per sq ft - what would have been a hefty price...

Far East Organization's project, Greenwich V in Seletar has achieved full occupancy ahead of its Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP) in November. The new lifestyle hub has attracted strong interest from a mix of tenants for its retail spaces ranging from 185 sq ft to 10,000 sq ft. Located at the corner of Yio Chu Kang Road and Seletar Road, the 45,000 sq ft two-storey retail podium will complement the...