The commercial and office property sector in Singapore is set to outshine Hong Kong's in the medium term. This is according to analysts, who expect dramatic increases in office rents in Hong Kong over this year and the next. Based on research from property consultancy Savills, Grade A office rents in Hong Kong will increase at a rate of 25 per cent this year. This is compared to 10 per cent for Singapore....
General
Cash over valuation (COV) paid for public resale flats rose to around S$30,000 in the April to June period, after easing out in the first quarter, where the average COV stood at S$21,000, according to data obtained by The Sunday Times. With continued high demand for flats, the median COV, which is the amount paid by buyers for the valuation of a resale flat, was likely similar to the S$30,000 official...
The Housing and Development Board (HDB) will combine the Build-to-Order (BTO) flat launches for June and July, for release in mid-July. National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan said this in his blog on Saturday. This came a week after he said he was considering moving away from the current practice of monthly launches of BTO flats and explore ways to have larger combined launches. He had said that...
Member of Parliament for Marine Parade GRC Tin Pei Ling has suggested that the Housing and Development Board (HDB) take back the right to price units under the Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) or include a clause to compel price negotiations between HDB and the private developers. She said this could be considered as part of the overall review of housing policies by the Ministry of National...
National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan has urged potential homeowners to weigh the benefits and risks of buying so-called "shoe-box" apartments. These are housing units which measure 500 square feet or less. In his latest blog entry, Mr Khaw said the government is watching the development of these units. Last year, about 1,900 of such apartments were sold, compared to 300 units in 2008. In...
2013 is less than two years away. I am feeling less lonely in expressing my views about the physical completion supply of residential units. It has been five years since I started to scrutinise the total stock of residential units in the pipeline, that is, current stock plus expected completions minus demolitions from en bloc programmes. Occasionally, people still ask: "Why look at completed supply when...
Singapore's property market will be likely to experience a strong second quarter, with new home sales volume expected to hit 4,000 units, according to real estate consultancy CB Richard Ellis (CBRE). CBRE said this would make it 11.3 per cent higher than the 3,595 new homes sold in the first quarter and close to the 4,241 units sold in the fourth quarter of 2010. The top five projects which have...
Many home buyers do not fully understand the risks when they over-stretch themselves to buy their dream home. From time to time, you hear of genuine prospective buyers who face great difficulty surmounting the higher loan-to-value ratio. If they can barely overcome the first hurdle, how much more difficulty will they have in meeting mortgage payments when interest rates shoot up? The proposal by the...
CapitaLand yesterday said it had appointed Morgan Stanley co-head of South-east Asian investment banking Arthur Lang as its new chief financial officer. Mr Lang will commence his new role by mid-September and will replace current CFO Oliver Lim, who has been appointed head of strategic corporate development with the property group. "We are always rotating our top business talents to different business...
Developer Boo Han Holdings has submitted the highest bid of about S$175.8 million for a residential site at West Coast Link and West Coast Crescent. The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) closed the tender for the site yesterday after receiving 12 bids in total. The 1.27 ha site, with a 99-year lease, was launched for tender on May 5. With a maximum gross floor area of nearly 35,500 sq m, it is expected...