Seven key regulatory changes to the property sector have been proposed by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). These are aimed at making the industry more transparent and to raise protection for home buyers. This follows last week's announcement by National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan in Parliament that the Housing Developers Act and Housing Developers Rules would be enhanced. The new changes...
General
Three properties in Newton, Braddell and Bukit Timah were launched for collective sale on Wednesday. Freehold apartment Newton Lodge at 41 Newton Road has a reserve price of S$40 million and a development charge of S$2.18 million. That is according to CB Richard Ellis, the marketing agent for the site. The price translates to S$1,407 per-square-foot-per-plot-ratio (psf ppr) for the 16-unit,...
Saizen REIT Executive director Raymond Wong's comments about Japan crisis leading to tighter credit conditions were of a general nature, said the company in a statement Wednesday. Saizen REIT said the comment did not refer to any delay in refinancing a loan that its subsidiary, YK Shintoku, had defaulted on. It also said it has never indicated any timeline for the resolution of the YK Shintoku loan...
Sales of new private homes moderated in February but the total still came in above the key 1,000-unit level. Data released yesterday by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) showed that 1,101 private homes were sold last month, down from 1,209 in January. Including executive condominiums (EC), the total number would be 1,228. Chalking up the best sales was Waterfront Isle at Bedok Reservoir Road, where...
More of Singapore's affluent are looking to buy properties in global cities like London, to take advantage of the strengthening Singapore dollar which has gained against overseas currencies such as the UK pound, said bankers. The Singapore dollar has risen more than 25 per cent against the British pound since the collaspe of Lehman Brothers in September 2008. In August 2010, local bank OCBC allowed its...
Affluent hunters of residential property are seeking investment opportunities abroad to diversify their portfolios and take advantage of the strengthening Singapore dollar. The Singapore dollar has risen considerably against the three major currencies - the US dollar, euro, and British pound - since the crash of Lehman Brothers in Sept 2008. The local dollar has gained over 11 per cent against the...
The Housing and Development Board (HDB) has received nine bids for a residential site at Sengkang Square/Compassvale Road at the close of tender on Tuesday. The highest bid came from Keppel Land Realty at S$286.8 million. This translates to about S$502 per square foot per plot ratio. The next highest bid of S$274.3 million was submitted by joint bidders Sunmaster Holdings, Garden Estates and TID...
The Housing and Development Board (HDB) is launching the tender for sale of a residential land at Pasir Ris Central under the Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS). The tender, which will be launched on March 16, will close at noon on May 31. The 16,388-square-metre site has a maximum allowable gross floor area of over 45,800 square metres. HDB estimates that 460 dwelling units can be built on the site,...
A white site at Jurong Lake District will be released for sale by public tender in two weeks time. The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said the land parcel was made available for sale through the Reserve List System in October 2010. The sale process was triggered when the URA received an application from a developer to put up the land parcel for tender. The unnamed developer has committed to bid at...
Private residential home sales in February continued to fall, reaching a four-month low. Data released on Tuesday by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) showed that 1,101 private homes were sold last month. That is an 8.9 per cent drop from the 1,209 units sold in January. Including Executive Condominiums, the total sales would have reached a total of 1,228. The suburban region which saw the most...