Singapore has recorded robust demand in the office sector for the first six months of this year. According to a mid-year review by Colliers International, the Singapore office sector has seen high rents and low vacancy rates, with office occupancy costs the third highest in the Asia-Pacific region. On average, annual Grade A office rents in Singapore fetched US$125.06 per square foot - behind Hong Kong...
Market Reports
DESPITE the sluggish economy, downtown office rentals show no sign of budging from high, with multi-nationals seemingly largely unfazed by top dollar demands for prime space. Yesterday, office landlord CapitaCommercial Trust (CCT) announced that mining giant BHP Billiton had renewed its lease at Capital Towers, while JPMorgan Chase expanded its premises by one-and-a-half floors in the same...
But analysts divided over 2010 ‘nightmare scenario’ DESPITE healthy profits reported for subsales in the first seven months of the year, there seems to be an uneasy air looming over the property market - in particular, the slowing mid- and high-end residential segments - these days. The coffeeshop chatter found its way into public discourse last month when Wing Tai Holdings’ chairman Mr Cheng Wai...
Auction sales of properties in Singapore hit a record high in August at S$22.7 million, 37 per cent higher compared to a year ago. The increase was mainly due to the sale of four residential infill land sites by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA), despite taboos associated with property purchase during the Hungry Ghost month. The report by Collier's International said this confirms that investors are...
The global real estate capital market grew last year to hit US$12 trillion, but the subprime crisis has thrown a spanner in the works. Investors are finding it tough, with liquidity drying up, yields compressing, and valuations in the US and UK dipping. However, some analysts said that opportunities do remain and may even grow, as markets approach fair value. They noted that demographics in emerging...
But sector’s outlook still cloudy on slower growth DEVELOPERS sold 897 private homes out of the 1,322 launched last month, the highest number since last August, according to monthly data released on Friday by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). This represents a 68-per-cent take-up rate. While the sales were a modest increase from June, when 1,069 units were launched and 801 sold, there was little...
New home sales rose for the third month in a row in July. However, the pace of growth slowed significantly, with developers launching more homes than they could sell. According to latest figures released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), buyers picked up some 900 new private homes last month, 12 per cent more than in June. This comes after new home sales almost doubled between May and June. But...
Some frightened investors selling homes cheap: Developer AS HIGH-END home prices fall, Mr Kwek Leng Beng says there are now some bargains available for smart investors. “What has gone up very high in a straight line will also come down,” said the executive chairman of one of Singapore’s biggest developers, City Developments (CDL). And as prices fall, Mr Kwek said there will be some desperate...
This year's Hungry Ghost Festival, which is celebrated on the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar, comes at a time when the global economy is also slowing. Traditionally, it means a quieter property market as investors and developers lie low during what they perceive to be an inauspicious occasion. The Singapore property market is no exception, but experts said lower volumes may not be due to...
Analysts decipher clues from recent rental data EARLY investors in Sentosa Cove homes must have possessed a large appetite for risk. Although the idea of developing the 117-hectare Sentosa Cove into an idyllic waterfront enclave was mooted as early as the ’80s, the first land parcel was sold to the private sector for development only in 2003. As such, the rental market in Sentosa Cove was non-existent...