HDB resale prices have gone up by a better-than-expected 17.5 per cent in 2007, the fastest rate since prices soared by 25 per cent in 1996, latest official figures by the Housing Development Board (HDB) showed. Most homes in Singapore have appreciated to the highest levels since 1996. The price of a three-room HDB flat was an average of S$149,000 in the last quarter while a five-room flat in Marine...
Private property prices will see slower growth in the first quarter of this year, amid the current upheaval in global financial markets and a possible US recession. That is according to property consultants who said prices will be supported by rentals which will continue to climb higher this year. Related Video Link - http://tinyurl.com/2ew98s There has been frenzied buying and selling in the financial...
A bidding war appears to be looming for diversified Straits Trading Company. The Lee family that controls OCBC Bank is making a counter-offer for shares in Straits Trading Company that it does not already own. The Lees, who already own 34 percent of Straits Trading, are offering to pay S$5.76 cash a share. This values Straits Trading at S$1.88 billion. The latest offer is higher than the one by rival,...
Property developer Evergro has reported full-year earnings that are sharply lower than the previous year. It booked a profit of S$196,000 compared to the S$7.5 million in 2006. Evergro says there was no divestment gain this time, after it recorded returns from selling a property company in the previous financial year. Also dampening the financial numbers were higher administrative and other expenses,...
Germany's SEB Group has bought 12 strata-title floors of the office building Anson 79. It is paying S$215 million to Farrell Asset Management for some 10,300 square metres of Grade A office space. SEB already owns another nearby Grade A office building Springleaf Tower. Anson 79 is a 23-storey building in Shenton Way and is within walking distance of Tanjong Pagar MRT station. It has an occupancy of...
There has been strong demand for the corporate hospitality suites which will be set up for the Singapore F1 race later this year. Singapore Cricket Club About three quarters of these suites, as well as the Paddock Club tickets, have been taken up. To capitalise on this, organisers Singapore GP is looking to rent out other choice locations along the track to provide more viewing options. These include a...
Resorts World at Sentosa has started work on a new vehicular bridge which costs S$80 million. The new bridge is aimed at easing visitor traffic as over 15 million of them are expected to visit the Resort when it opens in early 2010. The 710-metre, 3-lane bridge will run parallel to the existing causeway which connects Sentosa to the mainland. And when completed in September 2009, both will be...
The global market panic driving Tuesday’s United States Federal Reserve rate cut is rooted in the still controversial idea that the US economy has slipped into a recession. Many market participants now take it as an article of faith that the US economy is, or will soon be, in a contractionary phase of economic activity. Some even argue that as long as it “feels” like a recession, it is one. But that...
Research in Singapore has received a boost with the setting up of the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) Centre. The centre is also the largest international research endeavour by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) outside the US. Collaborating with Singapore gives the MIT access to the necessary facilities or information on infectious diseases such as tuberculosis...
Singapore is sticking to its economic growth forecast of 4.5-6.5 per cent for 2008 despite a likely recession in the United States, the city-state's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was quoted as saying by local media.Channel NewsAsia quoted Mr Lee as saying on Wednesday that the government will not review its economic outlook in a 'knee-jerk' reaction to market volatility.He said the Singapore economy had...