At least US$20 billion in global funds could be invested into properties in Singapore this year. This is according to a report by the global office of property consultancy DTZ.That is about 10 percent of the US$200 billion that DTZ expects will be channelled into properties in the Asia Pacific in 2007. At US$200 billion, this amount of money is a jump of some two thirds from 2006. And according to DTZ,...
The government is set to release more sites for office use through its land sales programme to meet increasing demand. Besides land sales, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said the government would also consider releasing existing sites. And this includes freeing up vacated government office sites in the city area. In land-scarce Singapore, releasing space for office use requires careful...
Property investment sales in Singapore rose 53 percent on year in the first quarter to S$9.2 billion. According to property consultant CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), this was due to the high volume of development sites acquired. Investment sales in the private sector amounted to nearly $7.7 billion, accounting for 83 percent of total sales in the January-March period. The remaining 17 percent came from the...
Private home prices in the Bukit Timah area have increased by over 30 percent in the past year, according to market watchers. This has outstripped the 10 percent gain for private properties islandwide. Market watchers say the greater premium that the area now commands is due to a filtering down from the high-end luxury market. An upcoming MRT line that is to run along Bukit Timah Road is also seen as...
$125 million -- that's how much Hong Leong Group has paid for One Balmoral under a collective sale agreement. This works out to $1,188 per square foot per plot ratio (psf/ppr), the highest ever yet for a Balmoral Road property. Nearby Balmoral View was sold to Kajima at $733 psf/ppr, while Chip Eng Seng bought 21, Balmoral Road for $451 psf/ppr. Under the agreement, owners of most units at One Balmoral...
Buildings in Singapore still have some way to go where environmentally-friendly features are concerned. Observers say that currently, the industry may not be ready for the proposed new legislation for green buildings. The government is proposing to set minimum standards for buildings in future developments so that Singapore can have more eco-friendly buildings. Such buildings and the technology within...
GuocoLand is growing its presence in China. The developer has signed a conditional agreement to acquire a parcel of land in the city of Tianjin for US$52.5 million. Under the deal, GuocoLand will acquire Tianjin Zhong Xin Ming Shi Real Estate - which in turn owns a 26,000 square metre parcel of land in Tianjin. The land is designated for residential and office development and has a saleable area of...
The Hong Leong Group has bought One Balmoral for $125 million through a collective sale, setting a new benchmark for Balmoral Road at $1,188 per sq ft per plot ratio for the 66,277 sq ft freehold site. This includes a development charge of $1.1 million. The site, zoned for residential use with a 1.6 plot ratio, has the potential to be redeveloped into a 12-storey luxurious residential development. The...
The 12 per cent rise in bungalow prices over the last three years has been overtaken by the annihilating rate at which they are being sold — a rate that could put them in danger of extinction, experts say. Anecdotal evidence shows that single-storey bungalows are fast vanishing from Singapore’s upwardly mobile landscape. According to international property consultancy Knight Frank, the number of...
Last year, St Regis Residences in the Tanglin area made the headlines, with its plush units selling at $3,000 per square foot. But the fine print packs another punch. Apart from the companies that bought apartments there, 43 of the buyers were foreigners and just 21 Singaporeans. It is a similar story at The Tate Residences on Claymore Road — 37 foreign buyers against 14 Singaporeans. RiverGate on...