OF LATE, relatives and friends looking into investing in property have found the process very difficult, with the Inland Revenue Authority Of Singapore (Iras) asking for details pertaining to their property transactions. These investigations are highly detailed and intrusive; tend to drag on for months and may even involve face-to-face meetings with a panel of senior tax officials. Iras typically takes...
I REFER to the report "No-frills housing, please" (Feb 9). MP Lim Wee Kiak is right to note that 3- and 4-room flats cost only $15,000 and $20,000, respectively, in the '70s. In fact, even 5-room flats cost only $27,500 to $35,500 then. How did they all come to cost 10 to 30 times more in a matter of 30 years? Have construction costs and salaries gone up that much? Not only have prices gone up, the sizes...
IN DISMISSING yesterday the last-ditch appeal by 10 minority owners against the collective sale of Gillman Heights, Singapore's highest court has set down the clear criteria, going forward, for all other privatised HUDC estates that wish to go en bloc. In a case that hinged on the completion date of the estate, the Court of Appeal ruled that the age of HUDC estates should be pegged to the date when they...
Property giant seeks $3.07 billion from existing shareholders IN A move to position itself for "opportunities in distressed assets", property giant CapitaLand is looking to raise $1.84 billion in a rights issue that analysts say could be a precursor of more fundraising exercises for developers. South-east Asia's largest property developer and its subsidiary - CapitaMall Trust (CMT), which has planned a...
HE APPARENTLY preyed on unsuspecting tenants in search of rental units. Over a period of 10 months, he was said to have cheated them of more than $100,000 in more than 50 cases island-wide. On the run since last year, the 33-year-old unemployed man was arrested in a stake out early yesterday. According to preliminary police investigations, between April last year and last month, he had collected advance...
Property giant CapitaLand is looking to pad its portfolio with good buys amid the current global recession. The company aims to raise S$1.84b in a rights issue, and is eyeing distressed assets in China. China is one of its key markets, accounting for some 45 per cent of CapitaLand's earnings. Liew Mun Leong, CapitaLand Group president and CEO, said: "In China, we are quite well known for taking over...
The Court of Appeal has dismissed the last-ditch appeal by 10 minority owners of former HUDC estate Gillman Heights to stop its collective sale. Minority owners at the huge estate at Alexandra Road have been battling the S$548m collective sale since it was approved by the Strata Titles Board (STB) in 2007. This appeal was the last recourse for the minority owners. They had argued that STB was wrong to...
Singapore developer CapitaLand announced Monday that it will raise S$1.84b through a rights issue. It says eligible shareholders will be entitled to subscribe for one new ordinary share for every two existing ordinary shares held as at the book closure date of 23 February, at S$1.30 per rights share. The company said the rights issue is a strategic initiative that is consistent with its policy of...
NO PLAYGROUNDS or covered walkways in new HDB estates. Nor any barbecue pits. New flats should have very basic floor tiles, meanwhile. It is hardly the usual call from Members of Parliament, who tend to push for upgrading in their constituencies. But two among their ranks are making the call for "no-frills" housing. According to Dr Lim Wee Kiak and Ms Lee Bee Wah, this should be an option for home...
Property prices may have dipped due to the economic recession. But that has not weakened the demand for some private condominiums. Crowds flocked to the showroom of Caspian development near Lakeside MRT station in the Jurong Lake District. Nearly one quarter of the 712-unit development in Jurong West was snapped up within the first two days of its opening. The first 250 units were sold at $540-$640 per...