economy

REITS eye asset enhancement to boost growth

With persistently high property prices in Singapore, Singapore real estate investment trust (REITS) are focusing mainly on asset enhancements to boost their growth. Any acquisitions that they are looking at will have to be yield accretive. When Causeway Point completes its refurbishment works by this December, its occupancy rate is expected to improve to 100 per cent. The heartland mall in Woodlands is...

Singapore retail rents up marginally in Q2

Singapore's retail rents remained resilient in Q2 2012, supported by a high employment rate and tourist arrivals. According to property consultancy DTZ, the average rents of prime retail space in Orchard/Scotts Road rose marginally by 0.1 per cent quarter-on-quarter to S$30.33 per sq ft per month. Meanwhile, average rents in suburban areas increased 0.2 per cent to S$28.35 per sq ft per month. However,...

HDB resale prices resuming uptrend: SRX

Resale prices for HDB flats are showing signs of picking up, with latest data pointing to a 2-per-cent rise in the last two months, according to the Singapore Real Estate Exchange (SRX). The median resale price for HDB flats islandwide increased to S$438,800 in the last two months from S$430,000 in the first quarter of the year, the SRX said yesterday. The SRX is a consortium of 11 leading property...

Resale market finally shakes off ABSD

Preliminary price indices for completed non-landed properties released last week suggest that the resale market for private apartments has finally shaken off the dampening effects of the additional buyer's stamp duty (ABSD) imposed last December. The National University of Singapore's flash Singapore Residential Price Index for last month inched up 0.8 per cent, the second consecutive monthly rise...

Industrial REITs outperform despite market volatility

Real estate investment trusts (REITs) have outperformed the market despite the volatility in the first half of the year. They are also known for their relative resilience amid economic downturns. And industrial REITs appear to hold up better than the rest with total returns of 18 per cent in the first quarter. REITs have outperformed other assets like equities since the start of the year. The benchmark...

Millionaire households in Singapore on the rise

Singapore, China and India posted the biggest increases in millionaires last year as the Asia-Pacific region countered a decline in wealth in western Europe and the United States, said Boston Consulting Group. Millionaire households in Singapore rose 14 per cent to 188,000 while those in China climbed 16 per cent to 1.43 million and India saw a 21-per-cent increase to 162,000, the firm said in a report...

April resale prices of small apartments fall 1.2 per cent

Prices of small apartments measuring up to 506 sq ft dipped slightly by 1.2 percent in April, according to the Singapore Residential Price Index (SRPI) flash estimate published by the Institute of Real Estate Studies at NUS. This is in sharp contrast to March, when the SRPI sub-index for small apartments saw a notable 2.7 percent rise. April’s overall SRPI inched up 0.8 percent from the previous...

Prices of private resale homes up in April

Private resale homes prices has risen for the second straight month in April. This is according to the Singapore Residential Price Index (SRPI) flash estimate published by the Institute of Real Estate Studies at the National University of Singapore. Resale home prices climbed 0.8 per cent in April, after increasing 0.4 per cent in March. Central area prices were up 1.6 per cent in April, compared to...

Buoyant property sales spark fresh concerns

Buoyant property sales in recent months have sparked fresh concerns that another round of cooling measures may be on the cards despite the last round of measures introduced in December 2011. Experts said the appetite for home purchases in Singapore is still strong despite several rounds of cooling measures that were introduced by the government. In fact, property developers have been selling over 2,000...

Prime cities turn negative, safe havens to thrive

The value of prime property in the world's key cities fell by 0.4 per cent in the first quarter of this year, representing the index's first quarterly fall since the depths of the global recession. Although a milestone, the index's negative quarterly growth is not surprising. Quarterly price growth has been below 2 per cent since the first quarter of 2010 and it averaged only 0.6 per cent last year. The...

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