Live in the heart of it all

Step into a world that bings you the beat of waterfront living. Live and be seen at the centre of it all - Tribeca by the waterfront.

Imagine your own private oasis in the heart of the city. A lush paradise inspired by clean lines and distinctive facade, realizing a perfect blend of modernity and natural serenity. A magnificient freehold property, Tribeca by the waterfront offers you the opportunity to experience riverside living at its finest. Here, the choices are always yours to make - bask in the peaceful sanctity of modern refinement and pristine greenery, or move to the rhythm and pulse of the city.

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Current major projects

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Speculators a minority as they shoot for small flipping gains

By EMILYN YAP

This brings to mind the government’s warning last week - that some element of speculation is back in the property market. Industry watchers say, however, that subsales are common for fully sold projects and speculation still remains mild.According to industry watchers, sellers in the subsale market need to charge a premium of at least 5 per cent to break even. This would cover stamp duty, legal fees and any agent’s commission. To earn more, some may set prices which are up to 10 per cent more than what they paid.

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SAVILLS Singapore has launched for sale two residential properties - the freehold No 3 Balmoral Road with an indicative price of $65 million; and an 86,402 square foot plot at No 162 Tagore Avenue, within the Teachers Housing Estate, with an indicative price of $15 million. The latter is being sold on a 99-year leasehold tenure by the Singapore Teachers’ Union, which holds the freehold interest in the property.No 3 Balmoral Road currently comprises a development of 11 apartments, all leased out, but Savills is marketing the property for its redevelopment potential. The property is owned by an investment company and has a land area of 23,821 sq ft, a permissible plot ratio (ratio of maximum gross floor area to land area) of 1.6 and a height restriction of 12 storeys.

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(SINGAPORE) A plunge in Grade A office rents has raised Singapore’s competitive edge somewhat. According to Colliers International, office occupancy costs here were the fourth-highest among 26 Asia-Pacific cities in Q2 this year - down a notch from a quarter ago.

As rents stay weak while the economy stabilises, property consultants also expect some companies to take advantage of the situation to expand.

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By UMA SHANKARI

However, rents in ‘other city areas’ fell more in Q2 than Q1, partly due to new supply that will be completed in the second half of 2009. Prime first-storey rents declined 3.1 per cent to $25.40 psf pm in Q2, more than the previous quarter’s fall of 2.2 per cent. 1.3 million sq ft or 56 per cent of new retail space that will be completed in the rest of the year will be in ‘other city areas’, DTZ estimates.

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12.8% increase in average price of 2-bedroom units; firm expects full-year primary market sales to top 2006 figure of 11,147 units

 By KALPANA RASHIWALA

But DTZ considers the Q2 price gain a blip supported by buyers’ fears of missing the bottom, pent-up demand and low interest rates - rather than economic fundamentals.

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Live in the heart of it all

Step into a world that bings you the beat of waterfront living. Live and be seen at the centre of it all - Tribeca by the waterfront.

Imagine your own private oasis in the heart of the city. A lush paradise inspired by clean lines and distinctive facade, realizing a perfect blend of modernity and natural serenity. A magnificient freehold property, Tribeca by the waterfront offers you the opportunity to experience riverside living at its finest. Here, the choices are always yours to make - bask in the peaceful sanctity of modern refinement and pristine greenery, or move to the rhythm and pulse of the city.

• 0 Comments

Current major projects

• 0 Comments

Speculators a minority as they shoot for small flipping gains

By EMILYN YAP

This brings to mind the government’s warning last week - that some element of speculation is back in the property market. Industry watchers say, however, that subsales are common for fully sold projects and speculation still remains mild.According to industry watchers, sellers in the subsale market need to charge a premium of at least 5 per cent to break even. This would cover stamp duty, legal fees and any agent’s commission. To earn more, some may set prices which are up to 10 per cent more than what they paid.

• 0 Comments

SAVILLS Singapore has launched for sale two residential properties - the freehold No 3 Balmoral Road with an indicative price of $65 million; and an 86,402 square foot plot at No 162 Tagore Avenue, within the Teachers Housing Estate, with an indicative price of $15 million. The latter is being sold on a 99-year leasehold tenure by the Singapore Teachers’ Union, which holds the freehold interest in the property.No 3 Balmoral Road currently comprises a development of 11 apartments, all leased out, but Savills is marketing the property for its redevelopment potential. The property is owned by an investment company and has a land area of 23,821 sq ft, a permissible plot ratio (ratio of maximum gross floor area to land area) of 1.6 and a height restriction of 12 storeys.

• 0 Comments

(SINGAPORE) A plunge in Grade A office rents has raised Singapore’s competitive edge somewhat. According to Colliers International, office occupancy costs here were the fourth-highest among 26 Asia-Pacific cities in Q2 this year - down a notch from a quarter ago.

As rents stay weak while the economy stabilises, property consultants also expect some companies to take advantage of the situation to expand.

• 0 Comments

By UMA SHANKARI

However, rents in ‘other city areas’ fell more in Q2 than Q1, partly due to new supply that will be completed in the second half of 2009. Prime first-storey rents declined 3.1 per cent to $25.40 psf pm in Q2, more than the previous quarter’s fall of 2.2 per cent. 1.3 million sq ft or 56 per cent of new retail space that will be completed in the rest of the year will be in ‘other city areas’, DTZ estimates.

• 0 Comments

12.8% increase in average price of 2-bedroom units; firm expects full-year primary market sales to top 2006 figure of 11,147 units

 By KALPANA RASHIWALA

But DTZ considers the Q2 price gain a blip supported by buyers’ fears of missing the bottom, pent-up demand and low interest rates - rather than economic fundamentals.

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SALES of existing US homes jumped more than forecast in July to the highest level in almost two years, signalling that the housing crisis that crippled the world’s largest economy is easing.

Purchases climbed 7.2 per cent to a 5.24 million annual rate, the most since August 2007, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said yesterday. The gain was the biggest since records began in 1999. The median price fell 15 per cent.

‘More and more buyers are becoming convinced that there is not a lot of downside left in the housing market,’ said Ellen Zentner, a senior economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ in New York. ‘We can count on housing no longer being a drag.’

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(SINGAPORE) Real estate investment trusts in Singapore and Australia will be the first in Asia-Pacific to recover from the economic slowdown on their ability to secure funding from banks, according to a new survey.

Singapore has the region’s best environment for Reits in terms of property market growth and regulatory support, while South Korea, Vietnam and Indonesia have the worst conditions, Sydney-based Trust Company Ltd said in
the annual Reit survey it published last Friday.

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LONDON: - The global economy is on track for its worst recession since the 1930s, with output likely to shrink by 1 per cent to 2 per cent this year, World Bank president Robert Zoellick has said. Central and eastern European countries were particularly vulnerable, he told the Daily Mail newspaper, urging rich nations to do more to fill the financing gap created by an exodus of capital from the developing world. ‘My guess is that growth will probably fall about 1 to 2 per cent,’ he told the paper in a report published yesterday.

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Another Australian property, La Banque in Melbourne by the Brady Property Group, was launched over the weekend and marketing agents HSR International Realtors said: ‘We had very good response from the general public, and the developers are very happy with the results.’

HSR executive director (overseas property investments) Donna Lim declined to say how many units were sold but added that interest came from investors looking for a high rental yield and good capital gain with some also buying for retirement or their children’s education.

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(HONG KONG) Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd, Hong Kong’s biggest developer by market value, is raising prices for a new luxury residential project by 5 per cent after selling 150 units in 10 days.

‘The response has been so good, we are raising the prices gradually,’ Victor Lui, executive director of Sun Hung Kai Real Estate Agency, said in a phone interview yesterday.

The builder, which released 200 apartments at its Kowloon project in the first launch, sold the 150 units for HK$14,000 to HK$20,000 a square foot, generating HK$3.5 billion (S$689.2 million) revenue, Mr Lui said. It’s now selling three-bedroom units at the project, called The Cullinan, for HK$14,700 to HK$21,000 a square foot, based on Bloomberg calculations using his figures.

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A CONSTRUCTION firm based in China’s north-east with a string of commercial and civic projects under its belt is listing in Singapore.

Sino Construction aims to raise net proceeds of $35.6 million with its initial public offering (IPO) of 152 million shares priced at 39 cents apiece.

The company’s customers are mainly property and infrastructure developers and government-related bodies.

The offer, launched yesterday, comprises 6.4 million public-offer shares and 146 million placement shares.

Of the proceeds, $17.5 million has been earmarked for a concrete mixing base, $10 million will be used to purchase construction equipment, and the rest will serve as general working capital.

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The number of people who are losing their homes has reached record levels.

(WASHINGTON) The Federal Reserve proposed new regulations on Tuesday to clean up a broad array of deceptive mortgage lending practices, a move that represents the central bank’s most significant response to the nation’s housing tumult.

The proposed rules signify a shift by the Fed towards an active regulatory role over the mortgage business and would affect a wide range of borrowers, lenders, banks, and brokers.

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(NEW YORK) Mortgage applications in the US fell last week by the most since 2004 as a jump in interest rates caused purchases and refinancing to decline, a private survey showed.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index decreased 20 per cent to 653.8 from 881.8 the prior week. The group’s purchase index fell 11 per cent and its refinancing gauge plunged 27 per cent.

Loan restrictions and a glut of unsold homes on the market are prompting buyers to wait for even bigger price discounts, economists said. Higher borrowing costs and more foreclosures suggest that the real-estate slump will continue to hurt economic growth well into 2008.

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(LONDON) The British real estate industry is in danger of talking up a deeper market correction than is warranted, Robert Peto, chairman of property services firm DTZ said on Tuesday.

‘Clearly, we are in the middle of a massive readjustment,’ Mr Peto said, referring to a record 4 per cent slump in commercial property capital values in November. ‘But the unusually swift speed of this means we will reach a clearing price for UK commercial property much more quickly, and the recovery can begin,’ he said.

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