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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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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Inaction may stem from his view of reputation as a built-in safeguard of free enterprise.

Why did Alan Greenspan fail to act while the roots of the sub-prime mortgage crisis spread? Here’s one possible explanation: The Ayn Rand disciple held fast to his unwavering laissez-faire beliefs.

Mr Greenspan: ‘A fly-by-night securities operator can quickly meet all the SEC requirements, gain the inference of respectability, and proceed to fleece the public.’

Tuesday’s New York Times carried a front-page article chronicling the many warnings the former Federal Reserve chairman received about aggressive sub-prime lenders luring unsuspecting customers into crazy mortgages they never could afford. ‘Where was Washington?’ the newspaper asked. And where was Alan?

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Single-family build activity down 5.5%, permit applications fall for 6th month.

(WASHINGTON) Housing construction in the US fell in November and single-family activity dropped to the lowest level in more than 16 years as a severe housing slump showed no signs of a turnaround.

The Commerce Department reported that construction of new homes and apartments dropped by 3.7 per cent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.187 million units.

Construction of single-family homes fell by 5.5 per cent to an annual rate of 829,000 units, the lowest level since April, 1991, while multi-family construction was up 4.4 per cent to an annual rate of 332,000 units.

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(LOS ANGELES) The largest US public pension will shift 11 per cent of its US$260 billion portfolio from stocks and bonds into private equity, real estate and investments pegged to inflation.

The board of the California Public Employees Retirement System, voted 9-3 on Monday to reduce fixed-income investments to 19 per cent from 26 per cent of assets and to lower stock holdings to 56 per cent from 60 per cent. The money will shift to alternative investments, real estate and a new inflation-linked asset class.

‘This should be gradual, from an implementation perspective,’ said the fund’s chief investment officer Russell Read.

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Only time will tell if financial engineering without regulation introduces a new fragility.

No one knows, at year’s end, whether there will be global recession in 2008. Or whether Europe and America will enjoy a moderate growth in jobs and incomes. Why this new ignorance?

Panic room: Under proper regulation and with optimal transparency, the present-day science of finance helps to spread risks efficiently and in that sense reduces intrinsic risk. But sans transparency and lacking understanding of the arithmetic of cancerous leveraging, fresh dangers arise.

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They failed to act on clues to risky loans and default rates.

(WASHINGTON) Until the boom in sub-prime mortgages turned into a national nightmare this summer, the few people who tried to warn federal banking officials might as well have been talking to themselves.

Edward Gramlich, a Federal Reserve governor who died in September, warned nearly seven years ago that a fast-growing new breed of lenders was luring many people into risky mortgages they could not afford.

But when Mr Gramlich privately urged Fed examiners to investigate mortgage lenders affiliated with national banks, he was rebuffed by Alan Greenspan, the Fed chairman.

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US Commerce Dept attributes this to implementation of bilateral free trade pact.

Far from losing ground, Singapore has become even more important to American multinational corporations as a manufacturing hub, according to the US Department of Commerce.

And this should spell good news for Singapore’s manufacturing sector which some observers believe is headed for decline - although it remains in a healthy state. US MNCs still account for a high proportion of offshore manufacturing, globally. Their continued presence here will help keep the manufacturing sector buoyant.

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But plan might cost billions of dollars, says an academic.

(NEW YORK) Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan favours spending government money to rescue Americans who are at risk of losing their homes because they can’t make mortgage payments.

Mr Greenspan: Cash bailouts, while creating a larger budget deficit, have the advantage of helping homeowners without distorting property prices or interest rates on mortgages

Mr Greenspan, speaking on ABC’s This Week programme on Sunday, said cash bailouts, while creating a larger budget deficit, have the advantage of helping homeowners without distorting property prices or interest rates on mortgages.

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