Lum Chang gets $65m from selling 2 Belmont
Lum Chang Holdings has sold all 16 units of its newly refurbished 2 Belmont for a total sum of about $65 million. The price is said to be in the $1,600 to $1,700 psf range. Lum Chang bought the property, formerly known as Belmont Gardens, in 2006 for $22 million and has refurbished the apartments. The 16 units in the four-storey freehold property are being purchased by three Singapore-registered companies controlled by Indian investors. Eight units (on the first and fourth levels) were bought for a total $36.36 million by a company controlled jointly by Govind Sahai Gupta of Kolkata and Amit Gupta, a Singapore permanent resident. Another company controlled solely by Ashok Gupta bought four units on the third floor for a total $14.33 million, while the third company, owned solely by Asha Khatoria of Jaipur bought all four units on the second floor of 2 Belmont for a total $14.31 million. The sale, brokered by CBRE, has been inked but has yet to be completed. 2 Belmont has a site area of about 54,800 sq ft, and is located in a designated Good Class Bungalow Area.
- The Business Times, P48
Heeton project getting the Starck treatment
Heeton Holdings and its joint venture partner JPMorgan Global Special Opportunities Group will build the world's first Philippe Starck-branded housing in Singapore. The project will be built on a site that the partners acquired last year at 74 Grange Road for $72.8 million. The development, expected to be launched around year-end, will come under the design, marketing and branding direction of Starck's yoo Inspired by Starck, a company co-founded with UK developer John Hitchcock. yoo will provide interior design services and specifications for the interior finishes and fittings of the proposed 28-unit project. This will be yoo's first residential design project in Singapore, and yoo's design services for the Singapore market will be exclusive to this project until mid-2009. Based on earlier projects, yoo developments can fetch 10-30% more than market prices. yoo branding can generate faster sales. The break-even price for 74 Grange Road was previously reported to be about $2,500 psf.
- The Business Times, P48
UK house price fall biggest since '01: research firm
The average cost of a residential property in England and Wales slipped 4.4% from a year earlier to £168,500 (S$361,600), the London-based research company, Hometrack Ltd said. That's the biggest annual drop since the index started seven years ago. Prices fell 1.2 per cent from June. Activity levels are likely to remain suppressed with prices remaining under pressure for months, said Hometrack. Banks have raised mortgage rates and limited the supply of credit, reversing a decade-long property boom. The Bank of England kept the benchmark interest rate at 5% this month on concerns of inflation. The pound fell to US$1.9869 from US$1.9906 on July 25. Demand for housing has declined 20% in the past three months, Hometrack said. The National Housing Federation said that average home values will drop 4.4% this year and 2.1% in 2009 before they start rising again. Britain's economy grew 0.2% in Q2, matching the slowest pace since 2001. Unemployment jumped the most in June since 1992.
- The Business Times, P47
Chinese sanguine about potential of Beijing property market
Prices in the Beijing jumped by 11.4% last year, compared with an average rise of 7.6% in 70 major cities across the country, according to government figures. New apartments now hit the market at an average price 3.5 times higher than in 2001. Suites near the Olympic venues and new subway lines, covered by a US$40 billion government budget to improve infrastructure and clean the city's environment, are the hottest spots. The implications of infrastructure growth for Beijing's property market are substantial, said Jones Lang LaSalle. The completion of new lines and stations will also drive new property growth in less developed areas. But sales this year turned sluggish after China raised the downpayment requirement for second homes in 2007, after earlier hiking taxes and interest rates to prevent the market from overheating. But Beijing's massive population and the fact that the city is in its initial development phase are fundamentals that will bolster demand and keep prices stable.
- The Business Times, P48
Government does the math on green push
The government is trying to balance the costs and benefits of going green, in a manner that will not upset economic development. One question raised with property developers is whether current incentives are enough to encourage developers to go green. Programmes such as the Green Mark incentive scheme under the Building and Construction Authority pays out cash grants of up to $3 million to developers that construct buildings of high environmental standards. City Developments invests up to 5% of the construction cost of a property development to incorporate green design and features.
- The Business Times, P1
Dubai World seeks US$1.25b for UK purchase
Dubai World's ports and free zones unit hired Citigroup and Deutsche Bank to arrange loans for US$1.25 billion to pay for its acquisition of UK warehouse development company Gazeley Ltd from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Dubai World manages more than US$100 billion of assets for the emirate's government.
- The Business Times, P45
Dubai's Emaar hit by US housing slump
Emaar Properties PJSC, the Middle East's largest real-estate developer, wrote down 165 million dirhams (S$61 million) related to its US unit in the second quarter. Emaar is building the Burj Dubai, the world's tallest tower, and plans to construct six hotels, a theme park as well as 1,200 apartments as part of the Las Vegas-style Bawadi project in the desert outside Dubai. The company is expanding into countries including India and Egypt to become less dependent on its home market.
- The Business Times, P45
Dubai urged to improve property dispute resolution
Dubai needs to improve the way it handles dispute resolution in the real-estate industry if it is to improve its ranking in terms of transparency, said Jones Lang LaSalle Inc (JLL). Dubai rental yields fell for a fifth straight month in July as the increase in property prices in the emirate outpaced gains in rents. Dubai's residential property prices rose 41% from a year earlier, accelerating from an annual 40% in May.
- The Business Times, P47
S'pore to host global event on entrepreneurship
Singapore will join 54 other countries taking part in the first Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW). GEW, which will be held from Nov 17-23, will be the world's largest event to celebrate and promote innovation, entrepreneurship and creativity. As country co-hosts, NUS Enterprise and ACE, with other local partners, will organise events to help give potential entrepreneurs the knowledge, inspiration and networks to build innovative enterprises.
- The Business Times, P9
Fuel rise impact peaked in June, says Indonesia
Indonesia's central bank believes the inflationary impact of a rise in fuel prices peaked in June, although it remains unclear if inflation in July will be lower than June. Inflation was above 11% in June, its highest in nearly two years. Bank Indonesia has raised its key rate three times this year, by 25 basis points each time. The rupiah currency is supported by a hefty 6.75 percentage point interest rate premium over US rates. The central bank said it sees 2008 year-end inflation at 11.7%.
- The Business Times, P16
Australand hit by revaluation, writedown
Property revaluation and project writedown have resulted in CapitaLand's Australian subsidiary, Australand, reporting a 79% year-on-year fall in net profit to A$25.6 million (S$33.4 million) for the half-year ended June 30, 2008. The assets are located predominantly in Sydney which Australand says has continued to suffer more difficult market conditions with no improvement forecast in the short to medium term.
- The Business Times, P4